8 Budget-Friendly Destinations for Wine Lovers

Wine tasting trips generally aren’t cheap; just as most wine-lovers will pay extra for a good bottle of wine, most wine-loving travelers don’t want to take a Three-Buck-Chuck trip to their favorite wine region so they often end up paying a premium. Thankfully, while the best known valleys can be expensive to visit, there are plenty of emerging and unexpected wine destinations where a vineyard vacation can be surprisingly cheap.

If you’ve been dreaming of a wine-themed holiday, but dreading the expenses associated with regions like Napa Valley or Bordeaux, try searching further afield for your wine adventures. A wine getaway in one of these lesser-known wine regions of the world may be the ideal solution for the budget-minded traveler and wine enthusiast.

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Traditionally, Thai wines haven’t caused much fuss among wine enthusiasts. But over the past few years Thai winemakers have been borrowing technologies from France and Australia that have catapulted them to a new prominence in the market, making one the most popular budget destinations in the world also a nice destination for a wine holiday.

With 90-degree heat, 90% humidity, incredibly high precipitation and flat, low altitude topology, growing wine grapes in Thailand has to be done a bit differently than pretty much everywhere else. One advantage, however, is the ability to harvest two crops of grapes per year.

There are three regions in Thailand that produce wine: Northern Thailand, Khao Yai, and the Chao Phraya delta, and tours can be easily arranged from Bangkok, which can serve as your base. You can hire your own taxi, which will cost about $45 a day, or you can arrange a tour through an agency, which costs around $50 per person and can be arranged through websites such as www.winetourthailand.com. Expect to pay between $5 to $9 for your average bottle. A double room in Bangkok runs about $15 and most meals will cost around $5; up to $15 in some of the nicer establishments.