Wine Regions
The world's wine regions
93+ in-depth regional guides across 11 countries — what's grown, why it matters, and how to visit.
By country
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FR France
France is the world's most influential wine nation, home to thousands of appellations and the benchmark for wi…
IT Italy
Italy is the world's largest wine producer by volume and home to an extraordinary diversity of indigenous grap…
ES Spain
Spain is one of the world's great wine nations, with a vineyard area larger than any other country and a wine …
AU Australia
Australia produces wines of exceptional quality across an extraordinary range of styles — from the bold, fruit…
NZ New Zealand
New Zealand produces distinctly aromatic, cool-climate wines with a global reputation out of proportion to its…
US United States
The United States is one of the world's most important and innovative wine producers, home to the Napa Valley …
AR Argentina
Argentina is South America's largest wine producer and the world's leading source of Malbec. High-altitude vin…
CL Chile
Chile is one of the world's geologically newest wine frontiers, with a long, narrow band of vineyards between …
ZA South Africa
South Africa is Africa's leading wine producer, centred on the Cape first planted by Dutch settlers in the 17t…
PT Portugal
Portugal produces some of the world's most distinctive wines, from the powerful, structured Douro reds that de…
DE Germany
Germany produces some of the world's greatest Riesling — aromatic, racy, and minerally — alongside elegant Spä…
All regions
Every region guide (93)
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is the world's most famous wine region and the benchmark for fine red blends. Left-bank gra…
Burgundy
Burgundy is the spiritual home of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, where a precise hierarchy of Grand Cru,…
Champagne
Champagne is the world's benchmark sparkling wine, made from chalk-grown grapes in a cool, marginal …
Rhône Valley
The Rhône Valley spans two worlds: the cool north, where Syrah reaches profound heights in Côte-Rôti…
Loire Valley
The Loire produces some of the world's most refreshing wines: the gooseberry snap of Sancerre, honey…
Alsace
Alsace sits in a rain shadow beneath the Vosges, producing intensely aromatic dry whites and rich la…
Provence
Provence is the world capital of pale, dry, elegant rosé and one of its oldest wine regions, whose M…
Languedoc-Roussillon
The world's largest wine region by volume has reinvented itself from bulk production to vivid, terro…
Jura
The Jura is France's most idiosyncratic region, famed for the sherry-like vin jaune, racy Poulsard r…
Savoie
Savoie produces Alpine-fresh whites from Jacquère, perfect partners for the region's famous cheeses …
Southwest France
The southwest is France's hidden cellar: deep-coloured Cahors Malbec, tannic Madiran, sparkling Gail…
Corsica
Corsica's maquis-scented hills produce aromatic, sun-bright wines from indigenous grapes.…
Beaujolais
Beaujolais is the home of Gamay, producing juicy, low-tannin reds from the playful Nouveau of Novemb…
Tuscany
Tuscany is Italy's most famous wine region, built on Sangiovese and cypress-lined hills. From cherry…
Piedmont
Piedmont is the home of Nebbiolo, the grape behind Italy's most serious wines: Barolo and Barbaresco…
Veneto
Veneto produces more wine than any other Italian region, from the billions of bubbles of Prosecco to…
Trentino-Alto Adige
One of Italy's most beautiful wine regions, the alpine Alto Adige produces some of Italy's finest Pi…
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia produces some of Italy's most precise, racy whites — the crisp Pinot Grigio an…
Sicily
Sicily has transformed from a bulk producer into one of the most exciting wine regions in Europe, le…
Sardinia
Sardinia's rugged interior produces the warm, generous Cannonau (Grenache) of the west and crisp sea…
Lombardy
Lombardy is home to Franciacorta, Italy's finest traditional-method sparkling wine made near Lake Is…
Emilia-Romagna
Emilia-Romagna is the home of the deep, frothy red Lambrusco and the birthplace of balsamic vinegar …
