Old World wine regions

Alentejo

Portugal's vast southern plains, where DOC Alentejo estates farm Alicante Bouschet and Aragonez across eight named sub-regions, and a Roman clay-amphora tradition still ferments Vinho de Talha in Vidigueira.

Alsace

France's mosaic of granite, limestone and volcanic terroirs along the Vosges, where Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris bottle Alsace's 51 Grands Crus and dual French-German village heritage.

Alto Adige

Italy's most German wine region, where Alpine cooperatives and family estates farm Pinot Bianco, Lagrein, Gewuerztraminer and Schiava on terraced vineyards between the Dolomites and the Adige valley floor.

Beaujolais

The home of Gamay: ten granite crus from the perfumed queen of Fleurie to the age-worthy king of Moulin-a-Vent, reinvented by a Gang of Four natural-wine movement that sparked a global revolution.

Bierzo

A sheltered bowl in north-west León between Galicia and the Castilian plateau, planted to old-vine Mencía on slate and quartzite. DO Bierzo since 1989, with a village, paraje and classified-vineyard pyramid layered on top.

Bordeaux

The world's most storied fine-wine region, from Medoc first-growths to Pomerol micro-estates and Sauternes liquid gold.

Burgenland

Austria's easternmost wine province, framed by the shallow, reed-fringed Neusiedlersee and the Leitha hills, where Pannonian summer heat and botrytis-friendly lake humidity produce the country's deepest Blaufränkisch reds alongside first-rate Trockenbeerenauslese and Ruster Ausbruch.

Burgundy

France's grand-cru heartland, where single-vineyard climats of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay run from Chablis through the Cote d'Or to the Maconnais.

Champagne

France's sparkling-wine heartland, where Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grow on chalk from the Montagne de Reims and Cote des Blancs to the Cote des Bar.

Douro Valley

The world's oldest demarcated wine region, where schist terraces above the Douro river make both fortified Port and a new generation of structured DOC Douro reds.

Dão

Central Portugal's granite plateau, ringed by the Caramulo, Buçaco, Nave and Estrela mountains: seven DOC sub-regions around Viseu where Touriga Nacional and Encruzado ripen slowly at 400 to 800 metres.

Eger

Franciacorta

Italy's traditional-method sparkling DOCG in the moraine hills of Brescia, south of Lake Iseo, where Franco Ziliani made the first Italian bottle-fermented sparkling at Berlucchi in 1961 and over 100 producers now bottle Chardonnay, Pinot Nero and Pinot Bianco under the methode champenoise.

Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Italy's premier white-wine region in the north-east corner between Venice, the Dolomites and Slovenia, where the Collio and Colli Orientali ponca slopes anchor Friulano and Pinot Grigio benchmarks, Oslavia hosts the global orange-wine movement at Gravner, Radikon, La Castellada and Damijan Podversic, and Carso limestone gives Vitovska its briny saline edge.

Jerez & Sherry

Home of sherry, the fortified-wine category that spans biologically aged Fino and Manzanilla through oxidative Amontillado, Oloroso and Palo Cortado. From chalky albariza vineyards surrounding three historic towns, Palomino Fino grapes and the flor yeast film produce these styles under two protected designations: DO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and DO Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

Languedoc

A 220,000-hectare Mediterranean vineyard running from the Rhone delta to the Pyrenees, where old-vine Carignan, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre meet the schist of Faugeres, the limestone of Pic Saint-Loup, the Boutenac sand of Corbieres, and the Mauzac of Limoux's centuries-old sparkling tradition.

Loire Valley

France's longest wine corridor, stretching from the Sauvignon Blanc terraces of Sancerre through Chenin Blanc Vouvray and Saumur's Cabernet Franc to Atlantic-facing Muscadet near Nantes.

Mosel

Germany's most dramatic wine landscape, where Riesling clings to blue and red slate slopes up to 70 degrees steep above the looping Mosel, Saar and Ruwer rivers.

