Vineyards Near Me: Introducing the Best Around the World

The pop of the cork, the sound as it hits the glass, the fragrant bouquet, the taste on the tongue, do these make you want to open a bottle of wine or head to a wine tasting right now? Maybe you are wondering, “where can I find vineyards near me?” Of course, the USA has its own great wineries to be found in Washington, Napa Valley, Oregon, even Florida. But, I will let you in on a secret. I have collaborated with bloggers around the world to find the best vineyards and wine tastings around the globe. There were so many tempting spots I had to write TWO posts to include all of these special places. Now you have access to the insider scoop of the best places to sip wine worldwide.

In Vineyards Near Me, a follow up post to Best Winery Tastings Around the World, we continue to explore some of the best places to taste wines and tour vineyards world wide. So raise a glass and join us. After all, we all know red wine is good for the heart.

Vineyards Near Me in India

Contributed by Nilima from The Traveling CA

The city of Nashik, around 4 hours drive from Mumbai is also known as India’s answer to Napa Valley. With close to 50 wineries in the area you can choose to tour vineyards owned by any of these companies. At the same time you can taste some of their best wine selection. Not to mention they are India’s best vineyards!

We went to Soma Vine Village, a 25 acre beautiful vineyard  spread by the lake. We took up their wine tasting tour starting with the process of winemaking & ending up with wine tastings where an expert will show you the proper method of holding the wine glass, note the colour, enjoying the aroma and  the correct way of tasting it! 

A trip to the barrel room includes explanation of the steps in the making of the vines, tank maturing, barrel maturing, and finally bottling the wines

You can also munch on their food sitting in a restaurant overlooking the vineyards & the lake. In addition, they suggest pairings of wine to go with your favorite dish. They also have come out with an unique pomegranate wine series called Anarkali which was excellent.

Soma vineyards specialised in red wines like Shiraz gold & Cabernet silver; rose wines like Desert rose & Rose gold; sparkling wines like Brut reserve & Brut cuvee sparkling wine; white wines like Chenin Blanc gold & Sauvignon Blanc dessert.

Also, it is one of the few vineyards that allows grape stomping in vats, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. 

Sipping Dalmatian Red Wine Inside An Island Cave

By Marco Sison from Nomadic Fire

One of the best things about life in Croatia is access to the fantastic yet affordable wines of the Dalmatian region. While Croatia has several different wine regions, arguably the best come from the area south of Split. 

Wine tours starting from Split will take you past several artisanal family-own wineries. Still produced in small batches, Croatian wines don’t have the worldwide popularity of nearby Italy. But that helps make wine tours in the region special. You get a unique chance to taste varietals unavailable outside Croatian borders. 

Dalmatian wine tours all start at Split, Croatia. The area around Croatia’s second-largest city has a microclimate and soil composition perfect for Zinfandel grapes. However, any Croatian oenophile will tell you that the Plavac Mali is the area’s true champion. The grape’s thick skin and high sugar content are perfect for the Adriatic Sea’s climate. Bold, robust, and complex, Plavac wines reflect southern Croatia’s harsh summer heat and sandy soil. 

While there are many vineyards to tour in the area, the most unique is the Hvar Plenkovic Winery. The wine cellar is a cave on the island of Hvar. Here, visitors enjoy sips of the area’s red wine surrounded by a subterranean cavern.

Vineyards Near Me in Greece

By Gabi Ancarola – The Tiny Book, Crete Travel Blog

Crete is an island in the center of the Mediterranean. It contains fantastic beaches, perfect mountain trails and gorges, and ideal weather conditions. This Greek holiday paradise also boasts 13 unique grape varieties that have put the wines of Crete at the center of the vibrant wine panorama in Europe. The island is so big, that there are many things to do in Crete, wine tasting is definitely one of them!

Some of the unique grape varieties are producing top quality wines. You can easily taste them at one of the dozens of wineries found in the different regions of the island.

