Insider ideas on checking out French wineries beyond Bordeaux and Burgundy

More wineries in France are opening to visitors, stated a French red wine tourist specialist.

Of France’s 87,000 wineries, just 13% were open to the general public 5 years back, stated Martin Lhuillier, head of red wine tourist at Atout France, the nation’s tourist advancement company.

Now, much more have actually opened their cellar doors for trips and tastings, he stated.

“Since our last estimate, the number of wineries open to visits has grown by more than 10%,” he stated.

It’s a growing pattern in a market that as soon as withstood the close, open-door policies typical in wineries in California, South Africa and other “New World” red wine areas. The thinking was that French wineries– or chateaux– remained in business of making major red wine, not courting households with play areas on the properties– a practice typical in parts of Australia.

But that began to alter years back when wineries started setting up visitor-friendly tasting spaces, revamping their cellars and arranging vineyard trips, turning working estates into small travel destinations.

Activities quickly followed, with visitors able to book picnics, grape-harvesting workshops and witch hunt for the kids in locations as differentiated as Bordeaux.

The pattern has actually gone up the tier of French wine makers, from little, independent estates to the nation’s powerhouse manufacturers. Now, the “vast majority” of France’s most distinguished chateaux are open to visitors too, stated Lhuillier.

There are 4 primary kinds of red wine travelers to France, statedLhuillier The biggest group (40%) are “epicureans” he stated, who go for pleasure and to “please their senses.”

They are followed by “classics” (24%) who see red wine as one experience, to name a few, on a holiday. “Explorers” (20%) worth more thorough understanding, he stated– they wish to fulfill the wine makers and check out lesser-known elements of red wine. Remaining visitors (16%) are “experts” who wish to master the science of red wine, he stated.

Wine tourist in France creates around 5.2 billion euros ($ 5.9 billion) a year, stated Lhuillier.

Before the pandemic, the nation invited around 10 million red wine travelers each year, who invested approximately $1,430 per stay. Most of these visitors originated from within France (58%), however development from global visitors was exceeding that of domestic ones.

“The average growth rate for wine tourism in France in the last six years is around 4% per year, with the growth being higher for foreign tourists,” he stated.

Lhuillier stated he divides France’s red wine areas into 2 camps:

• the “classic” locations, where red wine plays a definitive function in tourists’ choice to check out the location, such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and Alsace; and
• areas where red wine plays a crucial, though not main, function in the option to check out, such as Provence, Occitanie and Loire Valley.

Visitors generally wish to sample and purchase red wine, though the desire to experience an area’s “sceneries, cultures, heritage and gastronomy” isn’t far behind, stated Lhuillier.

Others concern take part in wine-based activities, from winemaking workshops and grape-based health treatments to red wine celebrations and household activities in the vineyards, statedLhuillier He called all of these “growing trends” in France.

There aren’t lots of distinctions in between French and foreign red wine travelers, stated Lhuillier.

However, the French tend to try to find more “authenticity” on their trips, he stated. They typically desire direct contact with a wine maker, he stated, while foreign visitors have less qualms about being assisted through a winery by a member of the estate personnel.

“Another difference … is that French wine tourists are less likely to pay for a visit and tasting than their foreign counterparts,” statedLhuillier “Some French wine tourists still think that … if they are buying the wine than they shouldn’t be expected to pay for the visit.”

But this is now altering, he stated, particularly considering that “visits have considerably grown in content and quality.”

“As a general rule, the bigger the brand the more foreign wine tourists are likely to visit,” stated Lhuillier.

However, an “American wine buff who has been on several wine trips in France is much more likely to try Jura … than a Parisian who’s only had a single wine tasting weekend in Champagne.”

Jura is among 6 “well-hidden secrets” that Lhuillier suggests. It’s among the tiniest red wine areas in France and house to a few of its most gorgeous towns, he stated.

The “heart and soul” of the location, is its vin jaune (yellow red wine), which is commemorated on the very first weekend of February throughout an enormous celebration called La Percee du Vin Jaune, he stated. This year, the occasion has actually been transferred to April.

Corsica is a widely known traveler hotspot, however its “spectacular island vineyards are not as famous,” he stated. The exact same uses to Ardeche, a sub-region of the Rhone Valley, which has “larger than life wines and … amazing wine tourism experiences, such as its underground wine tastings.”

Between Burgundy and the Rhone Valley sits Beaujolais, which is understood for its Beaujolais Nouveau red wine, produced from the gamay grape.

The location is “known locally as the Tuscany of France for its sceneries and art of living,” statedLhuillier “It is within an hour’s drive of … Lyon, which happens to be the capital of French gastronomy.”

Lastly, South West France, called “Sud-Ouest” in French, is a substantial wine-producing area with huge names and “off the beaten track” gems, statedLhuillier He suggests 2 locations not far from the Spanish border: Jurancon, where “the region’s Indian summer and the warm wind offer an exceptional sweet wine,” and Irouleguy, “the smallest of France’s mountainous wine region deeply rooted within Basque Country.”

He likewise suggests the vineyards around Bergerac and Duras, south ofBordeaux Lhuillier called the location a pristine “natural jewel” and a “growing destination for wine tourists rooting for sustainability.”