Just announced: Spectator Club Wine Tours for 2026, in association with Kirker Holidays
Spectator drinks editor Jonathan Ray is delighted to announce the following fun and friendly wine tours for 2026, all with our good friends at Kirker Travel.
Please speak to Lucy Ayling at Kirker for more information on 0207 593 2284 or email lucy.ayling@kirkerholidays.com
Rioja : 14-18 April 2026
Alsace : 11-15 May 2026
Tuscany : 21-25 September 2026
Burgundy : 19-23 October 2026
Napa Valley : 17-24 November 2026
Some more information is available on the first two:
Rioja. a four-night holiday from 14 April 2026
La Rioja is a diverse region of rolling countryside where picturesque villages cluster around monasteries and churches, and it is also the most important vine growing area of Spain. Our new spring tour with Jonathan Ray is based in one of the most charming villages in the heart of Rioja Alavesa, north of the Ebro River, and includes delicious Basque cuisine and visits to some of the finest winemakers in Rioja, from historic family bodegas which have been producing wines for more than a century, to innovative new winemakers who are producing some of the most excitingwines in the country.
The Hotel The Hotel Viura (4* Superior), named for the local white grape variety, is a striking example of contemporary architecture, made up of a series of cubes that appear to balance precariously on top of one another – a stunning contrast with the surrounding traditional buildings of the village. Viura has 35 spacious bedrooms in a modern style, with large windows that allow wonderful views of the Rioja Alavesa. There is a communal swimming pool next door which is free to use and a gastronomic restaurant, Bistro Barrica.
Day 1 We fly to Bilbao and will be transferred to the Hotel Viura (4* Superior), where we are based for the duration of the tour, a stylish modern hotel in the tiny hamlet of Villabuena de Alava, in the heart of Rioja Alavesa, one of the highest subregions of La Rioja where Atlantic breezes cool the high-altitude vines. There is a gastronomic restaurant where we have dinner this evening with selected local wines from the hotel’s cellar, which stretches through a secret underground passage way below the hotel.
Day 2 This morning we will walk to the Bodegas de la Marquesa – Valserrano, just a few minutes from our hotel. Here the family has been producing wines for five generations, and we will taste their excellent Tempranillo-based reds as well as the white Rioja made from the Viura grapes, grown in the highest and poorest soils of the vineyard. There will be some free time for lunch, before we visit the innovative Viña Ijalba, who pioneered the revival of Rioja’s classic grape Graciano. We will spend this evening in nearby Logroño, where we will have time to explore the town's excellent tapas bars.
Day 3 This morning we head for the hill town of Haro, wine capital of La Rioja. Here, in the area of historic bodegas close to the railway that linked Rioja with the outside world, our first visit is to Bodegas Muga. We pause for a delicious lunch at a restaurant which was a favourite of Hemingway, before an afternoon tasting at Bodegas Roda, one of the newest and most dynamic Rioja wineries. The evening will be free.
Day 4 Today is devoted to exploring the vineyards of Rioja Alavesa, starting at the state-of-the-art Viña Real winery, followed by lunch at the farmhouse of Contino, the oldest ‘single estate’ Rioja bodega, one of the most attractive wines and most idyllic places in Rioja. In the evening, we will have a delicious tapas dinner together in Laguardia.
Day 5 This morning we check out of the hotel and drive to Bilbao, where there will be a guided tour of Frank Gehry’s spectacular Guggenheim Museum. Constructed of titanium and limestone, it stands on the banks of the River Nervion and has 18 galleries displaying spectacular large-scale works of contemporary art with a particular focus on Basque artists. Lunch is included here before we travel to the airport for our flight this evening.
Gatwick 13:40, arrive Bilbao at 16:45 (Vueling)
Bilbao 18:10, arrives Gatwick at 19:00 (Vueling)
What we include:
Return flights
Four nights’ accommodation with breakfast
Two dinners & three lunches
Visits to wineries as described
All sightseeing…
Services of Spectator drinks editor Jonathan Ray & a Kirker Tour Manager
£2,582 per person, single supplement £298
Alsace, a four-night holiday from 11 May 2026
Join Jonathan Ray for a tour which takes in historic towns and villages, delicious Alsatian cuisine and of course the region’s best wines. The sunny slopes of the Vosges mountains offer a rich mosaic of limestone, sandstone, marl and clay soils which provide perfect conditions for aromatic grape varieties such as Riesling and Gewürztraminer, a pink-red grape which produces the distinctive white wines with aromas of lychees and rose. In fact, this is the only region in France to produce mostly varietal wines identified by the names of the grapes. A fascinating cultural blend of French and Germanic influences, Alsace is a region of half-timbered mediaeval towns and delicious cuisine which combines French refinement with hearty Germanic ingredients such as Choucroute, the regional speciality.
Day 1 Departing from London this morning, we will fly to Basel, on the border between France, Germany and Switzerland, where our driver will meet us for the journey north along the Upper Rhine Valley into Alsace. We will stay for the duration of the tour at the 4* Hotel Le Colombier in the centre of the picturesque town of Colmar. This evening Jonathan will host an introductory tasting of some of the region’s varied wines before dinner in the hotel.
Day 2 This morning we will travel south to visit the town of Eguisheim, one of the most wonderfully-preserved fortified towns in Alsace. The half-timbered mediaeval and early Renaissance buildings are constructed in concentric circles following the lines of ancient ramparts. After exploring the town on foot we will have a lunch, which might feature the local speciality, tarte flambée. In the afternoon we will visit Léon Beyer, currently run by Marc Beyer, whose family have been wine growers in Eguisheim since 1580.
Day 3 Today we visit Distillerie MICLO in Lapoutroie for a tour of their cellars and a tasting oftheir spirits. Located in the heart of the Pays Welche on the foothills of theVosges ridges, the Miclo Distillery has excelled in the distillation of fruiteaux-de-vie since 1962. After lunch we then head to Domaine Weinbach to trytheir fine wines. Near the German border, this charming winery was firstestablished as a Capucin monastery in 1612. That enclosed vineyard plot of 5hectares is still known as Clos de Capucins and forms the heart of today’sestate, which now extends across 28 hectares, all organically andbiodynamically farmed.
Day 4 Travelling up the Rhine valley this morning, we will drive through vineyards with views across the Rhine plain to the Black Forest mountains, arriving in the small town of Ribeauvillé, with its half-timbered buildings and ruined castles. Here we will visit the 13th century Butcher’s Tower before arriving at the Maison Trimbach, where twelve generations of the family have been making wines since 1626. Today, the family vineyard is run by Hubert Trimbach, his nephews Jean and Pierre, and Pierre’s daughter Anne, who will give us a tour of the cellars and a tasting, followed by lunch. In the afternoon we visit Rorschwihr where we will enjoy a wine tasting at Rolly Gassmann.
Day 5 We will depart from the hotel after breakfast and return to Basel airport for our flight back to London.
What we include:
Return flights to Basel
Four nights’ accommodation with breakfast
Two dinners and two lunches
Wine tastings as described
All sightseeing, entrance fees and gratuities
The services of Spectator drinks editor, Jonathan Ray
Flights with Easyjet
Depart Gatwick 1425, Arrive Basel 1605
Depart Basel 1155, Arrive Gatwick 1340
Price from £2,468 per person, single supplement £496
