{"id":5610,"date":"2012-01-04T16:58:03","date_gmt":"2012-01-04T21:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/winetrailtraveler.com\/blog\/?p=5610"},"modified":"2012-01-04T17:01:29","modified_gmt":"2012-01-04T22:01:29","slug":"what-are-the-best-wine-travel-destinations-for-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/winetrailtraveler.com\/blog\/2012\/01\/04\/what-are-the-best-wine-travel-destinations-for-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are the Best Wine Travel Destinations for 2012?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wine Enthusiast Magazine<\/span><\/a><\/span> listed the Ten Best Wine Travel Destinations for 2012 in a series of articles published last month on their website. I found eight of the ten. The big one for me was Virginia. It\u2019s the only region on the list that Kathy and I have visited, although we visit Virginia wineries and vineyards a couple times each year and have done so now for several years. The Virginia wine regions tend to draw people to them.<\/p>\n

Just last month I wrote a blog suggesting that the International Wine Tourism Conference<\/span><\/a> should consider Virginia as a sight for a future conference. In my blog<\/span><\/a><\/span> I mentioned the proximity to Washington D.C., Virginia\u2019s rich history and that a number of wineries are preserving that history. The Wine Enthusiast article by Alexis Korman also mentioned the historical sites and Washington D.C., but also added pastoral landscapes, horses and affable winemakers.<\/p>\n

Wait, aren\u2019t all winemakers affable? Actually we discovered one assistant winemaker in Virginia that wasn\u2019t that friendly. He was from another notable world wine region and bashed Virginia because of its humidity and insects. What he didn\u2019t realize at the time was that people are discovering that winemakers in Virginia can make wines that they like to drink regardless of humidity and insects.<\/p>\n

Alexis Korman also mentioned in her article the prominent wine varieties in the state including Viognier, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Merlot. The varietal grapes mentioned in my December blog were slightly different. It included Viognier, Petit Manseng, Petit Verdot and Tannat. Petit Manseng is becoming more popular as well as Tannat. I deliberately did not mention Cabernet Sauvignon because at an earlier wine conference in the state, a panel of Virginia winemakers agreed that Cabernet Sauvignon doesn\u2019t always ripen and can\u2019t be counted on year after year.<\/p>\n

Here is a list of eight of the Wine Enthusiast\u2019s best travel Destinations for 2012.<\/p>\n

Virginia, United States
\nPriorat-Cambrils, Spain
\nCentral Otago, South Island, New Zealand<\/p>\n

Tokaj-Hegyalja, Hungary
\nMosel Valley, Germany
\nChampagne, France
\nColchagua Valley, Chile
\nSanta Barbara, California, United States<\/p>\n

Cheers,
\nTerry<\/p>\n