High heels and alcoholic drinks, a dangerous combination if caution isn’t used, however any wine connoisseur will tell you, wine is not just a drink and any shoe-nista will tell you that high heels are a necessity. So, we could think of no better pairing than the artistic creation of wine with the artistic creation of high heels for an amazing experience.
Jessica Simpson
As a heel lover, you will agree, that one does not need any particular reason (let alone a good one) to purchase a pair of exquisite high heels. Consequently, the downside of this reality is the daunting task inherited with your coveted new purchase – finding a great place to wear them. There are countless women with their new high heels that they have never worn sitting on closet shelves or tucked inside their original boxes . . .just aging. . . aging like fine wine.
Yes we know it is still a delightful and mouth-watering moment to open the closet door and feast your eyes upon all those tantalizing flavors and to breathe in the fragrance of new high heels. However, let’s leave the aging for the fine wine and give yourself a reason to wear your heels. More specifically, why not put on a pair of heels and treat yourself to some fine wine with an outing to a winery or vineyard or both!
L.A.M.B
Like high heel design, winemaking is not only scientific ingenuity, it is an art form. Wineries, when at their best, are a testament to the creative process and the artist – the vintner (winemaker). The wineries serve as a museum of wine preservation, presentation and discovery. For you, the beauty of wine-tasting and the wine touring is the versatility of experiences from which you can choose. It can be a daytime outing as a kick-off to an evening out with friends. It can be the main event of an evening out with friends or it can be the anticipated romantic rendezvous point with your significant other. It can be a private and personal retreat in order to secure some of that ever evasive “me-time” or it can be a quick one-stop visit in a planner-filled day. The possibilities are plentiful and ultimately the decision will be driven by what experience you are looking to have. But please recognize that it is truly your choice so don’t hold back your imagination and creativity.
Miu Miu
No matter the types of heels that you have aging in your closet that you wish to uncork, or in this case un-box, your wine touring-experience can accommodate them all. To some extent, the actual heels you select to wear may help define the experience that you ultimately choose to have as it allows you to transform into the Queen-in-Heels persona you wish to be that day. You could be the elegant and classy Queen wearing the classic black pumps or you can be the vibrant and thrill-seeking Queen wearing bold and colorful platforms. If the winery visit is the backdrop for a romantic encounter with your lover, you can release your sexy red high heels, or if it is prelude to an evening out on the town with the girls or club-hopping, you can style yourself with rock star studded stilettos. Also, if you wish to embrace a full winery experience equipped with a wine tour and a stroll through the grape vineyards, you can bust out your all-purpose yet fashionable ankle booties that you have waiting on stand-by, ready for the mission. Remember, wine-touring experiences are made for any season.
Christian Louboutin
So now that we’ve sold you on the wine-touring idea (I can see you digging in your shoe closet now), it would be cruel and irresponsible of us not to provide a few recommended wine-tour experiences to help spur your thoughts and imagination as you begin planning your excursion. To that end, the QinH travel team has amassed a list of our top 10 + 2 global wine-tour experiences. Please note that you shouldn’t be limited by this list. There are wineries and vineyards everywhere, near and far, and if the selections on the QinH Top 10 + 2 list don’t fit your needs for one reason or the other, you can always check out more wineries by city at this directory of US Wineries &Vineyards link or this Global Wineries & Vineyards directory.
As for our selection criteria, the list was amassed through independent experience and research as well as leveraging the top 10 lists of several wine tasting and travel sources (www.winecountry.com;www.tripadvisor.com). For our list, we looked to provide you with choices that span across a variety of wine-touring experiences. Two additional attributes we considered included: the aesthetic strength of the winery location and surrounding area, and the relatively close proximity of the winery to energizing metropolitan cities or attractions for those women who may want their wine experience to be a kick-off to or a component of a broader day-out or night-out experience.
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With that, we pass a wine glass to you. Cheers and good luck!!!
QinH Top 10 + 2 Wine-Touring Experiences:
1. Napa Valley – the pearl of US wine country.
Closest major city and/or Attraction: San Francisco
2. Sonoma, California – valley of vineyards interwoven through picturesque towns and landscapes.
3. Finger Lakes, NY – an upstate New York wine getaway.
Closest major city and/or Attraction: Rochester; Syracuse
4. North Fork, Long Island, NY – for a hands-on wine touring experience, look into the various wineries holding wine camps teaching winemaking and tasting techniques among other things. Packages vary from day classes to 4-day packages.
Closest major city and/or Attraction: New York City; Hamptons
5. Castello Banfi, Tuscany, Italy – One of many wineries in Tuscany. But not many have their own magnificent castle like the Castello Banfi.
Major city and/or Attraction: Tuscany (and if you don’t mind a drive, the Italian Coast!!)
6. Fournier Winery, Mendoza, Argentina – The Andes Mountains in the background and only a short 10 mile drive away. Need I say more?
Major city and/or Attraction: Andes
7. Bodegas Ysios, Rioja, Spain – Known for the regional red wines courtesy of oak aging and flavorful vanillas.
Major city and/or Attraction: Almeria, Roquetas de Mar, El Ejido, Carboneras
8. Quinta do Portal, Douro Valley, Portugal – equipped with a guest house with a view and the winding roads leading to the winery are pretty cool too.
Major city and/or Attraction: Porto
9.Chateau Lynch-Bages, Bordeaux, France – Considered by most as the world’s most famous wine destinations with an amazing and vast variety of vineyards to choose from.
Major city and/or Attraction: Bordeaux
10. Peter Jakob Kuhn Oestrich, Rhein/Mosel, Germany – My vote for most romantic setting. There is something about mountain-top castles that just do it for me.
Major city and/or Attraction: Luxembourg; Frankfurt
11. Champagne-Ardenne, France - Rich history, rich culture and exquisite wine. Any takers?
Major city and/or Attraction: Paris; Reims
12. Grand Central: Valle Central, Chile – nestled in between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
Major city and/or Attraction: Santiago; Andes Mountains
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