Beyond Italian borders: what European and Global Models teach about Wine Tourism

Wine Tech Symposium 2025 shone a spotlight on the evolution of wine tourism worldwide, a fast-moving sector that is rewriting the rules of hospitality in the cellar. The second roundtable featured César León (consultant and producer in Rioja), Clémence Hamet (Domaine Hamet-Spay, Burgundy and Beaujolais) and Fabio Piccoli (Co-founder, Wine Meridian). Together, they explored a crucial idea: guests shouldn’t “walk into a shop, but into a story”.

From Burgundy’s rigid exclusivity to the renaissance of Beaujolais, from Rioja’s integrated models to the lessons of the “New World” (Australia, the US and beyond) the key shift is moving away from product-only logic to embrace authentic experiences, context and emotion. Wine tourism is no longer an accessory: it is the beating heart of the relationship between winery and consumer.

France offers a fascinating dual picture. Burgundy, for decades the epicentre of luxury wine, with bottles often sold entirely on allocation, has long embraced a “closed doors” policy, seeing wine tourism almost as a disturbance. However, as Clémence Hamet underlined, that mindset is slowly changing. Global competition and the need to maintain a direct relationship with customers are pushing even the most reserved estates to diversify their offer, building true ecosystems around wine that include hospitality, local gastronomy and greater flexibility.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Beaujolais is experiencing a genuine renaissance. Long reduced in the public imagination to Beaujolais Nouveau, the region is now reclaiming its exceptional crus and strong value for money. Leveraging its proximity to Lyon and the need to grow its customer base, Beaujolais is becoming France’s “next must-visit destination”. Here, a clear generational shift and openness to innovation meet warm hospitality and a focus on accessible, producer-led experiences.

Watch all the talks from the roundtable at the Wine Tech Symposium 2025

In Spain, Rioja has emerged as a benchmark for successful, integrated wine tourism – also thanks to a real architectural revolution that brought world-class architects to design iconic wineries. Yet, as César León highlighted, the real winning factor is the ability to go beyond wine.

During the session he shared two distinctive approaches:

• Bodegas Solar de Samaniego: A winery with more than half a century of history that has regained global visibility by building a project that links wine and literature. Painting the tanks with large murals that tell stories has given the experience a deep symbolic meaning, making it highly shareable on social media.

• Residence Wines: César’s own project, designed to rediscover a true “sense of wonder”. The experience is fully immersive: 5–6 hours in close contact with the landscape, literally “eating the territory” through a layered gastronomic journey that showcases local artisans. The goal is disconnection: guests “forget about their phones” so they can truly connect with the land and the producer.

The message is clear: wine is not the only thing that matters. You need to create a value and belief framework that connects the product with visitors’ lifestyle and emotions.

Drawing on extensive international experience, from Australia to Napa, from Oregon to Alsace, Fabio Piccoli offered a candid warning to the Italian wine world, still too often part of what he calls the “pessimism lobby”.

The main brake on Italy’s wine tourism growth is the lack of awareness that wine tourism is a strategic opportunity, not a distraction or a sign of failure. Too many wineries still see hospitality as a kind of “profanation” of their role as producers, an “extra job” to avoid.

Yet successful case studies around the world, even in very different contexts, offer fundamental lessons for a fragmented Italy:

• Focus on relaxation and empathy: Wine tourism is tourism. You need spaces where guests can slow down, feel at ease and enjoy themselves. It is essential to care also for the so-called “tag-alongs” (friends, partners, children) who didn’t come just for the wine, and still deserve to be engaged.
• The time factor: rushing kills the experience and kills emotion. The tendency towards short, standardised visits (the classic “20 minutes in front of the barrels”) is the first step towards failure. The goal is to create memory and feeling.
• The ecosystem: As seen in many US states or in South Africa, successful wineries operate within a strong ecosystem. Isolation and trying to do everything alone do not work; territorial cooperation and shared strategy are essential.

The roundtable outlined a vision of wine tourism as a deeply sensory and emotional experience. As César León put it, wine tourism is the only way to truly experience a place, because “a landscape, a wine, a person welcoming you into their home can only be experienced fully on that land”.

Whether it’s a small grower who immediately takes you into the vineyard to share their family story – like Clémence Hamet – or a large project that invites you to “eat” the landscape in Rioja, the secret ingredient remains emotion.

European experiences show that turning the winery into a narrative destination – a place where you step into a story rather than a simple point of sale – is the most powerful way to build not only direct sales, but long-term loyalty and a higher perceived value of the brand. Listening to what is happening beyond our borders is the first real step towards mature, sustainable wine tourism.