From Boat To Vineyard, The Best Wine Regions To Charter A Sailing Trip

Salt within the air, wind whipping your hair, a teak deck warming the soles of your ft. As your skipper tacks towards the final size of marine freeway, closing the hole between ocean and port, a distant speck rises right into a volcanic slope strung with emerald vineyards.

Rachel Carson, American marine biologist, conservationist, and writer of Silent Spring as soon as famous of the shoreline, “in each outthrust headland, in each curving seaside, in each grain of sand there may be the story of the earth.” Her timeless commentary bears particular software to touring by, or round, wine nation by boat, an method which reveals to the scholar of the grape the contours of a panorama and a winery’s geological origin. In fact, one needn’t take a scholarly view of viticulture to benefit from the hedonistic pleasure of crusing between ports of name to eat and drink the fruits of an unfamiliar place.

Crusing by wine nation within the Mediterranean or New Zealand, whether or not by sloop, catamaran, and even motored yacht, ought to depend amongst each traveler’s experiences a minimum of as soon as of their lifetime. From the three foremost kinds of boat charters, bareboat, skippered, or crewed, ability and price range issue most. Whichever your remaining alternative, these 4 locations serve up singular views and wine, and maybe just a few classes from the vantage of the water demystifying the liquid in your glass.

Corsica

The granitic island of Corsica presents the proper mixture of dramatic landscapes, fashionable cities, and fiercely impartial winemakers working with native grapes. Nature’s eau de toilette, a scent of sea salt, herbs, and peppery-balsamic notes, permeates the air.

Sailors have a number of ports of name on the west and north coasts that abut key wine areas. The island’s foremost grapes embrace structured spicy reds from Niellucciu (a genetic match to Sangiovese) and Sciaccarellu, the 2 typically blended collectively, in addition to white grape Vermentinu.

Whether or not you’ve chartered a sailboat or an excellent yacht, there’s house for each within the marina of west coast capital metropolis Ajaccio. Through the summer season, the city thrums with eating places and nightclubs, making it a full of life cease in proximity to among the island’s greatest wineries. The appellation of Ajaccio is believed to be the birthplace of not simply Napoleon, however Sciacarellu. Lease a automotive for the day and head south to wineries Domaine Comte Abbatucci and U Stiliccionu, solely ten minutes from each other.

Again on the boat, sail north to Calvi. You’ll cross the oft-photographed Gulf of Girolata, a picturesque village sandwiched between sea and mountains. After docking, foray into the closest wine appellation, Corse Calvi. Clos Landry, perched above the water in a stone cellar from 1900, sits solely six minutes from the port. Refill on Vermentinu, then drive half-hour east to Domaine Maestracci for just a few bottles of rosé to sit back again on the boat.

Proceed the journey previous the craggy coast of limestone plateaus to Saint-Florent, a standard fishing village standard with by luxurious yacht house owners. It’s an ideal leaping off level to go to the island’s first wine appellation, Patrimonio the place you possibly can style mineral-soaked whites from Vermentinu and earthy, wealthy reds from Sciaccarellu. Search for wines by Marie-Charlotte Pinelli, Yves Leccia, Antoine Area, and Clos Venturi.

New Zealand

With no vineyard additional than 75 miles from shore, New Zealand is a wine-loving sailor’s paradise. Begin within the capital of New Zealand, Auckland, the place most charters originate within the Hauraki Gulf. As testomony to the nation’s yacht racing mettle, Auckland hosted the thirty sixth America’s Cup in 2021. Earlier than crusing off, make amends for Auckland’s rising craze for pure wines at its bevy of bars and eating places.

The voyage to Waiheke Island takes an hour from downtown. Kennedy Level, on the mouth to Putiki Bay, has non permanent berths for daytrips. Lease a automotive with Waiheke Rental Cars to go to wineries like Mudbrick, Cable Bay, Stonyridge, or Te Motu. In any other case, anchor in a distant cove on the island’s jap shore to go to Man O’Struggle Vineyards. The island makes a speciality of Bordeaux-style reds and smoky Syrah.

