The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena California recently hosted a Gala Dinner marking the close of the annual general meeting of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network on October 7. During the dinner the international ‘Best Of Wine Tourism’ awards were presented to outstanding wine tourism companies from nine Great Wine Capitals.
The ‘Best Of Wine Tourism awards have gone from strength to strength since the first edition. For the 2014 awards there were 350 applications from nine Great Wine Capitals regions. Of these, there were 53 local award winners and nine international winners.
The international winners for 2014 are:
Vergelegen in the Cape Winelands in South Africa. Dating back to 1685, Vergelegen is renowned for the preservation of its historic buildings and its elegant gardens. (vergelegen.co.za)
Bodegas Dinastia Vivanco in Rioja, a museum and winery complex, celebrated for its Enoturismo y Experiencias that offers a wide range of exhibitions, courses and other innovative experiences (dinastiavivanco.com)
Château de Rouillac in Bordeaux that dates back to the 19th century when it belonged to the famous Baron Haussmann who introduced many urban planning reforms to Paris under Napoleon III (chateauderouillac.com)
Brancott Estate Heritage Centre at Brancott Vineyard in Marlborough (South Island in New Zealand), the site of the original Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc plantings (brancottestate.com)
Castello di Gabbiano in Tuscany, with its medieval castle that dates back to the 16th century (castellogabbiano.it)
Weingut Eppelmann in Rheinhessen, recognised for its innovative use of QR codes in communicating with hikers (eppelmann.de)
Bodega Ruca Malen at the foot of the Andes near Mendoza (Argentina), celebrated for its restaurant. (bodegarucamalen.com)
The Yeatman in Porto (Portugal), a luxury wine hotel with an award-winning wine cellar and Michelin star restaurant acclaimed for its modern interpretation of traditional Portuguese cuisine. (the-yeatman-hotel.com)
The Hess Collection Winery on Mount Veeder in Napa (California, USA), renowned for its extensive private collection of international modern and contemporary paintings and sculpture. (hesscollection.com)
About the Great Wine Capitals Global Network:
Founded in 1999, the Great Wine Capitals Global Network is an alliance of ten internationally renowned wine regions – Bordeaux, France; Cape Town|Cape Winelands, South Africa; Christchurch|South Island, New Zealand; Florence, Italy; Mainz|Rheinhessen, Germany; Mendoza, Argentina; Porto, Portugal; Bilbao|Rioja, Spain; San Francisco|Napa Valley, USA and Valparaiso|Casablanca Valley, Chile.
The Best Of Wine Tourism awards serve as an industry benchmark for excellence and recognize leading wineries and wine-tourism related businesses within each Great Wine Capital that have distinguished themselves in areas such as innovation, service and sustainable practices.
For more information visit greatwinecapitals.com.
Written by Decanter
