Another magical evening in Bordeaux celebrating Wine Tourism
Last Thursday evening, I was invited to attend the Best of in Wine Tourism Awards for the Bordeaux region sponsored by the Great Wine Capitals Global Network. This yearly event honors chateaux properties (vineyards) in 6 wine tourism categories. This is a prestigious international yearly event which honors properties who are distinguished by their quality and presentation in wine tourism. There are 6 different categories in which properties can compete. These are: Landscape & Architecture, Discovery & Innovation, Accommodations, Restaurant Services, Wine Tourism Services, & Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices. These categories are world-wide and each wine region within the Great Wine Capitals Global Network has their regional competition and then the top winner of each category or "Best of Gold" will compete internationally for their category.
What I love about these awards each year is that they highlight those various chateaux properties that distinguish themselves in Wine Tourism. From a tourist point of view, these properties get added to my list of "Must Sees" and "recommendations for guests". After all, these awards are all about wine tourism and welcoming visitors. I'm constantly amazed by how creative and unique each visit can be at different chateaux properties - ranging from a simple classic quintessential French chateaux visit where one can marvel at the age of the vines, the buildings and the old cellars to newer more modern facilities and tasting rooms where one can experience something different and unique. Some examples are creating art galleries on the property, restaurants, family activities, offering picnics and other recreational experiences. The ideas are endless and unique.
I loved this evening, as it's truly magical and honors these proprieties for their hard work and innovative efforts made in wine tourism. The following 4 minute video gives you a sense of how special this evening was to attend. It has a feel like one is attending a Hollywood Awards Ceremony. The large screen video presentations were put together by a wonderful video company - La Maison du Bonheur - enabling us to see each winner's property and services displayed in a short vignette.
I loved this evening, as it's truly magical and honors these proprieties for their hard work and innovative efforts made in wine tourism. The following 4 minute video gives you a sense of how special this evening was to attend. It has a feel like one is attending a Hollywood Awards Ceremony. The large screen video presentations were put together by a wonderful video company - La Maison du Bonheur - enabling us to see each winner's property and services displayed in a short vignette.
After the ceremony, including some musical entertainment in the middle, we all got to enjoy the wines of the winners and also feast of some of our local delicacies - a variety of meats, cheeses, Oysters, caneles and macaroons.
This year, there were 92 regional nominations presented for the 6 categories and 20 winners were chosen - for each category - one Best of Gold winner was chosen, for a total of 6 Best of Gold winners.
So without further ado, in the words of the presenter, here is this year's list of Winners. This is definitely a list to keep handy if you are coming to the Bordeaux area and want to tour some wonderful properties. I have linked their websites to their names and added their appellation for further reference.
Landscape & Architecture
Discovery and Innovation
Accommodation
Restaurant Services
Wine Tourism Services
Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices
*Denotes Best of d'Or (Best of Gold) Award
The Best of Gold winners will compete globally against other regional winners within the Grand Wine Capitals Global Network at the International conference next week held in Bilbao, Spain. The Great Wine Capitals of the World include the areas of Bilbao/Rioja (Spain), Bordeaux (France), Le Cap (South Africa), Mayence (Germany), Mendoza (Argentina), Porto (Portugal), San Francisco-Napa Valley (USA), & Valparaiso (Chili).
So if you are a wine lover and love visiting wonderful wine producing areas - these areas work together to provide a wonderful wine tourism experience. Additionally, for those of you who have been following my blog for a while, you may remember that I wrote about this same event last year. So here is the link to that post, as it's gives even more wonderful wine properties to add to your visit to this area!
2015 - Best of Wine Tourism Awards - Bordeaux Region
Congratulations to all the 2016 winners!! I look forward to visiting your properties!
2015 - Best of Wine Tourism Awards - Bordeaux Region
Congratulations to all the 2016 winners!! I look forward to visiting your properties!
What a lovely celebration. I'll keep a note of the winners and will have to watch out for anything similar in Burgundy!
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting - so nice to hear from readers. Indeed there are winners each year and it's great to discover new properties that are great in wine tourism! If you find something similar in Burgundy, I would love to know more.
DeleteWhat a fun evening that must have been and thanks for putting the list together, that's so useful. I'm surprised that nowhere in Italy is on the list of great wine regions, personally I'd rate it over Spain or Portugal.
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