Campania
Campania grows vines on and around the volcano Vesuvius and the higher Irpinia hills, producing the …
Puglia
Puglia produces rich, sun-drenched reds from Negroamaro and Primitivo in the warm Salento peninsula …
Abruzzo
Abruzzo's signature grape is Montepulciano, producing deep, juicy reds with soft tannins alongside c…
Umbria
Umbria, the 'green heart of Italy', produces the powerful, tannic Sagrantino of Montefalco and the h…
Marche
The Marche produces Italy's finest Verdicchio whites and the plummy Rosso Conero, with a growing rep…
Rioja
Rioja is Spain's most famous wine region, built on Tempranillo and a centuries-old love affair with …
Ribera del Duero
Ribera del Duero produces some of Spain's most powerful, age-worthy reds at altitudes above 800 metr…
Priorat
Priorat is one of only two DOCa regions in Spain, producing dense, mineral, long-lived wines from ol…
Rías Baixas
Rías Baixas is the home of Albariño, producing saline, citrus-edged whites that are among the world'…
Rueda
Rueda produces Spain's modern crisp white, based on the ancient native Verdejo grape, which yields f…
Jerez (Sherry)
Jerez is the birthplace of Sherry, the world's most complex fortified wine, made in a unique biologi…
Penedès
Penedès is the heartland of Cava, made from indigenous whites by the traditional method, and the pro…
Catalonia
Catalonia is Spain's most dynamic and innovative wine region, from the Cava houses of Penedès to the…
Galicia
Galicia's rain-soaked green hills produce Spain's most refreshing wines — the Albariño of Rías Baixa…
Castilla y León
Castilla y León is Spain's powerhouse of high-altitude wines: the muscular reds of Ribera del Duero …
La Mancha
La Mancha is the largest continuous wine region on Earth, source of enormous volumes of everyday win…
Barossa Valley
The Barossa Valley is Australia's most famous wine region, famed for deeply coloured, ripe, generous…
McLaren Vale
McLaren Vale makes ripe, fleshy Shiraz and one of the world's best regions for old-vine Grenache, wi…
Clare Valley
The Clare Valley produces Australia's benchmark Riesling — intense, lime-juiced and age-worthy acros…
Adelaide Hills
The Adelaide Hills' cool elevation produces aromatic Sauvignon Blanc, elegant Chardonnay, fine Pinot…
Coonawarra
Coonawarra's famous cigar-shaped strip of terra rossa soil over limestone produces Australia's most …
Margaret River
Margaret River produces Australia's finest Cabernet and Chardonnay in a maritime climate, making pro…
Hunter Valley
The Hunter Valley is Australia's oldest wine region, famous for a singular style of taut, age-worthy…
Yarra Valley
The Yarra Valley, Victoria's first wine region, makes elegant cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay…
Mornington Peninsula
A cool, maritime region producing some of Australia's finest, most delicate Pinot Noir and Chardonna…
Tasmania
Tasmania's cool maritime climate produces Australia's finest sparkling wine and some of its most ele…
Orange
The Orange region, one of Australia's highest, uses altitude to make cool-climate Chardonnay, aromat…
Canberra District
The cool, high-altitude Canberra District is a source of refined, peppery Shiraz, age-worthy Rieslin…
Riverina
The irrigated Riverina is Australia's largest wine region by volume, best known for producing the co…
Great Southern
Western Australia's vast Great Southern region spans five subregions producing vibrant Riesling, pep…
Marlborough
Marlborough is the engine of New Zealand wine and the world's benchmark Sauvignon Blanc, famous for …
Central Otago
Central Otago, the world's most southerly wine region, produces internationally acclaimed, intensely…
Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay is New Zealand's oldest and warmest region and the home of its best red wines — Bordeaux…
Martinborough
Martinborough pioneered New Zealand's elegant, Burgundy-style Pinot Noir and produces some of the co…
Nelson
Nelson makes bright, aromatic Sauvignon and Chardonnay alongside fine Pinot Noir, in one of New Zeal…
Canterbury
