If you didn’t think the most wonderful time of the year could get any better, try heading to wine country. Many of the world’s wineries approach the holidays with a jeroboam of cheer, filling glasses with festive pours, lighting up vineyards with twinkling displays and making Santa a regular fixture at the tasting room.
One of the most enticing parts of a wine country Christmas isn’t the wine (though that’s always a draw), it’s how traditions are adopted and adapted by each region. In the French alps, wine is spiked with spices and heated to warm up revelers at the region’s Christmas markets. In Canada, carolers roam from winery to winery, singing for cups of mulled wine. In other regions, Santa frequently stops by throughout the season.
Considering Christmas in wine country? Head to one of these destinations that go all out.
Photography by Oleh Slobodeniuk Strasbourg, Alsace
The city certainly has earned the name, Capital of Christmas. “Christmas in Strasbourg is a magical time—the city shines with a thousand lights,” says Mélanie Pfister, owner of Domain Mélanie Pfister. “The streets are lit up and all the houses and stores are beautifully decorated: everyone pulls out all the stops to make the city even more beautiful.”
Every year for the last five hundred years, over 300 chalets have popped up in the Alsatian city’s downtown core. Each one offers their own holiday pleasures. Some pour mulled wine. Some sell souvenirs and crafts. And others peddle the region’s signature gingerbread
This Article was originally published on Wine Enthusiast
