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Carpe Wine: Time for the great grape escape

Elaine Schoch
Carpe Wine
Willamette Valley, Oregon is home to hundreds of wineries.
Elaine Schoch/Courtesy photo

Fall is falling and snow is soon to follow. The next few weeks in the Vail Valley should be quiet with many of us taking off before the ski season gets underway. If you’re looking to get out of town, let’s talk about one of my favorite getaways — a wine country vacation. But, where do you start and how do you plan a great grape escape?

First off, how much time do you have, what is your budget and do you want to plan it yourself or have someone else do it for you? There are a variety of services that can plan something for you — I can help too. Not to mention local restaurants and wineries that put together tours to specific regions. These can be a lot of fun and more or less like pressing the easy button — they do everything. For those of you doing it more DIY style, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Time & budget

Perhaps you’re already traveling to France and want to get to Champagne for two days or you’re playing golf in the Texas Hill Country and are curious to sip the local wines. These are easy and cost-effective wine tasting opportunities since you’re already there and can set aside time in your trip



When it comes to cost, not all wine regions are the same. If you’re visiting Napa Valley you can expect lodging, tastings, and transportation to be more expensive than Paso Robles and Temecula. If you’re going international, France is going to far exceed Mendoza, Argentina, in just about everything with the exception of flights.

Pick your wine region & how to get around

Once you know how much time you have and your budget, you can pick your wine region. Keep in mind, there are thousands of wine regions around the world, so if you can’t jet off to France or Italy — don’t worry; all 50 of the United States produce wine — no passport required.

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For getting around wine country, it all depends on what you’re after and how comfortable you are with wine tasting. Consider your preferences, experience level, and travel situation. There are a few tour options to consider.  

  1. DIY: Cheapest, but you handle all arrangements — wine tasting reservations, driving, meal reservations, etc. Not recommended for international trips unless you’re fluent in the local language.
  2. Private guided tour: Most expensive, but fully customized to your wine preferences and desired experiences and it’s all arranged for you.
  3. Group tour: More affordable, great for beginners or solo travelers. Less personalized, you do not pick any of the wineries but it can be very educational.

Determining which wineries to visit

The biggest challenge about planning a wine vacation I hear from people is how to determine which wineries to visit. And I totally agree, especially when you’re visiting wineries in another country. The first rule of thumb you need to stick with is that you should only plan to visit three, maybe four wineries a day — with a meal in between. If you do more wineries, your palate will be shot, not to mention your ability to stand.

Elaine Schoch is an award-winning travel writer and wine judge, certified by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 2, and a certified American Wine Expert. She is also the editor at Carpe Travel, a content site focused on wine travel. You can follow her wine 101 and sipping adventures on Carpe Travel or Instagram


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