My wife and I are looking at planning a vacation with our adult children who are in their late 20’s and share our passion for food and wine. A villa in Tuscany would be one thought. Curious of suggestions from BB members.
Loire Valley…castles and chateau, da Vinci museum, mushroom cave/tiny chateau, biking, the river
Well Italy would have been my 1st thought.
Frankly though, good food and wine doesn’t especially narrow the country down 
, so it leaves plenty of wiggle room to pander to other interests as well
Time of year would make a difference to suggestions. In summer it’s best to avoid the cities and instead to head into the hills/mountains or the coast. In winter, the cities are ideal. The rest of the year allows for a nice split location break where you take in city and rural.
Any other interests or factors that may influence your decision - maybe something from the below list or something else
- Art / Culture
- Architecture
- History
- Walking, cycling
- Other sports / activities
- Touristy / Moderately touristy / Not very touristy / Far from the madding crowd
- Mountains / Hills / Coast / Lakes
- festivals / events
- Active day trippers / happy to investigate locally / high concentration of options nearby
- Famous sites / Under the radar
- [EDIT] English speakers only / Enough Italian to give it a go where English may not be understood
- Smart & respectable / Earthy, edgy and vibrant
- Potential flight entry points (sometimes a great flight deal can drive the debate)
Just shout out what appeals and hopefully it will help bring out some options that suit the family well.
regards
Ian
Paris. Or maybe London. But… Paris. Unless you want to go to a resort somewhere in the summer (Greek Islands, Italian/French/Spanish coasts, etc). We’ve done a few together over the years.
They (28, 31 and living on separate coasts and off the payroll - mostly) are joining us in Paris for a week at the end of October. Our son came last year and liked it much more than he thought he would, so he is coming back. Our daughter travels with us more often, even though she lives on the other coast. We have room for them in our rental apartment, but dinners are going to be astonishingly expensive. My wife and I would rather spend their inheritance with them.
Waiting for my mom to take her adult son on a vacation. I do love food and wine
There are no shortage of options around the world, especially with the US dollar on the upswing, so Ian’s point of narrowing it down based on some other factors is pretty valid. How long you want to go for may be a factor in how far you want to travel. Portugal or Spain are always high on my list of places to go.
How about Chile or Argentina? - plenty of good food and wine there, as long as you aren’t vegetarians. A plug for my own part of the world too - NZ or Australia (70 odd regions to choose from)
Totally depends on what you all like to do. A villa can be a bit limiting or claustrophobic if it is in the middle of nowhere and some portion of the group are more city oriented. We did a villa in the hills of western Tuscany that allowed for easy trips to the beach in forte de marmi as well as great restaurants in numerous towns and villages. Plus you can do Florence on the front or back end. That said, I might also consider the Como region.
We did a trip to Spain this summer with much younger kids and had a great time. So many different regions. We headed south to the beach in Marbella and then on to Sevilla and finally Madrid. Trains were great and we loved the food and wine. And it was actually pretty affordable. Alternatively, we considered going from San Sebastián up to Biarittz and then Bordeaux.
Lots of great choices in Europe though.
Paris. Just too easy.
For food and wine and depending on the length of time:
Bologna/Modena/Parma
Then to to Cinque terre
Then to Genoa and Liguria
Then to the Piedmont
If you don’t have time for all (who does?) focus on what you are most interested in
Food: Bologna/Modena/Parma
Beach and scenery: Cinque Terre
Food/Scenery: Liguria
Wine: Piedmont
If you do go for a villa really focus on proximity to a town. It’s lovely to be in the open countryside but when someone needs to drive for dinner every day…
Portland seems trendy for New Yorkers to visit for food and wine. 
Ian:
I cut and pasted your reply and forwarded it to them. My wife and I can easily answer all of the above quickly but I will see where their priorities lie. Thank you.
Hi Mont
Cool - great to see everyone gets a vote - a sure fire way to ensure the holiday will g0o smoothly.
One book I’d recommend if you’re unsure of places to go in Italy, and oddly not in the main for its main feature (listings of interesting food shops, which can be a little out of date these days). It’s Fred Plotkin’s Italy for the gourmet traveller, and the pre-amble to each of the towns/cities is generally a joy to read. His descriptions have often influenced our decision making.
For food shops, although it’s in Italian, and currently only available for (free) download to apple devices, I swear by the breadth/coverage and reliability of the annual Golosario book, and the free app (merely scanned pages of the food shop part of the book) is very handy indeed. The main book also covers producers very well, though its wine & dining listings aren’t especially strong (IMO).
regards
Ian