Expedia launches interactive guide to sparkling wine regions

Travel company Expedia has designed an interactive guide to 15 of the world’s leading sparkling wine producing countries from France to China with suggested itineraries for those wishing to visit.

The online guide covers the most obvious and famous of the world’s sparkling producers including Champagne and Crémant in France, Prosecco and Asti Spumante in , Cava, England (and Wales) and the US and Chile as well as Germany, Hungary, Argentina and New Zealand and the up-coming countries of Brazil and China.

Ranking the countries by their sparkling wine production, export volumes, popularity and value, Expedia has also put together week-long holiday ideas for those wishing to visit, suggesting not only the best properties to visit (usually those that are large and readily open to tourists) but also what else to look for in the regions from local cuisine to historical sites and cultural attractions.

For example, the French itinerary goes thusly: start in Paris on day one, the following day head to Epernay and visit Moët & Chandon; the day after that visit Reims and a cellar such as Veuve Clicquot. On day five drive to Metz and explore the old city before heading down to Boeckel on day six to sample Crémant d’Alsace and finish the trip on day seven in Nancy.

The trip to Italy suggests starting in Prosecco and wending one’s way across northern Italy to finish in Asti; the American trip focuses on California; that in Australia starts in Melbourne and takes the traveller up to King Valley; the Chilean road trip takes travellers south to Talca; from Cape Town to Franschoek via Stellenbosch in South Africa; and the English trip concentrates on producers in Sussex.

As a framework, the guides can of course be tweaked to suit a more knowledgeable wine traveller’s tastes and interests but for the more uninitiated they should serve as manageable introductions and point to the ever-growing interest in oenotourism.

The countries profiled in the guides are:
France
Italy
Spain
The US
China
Chile
Australia
South Africa
Argentina
Germany
Brazil
New Zealand
Hungary
England
Wales

Click here to see each in detail.