Events
Wine Time: 14 Fantastic Grape Harvest Festivals
Slide Nr 1There’s never a bad time for a wine festival, but grape harvest season feels especially fitting. Join locals from Italy to France and Argentina to Australia as they celebrate the local terroir and savour the fruits of their labour.
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Events
Wine Time: 14 Fantastic Grape Harvest Festivals.
Slide Nr 2Festa dell’Uva. Impruneta, Italy. September. Tuscany is practically drowning in food and wine festivals during the month of September – just pick a village and prepare your palate for a festa of flavour. Lovers of Chianti, in particular, will want to set their sights on the historic town of Impruneta, home to a grape festival that’s been going strong since 1926. Lively dancing, street performances and a grand parade of elaborate floats all mark the occasion, as do plenty of traditional food and local Chianti Classico vintages. [Photo: Marco Meoni/Flickr]
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Events
Wine Time: 14 Fantastic Grape Harvest Festivals.
Slide Nr 4Marathon du Médoc. Pauillac, France. September. The Médoc region is synonymous with rich red wines, nursed by the generous sun over southwestern France. What better way to enjoy these fruits of the earth than to …run a full marathon? Perhaps the world’s only marathon where refreshment stations along the route dole out cups of wine, this boozy fun run winds through vineyards dripping with fat grapes ready for harvest. Do: wear fancy dress, pace yourself, and enjoy the outlandish food stops offering oysters, steak and ice cream along the way. Oh yes, and be sure to attend one of the legendary pasta dinners hosted by various wine estates on the night before the race – complete with Médoc wines. [Photo: AMCM/De Tienda/Mainguy]
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Events
Wine Time: 14 Fantastic Grape Harvest Festivals.
Slide Nr 5Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt. Bad Dürkheim, Germany. September. Think Oktoberfest, but for wine. This event, which boasts a 600-year tradition and claims to be the world’s biggest wine festival, offers a carnival-like atmosphere with rides, food stalls, fireworks and family-friendly games and activities. The main draw, however, are the giant tents in which hundreds of punters down regional wines and sing along to live music. Connoisseurs looking for a more sophisticated atmosphere can check out the Weindorf (Wine Village), with its fine wines, gourmet fare and Sunday jazz performances.
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Events
Wine Time: 14 Fantastic Grape Harvest Festivals.
Slide Nr 6Budapest Wine Festival. Budapest, Hungary. September. Not familiar with Hungarian vintages, but open to the idea? This is the place not only to try a variety of the country’s award-winning wines, but also to learn about the history of Hungarian winemaking, meet the makers, indulge in traditional food and take in folk music concerts. The festival location – on scenic, historic Buda Castle Hill – only sweetens the deal. [Photo: Budapest Events Guide/Flickr]
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Wine Time: 14 Fantastic Grape Harvest Festivals.
Slide Nr 7Niagara Grape & Wine Festival. St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. September. A something-for-everyone kind of affair showcasing Canadian tipples, tastes and tunes, the epicentre of this festival is St. Catharines’ historic Montebello Park, where local chefs and wineries serve the best they have to offer, while local and Canadian bands take to the main stage – no admission charged. True wine lovers can grab a Discovery Pass for access to 8 wine tasting and culinary pairings at participating wineries, and also won’t want to miss the line-up of oeno-seminars and vineyard tours. Whatever you do, just be sure to score a spot along the route of the Grande Parade on the festival’s final day, for one of North America’s largest street parades.
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Events
Wine Time: 14 Fantastic Grape Harvest Festivals.
Slide Nr 8Purple Foot Festival at Casa Larga. Fairport, New York, USA. September. Why should your taste buds have all the fun? Tapping into Old World traditions in a New World setting, this harvest festival lets your tootsies take part, too. When you’re not stomping grapes (or washing the juice off your feet), you can enjoy wine-tastings, live music, vineyard hayrides, wine seminars, winery tours and samples of local fare. The 2018 edition will also see the first annual grape pie eating contest – grape pies being a specialty in the local Finger Lakes wine region. [Photo: Mike Martinez Photography]
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Wine Time: 14 Fantastic Grape Harvest Festivals.
Slide Nr 9Paso Robles Harvest Wine Weekend. Paso Robles, California, USA. October. Set in sunny San Luis Obispo county, the coastal town of Paso Robles has discovered a knack for making delectable wines. Each year, the third weekend of October is dedicated to the local crop and sees the area’s 130 wineries open their doors for all manner of grape-related fun. Each vineyard hosts its own array of activities, from grape stomping to wine seminars, live music, barbecues and intimate cellar dinners. While you’re there, get an eyeful of the area’s vibrant autumn foliage.
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Events
Wine Time: 14 Fantastic Grape Harvest Festivals.
Slide Nr 10Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia. Mendoza, Argentina. February/March. When harvest season rolls around in the southern hemisphere, winemaking regions pull out all the stops – and hardly any place does it better than here. From the time the Archbishop of Mendoza anoints the first grapes of the season with holy water, until the newest Harvest Queen is crowned, the people of Mendoza hardly pause to catch a breath. This celebration of the region’s viticulture, which has become synonymous with the dark, robust Malbec grape, is a no-expense-spared blowout featuring street parades, fireworks and grand spectacles in which hundreds of entertainers regale audiences with folkloric tales. [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]
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Wine Time: 14 Fantastic Grape Harvest Festivals.
Slide Nr 11Colchagua Grape Harvest Festival. Santa Cruz, Chile. March. Grapes may be the headlining act at this festival in Chile’s main winemaking region, but they share the stage with the local Creole cuisine. Get a taste of both across the event’s 3-day run, while learning traditional games, shopping artisan crafts, listening to live music and touring the area’s wine cellars and vineyards. One of the festival’s most popular attractions is the Grape Harvest Queen contest, so be sure not to miss it. [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]
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Wine Time: 14 Fantastic Grape Harvest Festivals.
Slide Nr 12Fiesta de la Uva. Tarija, Bolivia. March. If Bolivia isn’t exactly a big player on the international wine scene, perhaps it’s because the locals like to keep the fruits of their labours all to themselves. Travellers looking to sample Bolivian vintages should head to Tarija and the neighbouring Valle de la Concepcion at harvest time, when local wines are flowing and the town is alive with art exhibitions, photography competitions, traditional games, street dance parades and delectable local fare. [Photo: Pablo Andrés Rivero/Flickr]
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Events
Wine Time: 14 Fantastic Grape Harvest Festivals.
Slide Nr 15Grampians Grape Escape. Halls Gap, Victoria, Australia. May. Celebrate the end of the harvest in western Victoria at this wholly local shindig showcasing the region’s bounty of food and wine. Highlights of the festival include live bands, chef demonstrations, cooking masterclasses, free activities for kids, and a food and wine village of more than 120 stalls – not to mention the scenic surrounds of the Grampians region which offers hiking, climbing, fishing, kayaking and an array of other outdoor adventures.
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