We've been inspiring readers with our wine travel ideas in print for nearly 50 years, and on decanter.com since it was launched 20+ years ago. So whether you're looking for last-minute inspiration, planning the trip of a lifetime or just dreaming, Decanter is here to help.
We ranked every travel feature on decanter.com according to popularity over the past year (the previous couple of years were rather atypical, for obvious reasons). For the sake of simplicity we've stuck to regional guides, rather than include city, restaurant and wine bar guides.
So here are the 50 best wine trip ideas, as ranked by you, our readers. We've picked an excerpt from each to give you a flavour, but you'll find the complete versions of all these articles on our specially created hub page: decanter.com/top-50-travel-2023
So keep your finger poised over your travel agent's book now' button, and enjoy our reader-curated choices.
50 The wineries of Kent
'Southeasternmost county Kent is often described as the Garden of England. Stretching from the Thames estuary to the English Channel, you'll find a verdant landscape of rolling hills, blossom-filled orchards and white-cowled oast houses. It gets more sunshine and higher temperatures than most of the UK, which explains why it's famous for fruit. In places, you would be forgiven for thinking you were in France's Champagne region - you don't have to divert far to find patches of vines shimmering in the breeze on southfacing chalky slopes. Output is growing, with warm summers spelling bumper crops, and demand high. Little wonder Kent winemakers - namely Biddenden, Chapel Down, Domaine Evremond, Gusbourne, Hush Heath, Simpsons, Squerryes and Westwell - have redubbed this the Wine Garden of England (winegardenofengland.co.uk).
Fiona Sims
49 Lambrusco landscapes
This story is from the August 2023 edition of Decanter.
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This story is from the August 2023 edition of Decanter.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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A Resource for the World? - Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. With climate change and disease posing increasing threats worldwide, Catena Zapata winery is asking what lessons can be learned to protect vineyards within and beyond the nation's borders
Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. With climate change and disease posing increasing threats worldwide, Catena Zapata winery is asking what lessons can be learned to protect vineyards within and beyond the nation’s borders
Great Cabernets of South America
Other varieties may hog the limelight across South America, but the world’s most popular grape for red wines has played a critical role in the continent's wine heritage. We trace Cabernet Sauvignon’s story here, and recommend 16 benchmark wines to try
PROVENCE by train and bike
With rail links to Paris, Nice, Marseilles and beyond, a vast network of cycle paths and quiet roads, and a plethora of historic wine estates, Provence is an ideal destination for an eco-friendly, car-free and carefree) holiday
IN THE MIX
These days most of the world’s vineyards are planted to just a single variety, but what happens when multiple varieties are planted, harvested and blended together?
Malvasia A BUYER'S GUIDE
If ever a grape was hard to pin down, it'd be Malvasia. Indeed it’s not even a single grape variety. In all of its many varied, and often completely unrelated guises, it has been the mainstay of popular wine styles across the centuries. Our expert takes a closer look...
RIBERA ADOPTS THE NEW OLD WAYS
It’s not so much a new direction for winemakers in Ribera del Duero, but a growing recognition that traditional methods and wine styles set aside by the previous generation can now provide a way ahead to revitalise the region
Roussanne around the world
Up for a challenge? For winemakers as much as wine drinkers, getting a handle on a mercurial grape such as Roussanne isn't easy. But wherever it's grown, when the balance is right, it truly repays the effort
Napa Cabernet 2021
There's a lot of excitement about this vintage, in which conditions were relatively calm and temperatures stable through summer. Ongoing drought reduced yields but intensified flavours, but it means quantities are down and you may need to act fast to secure top wines. Our Napa correspondent selects 60 great wines from more than 500 that he tasted, with many very high scores
10 reason to discover Uruguay
Squeezed between Brazil and Argentina on the Atlantic coast, Uruguay has mostly flown under the tourist radar - until now. Once dubbed 'the Switzerland of the Americas', it's a welcoming country that has much to offer the travelling wine lover
Leo Erazo
The old vines and special terroir of Itata, southern Chile, have beena source of inspiration for this intrepid winemaker. The 2023 fires were a setback, but his commitment to this ancient wine land is undiminished