Heraklion, the main wine region of Crete, hosts three different PDO regions. At the Archanes vineyard local winemakers produce PDO Archanes red wines. Winemakers at the Peza vineyard produce the PDO Peza white and red wines. Whereas at the Dafnes vineyard, they create the PDO Dafnes dry and sweet red wines. These two routes are connected by road, so it is quite easy for tourists to plan a flexible winery-touring day among the mountains of the region.

The Rethymnon region, with less wineries, is — however — probably the most important wine area in Crete, home of the star grape on the island, Vidiano. The Vidiano grape variety produces wines with aromas of stone fruits, flowers and, occasionally, sweet herbs. It has a medium to high alcohol content, balanced by the medium to high acidity. According to experts, this wine is ideal to be paired with seafood pasta or grilled fish.

Port Wine in Portugal Grown in the Duoro Valley

By De Wet & Jin of Museum of Wander

Porto, the second city of Portugal, is known the world over for its excellent port wines. In fact, according to law it can only be called port if it comes from this region. If it is from anywhere else it should be called fortified wine, and not port.

Porto doesn’t have any vineyards itself, as grapes are grown in the nearby Douro Valley. After the harvest, the grapes make their way to Porto. Here the wine is put in barrels to age before being bottled.

The best place to go for a jolly good wine tasting in Porto is the neighbourhood of Vila Nova de Gaia. This picturesque neighbourhood on the banks of the Douro river is home to numerous port wine cellars. You can go for a wine tasting, with or without a cellar tour.

Other than the famous port cellars, such as Taylors, Kopke, Feirera, Calem, Sandeman or Graham’s, there are also several wine bars and wine shops where you can taste wine before making a purchase.

Port tastings usually include ruby, tawny and white port, and often paired with chocolate.  When going to the wine shops, you can also try some of the fantastic red and white wines from the Douro Valley. The Douro valley produces as much normal wine as it does port.

Finger Lakes Region, NY, USA

By Shannon Hara from Traveling Teacher Girl

The Finger Lakes Region of New York is one of the top wine regions in the United States. This region is most well known for its Riesling and Gewurztraminer whose grapes grow well in the area due to its deep glacial lakes and hilly shores. The Finger Lakes Region is located in central New York, a five hour drive from New York City or a 45 minute drive from Rochester.

Some of the oldest and most well known wineries in the area include Hermann J. Weimer Vineyard and Dr. Konstantin Frank. Both of these wineries were at the forefront of bringing European styles of wine making to the United States. They have been producing Rieslings since the mid 1900’s. 

For less well-known wineries be sure to visit Villa Bellangelo for its beautiful views, and Fox Run Vineyards which is an eco-friendly and certified lake-friendly vineyard. 

The Finger Lakes region consists of 11 lakes- with many of the most popular wineries located along Seneca Lake, Keuka Lake, and Cayuga Lake. Some popular towns in the area include Watkins Glen, Pen Yann, and the nearby college town of Ithaca.

In addition to wineries, you can find beautiful hiking trails and waterfalls in this area. Some beautiful waterfalls and hiking trails include Robert Treman State Park, Taughannock Falls, and Watkins Glen State Park. 

Vineyards Near Me in Myanmar

Milijana Gabrić of World Travel Connector

Magical Inle Lake is one of the best places to visit in Myanmar. Sensational Inle Lake is probably best known for the amazing landscapes and for the spectacular leg-rowing Intha fishermen. UNESCO also proclaimed it as a World Heritage Biosphere Reserve.

But not many people know that only two wineries exist in Myanmar. And both of them are in the Inle Lake area. One of them is the Red Mountain Estate Vineyard. Fantastic Red Mountain Estate Vineyard is a hilltop winery with panoramic views of Inle Lake and the valley. In 2002 the owners founders planted the first vineyards with imported vines from France, Spain, and Israel,  and hired Francois Raynal, a French winemaker to run the production. Today Red Mountain Estate Vineyard offers a wide range of red, white, and rose wines: from Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Pinot Noir, to Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and unique Rose D’Inle.

