France Fails to Figure in World's "Best" Wine Regions
Date£º
2014-08-14 10:41 Source£º
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A list of the world's best wine destinations is more notable for its omissions than its inclusions.
A list of top wine tourist spots that doesn¡¯t include France? Quelle horreur!
Nevertheless, that¡¯s what USA Today readers served up when given the chance to vote on their top 10 wine destinations from a shortlist provided by two wine experts.
Kerry Woolard and Frank Pulice came up with a shortlist and readers promptly voted Portugal¡¯s Alentejo as the place they¡¯d most like to visit.
"Boutique wineries, full service hotels, great restaurants and of course terrific wines make for a great wine travel experience," Woolard enthused.
The newspaper was clearly taken with Alentejo¡¯s charms.
"The food in Alentejo is rustic and authentic, taking full advantage of the agrarian lifestyle in the area," it reported.
"You won't find a developed coastline of hotels; instead Alentejo's beaches ¨C considered some of the most dramatic and beautiful in Europe ¨C require visitors to seek out lodging in independent guest houses. The Alentejo is like a trip back in time for wine lovers. The Faro and Lisbon airports are each less than two hours away."
It wasn¡¯t just France that was ignored. Spain, Germany and South Africa were also missing from the list, while Napa only made it as far as number six and the fabled Italian wine region of Tuscany scraped in to seventh place.
Canada¡¯s Okanagan Valley, Maipo in Chile, Marlborough New Zealand and Croatia rounded out the top five.
Okanagan was lauded for its outstanding natural beauty as much as its wines, while Maipo won praise for being so close to the Chilean capital of Santiago. Marlborough¡¯s Sauvignon Blanc was mentioned, as was its seafood, while the experts recommended seeing Croatia¡¯s vineyards by sailboat.
The vote was part of the newspaper¡¯s ongoing 10 Best Awards.