Grape & Grain | How to combine a wine tasting tour with an adventure holiday
Whether travelling in a 4x4 around an active volcano in Sicily, canyoning in Slovenia or mountain biking in South Africa, venturing to vineyards can also satisfy a taste for thrills
A holiday in wine country can offer spectacular sightseeing and farm-to-fork cuisine but venturing off the beaten trail adds another dimension – a taste of danger.
Sicily, across the Strait of Messina from mainland Italy’s “big toe”, is dotted with Greek temples and Norman churches, Roman villas and Moorish architecture. In the west of the island, Mount Etna dominates the landscape and the active volcano’s mineral-rich soil and long, cloudless summers, create robust reds, like Etna rosso, and warm, complex nero d’avola.
Anna Maria Sorrentino, Italian travel specialist and president and founder of Shop Wine and Dine, recommends visiting Sicily’s farms in a 4x4 jeep. A more thrilling way to survey Sicily’s estates is by helicopter. On a clear day, the 360-degree vista stretches all the way to the boot of mainland Italy. (I’ll be hosting a bespoke wine tour of Sicily in July, visiting 12 of the region’s top wineries, and taking in art, culture, food and scenery; see shopwineanddine.com for details).
Cycling tours are almost as common in many wine areas as cellar doors: California’s Sonoma county, Tasmania, Burgundy and Alsace, to name a few. South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope is no exception. Anchored by the vibrant provincial capital of Cape Town, the hilly terrain of Stellenbosch is ideal for growing a range of grapes, such as South Africa’s famous chenin blanc.