Europe

We all know people who plan their holidays around sporting events, like the FIFA Football World Cup. Others match their leave dates with music festivals, such as Glastonbury and Coachella. Then, there is another group, the wine lovers; where holidays always seem to conveniently take place in wine producing regions and coincide with grape festivals.

If, like us, you fall into the latter category, here is a selection of the world’s best wine festivals to mark in your holiday diary and ignite your wine wanderlust:

If you’ve had the pleasure of spending some time in the South of France, you’ll know this sparkling stretch of Mediterranean coastline is synonymous with sun-kissed afternoons drinking carafe after carafe of pretty salmon-hued Côtes de Provence rosé. The arrival of shorter days and cooler nights doesn’t seem to hamper anyone’s enthusiasm for a glass of it, either! In fact, even the merest hint of sun during winter is accompanied by cries of ‘time to open a bottle of rosé!’

Never fear, however, if you’re not a fan of said pink drink. It doesn’t hold a liquid monopoly along the Côte d’Azur! Far from it in fact! If you prefer to seek out a locally brewed beer, a specialty spirits bar, the perfect view to share a bottle of Champagne, or (dare we say it), a glass of vin blanc or vin rouge, here’s our drinker’s guide to the French Riviera!

Europe is home to some of the most famous wine regions and wine brands on the planet, so it makes sense that the continent is a great place for the wine traveller to explore. Sometimes it can be easy to plump for the most well-known regions, or it can be daunting choosing which ones to visit.

We've asked our friends at the Winerist to recommend their top 5 wine regions in Europe. These wine regions give a mix of the well-known and the up-and-coming to help you plan your travel for 2015. Whether you’re a wine buff, wine beginner or avid traveller, they have something special for anyone who wants to avoid the tourist traps and go off the beaten path! So here we go: