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Wine regions of Spain: Rioja

The wine region of Rioja is named after the river Oja that flows from the Cantabrian Mountains (in the northern part of Spain) through La Rioja and into Navarra. Rioja is a small region; it covers only 8,000 hectares. This makes it one of the smallest wine regions in the world – smaller even than Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne. Cantabrian Mountains Rioja, while small, is still relatively large in comparison to the other wine regions of Spain. It is the second-biggest region by size of land under vine and has around 145,000 acres of land devoted to vineyards. That’s more… Read more

Wine regions of Italy: Tuscany

Chianti “It’s not too bad for a cheap Italian red,” he said. We were in Florence, Italy, for a few days and had taken the train from Rome to Florence. “It’s a nice little spot,” he continued, “but it can be hard to find good wines.” We were in the countryside of Tuscany, out of sight and out of mind of most tourists who come to Florence from all over the world. The country is beautiful, with rolling hills and picturesque towns just within an hour’s train ride of the city. The house we were staying in was a small… Read more

Wine regions of France: Bordeaux

Bordeaux produces more wine than any other region in France. Bordeaux is the largest wine region in France, producing more wine than anywhere else in the country—and it’s been doing so for over 2,000 years, since the Romans first planted vines there. What makes Bordeaux one of the world’s most famous wine regions is its red wines; however, it also produces some quality whites and rosés as well as sparkling Crémant de Bordeaux wines. The region’s red wines are primarily made with cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc grapes, while white wines usually have sauvignon blanc and sémillon as their… Read more