5 concrete ideas to enhance your wine tourism offering without heavy investment

Wine tourism has long relied on a logic of amenities: architect-designed cellars, charming hotels, sensory spas, and gourmet restaurants. These projects have shaped a high-quality, often iconic offering, but the costs and complexity of these remain beyond the reach of most wineries.

At the same time, another dynamic has emerged: that of a more embodied, more agile wine tourism, centered on experience rather than structure. Today's visitors, whether they are knowledgeable amateurs, families on a getaway or cultural travelers, are looking above all for meaning, connection and the right atmosphere . They want to understand a profession, share a moment of truth, discover a place that tells something about its territory. It is in this spirit that a new generation of inventive and coherent experiences is emerging. Initiatives that show that we can create value, strengthen our image and attract new audiences without heavy investment in wine tourism.

Here are 5 concrete levers to achieve this, taken from experiences observed in France and elsewhere, within reach of all winegrowers and regions seeking differentiation.

1. Restore meaning to the story

The first lever costs nothing, but transforms everything: rethinking the way of telling the story of one's domain. Too many visits remain descriptive, technical, sometimes disconnected from what makes the place unique. Today's visitor is not looking for a demonstration, he is looking for an emotion, to understand what makes a wine unique through a story, a gesture, a season. This is the famous "storytelling", often perceived as a marketing gimmick (especially on the French side), when on the contrary it is the most authentic way of transmitting a reality.

Telling the story of your estate means finding the right tone, one that conveys the intimate bond between its owner, the land and the wine. In Chablis , several winemakers, notably those involved in the Sentiers des Grands Crus, offer tastings of their wines directly in the plots. A walk in the vineyard, a stone in the hands, under a particular light, the landscape becomes the first tool of mediation, before the speech. In Beaujolais , the Domaine des Crêtes , in Régnié-Durette, offers guided walks where the tasting takes place facing the hillsides, in rhythm with the relief and the seasons to literally savor the landscape. And in the Loire Valley , the Clos des Quarterons - Domaine Amirault, in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, has structured its visits around everyday activities from pruning to wildlife and soil life. The conversation takes the form of a conversation fueled by observation and feeling.

These approaches, modest in form but demanding in intent, serve as a reminder that a well-crafted narrative can transform the perception of a place. The welcoming message isn't meant to impress, but to reveal. It creates a coherence between the nature of the wine, the spirit of the place, and the personality of those who bring it to life. And for destinations, it's a tremendous collective lever, which can involve training in storytelling, welcoming posture, or public speaking to elevate the quality of welcome without material investment.

2. Activate local resources

Wine tourism is never a solitary adventure. It thrives best when it is part of a local ecosystem, alongside artisans, restaurateurs, producers, guides, and artists who extend and enrich the visitor's experience. This ability to build relationships, to break down the barriers surrounding wine and place it within a landscape of hospitality, is today one of the most powerful and least expensive levers for promoting a winery.

In Anjou, the “Saveurs du Layon” initiative initiated by the Anjou Vineyards and Villages Tourist Office follows the same logic. It brings together winegrowers, ceramists, saffron producers and restaurateurs around a common menu and cross-events. The visitor discovers a wine, then a material, then a taste, making the visit a journey, where the journey becomes history. In Beaujolais , several cooperatives, such as the Cooperative Cellar of the Château de Chénas or the The Château des Loges wine cellar organizes markets featuring local artisans and producers every first weekend of the month. Without a single euro of work, they generate traffic, conviviality, and loyalty.

These approaches, often modest in their form, reveal a simple truth: wine tourism creates value when it works collectively. They also show that the most decisive investment here is not financial, but organizational. For interprofessional organizations and tourist offices, their role in this sense is to coordinate, connect, amplify , with a common map, a mini-pass, a shared calendar, harmonized signage, which can already give a vineyard the image of a coherent whole. In short, it is about putting into practice what already exists.