A typical winery’s tasting menu commonly provides four wines: two white wines and two red wines. Besides good wines, the hilltop winery is a perfect spot for sipping wine while watching magnificent sunsets over the lake and the valley. The winery comes with a lovely restaurant, terrace, and of course, vineyards. The Red Mountain Estate Vineyard is only a short drive from the main town of Nyaung Shwe in the Inle Lake area. Most of the visitors opt for renting a tuk-tuk or a bicycle in Nyaung Shwe. A ride from Nyaung Shwe to the winery takes only 30 min, but the surrounding landscapes during the ride are simply sensational.

If you are a wine enthusiast who’s planning a trip to incredible Myanmar, Red Mountain Estate Vineyard near Inle Lake is a must-visit.

Hunter Valley Australia

By Alyse from The Invisible Tourist

With a climate similar to some of Europe’s most popular wine regions, it’s possible to enjoy “la dolce vita” in regional NSW, Australia. Located just 2 hours drive from the state’s capital, enjoying wine tasting in the Hunter Valley is the perfect weekend getaway from Sydney for those looking to sample a drop amongst the rolling green hills of the countryside.

From hop-on-hop-off bus tours around the various wineries to exploring the region in the comfort of your own car, the Hunter Valley offers a range of unique wine tasting experiences. Not only do wineries here offer the usual cheese and wine tasting, those with a sweet tooth can indulge in wine and chocolate pairing, sample exclusive dessert wines with famed antipasto platters and enjoy 100% organic wines with locally-grown produce. For the little ones, it’s even possible for them to partake in junior tasting experiences, including non-alcoholic drinks and snack pairing!

Earning itself the title of Australia’s oldest wine region, the Hunter Valley is home to over 150 wineries. There is something for everyone, including child-friendly and even pet friendly wineries. Outside of wine tasting, there are also plenty of activities to keep everyone busy that don’t involve drinking. Create a memorable experience by horseback riding through the vineyards before sitting down to enjoy wines created in the very same spot!

Niagara -on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada

From Linda and Dave are RetiredAndTravelling

The Niagara Region in southwestern Ontario in Canada was the perfect spot to find icewines.  What is icewine?  When the temperatures drop in the early winter, the grapes freeze which concentrates the amount of sugar.  They hand pick the grapes when temperatures are about -8℃ or 20℉ and press them when still cold.  This produces a very sweet dessert wine.  If the grapes are picked late but not frozen, the wine is typically labelled “late harvest”.  These wines are not quite as sweet.

Our first icewine tasting was at Lakeview Cellars (aka Diamond Estates).  The icewines came from 5 different varietals:  Gewerztraminer, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.  Wine makers use Vidal grapes to make most traditional icewine.  We used this as our baseline and then tried some other varietals.  For those who like syrupy sweet wines, the Vidal fit the bill.  But the Cabernet Franc icewines had strawberry notes and were a bit less sickly sweet for me.  

Lakeview Cellars also had a wide selection of red, white and rosé wines for those who did not like wines sweet.  
On this first icewine tasting we did not have a wine pairing.  But as we continued our icewine tasting around this region, we loved when icewine was paired with dark chocolate.  Some of the wineries served the icewine as slushies for a fun summer experience. 

The other region in Canada known for icewines is the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.  We made sure to try our way through several different wineries when we visited there.  

Don’t forget to stop by and see Niagara Falls while in Ontario!

Vineyards in Waiheke, New Zealand

By Nina of Nina Out and About

 New Zealand is famous for their Marlborough wine district, but the best wine tastings are farther north. Across the bay from Auckland lies Waiheke, New Zealand’s wine island. Although there are more things to do in Waiheke than sample wine, it’s definitely the best activity.

