After some years in academia and many years in the international civil service, I retired to pursue my true love, of wines, walking and writing. I have spent much of my time leading wine walking groups throughout Europe and further afield. Since more than twenty years I have been a member of jury at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in the UK, and also occasionally at other contests. I am also a wine consultant.

In addition to my interest in wine & spirits, I have researched and written about spas, in particular in the field of wine wellness/wine therapy.

Over the past 4 years, the International Wine Tourism Conference has given me a venue to share my experience in wine and spas with the stakeholders in wine tourism. I research wine growing areas suited for wine tourism and make presentations at the Conference for the travel agents in search of tour destinations.

Jochen Erler delivered a talk titled

A rest day on a wine tour  – Wine Wellness/ Wine Therapy in Spas.

The ideal place to rest on a wine tour is a spa. So have you tried a spa that offers wine wellness/wine therapy?

Wine therapy is the most recent fashion in spa treatment. The medicinal aspect of it is based on the oil extracted from the pips and stems of the grapes.  Ideally, the spa has a natural mineral source.

The Cathiards at Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte were the first to offer this. These pioneers and founders of wine therapy developed this concept through a collaboration with Professor Vercauteren from the University of Pharmacy in Bordeaux.

Today, there are other brands of wine-based products for skin care on the market. In my presentation I will review some of these brands and highlight the most important wine spas in Germany, France, Luxembourg, Austria and Italy.

Get the speaker notes here>>