Right: Wine map of Washington
The 1960s saw the flowering of a new winemaking region in a very unexpected locale: Washington State, USA. Though near latitudes (46-47 degrees) that encompass two of the great French wine regions, Bordeaux (44.5 degrees) and Burgundy (47 degrees), Washington’s vineyards also experience cold and sometimes rainy falls and winters. Less […]

Midway between Milan and Rome, Tuscany is bordered on the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Apennines mountain range on the east.
First inhabited by the Etruscans, in the Middle Ages and continuing through the Renaissance, Tuscany developed into a center of the Arts and Learning under the control of the Medici clan. And no […]

Right: Wine map of the U.S.
In a state that produces 90% of all US wine, the vineyards of Sonoma and Napa in Northern California are justly famous. But they have no monopoly on quality, the wines from the newer Southern California wineries are an equal match for any of their northern sisters.
Most Southern California wine […]

Right: Wine map of France
In the triangle formed near the Mediterranean coast by Nice in the east, Marseille in the west and Avignon to the northwest, lies the region of Provence.
Provence was the first region in France to turn to winemaking some 2,600 years ago. Today some 500 wineries tend vineyards on 68,000 acres — […]

Right: Wine map of Italy
One of three main Italian winemaking regions, Piedmont lies at the confluence of the Tanaro and Borbera rivers, 45km (28 mi) southeast of Turin in northwest Italy. Moderately remote in this crowded modern world, it’s braced by the Alps to the north and the Apennines to the south.
Bordered by the French […]

Right: Wine map of France
The Loire Valley, near Nantes in western France, is one of the most beautiful winemaking areas in Europe. A narrow, but wide region following the Loire river, it meanders from Auvergne and the Massif Central mountains to the Atlantic coast.
Vines producing wine grapes existed here as far back as the Roman […]

Right: Wine map of France
Languedoc-Roussillon, the largest wine producing region in the world, lies on the border of the Mediterranean sea, between the Rhone delta and Spain.
Fifty thousand vine growers (out of a population of 2.4 million) spread over an area of 27,400 square kilometers (10,500 square miles) swelter in the intense summers for the […]

Right: Wine map of France
The Rhone Valley, looks very much like a miniature Italy as it stretches 200km (125 mi) from south of Lyon to just south of Avignon. Along this course the climate varies from the Rhone’s cold winters and warm summers to the classic Mediterranean where winters are mild and summers hot.
The relatively […]

Right: Wine map of Italy
Chianti — the name says ‘wine’.  A mere 300 square km (115 square mi), in the center of Tuscany between Siena and Florence, Chianti overlooks the Elsa Valley. Hilly, the terrain varies from green forests to stony meadowland. The rows of wine grape vines share the land with olive groves and […]

Right: Wine map of France
Champagne is not just a sparkling wine, but the region from which the famous drink derives its name. The climate of the area is cooler than that of the southern French vineyards, making for a shorter growing season.
Almost a hundred miles (144km) northeast of Paris near the Belgian border, it’s usually […]