Wine Travel Awards Picks

The Wine Travel Awards has turned its 2025–2026 public vote into an early guide for wine trips, with Georgia’s SHUMI Winery and Austria’s Burgenland leading two of its travel-focused categories. (euronews.com) Euronews reported on April 14 that the awards are now in their fifth edition and span 16 categories covering winemakers, tour operators, writers and destinations. The top five in each category are chosen by public vote, and the overall winners are due on May 1. (euronews.com) In the “must visit” destination category, SHUMI Winery in Tsinandali, about 80 kilometres east of Tbilisi, topped the public vote. Euronews said the shortlist also highlighted Venissa Estate in Italy, Bodega La Luz del Vino in Argentina and Champagne Joseph Perrier in France. (euronews.com) SHUMI’s pitch is history as much as wine. Euronews said Georgia’s winemaking tradition goes back more than 8,000 years, and visitors at SHUMI can see the qvevri method, an earthenware fermentation technique recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (euronews.com) The awards are not judging bottles alone. Wine Travel Awards said its 2025–2026 edition opened public voting on March 11, covers 48 countries and is built around six nomination tracks that include destinations, events, ambassadors, education, influencers and wine guides. (winetravelawards.com) That structure helps explain why regions and tourism boards appear alongside wineries. In the “Region of the Year” field on the Wine Travel Awards site, nominees include Burgenland in Austria, California Wines in the United States, Wines of Romania, South Moravia in the Czech Republic and South Africa. (winetravelawards.com) Euronews said Burgenland led the public vote for wine region of the year, while California also made the list as a familiar New World destination. The article framed the picks as a sign that wine tourism is spreading beyond the standard Europe-first itinerary of Bordeaux and Tuscany. (euronews.com) For travelers, the list is less a final ranking than a shortlist with a timetable attached. The public vote has closed, the final winners are scheduled for May 1, and the 2026 ceremony is set for June 17 at the Cité des Climats et Vins de Bourgogne in Beaune, France, as part of the first Global Wine Tourism Day. (winetravelawards.com, reservation.citeclimatsvins-bourgogne.com)