As the days get longer (and hopefully warmer – fingers crossed everyone) we’re looking forward to hazy evenings spent sipping wine until well after sunset. The summer months promise perfect conditions for al fresco dinners and tasting tours of wine country, so there’s no better time to book one of our luxury villa holidays in Europe. Here’s our guide to the must-try wines of the continent – and the best places to sample them.
France: Sip Sancerre in the Loire Valley
Chateau De La Porte, Loire Valley – Oliver’s Travels
As you’ve probably worked out, this beloved white varietal is produced on the eastern end of the Loire Valley in the Sancerre region. Make the most of your tour by comparing terroirs : clay and limestone (white soils), limestone and gravel (small stones) and flinty silex are the three main soil profiles, determining if a wine will be a citrus sipper or herbaceous and richly textured.
Croatia: Taste rich reds at BIBICh
Villa Morro, Croatia – Oliver’s Travels
After a visit from Anthony Bourdain, this might be one of the best known Dalmatian wine producers. Vintner Alen Bibić specialises in bold red varietals, so book in for the winery’s multi-course tasting menu to sample some of the bigger blends, paired with traditional Croatian dishes. The Skradin risotto is a highlight, but you might not want to try recreating it at home – it takes up to 12 hours to cook.
England: Explore sparkling Sussex
Supernova, Sussex – Oliver’s Travels Made famous by critically acclaimed producers Nyetimber, Sussex sparkling wine is paving the way for the growth of English viticulture. The region is also home to one of England’s longest-established wineries – stop by the curiously named Breaky Bottom, tucked away beyond a dusty rural pathway in the South Downs, for a tour and complimentary tasting session.
Italy: Discover Dolcetto in Piedmont
Villa Sonni, Italian Lakes – Oliver’s Travels
Don’t judge Piedmontese wines on image alone – when it comes to Dolcetto, names can be deceiving. It’s often overlooked in favour of the more masculine sounding powerhouse, Barolo, but this balanced, complex varietal pairs perfectly with pasta dishes – and is light enough to sip on its own while lounging around your luxury villa.
Spain: Sample the joys of Jerez
Palacio Quintana, Andalusia – Oliver’s Travels
When you think of Spanish wine, it’s probably Tempranillo that comes to mind – but in Andalusia, you’re better off pairing your tapas with sherry, or jerez. It’s a complex fortified wine, not the sweet digestif we know as an export, and it’s incredibly food friendly. If you’re a sherry-tasting novice, try a light, fresh fino with olives and jamón. For more complex dishes, you’ll want to bring in a richer and more potent bottle of nutty amber amontillado or dark oloroso .
We have properties in lots more famous wine regions across Europe, so be assured you will find with us the best wine villa for your next holiday. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Contact our concierge team and they’ll do all the legwork for you!
Cyprus has beaches for almost every kind of holiday, from soft, pale sands and shallow family bays to turtle-nesting shores, watersports hubs, and quiet coves beneath cliffs. Better still, the island makes it easy to combine time beside the sea with ancient ruins, mountain villages, and lunches in coastal tavernas. The best beaches in Cyprus […]
The 10 Best Beaches in Mykonos
Mykonos may be known for its whitewashed lanes, late-night parties, and famous beach clubs, but its coastline has more range than the headlines suggest. Long sandy bays curve around the south of the island, while the north coast feels wilder, more exposed to the Aegean wind. The best beaches in Mykonos cover almost every mood. […]
10 Best Villas in Ibiza
The fabled ‘White Island’ is a place of many faces. On the one hand, Ibiza is renowned as a prime clubbing destination with a vibrant nightlife that’s a magnet for partygoers. But there’s more to the island than exclusive clubs and dancing ’til dawn! Further inland, you’ll find there’s a much more laid-back atmosphere among […]
Want to host your own Traitors-inspired weekend? Here’s everything you need to know
We know you’re watching it. And if you’re anything like us, you’re also thinking about playing it. It’s easy to feel confident while you’re watching from the sofa, but how would you really fare if you were tapped on the shoulder? Could you hold firm when accused or give yourself away before breakfast? Chances are, […]
How to Make the Most of Your 2027 Annual Leave
Annual leave is one of the year’s more finite pleasures. Used without much thought, it can quickly disappear into the occasional Friday and a handful of Mondays. Place it more strategically, however, and the same allowance can turn four days away from your desk into nine or even ten days elsewhere. Easter falls early in […]
Sense and Sensibility: Where to stay for a Jane Austen-inspired escape
On 25 September, this year’s Sense and Sensibility will introduce Jane Austen’s razor-sharp wit and biting social commentary to a whole new generation of gooey-eyed romantics. Like Emma Thompson’s much-loved 1995 adaptation and the novel long before it, the new film promises fierce heroines, men whose charms cannot always be trusted and – of course […]
Venice Film Festival 2026: Where to Stay
Every September, Venice – a city already accustomed to grand entrances – becomes the stage for cinema’s most anticipated arrivals. First held in 1932, the Venice International Film Festival is the oldest in the world. Its 83rd edition runs from 2–12 September 2026 on the Lido, the long barrier island separating the Venetian Lagoon from […]
10 European City Breaks and Where to Stay
One of the great pleasures of living in the UK is its access to the rest of Europe. It is easy to forget quite how extraordinary it is until you hear it from someone who has crossed an entire ocean to get here. The distinctly American idea of “doing Europe”, which tends to mean a […]
7 Days In… Corfu
In the turquoise Ionian, just off the coast of Albania, lies Greece’s greenest island. Stand at the north-west of the peninsula at Paleokastritsa, and you will see the whole landscape open before you. Lush, green hills rise from every angle, their cypress trees fringing the rocky bay out into endless azure, the old monastery above […]
Solar Eclipse 2026: Best Places to Watch in Spain & Where to Stay
On 12 August 2026, the solar eclipse will sweep across Spain, coinciding with the peak of the Perseid meteor shower on the same summer night. Near sunset, the moon will pass across the sun, drawing a narrow band of darkness over the country. Hours later, beneath an almost moonless sky, the Perseids will reach their […]
Edinburgh Festival Fringe & International Festival 2026: What to See and Where to Stay
Every August, artists and visitors from around the world flock to the Scottish capital for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. For a few weeks, the city gives over its lecture halls, churches, music venues, theatres and pub basements, turning them into stages for one of the year’s most interesting arts events. […]
7 Days in… Mallorca
The largest of the Balearic Islands has long worn its paradisiacal reputation with confidence. Along Mallorca’s south coast, there is white sand and calm, turquoise water. In the north, olive terraces and ochre villages climb towards the ridges of the Tramuntana, the mountain range that runs along the island’s north-west coast. Between them, pine-covered hillsides […]
The Odyssey: Where to Visit in Greece
In Book XII of the Odyssey, Odysseus’ men bind him to the mast of the ship, beeswax in their ears, as he listens to the song of the Sirens. No man, they say, has heard the tune and lived to tell the tale. But this is Odysseus; he has already outwitted the Cyclops Polyphemus, survived […]
Supernova, Sussex – Oliver’s Travels