Canterbury, centred on the lovely Waipara Valley, produces elegant Pinot Noir and racy Riesling in a…
Auckland
Auckland is New Zealand's oldest wine region, home to the nation's most historic producers, plus the…
Gisborne
The 'Chardonnay capital' of New Zealand, Gisborne makes rich, sunny whites from its warm east-coast …
Napa Valley
Napa Valley is America's most famous wine region and the global standard for New World Cabernet Sauv…
Sonoma
Sonoma is a diverse county of some eighteen AVAs, from the fog-cooled Pinot Noir and Chardonnay of t…
Paso Robles
Paso Robles is a freewheeling Central Coast region known for bold Zinfandel, Rhône-style blends and …
Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara's cool, west-east running valleys channel ocean fog to produce acclaimed Burgundian-st…
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is Oregon's premier region and the New World's most faithful expression of Bur…
Washington State
Washington's eastern Columbia Valley, with its big diurnal swings and irrigated desert soils, produc…
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes grow magnificent Riesling and other cool-climate grapes on steep, lake-moderated sl…
Virginia
Virginia, where Thomas Jefferson dreamed of great American wine, is today a rising star for elegant …
Oregon
Oregon built its reputation on world-class Pinot Noir and now claims the title of America's benchmar…
Mendoza
Mendoza is Argentina's wine powerhouse and the world capital of Malbec, growing deep-coloured, high-…
Uco Valley
The Uco Valley's high-elevation, calcareous vineyards at 1,100–1,500+ metres produce some of Argenti…
Salta
Salta grows the world's highest vineyards at up to 2,000+ metres, where extreme temperature swings p…
Patagonia
Patagonia's cool, breezy climate grows fresh, elegant expressions of Malbec, Pinot Noir and white va…
Maipo Valley
Chile's heartland and Alto Maipo's rugged Andean terraces make some of the country's — and the Andes…
Colchagua Valley
Colchagua is Chile's red-wine heartland and home of the Carmenère revival, producing the powerful, s…
Casablanca Valley
Casablanca is Chile's cool-climate pioneer, where persistent coastal fog ripens Sauvignon Blanc and …
Aconcagua
Aconcagua is one of Chile's most dramatic and historically important valleys, growing powerful struc…
Maule
Maule is a strikingly authentic, older-planting valley famous for its immense biodiversity, old-vine…
Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch is South Africa's most important wine district and the intellectual heart of the Cape, …
Paarl
Paarl is home to many of the Cape's grand historic estates and the Boschendal-style manor farms, pro…
Franschhoek
Franschhoek, the 'French corner' founded by Huguenots, pairs a stunning mountain setting with some o…
Constantia
Constantia is South Africa's oldest wine region, famed since the 18th century for the legendary swee…
Swartland
Swartland's rolling wheat fields hide some of the world's oldest Chenin Blanc, the driving force beh…
Walker Bay
Walker Bay and its Hemel-en-Aarde ('heaven and earth') valley are South Africa's Burgundy, producing…
Douro Valley
The Douro is the world's oldest demarcated wine region (1756) and the birthplace of Port, its stunni…
Dão
Dão's cooler granite highlands produce some of Portugal's most refined, age-worthy reds, with the fl…
Alentejo
Alentejo is Portugal's hot, sun-baked southern plain producing generous, plush, fruit-forward reds f…
Minho & Vinho Verde
Vinho Verde, cool and Atlantic-green, produces Portugal's signature light, crisp, slightly fizzy whi…
Jerez (Sherry)
Jerez gave the world sherry, made by the solera system from sun-dried Palomino into the bone-dry fin…
Mosel
The Mosel, with its dizzyingly steep blue-slate slopes and river-reflection warmth, makes some of th…
Rheingau
The Rheingau is where German Riesling found its modern form, a graceful stretch of south-facing slop…
Pfalz
The Pfalz is Germany's warmest region, producing rich off-dry Riesling, fine Spätburgunder and full-…
Nahe
The Nahe is a compact, brilliant Riesling region whose diverse slate, volcanic and sandstone soils p…