National Institute of Statistics (Italy)

Wine tourists get their feet dirty

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• published: 17 Nov 2016
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(12 Nov 2016) LEAD IN: Spain is trying to reinvent itself as a premier wine destination during the quieter winter months when tourism revenue drop. In the northern wine region of La Rioja, tourists can now participate in grape harvests and even get their feet dirty making wine. STORY-LINE: Budding winemakers and their parents are inspecting the latest harvest on a visit to the province of La Rioja. Two hundred different varieties of grapes are grown here in "Bacchus's garden" at the Vivanco Museum of Wine Culture. The Vivanco wine museum offers visitors a chance to sample grapes from five continents in order to explain their names, their characteristics and their differences. "Grape tasting is a fundamental activity in wine world in order to know how mature is a grape, when it's the timing for wine harvest and therefore to make special wine. But also to be able to make different wines, because we have 222 varieties from around the world." says Eduardo Diez, director of Museum of Wine Culture. In the nearby Badaran village, wine lovers can participate in the harvest and processing of the grapes at the David Moreno winery. One tourist just happens to be the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Anthony Gardner who's here in an personal capacity as a wine lover. "It's not one of those large industrial operations. You are really get to see how wine is made. And you are also get to see in a smaller size. You can meet the owner. You can taste many of the wines. It's very personal, it's not something impersonal and industrial, which I personally do not like. People are looking for special touch," he says. The Moreno winery is amongst a handful that open their doors to the public to see the process of making wine from field to glass and to get a chance to take part in the process. "The part that I like the best was crushing grapes with the feet. We went to see the fields and saw the vines growing. We got to know about the types of grape, we got to pick them and check whether they were ripe or not. Sugar levels, alcohol. We tasted some wines, some food and then we came back to the fields. Then he we saw how wine used to be made in the past and I really enjoyed that," explains German tourist Julie Becker. Later visitors can sample the wines, or grape juice for younger fans, accompanied by a plate of tapas (traditional snacks) of chorizo and cheese. Owner, David Moreno says it makes sense to invite people in and explain exactly where wine comes from. "By closing the door, people do not get into it. The door must be open always. But also you must create activities so the people that come into do not just see wine. They and their parents are able to see that wine comes from a grape, that the grape grow up from a vineyard. So when those parents and their children do all these activities in which they see grape's development, how the grape transforms into wine juice and that wine juice becomes wine we are teaching a great lesson: wine is not in the supermarket, wine comes from the grape," he says. According to the Spanish Statistics National Institute, 85,000 foreigners visited La Rioja in 2015. By the end of October 2016 that number had increased to 110,000. The Vivanco wine museum was recognized by UNESCO In 2007. It has become one of the main attractions of the area with about 100,000 visitors annually. The 30% of them are foreigners, according to the museum, mostly from France, United States and UK. According to La Rioja Regulatory Council, wine drinkers in the UK consumed 35% of the wine exported by La Rioja - almost 37 million litres of wine in 2015. Germany consumed 16.95% and the US 9.01% of La Rioja's wine in 2015. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/589c13b59871a1f26de87d55314c44fc Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork