We have a woman winemaker in the family
..and talking to her, we realised what a rare breed she is – only 18% of winemakers are women, but they are increasing. As is often the case, they haven’t been profiled or publicised so much, but this is changing. At WalkingWomen we seek out women entrepreneurs doing great things, and so we began seeking out women winemakers.
We also discovered that there are many wonderful walks on land rich in vineyards and in many unusual locations. Perfect, we thought to start WalkingWomen Wine Walks.
Our first destination was Priorat in Northern Spain
as luck would have it, one of the WalkingWomen Guides had family there who had just opened a hotel and had started planting vineyards. Soon they had created our first wine walk, and our second holiday there has just finished. We return in October and have now added Douro Valley and Sicily to the list. Sicily has one of the top women winemakers Arianna Occhipinti who we will be visiting on our trips and tasting some of her Sicilian wines.
To hear more about wine walking, read on to hear from some of our recent Priorat wine walkers…
“ Women on a “Wine Walk” is a rather funny image. Well, fun, yes! The vineyards were a destination in themselves. We would meet just after breakfast outside our inn on an ancient, narrow, stone street, barely wide enough for a single car. In just a few steps in every direction, we were outside the village, walking the countryside. So, every day was like a new adventure, and I was not disappointed. Lorraine, our guide, seemed to enjoy the anticipation of the day’s walk as much as the group. On to the hills of Priorat, of Catalonia!
There is something about the wines in the Montsant and Priorat regions which are not only delicious but clean and as beautiful as the scenery. The wine makers on our trip were all women, young entrepreneurs who love not only their wines but their land. Two of them had taken a mediocre business and given the vines and labels new life. I understand that much of the wine business is marketing, and so do these women, but they also knew of the possibilities for quality and giving the grapes the opportunity to reach their flavorful potential – Wow! Did they ever?
My favourite wine is a Grenache, so going to this region was a real treat for me. Yet, here in Catalonia, there is a smooth, gentleness to the wines that I have not experienced from store-bought wine at home, in the U.S.; and not only did we enjoy wine, both white and red, but we really enjoyed all things Vermouth. Yes, vermouth on ice is very nice, and don’t skimp on the olives.
Living life passionately…
All of this sounds like a lot of drinking, but no, we had a daily walk together with friends stopping for lunch or dinner and a glass of wine and learning a great deal about living life passionately. I would not hesitate to do this trip all over again several times.
And lastly, some of the guest’s top reasons to join…
From start to finish, the May 2023 Priorat wine and walking tour exceeded my expectations. From the detailed up-front travel planning to the boutique hotels, from the amazing hiking to the delicious food, from the wonderful group to the exclusive feel of all the activities, the trip was top-notch from start to finish.
Lorraine was such an excellent guide.
Priorat is so untouristy – seeing so few tourists wherever we went felt like a very special experience, and so refreshing, after having travelled in Europe and one typically sees so many tourists everywhere.
Challenging but beautiful hiking…
Relaxing in beautiful medieval villages…
These are very special walks, and we hope you will join us – or if you know any women winemakers please let us know about them.
