If you are a wine lover like me, you probably like to go on vacation to areas that grow grapes and make wine. Lonely Planet has produced the second edition of their Wine Trails book where they outline 52 perfect weekend trips in different wine regions around the world. The book does not go into depth for the different wine region suggestions; it is more like a smorgasbord where you can pick and choose what you want to see and do. If you want an in-depth understanding of where to go in Burgundy there are books specifically for that.
This book gives you a flavour of the region. Each of the 52-weekend trips starts off with the background landscape and grape types grown in a region, such as the mountainous region of Mendoza in Argentina and the Malbec grape grown there. The authors then provide you with a description of a few, usually lesser-known wineries in the area. Many of the wineries are family-owned and are either growing organic or biodynamic grapes. They do provide the website and phone number for each winery if you want to arrange a tasting with them in advance.
To conclude each trip they have a page that covers, “Where To Stay”, “Where to Eat”, “What to Do”, and “Celebrations”. I am particularly interested in the Celebrations section so I know when there are things like a harvest festival, jazz music, or other cultural event that you can enjoy with locals. On this page, the authors also include the website address and phone number. Each section is about 4-6 pages in length.
The book is arranged alphabetically by country, starting with Argentina, then Australia, and finishing with Spain and the USA. Some countries listed, like Canada, have one region to visit, i.e. Okanagan Valley, while other countries like Italy, have seven different regions for your weekend wine trip. Each page has colourful images showing one or more of wineries, the wine region, restaurants and more. So you are not reading through text. Images help you visualize the area that you may want to visit.
You do not need to read this book from front to back. Just like in a smorgasbord, go to the Country section you want and read about the suggested region trips. The book is quite easy to read and it shows that the authors that covered each region understand wine.
So before your next vacation, you may want to pick up this book and find out about a few wineries to visit and possible cultural celebrations in the area. Enjoy.
Where Can I Buy This Book?
The book is available online through the Lonely Planet website for CAD $30. It is also available through Indigo and Amazon but may be the First edition.
