5 Developing Wine Regions To Keep An Eye On

Up and Coming Wine Regions

While wine is one of the oldest forms of alcohol out there, most of the world’s best wines comes from a few specific regions of the world. Areas like Tuscany, Napa Valley, or Bordeaux come to mind as those regions consistently deliver some truly great wines. But that doesn’t meant that all of the best wines in the world come exclusively from those places. In fact, the wine industry continues to grow and many new vineyards are popping up from the most unexpected areas. We are going to look at five wine regions that are up-and-coming; one’s that you should watch out for.

5. Sicily, Italy

Sicily may seem like an unlikely region, as Italian wine is some of the most desirable and oldest in the world. However in the past, Sicily has focused on producing cheap, mass-produced wine for some time now. Wine that’s used for cooking rather than drinking, for example. Now that is starting to change, as we are seeing a variety of wineries produce some standout wines that are unique to this island in the Mediterranean. So while wine production is not new to Sicily, the wine they are now producing is.

4. Swartland, South Africa 

Wines from South Africa have become more popular in recent years, however most come from the Stellenbosch region. That’s starting to change as there’s now a rise in wineries from Swartland, an area about 31 miles north of Cape Town. A range of very interesting shirazs, chenin blancs, and wine mixtures have been coming out of this region, many of which are turning heads around the world.

3. Moravia, Czech Republic 

The Czech Republic isn’t a country that is generally known for its wine, but that’s slowly starting to change thanks to wines that are coming from the Moravia region. The combination of the cool weather and the soil conditions allow the vineyards in this area to make some very distinct and unique wines. In fact the white whines that come from this region have consistently been rated as some of the best in recent years.

2. Michigan, The United States

You would probably never guess that wine is made in Michigan let alone great tasting wine, but that notion would actually be false. The wine scene in Michigan is expanding quickly, yet it’s still small and undeveloped enough that we get to see some tiny wineries work extremely hard to prove themselves to the world. The combination of these small wineries and an untouched wine country allow for some truly extraordinary wines. The Chateau Grand Traverse in particular is one winery to keep an eye on.

1. Tasmania, Australia 

The isolated island off the southern coast of Australia is yet another wine region that is extremely up-and-coming. Tasmania has pretty much all of the qualities that make it a great location for growing wine, especially unique wine. The soil is distinctly different from other areas of the world, the climate is quite interesting given how far south it is, and there are less than 160 wineries on the island. So you have this interesting combination of small wineries trying to prove themselves in an exotic region of the world. That leads to some truly standout wines that could only realistically be produced in an area like Tasmania.

Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Written by Sebastian Hensiek

From Philadelphia, Sebastian is a fan of music, writing, art, and entertainment.