How can you create a unique wine tourism experience?
A unique experience cannot be invented — it is revealed
There are vineyards you forget as soon as you leave. And others you’re still talking about months later. The difference isn’t always down to the quality of the wine. It often lies in what you’ve experienced.
Creating a unique wine tourism experience isn’t about adding entertainment or cramming in more activities. It’s about revealing what’s already there — the place, its history, its values, its people — and making it accessible, tangible and memorable.
Aligning with the place, its values, its setting
Before thinking about the tools, think about the substance. What makes your estate different from the one next door?
This isn’t a rhetorical question. It’s the starting point for any successful experience. An estate that has been organic for three generations doesn’t have the same story as a century-old cooperative winery in the heart of a city. A winemaker who has taken over the family estate after ten years away does not have the same story as a new winemaker who has left everything behind to plant his first vines.
These stories are unique. They deserve to be told — not glossed over in a generic discourse about ‘love of the terroir’.
A wine tourism experience that is in tune with its setting is a coherent experience: the tone, the words, the images, the sounds — everything resonates with what the visitor sees around them. Nothing feels forced. Everything seems natural, obvious, right.
The power of sound and immersion
We often underestimate the role of sound in a visitor experience.
An information panel, even a well-written one, remains a cold piece of information. It requires an effort to read. It competes with the view, the light, the atmosphere of the place. And often, visitors walk past without really stopping.
A voice in your ears is something else entirely. It speaks directly to the individual. It creates a connection, even if only virtual. It leaves the eyes free to look, observe and feel. The brain processes speech and images simultaneously — the experience becomes richer, more intense, more memorable.
This is something museums have long understood with audio guides. The wine world is beginning to explore it — and the potential is immense, precisely because wine is already a sensory experience.
The winemaker’s voice: authenticity that nothing can replace
In an audio tour, you can choose a professional, warm and well-recorded voice. It’s a perfectly valid option, and it works well.
But when it is the winemaker’s own voice that you hear — with his accent, his hesitations, his enthusiasm when he talks about his vines — something happens.
It is no longer a guided tour. It is a conversation. A passing on of knowledge.
The visitor realises they are being welcomed by someone who knows every plot, every vintage, every decision made over the seasons. This voice says what no sign can: I am here, even when I am not.
That is authenticity. Not a marketing buzzword — a tangible reality, felt from the very first moments of listening.
A double benefit: freedom for the visitor, peace of mind for the estate
A well-designed experience benefits both parties.
For the visitor: they explore at their own pace, without waiting for a guide to become available, without feeling rushed or lagging behind the group. They choose what interests them, lingering where they are moved. This autonomy is experienced as respect — not as neglect.
For the estate: the team isn’t constantly tied up repeating the same explanations. They can focus on what truly creates value: tasting, sales, and building relationships when visitors have specific questions after their tour.
It’s no less personal. It’s human time put to better use.
Where to start?
The first step isn’t to record anything. It’s to answer three questions:
What makes my estate unique? Not what you think visitors want to hear — what is true, what is uniquely yours.
Which areas are open to visitors? Vineyards, gardens, exhibition rooms, tasting areas — the spaces accessible to the public define the possible tour route.
What story do you want your visitors to take away with them? An impression, an emotion, an anecdote. Not a list of technical specifications.
Once these answers are clear, the rest — the content, the audio, the layout — follows naturally.
Technically, the tour begins with a simple scan of a QR code, using a 4-digit access code unique to your estate. It works offline — downloaded in seconds at the entrance, it continues even where the network drops out.
That’s what we do with you at Merci Gabin. Not in your place — with you.
Photo: Magda Ehlers / Pexels
Xavier Adraste is the founder of Merci Gabin, a platform offering digital audio tours for wine estates.