Wine Travel
Visit the underdog regions
The fastest way to understand an overlooked grape is to stand where it grows. Here are the places behind the bottles — and tours worth booking when you go.
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Greece
Nemea & Naoussa
Two faces of Greek red: soft, plush Agiorgitiko in the Peloponnese and structured, tar-and-roses Xinomavro up north. Cellar visits sit beside ancient ruins.
Portugal
The Alentejo & Douro
Sun-baked Alentejo is the home of red-fleshed Alicante Bouschet; the terraced Douro is one of the most dramatic wine landscapes on earth.
Georgia
Kakheti
The cradle of wine — 8,000 years of it — where amber wine still ferments in buried clay qvevri. A pilgrimage for anyone who loves the underdog story.
Armenia
Areni
Home to the oldest known winery on earth, tucked into a cave. Indigenous Areni Noir from high, rugged vineyards — wine history you can walk through.
Italy
Mount Etna
Vineyards on an active volcano, growing Nerello Mascalese in black soil. Smoke, minerality, and a view you won't forget.
Spain
Somontano & Ribera del Duero
Spain beyond Rioja: the Pyrenean foothills of Somontano, home to near-extinct natives Parraleta, Moristel, and Alcañón, and Ribera del Duero, where Albillo Mayor — the white that parented Tempranillo — is finally bottled on its own.
Planning a trip around a grape? Start with the Journal or the grape guides.