Four wine meccas for tourism (and for Catalonia to take note of)

Among the reasons for planning a trip may be exploring wine regions and their attractions. Catalonia has a wealth of wine tourism opportunities, with almost half of its 918 wineries open to visitors, but it still has a long way to go if it aspires to be among the world's leading wine tourism destinations. This year, four of these destinations—Bordeaux, Port, Georgia, and China—explained what has made them leaders during the 1st International Wine Tourism Forum held during Barcelona Wine Week (BWW).

According to sociologist Lluís Tolosa, a wine tourism expert and director of the forum, Bordeaux, Porto, and China have "three of the largest wine tourism projects in the world." Bordeaux, with the Cité du Vin, a cultural center that provides an immersive, multisensory experience centered around wine culture; Porto, with World of Wine (WOW), which includes a handful of museums and restaurants that have revitalized disused old wine warehouses; and China, with the Changyu Wine City as its flagship project, a large thematic and wine tourism center linked to the oldest winery in the country.

The list is completed by Georgia, which has earned the right to be included among the meccas of wine tourism not for its spectacular wineries, but for its commitment to history. "They have made archaeology their hallmark," Toulouse emphasizes, noting that wine is believed to have been born 8,000 years ago. The wine tourism expert cites even more examples, such as Napa Valley in California (USA), Mexico, and Bulgaria, as examples of wine tourism development; Tuscany (Italy), for having known how to take advantage of tradition and landscape; Uruguay, where demand outstrips supply; and Russia, a case yet to be discovered.

Bordeaux

Cultural Center of Wine Civilizations

Just over an hour by plane from Barcelona, lies Bordeaux (France) and its Cité du Vin. It is a cultural center of wine civilizations that "explains the culture of wine throughout history and across the entire planet," explains Toulouse – the management of the Cité du Vin was unable to attend the forum to tell the tale firsthand – as well as a gateway to the Bordeaux region and its famous castles Wine. Since its opening in 2016, more than three million visitors have passed through, with Spaniards leading the way among foreigners.

The fluid physiognomy of the Cité du Vin's architecture is meant to evoke wine in motion in a vessel, such as a glass, while within the facilities, intensive use is made of new technologies to offer an immersive and sensorial experience. Toulouse emphasizes that the center is designed for all audiences and exemplifies this with one of the family attractions, a space where they can stomp grapes projected onto the floor: "All the kids are jumping around trying to see who can stomp the most."

He took

A district about wine and a little chocolate

"Port wine, to be from Porto (Portugal), historically had to sleep in Vilanova de Gaia, on the southern bank of the Douro River, opposite Porto, which is on the northern bank," explains Bernardo Márquez, director general of World of Wine (WOW). In the 1980s, legislation changed and wines were allowed to rest where they are produced, in the Douro Valley, 100 kilometers from Porto, and degrade.

The English group The Fladgate Partnership, a family business that was born with the production and distribution of Port wines –its first winery was Taylor's (1692)–, has rehabilitated 55,000 square meters to create the World of Wine cultural district: seven themed museums –one of the products rather dedicated to Ports–, a dozen restaurants, a certified wine school, a gallery of temporary exhibitions and an events area, as well as two visitable wineries, Taylor's and Fonseca (1815).

Georgia

Wine is still made in the old way

Although Georgian wine "is not yet very well known internationally," in recent years "Georgia has become an important wine tourism destination," says writer Dato Turashvili, author of the book Georgia - The home of wine (Sulakauri, 2020) and will be published in Spanish in 2026 through Lluís Tolosa's publishing house, Tolosa Wine Books. The reason, according to Turashvili, is that "there are many people looking for different wines, with an identity, with a strong historical background, and these kinds of people come to Georgia."

Toulouse emphasizes that world archaeology agrees that "wine culture was born in Georgia 8,000 years ago," and the ancestral production process has been maintained with qvevris, large clay containers buried in the ground to ferment and age the wine naturally. Furthermore, the country has 521 grape varieties in a territory of approximately 70,000 km.², a limited area that is just over twice the size of Catalonia.

China

Wineries in majestic European-style castles

Although alcoholic beverages have been around in China for thousands of years, some of them made from fermented grapes, the fact is that the first winery comparable to today's didn't emerge until 1892 and has become the number one winery, located in Changyu. It attracts over three million tourists each year, according to Le Jun, president of the Yantay Wine and Tourism Industry Alliance.

China has several castles French wine, such as the one hosted by Changyu Wine City, the world's largest wine theme park, located on an estate of over 400 hectares, but also Scottish-style palaces, such as the Scottish Chateau in Mulangou, or Italian Renaissance palaces, such as Chateau Changy. For all these reasons, Toulouse believes that "China is possibly promoting the largest wine tourism project in the world."

Catalonia

A great heritage very close to home to assert

The list of wine tourism attractions in Catalonia is long and diverse, starting with the wineries. Some offer unique offerings, such as the new Perelada winery designed by the award-winning RCR architectural studio in Empordà or the overnight cabins at the foot of the vineyards at Oller del Mas in Bages. You can also explore the history of winemaking, such as in the Penedès at the Font de la Canya site and in the Museum of Wine Cultures of Catalonia (Vinseum).

However, Toulouse maintains that for now, "Catalonia is not a world leader in wine tourism" because it lacks a strategic plan to promote it and its wine tourism offering is "unknown" to the millions of visitors who flock to Barcelona each year. He also points out that the Catalan Wine House project, designed for Barcelona, has been shelved since 2011.