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À Santé
Wine is becoming a magnet of attraction as tourism centred on it gains ground around the globe
In the 2004 film Sideways, two middle-age friends, Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, go on a road trip to the famous vineyards of California. Their journey of self-discovery is intermixed with the apparently delightful pleasure given by good wine to the drinker.
In reality, the desire for self-discovery is hardly the primary motive for visiting a vineyard. Yet wine tourism is an expanding trend, attracting thousands of individuals who love wine and, perhaps surprisingly, those who do not. The entire well-known wine producing world, from New Zealand to France to California, wine tourism is flourishing as an alternative mode of relaxation far from noisy beaches or distant mountains.
According to two researchers in the field, Colin Michael Hall and Niki Macionis, wine tourism consists of visits to vineyards, wineries, wine festivals, or wine shows. These provide the opportunity to experience not only the wine, but the region itself, responding to preferences beyond the beverage itself. Regardless of the actual time spent in their locations of interest, wine attraction already exists as a specialised type of leisure.
Wine tourism also has a remarkably diverse appeal, offering a wide range of choices in terms of geography and taste. Known for its wild landscapes, New Zealand is a popular destination for wine lovers together with neighbouring Australia. According to figures issued in a government report, 475,200 tourists visited a winery in 2008, accounting for 37% of international tourists and 63% of domestic tourist. As an added perk, international wine tourists spent almost $1000 more than their other counterparts.
In Europe, France holds a prominent place among the other wine producing countries of the continent. As the world’s largest wine producer, wine tourism in France is deeply rooted in the country’s tradition, capturing the imagination through its rituals. Wine is foremost a cultural trait in France, suggesting that a chardonnay or Beaujolais each create different expectations and emotions unlike any other beverage.
Ernest Hemingway depicted wine in Death in the Afternoon as “one of the most civilised things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing”.
The author captured precisely the sort of contemporary wine tourism that ventures beyond just the simple act of consumption. Culture and experience is what motivates fervent wine lovers to travel around the world to taste different varieties of wine, not simply to have a sip. Yet because wine tourism is not limited to just a particular type of individual with a concrete passion, it is already developing into an industry. Current marketing schemes invite people who are oversaturated with mainstream types of leisure to become interested in wine tourism and get in touch with a different aspect of life.
Members of the wine industry create linkages that connect their product with a range of events that revolve around it. Exploring the history, the tradition and the geography of the area becomes an integral part of the process entailing interactive activities such as riding, trekking and biking within the framework of festivities. This interconnectivity to other leisure activities has contributed to its expansion as a new trend. Environmental concern is also capitalised on. Usually situated far from urban conglomerations, wine tourism installations engender an atmosphere that mobilises the senses as the visitor explores old cellars and long vineyards. Wine tourism intentionally makes itself seem like a subcategory of agro-tourism.
The rise of a culinary culture is also of help to wine tourism. Media outlets such as magazines and television programmes promote a new lifestyle where gastronomy is at the heart of life itself. Regarded as a noble drink that intends to emphasise harmony with the dish it is being served with, a good wine can always make the difference, or so the tourist is told. Governments and local authorities systematically promote wine tourism as a new type of touristic activity, pouring funds into its development. Their task is facilitated by the sustainability and high yields that show respect to the ecological vulnerabilities of a given area. Remarkably wine tourism endorses a microcosmic process of regionalisation as quasi economies of scale are created together with synergies on the regional level. Networks of cooperation are established between the local wine producers in order to promote an organised and concise depiction of the area, while collaboration with other relevant enterprises such as hotels or farms is also fostered. Providing employment and bringing in customers is certainly a much needed economic boost for many of the wine producing regions and besides, a glass of wine is always the easiest way to defend your heart. À votre santé!