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The objective of the Caves Ouvertes Vaudoises (Vaud Open Wine Cellars) is to put the terroir and its producers at the centre of the gathering with a following that’s growing year on year. In addition to tastings of the region’s wine-growing products, visitors have the opportunity to enjoy many other local home-grown produce such as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheeses and slicing sausages.

For centuries, wines from Rioja were shipped in horse or ox drawn wagons on dirt roads over mountain passes to the port of Bilbao and from there, by ship to the rest of Europe and America. The opening in the mid-nineteenth century of a railway line from Tudela to Bilbao, that included a station in Haro, prompted Spanish and French entrepreneurs to build wineries around the station to facilitate shipment of their wines.

Mendoza is almost synonymous with its harvest festival, one of the biggest in the world. Some 700,000 revellers make it into Mendoza for the Fiesta de Vendimia which builds up over the summer months with the grand finale the first weekend of March.

Saint Emilion is a hot spot for wine tourism; this beautifully preserved medieval village receives over one million visitors every year.