Wine regions

France 8

• BordeauxThe blend, perfected — and split in two by a river.
• BurgundyTwo grapes, a thousand answers.
• ChampagneCold, chalk, and a second fermentation in the bottle.
• Rhône ValleyTwo regions sharing a river: steep granite Syrah in the north, sun-baked blends in the south.
• Loire ValleyFrance's longest river, and its most varied white-wine country.
• AlsaceGerman grapes, French style, and one of the driest corners of France.
• LanguedocFrance's largest vineyard, rebuilt from bulk wine into its most dynamic region.
• BeaujolaisGamay's homeland — and far more than Nouveau.

Italy 5

• TuscanySangiovese, sunshine, and a rebellion on the coast.
• PiedmontFog, hazelnuts, and the most demanding red in Italy.
• VenetoProsecco to Amarone — Italy's biggest source of DOC wine.
• SicilyThe Mediterranean's largest island, with a volcano at its heart.
• Alto AdigeAlpine vineyards, two languages, and some of Italy's finest whites.

Spain 5

• RiojaWhere the label tells you how long they waited.
• Ribera del DueroTempranillo at altitude, on Spain's high central plateau.
• PrioratOld vines on black slate — one of only two regions at Spain's top tier.
• Rías BaixasGreen, rainy Galicia — and Spain's benchmark white.
• JerezThe home of sherry — wine shaped by chalk, sun and a layer of yeast.

Portugal 2

• DouroSchist terraces, brutal heat, and dozens of grapes at once.
• Vinho VerdePortugal's green north: light, fresh and made to drink young.

Germany 2

• MoselSlate, extreme slopes, and the best argument for low alcohol.
• RheingauWhere the Rhine turns west and Riesling faces the sun.

United States 4

• Napa ValleyFog at one end, heat at the other, Cabernet throughout.
• Willamette ValleyOregon's answer to Burgundy, on volcanic soil.
• SonomaNapa's bigger, more varied neighbour, cooled by the Pacific.
• Columbia ValleyDesert vineyards in the rain shadow of the Cascades.

Australia 4

• Barossa ValleyThe oldest producing vines on earth.
• Margaret RiverSurf, forest and Bordeaux-style wines on Australia's far southwest coast.
• Hunter ValleyOne of Australia's oldest wine regions — and home of a unique Sémillon.
• CoonawarraA strip of red earth that makes some of Australia's finest Cabernet.

New Zealand 2

• MarlboroughThe region that rewrote one grape in forty years.
• Central OtagoAmong the world's southernmost wine regions — and a Pinot Noir specialist.

Austria 1

• WachauStone terraces above the Danube — Austria's most famous wine landscape.

Hungary 1

• TokajOne of the world's earliest delimited wine regions, and a legendary sweet wine.

Greece 1

• SantoriniVines coiled into baskets on a volcanic island in the Aegean.

Georgia 1

• KakhetiWine's oldest home — still fermenting in buried clay jars.

Lebanon 1

• Bekaa ValleyHigh vineyards between two mountain ranges, on an ancient wine route.

Canada 1

• Niagara PeninsulaThe heart of Canadian icewine, between two Great Lakes.

Argentina 1

• MendozaMalbec at the foot of the Andes, in a desert watered by snowmelt.

Chile 1

• Maipo ValleyChile's historic Cabernet heartland, on Santiago's doorstep.

South Africa 1

• StellenboschSouth Africa's wine capital, ringed by mountains and cooled by False Bay.