A few weeks ago, Lonely Planet released the first book in their “Perfect Weekends” series, and guess what?
It’s about wine!!
My friend and co-author John Brunton (a.k.a. The Wine Tattoo) kindly had a copy sent over for review.
Needless to say I have since travelled extensively around the familiar world of wine, through this Wine Trails publication at least.
The book starts with those words: “We’ve all experienced it on our travels – whether catching a sunset in Italy with a glass of Prosecco sparkling or at a barbeque in Australia with a beefy Shiraz – when a local wine could not be more perfectly suited to the moment.”
Wine and travel go together indeed. I always say “wine is a travel in itself”. So a little guide by travel expert publisher Lonely Planet can only come handy. My understanding is that they sent experts of various wine regions around to find the best wine spots for a visit. Because that’s what he knows best, Wine Tattoo guy John Brunton wrote the France, Italy, and South AFrica sections.
Wine Trails is meant to be a guide to short weekend escapes in wine country. But given the extensive coverage of wineries, you could use it for extensive discoveries as well.
The book covers 52 world wine regions in 20 countries, focused on the most popular, the ones that offer both great renowned wines as well as attractive touristic destinations.
Obviously, all the Top wine producing countries are in there: France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the US, Argentina, New Zealand, and so on.
But more unpexpected wine destinations are also detailed such as Slovenia, Lebanon, Georgia, or Slovakia. Perhaps this is the most interesting part of the book.
Wine Trails is filled with gorgeous and tempting illustrations that makes you want to jump into a plane straight away and discover.
A pitty the book doesn’t come with a round-the-world ticket. Because that’s what you’re going to need after reading through.
Oh well, at least, it’ll help you fill up your wine lover bucket list !!
Among the 52 regions are all the top world wine destinations like Napa and Sonoma Valley, Burgundy, Tuscany, the Mosel, and so on.
But you’ll also find less classic areas like Sardinia, or the Jura. Though that’s when you realise 52 regions for traveling the world of wine is actually not that many. Bordeaux or Sicily as couple of examples are not in there.
That said, the regions that are in are rather detailed. You’ll get a map with the 5 to 10 recommended local wineries to visit. Each winery has a short explanation so you can figure out prior to going whether that’s actually what you’re looking for.
Little extras include Where to Stay, Where to Eat, What To Do, and Celebrations.
Overall: Wine Trails is a fun and handy book I would happily recommend, if only for dreaming about travel. You’ll probably learn about which wine regions you may one to visit someday in any way.
On top of it, yes, it may well help you implement and tick a few lines off your bucket list.
What I’ve decided after reading it? Go and visit Naoussa in Greece someday. Invitations welcome 😉
Enjoy…
Find the Book online on Amazon below.
Please let me know your thoughts