Penedes

The Cava heartland of Catalonia between Barcelona and Tarragona, where 95 percent of Spain's traditional-method sparkling wine is made at Sant Sadurni d'Anoia while estate Cabernet, Xarel-lo and biodynamic Corpinnat are reshaping Penedes still-wine reputation.

Pfalz

A 23,640-hectare German wine region where the 85-kilometre Deutsche Weinstrasse threads the Mittelhaardt basalt and limestone of Forst, Deidesheim and Wachenheim into the Pinot-rich Sudliche Weinstrasse around Schweigen on the French border.

Piedmont

Nebbiolo country at the foot of the Alps, where Barolo and Barbaresco anchor Italy's deepest roster of DOCG appellations alongside Barbera, Moscato and Gavi.

Priorat

Spain's second DOQ wine region, producing cult-level old-vine reds from Garnacha and Cariñena on steep llicorella slate terraces across a handful of villages an hour and a half south of Barcelona.

Provence

France's coastal rose stronghold, where Mourvedre rules Bandol's terraced amphitheatres, Chenin-cousin Clairette anchors the white wines of Cassis, and Cinsault-Grenache-Rolle blends shape the pale, food-friendly Provence rose style.

Rheingau

The Rhine bend west of Wiesbaden where Riesling has been the singular grape since the 1720 monastic replanting at Schloss Johannisberg and Spätburgunder defines Assmannshausen.

Rheinhessen

Germany's largest wine region at 27,657 hectares between Mainz, Worms, Alzey and Bingen, where the Wonnegau's limestone Grosse Lage sites at Westhofen and Floersheim-Dalsheim, the Roter Hang red slate above Nierstein and the Scharlachberg above Bingen anchor a Riesling and Silvaner heartland.

Rhone Valley

France's great north-south wine corridor, stretching from the granite Syrah terraces of Cote-Rotie and the fragrant Viognier of Condrieu to the sun-scorched Grenache galets of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and the rosé vineyards of Tavel.

Ribera del Duero

Spain's premier single-varietal red-wine appellation, where Tinto Fino drives Vega Sicilia Unico and Pingus to global acclaim across a windswept plateau straddling four provinces at 850-900 metres above sea level.

Rioja

Spain's most celebrated red-wine region and one of only two DOCa appellations in the country, where Tempranillo ages into Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva across three sub-zones along the Ebro.

Rías Baixas

Atlantic Galicia, the home of Albariño: granite-and-sand vineyards trained overhead on pergolas, five coastal subzones, and DO Rías Baixas since 1988. Salty, mineral whites grown beside the rías of Pontevedra and the mouth of the Miño.

Santorini

A small volcanic island in the southern Aegean where ungrafted Assyrtiko on pumice and ash soils produces a saline, mineral white of international reputation, alongside the sun-dried sweet Vinsanto.

Sicily

Italy's island wine frontier: ancient Zibibbo on Pantelleria, century-old Nerello on Etna's volcanic terraces, Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG from the sun-drenched south-east, and the legendary Marsala cellars of the west.

Tokaj

Tuscany

Italy's most storied wine region, from Brunello and Chianti Classico DOCG to the Bolgheri Super Tuscans that broke the appellation rules.

Valpolicella

The valleys north and east of Verona where Corvina and Corvinone dry for 100 to 120 days in ventilated fruttai to become Amarone and Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG.

Veneto

Italy's most prolific and diverse wine region, from Valpolicella's Amarone DOCG and Soave Classico to the UNESCO Prosecco Superiore hills of Conegliano Valdobbiadene and Lake Garda's Lugana.

Vinho Verde

Northwest Portugal's Atlantic wine country: nine sub-regions of granite slopes between the Douro and the Minho, Alvarinho on the border with Galicia, Loureiro down the Lima valley and a deep-coloured Vinhão red drunk from porcelain cups.

Wachau

A UNESCO World Heritage valley carved by the Danube between Melk and Krems, where gneiss and loess terraces produce dry Grüner Veltliner and Riesling under the Steinfeder-Federspiel-Smaragd tier system.