Story highlightsNapa Valley vineyards in California may well be the perfect place for the noviceBritish Columbia's unusual climate has turned Canada into a wine producerNo other wine is more associated with a country than Rioja is with Spain17 best places to visit in 2017 Hunter Valley Wine Tasting Tours, 2-14 Kings Cross Road Potts Point, Sydney, New South Wales 2011 Australia; There are more than 400 wineries in Napa County and another 200 or so in neighboring Sonoma, including international heavyweights like Inglenook, Mondavi, Domaine Chandon and Clos du Val. MORE: 10 up-and-coming wine regions Napa Valley Back Trail Wine Tours, 1740 Park Ave, Napa, CA 94558; As a result, what was once three different Rotas dos Vinhos or wine routes in the Alentejo, have merged into one.November is a good time to visit for the Festa da Vinha e do Vinho in Borba where small tascas (inns) tempt passersby with wine from enormous clay pots as the streets fill with colorful parades.

Rota dos Vinhos do Alentejo, Praca Joaquim Antonio de Aguiar, 20, Evora 7000 Portugal; MORE: Is France's Gascony the new Bordeaux? Franschhoek Wine Tram, 32 Huguenot Road, Franschhoek 7690 South Africa; Route des vins d'Alsace, From Marlenheim to Thann France; These can be seen in the fascinating Koutsoyannopoulos Wine Museum outside the village of Vothonas. Santorini Wine Tour, Vourvoulos, Fira 87 400 Greece; International giant Concha y Toro lies farther out.MORE: Top tips on choosing new wine Cousino Macul, Av. Quilin 7100, Santiago 7921077 Chile; The first winery was only established in 1932 at Calona and even by 1990 there were only 19 estates. Okanagan Wine Country Tours, No Store Front Address, Kelowna, British Columbia V1Y 9N9 Canada; Many winemakers are members of the Vini Veri movement that calls for natural wine-making. Large estates such as Fontodi are even experimenting with Roman terracotta vats. Scenic wine tours in Tuscany, Via Piana, 19, 52024 Loro Ciuffenna Italy;

Vale dos Vinhedos, Rua Davile Sandrin, RS 444, Bento Goncalves, State of Rio Grande do Sul 95700000 Brazil; MORE: The best Napa Valley wine experiences Mendoza Wine Bike Tour, Espejo 65, Mendoza 5500 Argentina; They can be tasted in the grand traditional haciendas like Lopez de Heredia or the new shiny glass-fronted boutique wineries like Baigorri.buy wine online germany Rioja Wine Tours, Diputacion 39, 01330 Labastida Spain;new wine 2015 europe The excellent tourist office in Koblenz offers detailed maps for the wine trails and gives advice to tailor individual interests.new world wine regionsMORE: Moldova, where I got my hands on Putin's winebest wine list paris

Mosel-Vinothek & Wine Museum, Cusanusstrasse 2, 54470 Bernkastel-Kues, Rhineland-Palatinate Germany; Bordeaux's massive Vinotheque in the center of town is worth a visit; the easiest way is to book a trip through the super-efficient tourist office. Bordeaux Wine Trails tours, 12 Cours du 30 Juillet Devant l'Office du Tourisme, 33000, Bordeaux France;top 100 rose wine Areni Wine Factory, 3604, Vayots Dzor Marz, Areni Armenia;best wine prices nz: Cannot use a scalar value as an array in on linetop 100 best buys wine 2015 : Cannot use a scalar value as an array in on linebest brand rose wine : Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/content/a2pnexwpnas04_data02/40/3327840/html/wp-content/object-cache.php:75) in on linebuy and ship wine internationally

Stay connected to Buena Vista Winery & sign up on our email list today Your Insider’s Guide to Rioja Among Spanish wine regions, Rioja ranks as the most renowned. Located in north-central Spain along the Ebro River, the region is anchored by the midsize city of Logroño. Rioja entered the modern commercial wine era in the 19th century, when French winemakers, looking to escape the spreading phylloxera plague, crossed the Pyrenees and settled here. Today, the region offers an elite mix of Franco-Iberian history, stunning scenery, proprietary cuisine, brilliant wines and a meshing of old and new. Spain’s greatest wine region is at its welcoming best in late spring or during the harvest in early fall. The quintessential food experience in Rioja centers around strolling the bustling streets of Laurel, San Agustín and San Juan in central Logroño and feasting on regional tapas accompanied by local wine. Top spots include Las Cubanas for roast suckling pig, Tastavin for elevated tapas like tempura bacalao (a dried salted cod) , Umm by Alex García for artisan tapas and Pata Negra for grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches.

For fine dining in the so-called Spanish vanguardia style, Francis Paniego’s El Portal del Echaurren in Ezcaray can provide moments of brilliance. In the village of Páganos, chef-owned Héctor Oribe serves superb local dishes like artichokes stuffed with lamb sweetbreads. In Fuenmayor, Restaurante Alameda is justly famous for its steaks and seafood, always grilled over vine cuttings. Lodging in Rioja ranges from the five-star, Frank Gehry-designed Hotel Marqués de Riscal in Elciego to boutique hotels in small villages to basic European-style three-star options in Logroño like the well-run Hotel ­Calle Mayor. Among the region’s more quirky stays, Hotel Viura in tiny Villabuena de Álava provides luxury touches and a cool design. In the ­hilltop town of Laguardia, the jewel of ­Rioja Alavesa, Hospedería Los Parajes is a family-run ­operation with a wine-themed ­interior design. For film buffs, Hotel Teatrisso in Cuzcurrita references the Belle Epoque of the 1920s and ’30s via individually ­designed rooms and public spaces.

Conde de los Andes Arguably, the best wine museum in the world resides at the Dinastía Vivanco winery in Briones. The Museo de la Cultura del Vino features more than 8,000 wine-related pieces and exhibits spread throughout five salons. Cyclists eager to pedal from village to village should look up Ruedas de Lana (Wheels of Wool) for guided and self-guided bike tours. For a taste of “hidden” Rioja, Bodegas Tarón’s full-day tour of cellars, castles and churches in the medieval towns of Sajazarra, Tirgo and Cuzcurrita is like going back in time, but with wine glass in hand. Over the past decade, the number of Rioja wineries with public tasting rooms and tours by appointment has increased exponentially. Bodegas Ontañón in the Rioja Baja subzone has decked out its entire winery with paintings, sculptures and other works by the late artist Miguel Angel Morales Sáenz. Part of the CVNE family, Viña Real is situated near Laguardia. Designed by Bordeaux architect Philippe Mazières, it’s a stunning bodega with caves extending nearly 500 feet into a hillside.

Speaking of below-ground caves (known locally as colados), Ollauri-based Conde de los Andes, part of Bodegas Muriel, offers tours of its 8,200 square feet of subterranean passages and cellars. At Bodegas Montecillo in Fuenmayor, a visit to the main winery provides insight into large-scale winemaking. Visitors can also arrange lunch cooked by a local chef at the winery’s original 19th-century cellars in town. In Mendavia, a tour of Barón de Ley includes a visit to a restored 16th-century Benedictine monastery located on the winery grounds. Spring and fall are the prime visiting seasons. Late September into October is harvest time. With more than 600 wineries spread across the subzones of Rioja Alta, Alavesa and Baja, variety is a regional theme. Quality and prices start at simple and cheap and expand to outstanding and expensive. The main grape in the region is Tempranillo, but Rioja’s vineyards also grow Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo (Carignan), among red grapes. The principal white grapes of Rioja are Viura (Macabeo) and Malvasia.