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Bacchanalian Holidays
with CulturalTravels.net Tour Hosts
 by Sheri Leigh -  Tour Hosts are in Bold

With harvest season right around the corner, now is the time to start planning a pilgrimage for your taste buds. Our old buddy, Bacchus - Rome’s god of wine - would certainly be impressed with the wide variety of "vino" available throughout all of Rome’s ancient empire, and beyond.

For many, the first place that comes to mind when thinking of wine is France. So, lets start with a little France in your Glass- this month’s “Pick of the Month!”

Its “Four Seasons” calendar shows the wine delights available throughout Europe for any time of year. This autumn France in Your Glass is offering a delightful tour to Alsace, reputed to be France’s most picturesque winegrowing region. Long ignored, Alsace's wines are being reintroduced to the delight of millions of new palates.

While the wines of Alsace might have been ignored, they haven’t been forgotten like those of Spain’s Galicia Region -- nestled in the misty haven of northwestern Spain. Galicia (note) is a forgotten Celtic outpost where you are more likely to find bagpipes and tartan then flamenco and bikinis.

Euro Adventures specializes in acquainting the traveler to the remains of the ancient Celtic sites and the region’s rich heritage of wine production. Having five Appellations of Origin, Galicia offers wine enthusiasts a variety of options. Sean O’Rourke, Euro Adventures’ very Celtic sounding Tour Guide, shares the area’s highlights with us in his article on “The Vineyards of Galicia.”

Just as Euro Adventures acquaints the adventurer with Spain’s Celtic ambrosia, Culinary Nomads introduces travelers to delightful, under-discovered wines in Morocco, Oregon and the southern hemisphere. Combining wine with the food of these regions can broaden an appreciation for both.

Fianna MacGregor, questions the pleasures of winemaking, as she recounts the experiences of sampling a variety of homemade libations. Her article hit home with me in a big way, thanks to a creative friend who abandoned a bubbling bottle of blackberry "wine" on my counter. Following in Fianna’s footsteps, I will taste the frothy folly, as soon as it stops fermenting (I expect to prefer the classics rather then the experimental).

Classic wines are what you’ll get when you combine the long history of Tuscany -- its art and viniculture. Having a particular fondness for Tuscan wines and Renaissance art, I know many of the cities and sites Gabriele's Travels to Italy offers in her delightful tour sampling of “Vineyards and Castles of Tuscany.” During October, with grape harvesting still in full swing, travelers can have a live "hands-on" wine experience while enjoying the art and history surrounding them (don’t forget to pay respects to Michelangelo’s "Drunken Bacchus" while in Florence).

If your taste wanders more to nature, Le Vieux Moulin offers walking and bicycling trips in the region of Sancerre, Pouilly-Fume. The main residence is an old millhouse which travelers use as a base for jaunts into the surrounding countryside of the tiny Canal Berry.

For specialty food and wine experiences in such regions as Burgundy, Bordeaux, Alsace and Champagne, The Savour of France offers tours and private tasting in many fine estates.

There are so many wonderful places for wine tasting and harvest celebrations. Athens has a wine festival every August, something no “Grand Tour” college student should miss. Even neighboring Turkey is starting to expand its winemaking efforts. Morocco has a couple of drinkable local wines which are impressive (given the taboos found there forbidding alcohol). Germany, whose national drink beer, is highlighted in this month’s “Festival Pick,” is also known for it’s wide variety of fantastic white wines. 

In the Western Hemisphere, California is the best known of the U.S. wine producing states, but New York, Washington and Oregon are all producing delightful vintages. Even Mexico, Baja to be precise, is getting into the game. Of course there is always the southern half of the planet, but that is for another season...

For more wine tour options, take a look at our culinary category. I am sure you’ll find another one or two hiding there. Our “Last Minute Specials” have listings for many of the tour hosts listed above. Feel free to request additional information on any of them.

Salute!

NOTE: The naming by UNESCO of Santiago de Compostela, the capitol of Galicia and medieval pilgrimage site of St. James, as one of this year’s  ‘Cities of Culture,’ has led to a rediscovery of the regions treasures.