10 most beautiful wine regions in the world

Beauty and wine are in the eye of the beholder, but if your travel plans include a visit to wine country, we have some suggestions when it comes to stunning scenery around the globe.

Here are our top 10 most visually breathtaking wine regions in the world.

Douro Valley

Where: Portugal

The Douro Valley a stunningly beautiful region made up of steep valleys covered in terraced vineyards that fall down to shimmering blue rivers.

But don’t just take our word for it, UNESCO has designated it a World Heritage site due to its cultural significance having produced wine for more than 2,000 years.

Franschhoek

Where: South Africa

In South Africa’s Western Cape Province, Franschhoek is situated where the Groot Drakenstein and Franschhoek mountains meet to form a beautiful and protective amphitheatre around the valley floor.

Tip: If you love sparkling wine, this is the home of MCC (‘Méthode Cap Classique’) a similar method to what’s used in Champagne but at ridiculously low prices.

Colchagua Valley

Where: Chile

The beauty of Chile with its vast vineyards surrounded by the Andes, the terrific culinary scene, the uber-civilized “quincho” experience of slow eating and drinking on a terrace IN the actual vineyard, simply makes the Colchagua Valley an obvious choice.

Rioja

Where: Northern Spain

Rioja has long held a place among the world’s great wine regions.

Situated in Northern Spain along the banks of the Ebro River, Rioja has an ideal climate for growing grapes paired perfectly with historic views of old vines.

Burgundy

Where: France

Burgundy is among the most highly revered wine-producing regions in the world. The ‘mecca’ for many wine lovers, it also happens to be surprisingly small and quaint given its reputation for some of the most expensive wines in the world.

Tip: Spend at least one day hiking the Burgundy Wine Trail—it’s easy, free and worth every step.

Alsace

Where: France

Lesser known than its French counterpart above, Alsace is a gem of a wine region, well-known to sommeliers, but not yet by the general public. Charming villages surrounded by steep vineyards; passionate winemakers & world-class wines await.

Tuscany

Where: Italy

As the country that produces more wine than anywhere on the planet, we’d be remiss to leave out Italy. It’s impossible to choose just one region to visit but for the sake of making a decision we’ll say Tuscany. As the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, it seems like the best place to start. Once you whet your Italian wine palate, consider a region bit more off the beaten track such as Puglia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia or Sicily.

Margaret River

Where: Perth, Australia

Any traveller will tell you that the best places to visit are usually the ones that are a little harder to get to. Australia has several regions worth visiting but for jaw-dropping beauty, Margaret River must be at the very top.

A three-hour drive from Perth, it’s one of the most isolated wine regions in the world, offering a truly unique natural landscape, terrific wine and a fabulous culinary scene.

Mendoza

Where: Argentina

Mendoza is Argentina’s premier wine growing region known for Malbec. It sits on a plateau that has 350,000 acres planted at elevations of 2,600-5,000 feet making them some of the highest vineyards on the planet. Think vines as far as the eye can see surrounded by the majestic Andes Mountains and spectacular doesn’t even begin to capture it.

Okanagan Valley

Where: British Columbia, Canada

While some may call this a biased choice, there’s no denying the extraordinary natural beauty of the Okanagan Valley.

Though still relatively young as a wine region, we firmly believe it legitimately belongs on this list.