Gift of Travel: Food & Wine Trails Offers ’12 Trips of Christmas’

Looking for the ultimate holiday gift for the food & wine lover who has everything? Food & Wine Trails, a 29 year-old culinary travel company based in Sonoma County, is offering 12 food and wine focused vacations as gift-giving ideas. Each of the “Twelve Trips of Christmas” include culinary activities or extra amenities, such as a free wine tour, cash to spend on culinary shore tours, a private car and driver shore excursion, or even a free hotel night.

“Culinary travel is more than just eating and drinking on vacation. It’s about immersing yourself in the culture, cuisine, and traditions of a particular region,” says Food & Wine Trails President Larry Martin, “Each experience is unique: you could take a private cooking class with a local chef, dine on food prepared by Michelin-starred chefs, have a guided tour and tasting at the region’s best wine estates…the possibilities are endless.”

Food & Wine Trails “Twelve Trips of Christmas” list features both cruise and land tours all over the world. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a novice or a sophisticated home chef or wine collector, we have a vacation that any food and wine lover would love.” promises Martin.

#1 Trip 12-Night New Zealand wine cruise hosted by three top Oregon wineries with airfare, complementary gratuities and a $100 shipboard credit.
#2 Trip 7-Night cruise on Portugal’s Douro River with a $400 shipboard credit.
#3 Trip 9-Night “Flavors of Italy” land tour with first class hotel accommodations.
#4 Trip 14-Night Trans-Atlantic “Golf, Wine & Food” theme cruise from London to Boston with $500 shore excursion credit .
#5 Trip 10-Night F&WT’s President’s cruise with winery host Rochioli Vineyards with up to $440 in free benefits.
#6 Trip 5-Night biking tour through Northern California wine country on custom titanium bikes.
#7 Trip 8-Night Southern Spain cruise with daily wine tastings and two free wine tours.
#8 Trip 6-Night land tour discovering the delicacies of the Spanish region of Andalusia that includes wine with meals and a hands-on cooking class.
#9 Trip 7-Night Bordeaux wine cruise hosted by a Napa Valley’s Conn Valley Vineyards with up to $308 in free benefits.
#10 Trip Travel package to 2014 Hawaii Food & Wine Festival with free hotel nights.
#11 Trip 11-Night South African Winelands tour with special visits to former homes of Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.
#12 Trip 10-Night “Pearls of China” wine themed cruise with free private car and driver shore tour.

For more information about F&WT’s “Twelve Trips of Christmas,” call 800-367-5348 or visit http://www.foodandwinetrails.com. Please note some offers are time sensitive.

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Food & Wine Trails 2013 Wine Cruises Include One Featuring Tenuta dell’ Ornellaia Wine Events

Food & Wine Trails has announced their 2013 wine cruise series, with eleven adventures hosted by top California wineries and one hosted by one of Italy’s most famous wineries.

The 2013 California winery hosts include V.Sattui Winery, Martinelli Vineyards & Winery traveling with Foxen Winery, Mira Winery traveling with Ideology Cellars, Ramey Wine Cellars, Domaine Chandon, Sojourn Cellars, Duckhorn Vineyards, Tablas Creek Vineyard, Grigch Hills Estate and Cameron Hughes Wine.

On their Fourth Annual Wine Voyage, FOOD & WINE Magazine has partnered with the Italian Super Tuscan Tenuta dell’ Ornellaia. One of the few wineries in the world to receive a perfect 100/100 score from Wine Spectator, Ornellaia will be providing their wines for the onboard events including tastings and a wine-paired dinner.

These cruises sail the Mediterranean between April and October, because according to Food & Wine Trails President Larry Martin, “It’s the ancestral home to today’s wines and the best time of year to visit. When combined with the region’s natural beauty and popularity of the Mediterranean lifestyle and diet, it is no wonder that the Med has always the most popular destination for the food and wine lover.”

All Food and Wine Trails’ cruises include a private onboard wine program, and extras such as free or included gratuities, a $100 early-booking shipboard credit and discounted or free airfare from the US to Europe. Each cruise is held on a small to mid-size Oceania Cruises or Azamara Club Cruises ship, and is hosted by winemakers or winery principals.

Martin explains, “It’s important for us to offer great content and personal access to the movers and shakers of the wine-industry. All our programs not only include private tastings of library and current vintages, exclusive group parties, and winery hosted dinners, they also allow the guest to visit top wine estates while in port for private tours and luncheons. This makes each wine cruise a unique and educational experience.”

Stateroom prices for Food & Wine Trails’ 2013 wine cruises start at $1985 per person (double occupancy) with departures from April 21st with V.Sattui Winery through October 11th with FOOD & WINE Magazine and Tenuta dell’ Ornellaia.

Food and Wine Trails, 707A 4th Street, Santa Rosa CA 95404, 707-526-2922, foodandwinetrails.com.

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