Visit Mudbrick vineyard for the best wine tasting experience on the island. You’ll be taken to a tasting room with wine barrel doors to bring you into the spirit of the tastings immediately. They have a menu of options for wine tastings that all include 4 glasses of their vineyard’s wines.

Select from an assortment that includes whites, reds, roses, and bubbles while your private bartender helps you pick out the unique notes in the glasses.

New Zealand wine tastings are well worth the $10NZD cost, with half full glasses giving you plenty of time to try to find the notes, or to wander the vineyard’s lavender fields while you polish off your glass.

The best way to enjoy your tasting is to work with the bartender for the first few sips, then leisurely enjoy the rest sitting in their lavender garden on a comfy bean bag chair in the sun.

If you need more sustenance, Mudbrick has an in-house restaurant where you can pair fresh New Zealand cuisine with your drink.

Stick around for the sunset to enjoy the rolling fields of the vineyard turning a spectacular rainbow of pastels. Or add on a trip to another local vineyard for a day full of wine tastings. 

The Champagne Region, France

By Sanne Wesselman from Spend Life Traveling

Champagne is without a doubt the most famous and most exclusive sparkling wine in the world.

So if you are looking for some of the best wine tasting, I would say visiting Champagne has to be high on your list!

The Champagne wine region is located in the northeast of France, and if you are looking for wine tastings, you’ll love this area because there are just so many options!

Go to the famous ‘Champagne Avenue’ in Reims to visit the world famous champagne producers, tour their cellars and taste their champagne.

Then visit some of the smaller, often family-run, champagne houses to experience the differences between the big names and the small scale producers.

Spoiler alert: the smaller champagne houses produce some incredible champagne at often much more economical prices!

If I had to pick only one, my recommendation for a family-run champagne producer would be Bonnet-Ponson. They offer a great tour and they are quite unique in producing organic champagne!

And once you’ve had enough of all the champagne tastings, don’t miss out on exploring the area.

The champagne hillsides, houses, and cellars are considered so special that they made in onto the UNESCO World Heritage List!

And, it takes less than two hours to get to the Champagne region from Paris. This makes combining a visit to the Champagne region with a trip to Paris a perfect option!

Vineyards in Kakheti, Georgia

By Emily from Wander-Lush

A country nicknamed the ‘Cradle of Wine’ – where the streets are festooned with grape trellises and the ancestral winemaking method is recognised by UNESCO – there is simply no better place in the world to taste wine than the Republic of Georgia. Kakheti, the country’s most productive wine region, is by far the best place for enotourists to visit.

More than 500 endemic varieties of grape grow in Georgia (some of them now endangered or extinct). And there are countless appellations and microzones across Kakheti. The varied topography means there are literally thousands of varieties of wine produced here today. This is a stark contrast to Soviet times when just a handful of hardy grapes were cultivated for mass consumption. Most of today’s winemakers focus on quality over quantity, producing low-intervention, natural and bio wines.

Georgia is best known for its Qvevri wines, which are fermented in clay amphora buried in the earth. Skin-contact wines that use the whole grape – most famously ‘amber’ wine – are a must-try. Other grapes and appalations to look out for include Saperavi, Kisi and Aleksandrouli.

Kakheti’s Wine Route spans dozens of small and medium-sized family Maranis (wine cellars) as well as large-scale wineries that combine Qvevri and European techniques. Don’t expect a formal sit-down wine tasting, though. The Georgian style is more laid back. And a wine tasting is often accompanied with a lavish meal and toasting.

Another thing that makes wine tastings in Kakheti so unique is that you can also visit monasteries and convents where monks and nuns bottle their own vino.

Hope reading about these wine tastings has inspired you to get out and travel! Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss out on upcoming posts.

Donna Emperador is a travel and food blogger and copywriter. Donna believes in learning about different cultures while sharing good food and cocktails. She has lived in South Florida for over 20 years and enjoys spending time exploring the road to find unique places to share with readers. She can be found on Facebook,  Instagram, and Pinterest.