3. Bring the places to life

A winery lives as much through its wine as through anything else. Creating life on site doesn't mean transforming it into an event venue, but rather knowing how to punctuate the year with simple, regular moments that have a strong identity.

Domaine de l'Écu , in Loire-Atlantique, has been organizing “Vinyl & Vin” evenings for several years, where one Friday a month, wines are tasted to the sound of vinyl records chosen by the winemaker. Minimal budget, inimitable atmosphere. In Provence, THE WINEGROWERS OF PLAN DE LA TOUR host “apéro-concerts” in the vineyards in the summer with garlands, guitars, food trucks, for a friendly and accessible atmosphere. In the Mâconnais, the Lugny Cellar launched “discovery Sundays” around wine and cheese pairings, which build loyalty among a regional audience while bringing its off-season tasting space to life.

These informal gatherings create a flow, fuel digital communication, and, above all, anchor the estate in local daily life. For local communities, the challenge is to support this dynamic by pooling an events calendar, offering shared communication, or providing logistical assistance. An attractive vineyard is, above all, one that makes people want to return.

4. Work on the style of the place

The style of a place speaks for itself even before it has been presented. And it does not depend on the budget, but on the coherence and the look . The atmosphere of a cellar can change completely with a few simple aesthetic choices: colors, lighting, materials, furniture, signage.

In the Loire Valley, the Domaine de l'Écu , in Loire-Atlantique, offers a fine example. A pioneer of biodynamics, it has redesigned its reception area with simple materials: raw walls, recycled wood furniture, artisanal lighting and works by local artists. The result is a place that is both uncluttered and warm, which translates in its aesthetic the same requirement that we find in its wines: purity, sincerity, energy. In Alsace, the ESTATE BOTT FRERES in Ribeauvillé has restored its old barrel room to create a tasting and reception space. Without seeking sophistication, the venue focuses on the warmth of the materials, natural light, and the dialogue between tradition and modernity.

The sources of inspiration are endless: Pinterest , design magazines, Instagram accounts of inspiring wineries or lifestyle brands. The challenge is not to imitate, but to find visual consistency with your wine and its history . And for those who want to go further, with CALICE Hospitality and Wines, we support estates and destinations in this aesthetic reflection , from planning advice to the creation of reception areas.

5. Build loyalty through relationships

The experience doesn't end with the winery's exit. However, loyalty remains the poor relation of French wine tourism. Many wineries offer thoughtful welcomes, but fail to cultivate the relationship afterward. Yet, the memory of a successful visit is a powerful lever for loyalty and direct sales.

At CLOS SAINT FIACRE , in the Loiret region, has established a lasting relationship with its visitors. After the visit, a personalized message is sent to maintain this connection, and twice a year, “friends of the estate” are invited to an open house or a harvest workshop. A simple gesture, but one that transforms the visit into a lasting relationship, based on gratitude and shared memories. Château de Pommard has developed a dedicated CRM, allowing the automation of seasonal newsletters, exclusive offers, and educational content. This digital model, designed as an extension of hospitality, shows that loyalty depends more on consistency than on resources. In this respect, comparable functions can also be implemented, at a lower cost, via standard website back offices such as WordPress or Wix .

For interprofessional organizations and territories, the relational lever deserves collective support, which could involve the proposal of newsletter models, practical sheets on customer data management, or training in post-visit communication; all concrete means to maximize the efforts of welcoming the property.

The wine tourism of tomorrow will not only be that of the largest cellars or the biggest budgets, but that of coherent and unique places.

Those who have been able to reveal their potential, who have given style without excess and life without necessarily too much artifice. Visitors do not always seek the spectacular, but they are sensitive to the right balance between sincerity and requirement. This is the philosophy that Calice Hospitality and Wines defends by supporting the estates and territories in the valorization of what they already have , by giving meaning to simplicity, by professionalizing without standardizing, to reveal the beauty of what already exists. Because in terms of wine tourism, attention is the most powerful investment.

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