How Wineries Are Reinventing the Tasting Room Experience

The world of wine tasting is shifting as vintners reimagine vineyard visits.

By Emily Cappiello

The old-school version of wine tourism, in which oenophiles drive into the countryside to stand, swish, sip, and spit, was parodied in the 2004 film Sideways. And while there are still plenty of places to embrace that traditional tasting-room experience, some forward-thinking estates are reimagining the entire enterprise.

“Things are evolving as people look for experiences to go along with their tasting,” says Kristin Muhly, a vice president at Ancient Peaks, a winery in Santa Margarita, California. “They want to engage in fresh and exciting ways.”

That’s partly because, as even the winemakers admit, many travelers are drinking less. But despite the softening of bottle sales in some markets, overall demand for wine tourism is up—and growing 14 percent year over year, according to San Francisco–based Grand View Research.

“We’re making wine part of a broader cultural and lifestyle experience—connected to food, landscape, adventure, and local identity,” explains Tori Johnson, a spokesperson for Ultimate Winery Experiences Australia, a consortium of about two dozen wineries that uses vineyards as a jumping-off point for immersive half- and full-day tours of some of the country’s most scenic regions.

Winemakers are reimagining the tasting by inviting visitors to hike, cycle, practice yoga, cast a fly rod, or even zipline around their properties. Sampling wine remains part of the experience, yet the bigger picture is one rooted in movement and discovery, rather than fussiness over labels and technical specs.

“There is something about being outside among the vines in the fresh air that puts people at ease,” explains Diva Moretti Polegato, a vice president at Villa Sandi, a producer in northern Italy. “It stops being ‘a tasting’ and becomes a real moment guests carry with them long after they leave.”

Four Ways Wineries Are Rethinking Traditional Tastings

WALKING & HIKING

In Vienna, Wine Hiking Day is held every September, transforming the Austrian capital’s vineyard-covered hills into a trail where visitors wander among tasting stations, family-run wine taverns, and scenic overlooks. In Italy’s South Tyrol, Cantina Kurtatsch offers a full-day guided trek with tastings of 12 wines, each enjoyed in the same vineyard where the grapes are grown. The Seneca Lake Wine Trail, in New York, has launched a collection of vineyard walks and hiking experiences. And Virginia’s Bluemont Vineyard has created a trail that connects the winery with neighboring Dirt Farm Brewing.

WORKING ON WELLNESS

Akash Winery, in California’s Temecula Valley, has found a new audience among yoga devotees who visit for sessions amid the vines, followed by a glass of wine. Wölffer Estate Vineyard, in Sagaponack, New York, has a similar program, Morning Moves in the Vines, that brings yoga and fitness classes to the vineyard. Villa Sandi hosts outdoor yoga classes and tai chi practice.

FEELING THRILLS

At Ancient Peaks, the Zip ’n Sip experience combines a tasting flight and charcuterie board with a zipline adventure that soars above the estate’s Margarita Vineyard. In Australia’s Barossa Valley, visitors can swap the tasting room for horseback rides through the vineyards of Jacob’s Creek, or embark on a full-day e-bike journey that combines cycling and wine tastings. At Tenuta Regaleali, in Sicily, visitors can also pedal e-bikes through vineyards, wheat fields, olive groves, and the historic village of Valledolmo, before ending with a paired tasting of wine and Sicilian olive oil.

CONNECTING WITH THE LAND

At Printhie Wines, in Australia’s Orange region, guests can fly-fish on the estate while trying the house’s cool-climate wines. In Tasmania, Devil’s Corner takes visitors from its vineyard to the nearby Moulting Lagoon wetlands, pairing the wines with locally harvested oysters.

A version of this story first appeared in the September 2026 issue of Travel + Leisure, under the headline “Drink It All In.”