Vineyards are beautiful and serene, but they don’t have the market on wine tasting. If you’re a regular wine taster, maybe you’ve seen enough vineyards by now. Here are 10 unusual places to go wine tasting. Some allow you to take in incredible scenery. Others may just inspire you.
In a Hot Air Balloon
Through the California Dreamin’ adventure company, you and a friend can sip on a complimentary bottle of sauvignon blanc while riding high above the vineyards of Temecula, Calif. in a hot air balloon.
The Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson, Ariz. will arrange private sunset horseback rides for guests that end with a gourmet picnic delivered out on the ranch, surrounded by cacti.
A wine tour with Geringer Global Travel in India will take you to the luxurious Oberoi Amarvilas hotel, where most rooms overlook the Taj Mahal. You can sip wine while peering at one of the world’s famous tombs — and symbols of love.
The edgy Niyama Resort in Dhaalu Atoll, Maldives, features the Subsix lounge, an offshore bar and lounge about 1,600 feet beneath the surface of the ocean. After traveling to its entrance by boat, guests can choose from more than 300 bottles of wine, and sip while sighting sea creatures.
During the summer, Silverlake Wine of Los Angeles, Calif. puts on Friday-night wine tastings in Barnsdall Art Park. Wine lovers lay out blankets and picnics and sip at the foot of a gorgeous Frank Lloyd Wright home.
At Spring Creek Ranch just outside of Jackson Hole, Wyo., guests can set up a wine tasting inside one of the property’s authentic Native American teepees. They are situated on a hill with views of the Teton Mountains.
At Sleight of Hand Winery in Walla Walla, Wash., the owner has lined the tasting-room walls with vinyl records, and he’s installed an old-fashioned jukebox. While they feed their faces with great vintages, wine tasters can feed quarters into the jukebox.
Entering the tasting room at the Alexandria Nicole Cellars in Seattle, Wash., feels like traversing the hallways of Hogwarts. What looks like a giant bookshelf is actually a secret door that opens into a hidden room. The room is usually reserved for primary members of the winery, but maybe you can convince the staff to give you a tour.
Today, Gstaad Palace in Switzerland is a wine-tasting destination and hotel with views of the Alps, but in World War II it was a storage vault for gold and documents, as well as a hideout for the executive board of the Swiss national bank.
During a trip from New York to Washington, the Acela Express broke down and to keep fellow passengers happy, a French winemaker on board put on his own wine tasting. This is an experience you’ll have to recreate yourself, but was inspired by a fun story on HuffingtonPost.com.