Major Wine
Regions of the World
We invite you to pick a region to learn
more, or read on for an overview of the
major wine producing regions of the world:
The Finest Wine Regions by Country
United States
Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Mendocino,
Sierra Foothills, Monterey County, Edna
Valley, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara County
from California. Willamette Valley from
Oregon. Columbia Valley from Washington
State.
Australia
Barossa Valley, Margaret River, Hunter
Valley
New Zealand
Marlborough, Martinborough, Hawkes Bay
Chile
Maipo Valley, Casablanca
Argentina
Mendoza
South Africa
Stellenbosch
France
Bordeaux, Loire Valley, Alsace, Champagne,
Burgundy, Rhone Valley, Provence, Languedoc,
Southwest France, Savoie and Jura
Italy
Piedmont, Tuscany, Veneto, Trentino-Alto
Adige, Friuli, Campania, Puglia, Marche,
Abruzzo, Siciliy and Sardinia
Germany
Rheingau, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Pfalz, Nahe,
Rheinhessen
Spain
Jerez (sherry), Rioja, Ribera del Duero,
Priorat, Penedes, Toro, Rueda, Rias Baixas,
Montsant and Terra Alta.
Portugal
Porto, Dao, Alentejo, Douro
Hungary
Tokaji, Szekzardi
What Makes a Good Wine Region?
Wine has become so popular around the
world that wine grapes have been planted
in places new to the grape. With advances
in drip irrigation and vine canopy management,
grapes can now grow where it was prohibitively
hot. In America there is a commercial winery
in all 50 states. Southern England, thought
to be too wet and cold for wine grapes,
has wineries.
All of these winemakers are dedicated
to wine and spend large amounts of money
and backbreaking work realizing their dream.
To make fine wine on a consistent basis,
however, there must be a happy marriage
of climate, soil and grape variety. For
that we rely primarily on Mediterranean-style
climates as our most inviting. You see,
the climate not only has to be a temperate
one, the right sequence of weather must
occur. Rain must come, but only at the
right times of the growing cycle. Sunny
weather is necessary, but too much sun
can burn the grapes. Too much humidity
can result in growing mildew that is bad
for grapes. For that reason there are surprisingly
few regions in the world capable of growing
fine wine grapes.
The countries that produce the most most
wine is as follows: France, Italy, Spain,
United States, Argentina, South Africa,
Germany, Romania, Australia, Portugal,
Chile, Hungary, Serbia, Greece, Moldova,
Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Russia, Austria,
Uzbekistan, Mexico, Switzerland, Uruguay,
Macedonia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Georgia,
Japan, Slovakia, Czech Republic, New Zealand
and Cyprus. Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria and
Israel all make wine, and wine grapes are
now being cultivated in the far east, China
the greatest producer. Canada makes wine,
though its main export success is, naturally, “ice
wine.”
The World’s Classic, Most Ageworthy
Wine Regions
The list of world-class wine regions is
narrower, although technology is allowing
once local producers to raise their quality
to world-class standards.
The list of wine regions where wine can
be aged to greatness is the smallest of
all, but are the most celebrated in the
world. Bordeaux, Sauternes, Burgundy, Vouvray,
Hermitage, Chateauneuf-du-Pape all are
in France. Germany’s Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
and Rheingau. Italy’s Barolo. Hungary’s
Tokaji, Spain’s Rioja and Sherry.
Portugal’s Porto. That’s about
it. The big 13:
Bordeaux
Sauternes
Burgundy
Vouvray
Hermitage
Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Rheingau
Tokaji
Barolo
Rioja
Sherry
Porto
Certainly there are micro-terroirs that
have made great wine. Vega Sicilia Unico
in Spain’s Ribera del Duero, Domaine
Tempier Bandol in France’s Provence
region and Nicolas Joly Coulée de
Serrant in France’s Loire valley
come to mind. And though their surrounding
regions all make good wine, there aren’t
many who can consistently claim to produce
wine that can be greater after 30 years
like the big 13 above.
There are very popular wine regions in
fashion today benefiting from New World
innovation: California, Oregon, Washington
State, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina
and the old-world wines of Italy’s
Brunello di Montalcino and Spain’s
Priorat, Toro, Montsant and Bierzo have
gone from obscurity to cult status in less
than a generation. Whether any of these
wines will evolve beyond their immediate
popularity to greatness is an open question.
Most wine producing countries have laws
which govern their wine producing regions.
The purpose of the laws is to maintain
order and regularity within the wine industry.
Appellation Contrôlée is France’s
law; Denominazione di Origine Controllata,
Italy’s and Dominación de
Origen, Spain’s. These governing
bodies determine which grape varieties
can be allowed, the boundaries of the sub-regions
and their even their yield and output.
For example, France’s Bordeaux region
permits five red varieties and three white
varieties. Chateauneuf-du-Pape permits
13 varieties, four white and 9 red. Chablis
and Pouilly-Fumé, one each. Port
producers are limited to how much vintage
port they can produce. German wine producers
must have a minimum must weight for certain
bottlings.
Consulting The World Atlas of Wine and
The Oxford Companion to Wine are your best
resources for learning about the wine regions
of the world. That, and drinking wine from
as many regions as possible, too! |