Working south to Napier, you’ll discover a number of marina choices. This charming artwork deco metropolis anchors the wine area of Hawke’s Bay, well-known for its Bordeaux-style blends and Syrah from the Gimblett Gravels. With a number of wineries to select from, well-known names embrace Villa Maria, Trinity Hill, and Te Mata Property.

Persevering with alongside the southeast coast, you’ll attain Gisborne. Gisborne Wine Centre sits proper within the harbor close to the yacht membership and public marina, although the principle purpose to cease right here is for the biodynamic Chenin Blancs of James Millton.

One may spend days exploring the Marlborough Sounds on the high of the South Island. Most of this coastal heaven of bays and inlets is accessible solely by boat. Close by Marlborough is the nation’s most well-known wine area, identified for Sauvignon Blanc, and extra just lately, Syrah and Pinot.

Ionian Islands, Greece

Everybody swoons for Santorini and the Cyclades, however crusing between the luxurious Ionians stays the insider’s alternative. The six key islands of Corfu, Kefalonia, Lefkada, Zakynthos, Ithaca, and Paxos, have dozens of coves and ports to toss an anchor.

Di Bingham based household enterprise Sail Ionian in 2003, rising the fleet of chartered yachts and catamarans to over 30 boats and counting. The household selected the Ionians for just a few causes. “The islands are shut collectively, there are not any tides or main hazards like reefs to fret about, and the winds listed below are prevailing NW and never as robust as different areas of Greece. It’s an ideal space to realize confidence” he stated.

In fact, the “gorgeous surroundings, lovely anchorages, and quayside taverna stops with an intensive election of wines that enhance yearly” maintain their enterprise booming. For crewed charters, Sail Ionian will prepare wine excursions on Lefkada, Ithaca, or Kefalonia. “There are many choices” stated Bingham.

For these crusing bareboat, all navigational programs lead north to Corfu. This star of the island chain sits at its closest level a mere two miles from Albania. Dock at Mandraki Marina to walk the Venetian port, swim on wild seashores, then go tasting at Nicoluzo, Pontiglio, Theotoky, and Leivadiotis Winery. Native wines embrace citrus redolent whites from Kakotrygis and medium-bodied reds from Skopelítiko and Martzaví.

Kefalonia makes a speciality of Robola. Dock at Marina Argostoli in Argostoli, the island’s capital, which entices with clear waters and sandy seashores. The placement is strategic for visiting the wineries of Melissinos-Petrakopoulos and Gentilini Vineyard & Vineyards. Additionally price a go to, Sclavos Wines farms Mavrodaphne and Vostilidi biodynamically.

Zakynthos, twelve miles off the Peloponnese Coast, claims fame for its Instagram-friendly shipwreck on Navagio Seashore seen in your feed often as an aerial drone shot. Style the island’s wines constituted of Robola, Skiadopoulo, Katsakoulis, and Pavlos, good if you happen to recognize the fantastic and obscure.

Croatia

Croatia’s coast, dotted with arid islands and finger-like peninsulas, enjoys a flurry of crusing exercise come summer season. Touring by land, it’s simple to get FOMO watching the boats from ashore. Thankfully, a variety of constitution choices, from price range to luxurious, abound. On the upper finish, Sail Dalmatia recurrently organizes bespoke wine-soaked itineraries with non-public cooks down the coast.

“Dalmatia’s wine areas are primarily based mostly on the islands. Hvar, Korčula, and Pelješac Peninsula are all simply accessible by boat,” says proprietor Dora Vulic. “Typically, we are able to moor proper subsequent to wineries like Lumbarda in Korcula” she says.

A current two-week itinerary embarked from Lošinj within the northern Adriatic Sea, then headed for the traditional metropolis of Zadar, the Kornati islands, Krka Waterfalls, and the historic metropolis of Cut up.

On Korčula, visitors tasted citrusy-white grape Pošip, then sailed south to the Dingač appellation on the Pelješac peninsula. Tastings of native pink Plavac Mali and platters of oysters from the well-known beds of Ston, wrapped up the journey.