Vineyard tours and tastings are great fun, especially if you combine them with good food. As this is a mini-break, I have excluded regions that are difficult to access and concentrated on those with short direct flights to Ireland.
The city of Bordeaux in France is a fantastic destination, full of beautifully restored buildings, great restaurants, cafes and boutiques. The Rue Sainte-Catherine is Europe’s longest pedestrianised street and full of interesting shops. You can do food tours of the city, but if wine is your main interest, then a visit to the Cité du Vin is essential. This impressive building down along the quays covers everything to do with wine, including tastings.
If you want to visit vineyards without hiring a car, there are plenty of tours to the various great regions and chateaux. I would suggest a trip to the Médoc as well as a visit to medieval Saint-Émilion, a Unesco World Heritage site.
Trips to the city of Porto in northern Portugal are growing in popularity, with good reason. Historically the centre of the Port trade, it has developed into a great destination for those with no interest in wine, as well as true oenophiles. Porto is full of narrow winding streets lined with shops and restaurants. Over the river, Vila Nova de Gaia, officially a different city, is packed with cellars offering tours, tastings and food. WOW, or World of Wine, has all of these and more, including a chocolate factory.
A visit should certainly include a visit to the Douro Valley, a Unesco Heritage site and home to some of the most amazing vineyards in the world. You can take a train, a bus, or an organised tour which will include one or more visits to the historic wineries.
[ Did you know there are more than a dozen vineyards in Ireland?Opens in new window ]
Épernay is the second city of Champagne, smaller than Reims but well worth a visit. It is an hour or two by train from Paris. The highlight for wine lovers is a stroll along the Avenue de Champagne, home to many of the finest Champagne houses, some of which offer tours and tastings. Moët & Chandon is close by too. Once there, you can take various tours of the vineyards, some at reasonable prices, others more upmarket.
There is no direct flight to the city of Jerez in Spain’s Andalusia, but it is just over an hour by bus from Seville, so a day trip to Jerez is a very good idea if you enjoy sherry. Even if you don’t, Jerez has plenty of great restaurants and tapas bars (called tabancos here), the famous equestrian school, flamenco demonstrations and other distractions. A trip to Tio Pepe in the city centre is well worth it even if you are not a sherry drinker.
For all of the above destinations, it is worth doing a little research beforehand, and plan your day. I would advise booking tours in advance during the busy season.
