St. Vincent Wine Festival @ Huis Ten Bosch サンヴァンサンワイン祭り＠ハウステンボス 2012

Just an announcement.

This year's St. Vincent Wine Festival サンヴァンサンワインの祭 will be held from

September 29th (Sat) to October 21st (Sun).

For the regular ticket, costing 2000yen, you can sample 200 different kinds of wine from all over the world. If you upgrade to the Gold ticket, for an extra 1000yen, you can taste an additional 20 "premium" wines, which are of a far higher quality and value. There is also a kids' pass (or for drivers) available for 700yen, allowing you to sample 5 different kinds of juice!

The wine festival is part of the "Great European Festival" 大ヨーロッパ 祭 which is currently running and concludes on October the 31st (Wed). Apart from the wine festival, the European Festival also includes a  90minute, 1000yen "all-you-can-drink" draught beer campaign (生ビール1000円飲み放題）and some dishes from around Europe - for example, Swiss fondue, Spanish paella, Russian beef stroganoff etc. They do seem a bit expensive though, so bring your own cheese and snacks if you like - or try and get a few free samples!

There is also a parade held at different times of the day and a "European Horror Night"!
Please note there is an entry fee to the actual park as well - so it might bump the price up!

Anyway, have fun if you go and I might see you there.

St. Vincent Wine Festival @ Huis Ten Bosch サンヴァンサンワイン祭り＠ハウステンボス

For roughly two weeks, every October, Huis Ten Bosch hosts a popular wine tasting festival.
There are wines from all over the world although, unsurprisingly, most are from France and Italy.

The Top Ten

For a mere ￥1500 you can get a regular wine pass - this gives the holder the opportunity to sample 100 different wines. There are also limited regular passes costing ￥2000, which come with a free bottle of wine to down at your leisure.
The "Gold Pass" sounds much better, and it is! It's ￥2500, but with that you get to taste the usual 100 wines PLUS 10 higher grade wines. The selling price of these wines range from about ￥3500 to ￥6500 a bottle...and you can try them as many times as you like.
If you are feeling flush, or want to treat yourself to something extra special, then you can blow ￥5000 on a "Premier Pass". You can quaff the regular 100 and the special 10 - plus you get to try a glass of a specially selected vintage wine.
Got kids? Don't worry! There is a special kids soft drink pass, costing ￥700 for the chance to try 5 different fruit juices. Some of the juices tasted nicer than a few of the wines actually.

Some of the 100

There are also plenty of stalls and shops selling all sorts of meats, cheeses and snacks plus Huis Ten Bosch is home to many restaurants of differing quality.

German style sausages...great with a cold beer!

If you get tired of wine then why not try a beer? The newly refurbished booze shop now contains 100s of beers from all over the world - possibly the best selection to be found in Kyushu! You can even drink them outside if you like, or take them home and enjoy them with a friend. On top of that there are also many fantastic, though pricey, wines and of course many varieties of Japanese grog.

Some great beers...

If you drink too much vino then why not stay at one of HTBs many lovely hotels - there are often fantastic deals on Rakuten, which sometimes include dinner and breakfast or a free pass into the theme park!

The Watermark Hotel

The festival runs this year from now until Sunday, October the 23rd. Doors open from 11am to 8pm - but if you have to pay a theme park entrance fee then you should consider perhaps going there from 5pm - 8pm as after 5pm entry to the park is dicounted to ￥1000.

For more information please check out the Huis Ten Bosch website

http://www.huistenbosch.co.jp/