London, 7 March 2017: A marathon with wine breaks instead of water stations, harvest festival in the shadow of Sacré-Coeur, and a battle that uses Rioja as ammunition are 2017's most enjoyable festivals for wine lovers, according to SmoothRed (020 8877 4940; www.smoothred.co.uk). And the specialist in wine tours and holidays has tailor-made new special breaks for guests wanting to take part in these fun events.

Quaff wine on the run in Bordeaux

Le Marathon du Médoc, France

9 September

You've got to be fit and have a stomach of steel for the world's booziest race. The 26.2-mile run around the vineyards of Bordeaux features 23 stops where oysters or steak can be washed down with a few fine wines. Just the thing to get your second wind.

A three-night trip, Le Marathon du Médoc Experience, departing 8 September, costs £1,294 per person, based on two sharing, including return flights to Bordeaux, B&B in a luxury chateau in the Pessac vineyards with access to spa and pool, marathon registration, half-day private chauffeured wine tour and tastings in Saint-Émilion vineyards, including lunch, and a tour and tasting at a prestigious estate in Pessac.

Have a riotous time in Rioja

La Batalla del Vino, Spain

28-30 June

Thousands join in this annual wine fight, drenching each other in Rioja in a free-for-all that takes place on a hill just outside the town of Haro. For those with any energy left, there's partying in the streets to follow.

A three-night trip, La Batalla del Vino Experience, departing 27 June, costs from £994 per person, based on two sharing, including return flights to Bilbao, B&B at a three-star boutique hotel in Logroño, car hire, one full-day chauffeured wine tour with tastings at three family run wineries, local tapas lunch paired with wines – and free time to join in the wine fight.

Bring in the grape harvest – in Paris

Fête des Vendanges de Montmartre, France

11-15 October

The heart of urban Paris, in the shadow of Sacré-Coeur, may seem an unusual place to celebrate the grape harvest. Yet this festival in the 18th arrondissement, the only district of the French capital with working wineries, has been marking the annual ritual since 1934. As you might expect, the whole event maintains an urbane air, with poetry readings another main attraction of the programme.

A two-night trip, Fête des Vendanges de Montmartre Wine Experience, departing 13 October, costs from £669 per person, based on two sharing, including return Eurostar tickets, private transfers, B&B in a boutique three-star hotel in the city centre, a wine and cheese tasting-and-pairing lunch in a 17th-century cellar – and time to visit the festival.

For more new packages and recommended wine events in 2017, visit the SmoothRed blog.

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For further information and images, or to arrange press trips or interviews with Adam Stebbings, managing director of SmoothRed, please email travelnews@traveltappers.co.uk. Alternatively, contact Kate Simon on 07939 526109 and kate@traveltappers.co.uk or Simone Kane on 07811 161839 and simone@traveltappers.co.uk. Traveltappers is a trading name of Little Black Book Creative Ltd.

Notes to editors:

SmoothRed is a specialist in tailor-made wine tours, holidays and events, as well as other themed holidays, for the leisure and corporate markets. The London-based tour operator was established in 2004 and is run by the Stebbings family, which has been immersed in the wine trade for six generations.