Great Wine Regions
Where the world's great bottles are born. 22 places, mapped and ready to build a trip around.
Plan a trip on Trailwind →Douro Valley
PortugalBestVariesClimate43–91°FCurrencyEURLanguagePortugueseThe Comunidade Intermunicipal do Douro is an administrative division in Portugal. It replaced the Comunidade Urbana do Douro, created in 2004. It takes its name from the Douro River. The seat of the intermunicipal community is Vila Real. Douro comprises parts of the former districts of Bragança, Guarda, Vila Real and Viseu. The population in 2011 was 205,157, in an area of 4,031.58 square kilometres (1,556.60 mi2).
Napa Valley
United StatesBestVariesClimate41–93°FCurrencyUSDLanguageEnglishNapa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Napa County, California. It was established as the nation's second, the state and county's initial appellation on January 28, 1981 by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury after reviewing the 1978 petition submitted by the Napa Valley Vintners and the Napa Valley Grape Growers Association proposing the viticultural area named "Napa Valley."
Champagne
FranceBestApr–SepClimate34–77°FCurrencyEURLanguageFrenchChampagne is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the AOC rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, specific grape-pressing methods and secondary fermentation of the wine in the bottle to cause carbonation.
Mendoza Wine Region
ArgentinaBestVariesClimate39–88°FCurrencyARSLanguageSpanishMendoza, officially the City of Mendoza, is the capital of the province of Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. As of the 2010 census [INDEC], Mendoza had a population of 115,041 with a metropolitan population of 1,055,679, making Greater Mendoza the fourth largest census metropolitan area in the country.
Barossa Valley
AustraliaBestVariesClimate43–84°FCurrencyAUDLanguageEnglishThe Barossa Valley is a valley in South Australia located 60 kilometres (37 mi) northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major wine-producing region and tourist destination.
Bordeaux Wine Region
FranceBestVariesClimate39–82°FCurrencyEURLanguageFrenchBordeaux wine is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gironde department, with a total vineyard area of 110,800 hectares, is the second largest wine-growing area in France behind the Languedoc-Rousillon.
Chianti
ItalyBestVariesClimate36–86°FCurrencyEURLanguageItalianChianti is an Italian red wine produced in the Chianti region of central Tuscany, principally from the Sangiovese grape. It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a fiasco. However, the fiasco is now only used by a few makers of the wine; most Chianti is bottled in more standard-shaped wine bottles. In the late 19th century, Baron Bettino Ricasoli helped establish Sangiovese as the blend's dominant grape variety, creating the blueprint for today's Chianti wines.
Alsace
FranceBestVariesClimate34–79°FCurrencyEURLanguageFrenchRiesling and Gewurztraminer on the dry side of the Vosges, along a wine route of half-timbered villages.
Burgundy
FranceBestVariesClimate34–79°FCurrencyEURLanguageFrenchThe most finely subdivided vineyard land on earth, where a single road can separate two very different wines.
Colchagua Valley
ChileBestNov–AprClimate37–86°FCurrencyCLPLanguageSpanishChile's Carmenere heartland, with a wine train and the Andes on the horizon.
Hunter Valley
AustraliaBestMay–SepClimate45–88°FCurrencyAUDLanguageEnglishAustralia's oldest wine region, two hours from Sydney, and Semillon that ages for decades.
Loire Valley
FranceBestVariesClimate37–79°FCurrencyEURLanguageFrenchFour hundred kilometres of river, chateaux and every wine style there is, from Sancerre to Muscadet.
Marlborough
New ZealandBestNov–AprClimate34–70°FCurrencyNZDLanguageEnglishThe region that made New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc a global category, at the top of the South Island.
Okanagan Valley
CanadaBestJun–OctClimate27–88°FCurrencyCADLanguageEnglishA desert lake valley in British Columbia making ice wine and increasingly serious reds.
Piedmont
ItalyBestSep–NovClimate28–86°FCurrencyEURLanguageItalianBarolo and Barbaresco in the Langhe hills, best in October when the fog sits between the rows and truffle season opens.
Priorat
SpainBestVariesClimate36–90°FCurrencyEURLanguageSpanishTerraced slate slopes so steep the work is still done by hand. Tiny yields, enormous wines.
Ribera del Duero
SpainBestVariesClimate32–90°FCurrencyEURLanguageSpanishHigh plateau on the Duero with brutal temperature swings, which is exactly what the Tempranillo wants.
Rioja
SpainBestVariesClimate36–90°FCurrencyEURLanguageSpanishTempranillo aged long in oak, and a valley now dotted with Gehry and Calatrava winery architecture.
Sonoma Valley
United StatesBestVariesClimate39–88°FCurrencyUSDLanguageEnglishNapa's more relaxed neighbour, with more varied geography and fewer appointments required.
Stellenbosch
South AfricaBestOct–MarClimate45–86°FCurrencyZARLanguageZuluCape Dutch estates under granite mountains, half an hour from Cape Town.
Tokaj
HungaryBestVariesClimate28–82°FCurrencyHUFLanguageHungarianThe world's first classified wine region, in 1737, and the source of the sweet Tokaji the Habsburgs hoarded.
Willamette Valley
United StatesBestJun–OctClimate34–86°FCurrencyUSDLanguageEnglishOregon Pinot Noir, an hour from Portland, and harvest in late September is the moment to see it.