A wine tourism rating system for wine estates: good or bad idea?

Last week, the Michelin Guide announced the creation of a new distinction dedicated to wine estates, the Michelin Grape, which will be awarded starting in 2026. This distinction evaluates the quality of production according to five criteria focused on technical mastery, agronomic quality, stylistic consistency, and the regularity of the wines. It does not take into account the welcome, the tour, the accommodation, the food, the architecture, the cultural activities, or any other element related to hospitality.

This focus on wine comes at a time when wine tourism in France is experiencing remarkable growth. According to Atout France, 2023 saw 12 million wine tourists, including 5.4 million from abroad, representing an increase of approximately 20% in seven years. The sector relies on nearly 10,000 wineries open to the public and is among the most dynamic drivers of French cultural tourism.

It is precisely this context that gives full meaning to the following question, already discussed for many years within Atout France with wine and tourism professionals: should France imagine a wine tourism rating system for wine estates? A classification that would not be focused solely on wine, but on the entire hospitality experience offered.

A rich but fragmented offering: the clarity of the French wine tourism offering remains a major challenge for visitors

Since 2009, the Vignobles & Découvertes label has enabled France to take a significant step forward in structuring its wine tourism offerings. With 75 labeled destinations and more than 8,700 partner providers, it guarantees consistent visitor services across the country, fosters networking among stakeholders, and helps visitors gain an initial understanding of the quality of the offerings.

But this label, by design, doesn't rank resorts . It assesses the coherence of a region, not the individual quality of an experience. A resort within a labeled destination can offer an exceptional or a very basic experience; the label doesn't really differentiate between them.

Quality awards exist, such as the Wine Tourism Trophies, Best Of Wine Tourism, as well as certain regional initiatives and architectural prizes. These awards recognize specific aspects of hospitality, design, or innovation according to specific criteria. They highlight individual initiatives, but not an overall level of service that is easily understood by visitors.

Visitors thus find themselves in a paradoxical situation: the offering is rich, diverse, and creative, but there is no common scale to immediately understand what they can expect from a given estate . At a time when international clientele is growing significantly, particularly from North America, Asia, and Northern Europe, this lack of a simple benchmark makes accessing French vineyards more difficult. These visitors are accustomed to classification systems that structure their decision-making, especially in the hotel and restaurant sectors.

Like other cultural and tourist sectors, wine tourism certainly has labels, prizes and distinctions, but it does not yet benefit from a single national benchmark that clearly qualifies the quality of the welcome in a wine estate.

Why is the question of a wine tourism rating system becoming central today?

In a decade, the visitor experience at wineries has profoundly changed. Estates are investing heavily in renovating or creating reception and tasting areas, including cellars open to the public, landscaped gardens, on-site accommodations, restaurants, immersive experiences, educational workshops, screening rooms, and event spaces. The experience is no longer a simple visit; it's a cohesive whole, conceived and designed as a true immersion into the world of the estate.

This evolution of hospitality in vineyards is accompanied by a structural shift in public expectations. The contemporary wine tourist wants to understand, feel, learn, and have an experience. They want to meet people, become part of a story, and discover a terroir through accessible, authentic, and precise guidance. The tasting itself becomes a step in a broader journey that must be narrated, contextualized, and brought to life. Wine alone is no longer enough; hospitality is what makes the difference.

On an international scale, private organizations like the World's 50 Best Vineyards have understood this by integrating the experience into their ranking system. They value estates not only for the quality of their wines, but for their ability to offer a coherent whole where architecture, gastronomy, landscape, hospitality, and level of service play a decisive role.

In this rapidly evolving global landscape, France finds itself in an ambiguous position. It boasts unparalleled wine tourism opportunities, yet lacks a national system for assessing the quality of hospitality . This penalizes estates that genuinely invest in their experience. It also renders invisible emerging regions that are nonetheless brimming with creativity and quality.

A wine tourism classification system would not standardize this diversity, but rather reveal, recognize, and clarify it. It would be a structuring tool serving wineries, regions, and visitors; whereas, nevertheless, experience booking platforms such as Winalist or Rue des Vignerons are doing important work in clearing and promoting the area, and where review sites such as TripAdvisor or Google Reviews also provide visitors with information about the content and quality of an offer.

A discussion to be opened, with lucidity.

The announcement of the Michelin Grape system demonstrates a growing interest in benchmarks within the wine world. It also implicitly highlights the fact that the wine tourism experience, now central to the added value of wineries, lacks a common standard . This absence raises questions, but does not necessarily necessitate a classification system.

Imagining a wine tourism rating system modeled on hotel classification would offer several perspectives: better readability for visitors, clearer recognition of investments made, a structuring tool for territories, and perhaps a lever for competitiveness in an international context where experience counts as much as wine.

But such a system would also raise major questions: how to guarantee a fair assessment, adapted to the diversity of vineyards and hospitality models? What control mechanisms should be used? What costs or administrative burdens would this entail for estates, in a sector already facing a mountain of standards, procedures, and constraints ? How can we prevent a tool designed to enhance value from becoming an additional source of pressure?

It is these tensions, between readability and complexity, between enhancement and constraint, that make the subject particularly sensitive.

French wine tourism is at a pivotal moment. The richness and quality are there; it is their visibility that now needs to improve.

Should we move towards a wine tourism classification, or preserve a freer and more flexible approach?

More than an answer, it is a question that it seems useful to bring back to the agenda in order to find a consensus that is truly useful to the industry and valid for visitors.

I invite you to contribute to this discussion in the comments. www.calicehospitality.com