ABOUT WINE & FOODIE TRAVEL.CO
What is WINE & FOODIE TRAVEL.CO all about?
Wine & Foodie Travel.Co is a boutique wine & gastronomic travel design consultancy, a team of highly motivated people that love wine, food, culture and luxury all at the same time.
We are about absorbing the true culture of each fascinating destination, while (of course) indulging on its scrumptious food, drink and delicacies. YUM
We love showing you interesting bars and restaurants, finding the boutique hotels with no sign in front of it, sending you on unique and private gastronomic adventures, introducing you to local artisans or celebrated family wine producers.
Whether you’re looking for a romantic weekend for two or a gastronomic girls getaway, we are here to help you.
If you are thinking that this seems unachievable because you have children, look no further, we believe that family travel doesn’t need to mean all-inclusive resorts, our suggestions will include advice on how and where is best for gastronomic trips with children, of all ages. We believe that if children are exposed to different places and flavours at a young age, this will provide them with the building blocks to become avid explorers and creative travellers later in life.
A few words from our founder, Sophie:
“Making your mouth water, engaging your senses and having fun, is what we are all about. Wine & Foodie Travel.Co is for experienced travellers who ’live to eat.”
We Believe
Every place has its own unique culture, and we believe that food and wine is often the driving force behind the identity of each destination.
Having insider knowledge about exclusive destinations, meeting the locals that make a place tick, avoiding the opulent tourist traps, is what we believe real luxury is about.
Revealing secrets of the culinary and cultural traditions passed down through generations and enabling you to take that knowledge away with you, is the cherry we give on the top. Focusing on this, keeps these cultures and traditions alive.
This is luxury gastronomic travel in our eyes.
“Our wine & foodie travel design service enables stress-free planning, followed by a combination of relaxation and fun, luxurious comfort, extravagance and indulgence – which is what we believe makes the perfect holiday. We hope you have a fabulous time away and don’t forget to come back to us to design your next trip.” Sophie Founder
Where are we based?
Our founder Sophie, and core team of wine & foodie travel planners is based in the Swiss Alps and the north of Italy, and our Destination Insiders are in corners all over the world.
We work a lot on Zoom and WhatsApp.
If you are in the neighbourhood, let’s pop out to a local restaurant or bar for our meeting.
What’s a Destination Insider?
We have built up connections all over the world so we can provide you with real insider knowledge – we call these experts our ‘Destination Insiders’, they grew up, live, or have lived in each of the destinations we recommend.
Destination Insiders are a vital part of our unique offering.
Our Journey
WINE & FOODIE TRAVEL.CO is part of Above & Beyond Sarl, a luxury travel & concierge business registered in Verbier in Switzerland.
We have been in business since 2015 and have designed gastronomic experiences for clients around the world.
Our founder Sophie, started the business in Verbier in the Swiss Alps, arranging James Bond Style foodie experiences, which included romantic picnics with paragliding brides, heli dining elopements, marriage proposals on glaciers, and dog sledding to champagne aperitifs.
We then added Italy to our books, organising culinary trips such as truffle hunting in Alba, wine tasting in Valpolicella and pasta making in Puglia, which was when our gastronomic travel consultancy started to spread its wings.
More recently we have been designing trips all over the world including the vibrant dining scenes of Madrid, tented banquet experiences in the Arabian desert, rooftop dining in Marrakesh and Iftar feasting in Oman.
Our founder Sophie
Sophie, her journey to Switzerland and why she thinks it’s a paradise
My interest in Switzerland began when I was very young. One of my earliest memories goes back to the age of 4, when my parents were preparing to take me on my first skiing holiday. My grandmother took me aside and told me about the time when she had been lucky enough to go to school in Switzerland, a place she called ‘paradise’, in Le Châtelard, near Montreux before the war. She told me that skiing was simply the best thing in the world, along with skating and learning French, and that she hoped I would love skiing and speaking French as much as she did. I remember her telling me about her Swiss ski teacher, Monsieur Accola, and eating cheese fondue, her favourite food at school. Every birthday, my mother would ask me what I wanted to eat. While most children say birthday cake, I always asked for cheese fondue, a tradition I’ve always kept. Switzerland was constantly in my dreams.
I promised myself (at the age of 5) that I would practice French as much as possible so that one day I could live in Switzerland and teach skiing like Monsieur Accola. By the end of school in 1999 my dreams had got bigger, I decided I wanted to revolutionise the idea of team building in businesses, I couldn’t understand how sitting in an office cracking puzzles was enough to build a strong team, and I decided I wanted to organise amazing inspiring trips for businesses with James Bond Style experiences in the snow in Switzerland.
No other country I have visited offers the sense of security we have in Switzerland, none are as beautiful, none offer the opportunity to use multiple languages day in, day out, no other country in the world offers the inclusive democratic landscape we have here either and, most importantly, the cheese, the chocolate and the wine!
I finally moved to the mountains and got to teach skiing in 2013. In 2015, I launched Above & Beyond Verbier, which organises James Bond Style experiences, as well as adventure marriage proposals, and exclusive picnics on top of the glacier. I havent looked back since then.
Switzerland and specifically Verbier was the paradise I had been looking for, the cherry on the top in terms of the options for running and hiking, the kilometres of pistes, the daily sunshine, the unobstructed views, the gastronomy, history, amazing glaciers where I can host extraordinary picnics in the snow and most importantly the smiley faces. What more could anyone ask for?
Her love affair with Italy
I started organising gastronomic trips for clients in Italy back in 2015, which was an anniversary trip to Alba in Piedmont for an American couple. We designed a fabulous trip to the famous White Truffle Festival, including a fascinating truffle hunting experience and wine tasting session for them in Barolo. I have since organised numerous holidays, wine trips, honeymoons, proposals and foodie tours all over Italy.
While I live in the Swiss Alps, I am less than an hour’s drive from the Italian border, so as a result am in Italy most weeks. At various points of my life, I have lived in Italy. In Aosta, in the northern Italian Alps, with frequent visits to Milan; in Rome with its central position and proximity to Naples and the Amalfi coast; and Puglia in the heel of Italy, on the Adriatic and Ionian seas, next to Basilicata and Campagnia.
Being a sommelier, my favourite region in Italy would have to be Tuscany for its sumptuous wines, but I also love its coastline and the historical cities of Siena and Florence. Without a doubt my most favourite city in Italy is Rome, which is in my opinion, the most romantic city in the world, then I do also have a soft spot for the wild and rugged coast of Puglia on the heel of Italy.
While I have travelled all over the globe, 57 countries and counting, nowhere beats Italy for a romantic holiday destination due to its fascinating history, unrivaled ancient ruins, diverse and welcoming culture, fabulous wines, sumptuous gastronomy, imposing mountains and never-ending coastline, as well as it’s comforting Mediterranean climate. What a country!