United States

Wine is made in all fifty states, but the scale is lopsided: California alone produces about 80 percent of the country's wine, and the United States is divided into roughly 280 federally recognized appellations, or AVAs. For a traveler, the real choice narrows to a handful of regions.

In California, Napa Valley is Cabernet Sauvignon country — the benchmark reds and the most polished tasting-room scene. Neighboring Sonoma trades that gloss for range, with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the cool Russian River Valley and old-vine Zinfandel up in Dry Creek. Paso Robles, on the Central Coast, leans on Rhône varieties and Zinfandel; Santa Barbara County, farther south, grows Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in fog-cooled valleys. North in Oregon, the Willamette Valley is single-minded about Pinot Noir. Washington's Columbia Valley and its Walla Walla sub-region turn out Bordeaux-style reds and Syrah from a warm, dry interior.

On the other coast, New York's Finger Lakes makes the country's best Riesling on steep slopes above the lakes, and the rising Eastern and Southern scenes — Virginia, with Viognier and Cabernet Franc, and Texas Hill Country, with Tempranillo and Viognier — are worth watching. Harvest runs the Northern Hemisphere window, roughly August into October depending on latitude and grape, though the tasting rooms pour year-round. The simplest way to read the map is by coast: the West Coast drives volume and reputation, while the East Coast works cooler, in aromatic whites and lighter reds.