If Bordeaux, Tuscany, and Napa are starting to feel like well-trodden ground, there's a genuinely exciting wave of wine regions gaining serious international attention right now — some ancient, some barely two decades old, all producing something you won't find anywhere else. Here's one estate worth visiting in each.
1. Shumi Winery — Kakheti, Georgia
Georgia has the strongest claim of any country to being the birthplace of wine: winemaking here dates back roughly 8,000 years, built around qvevri — large clay vessels buried underground for fermentation and ageing — a method UNESCO recognises as intangible cultural heritage. Kakheti, in the country's east, is where most of that tradition is concentrated, and Shumi Winery near Tsinandali is one of the best introductions to it: the estate holds a living collection of over 400 indigenous Georgian grape varieties (the vazis skhemi, or "vine scheme"), alongside a working qvevri cellar where amber, skin-contact whites — the style Georgia is best known for internationally — are made using the traditional method. A visit typically pairs a walk through the vine collection with a tasting of both qvevri and European-style wines, finished with a Georgian meal.
- Location: Tsinandali, Telavi Municipality, Kakheti
- Getting there: About 90 minutes by car from Tbilisi
- More info: georgia.to/en/places-to-go/kakheti/shumi-winery
2. Chapel Down — Kent, England
English sparkling wine has gone from novelty to genuine competitor to Champagne in the space of about three decades, driven by the same chalk soils that run under Champagne itself continuing north under the English Channel into Kent and Sussex. Chapel Down, based in Tenterden in the Kent countryside, is England's largest wine producer, farming close to 1,000 acres and making sparkling wine using the traditional method — the same technique used in Champagne. The estate is genuinely set up for visitors: guided vineyard and winery tours run year-round, walk-in tastings are available at the cellar door without booking, and The Swan restaurant on-site pairs a tasting menu with the wines.
- Location: Small Hythe, Tenterden, Kent
- Book a tour: chapeldown.com/collections/tours-experiences
3. Santo Wines — Santorini, Greece
Santorini's vineyards are unlike anywhere else in the wine world: vines are trained into low, basket-shaped coils (kouloura) that hug the ground to protect them from the island's fierce winds, growing in volcanic soil with almost no rainfall, some on rootstock over a century old since phylloxera never reached the island. Assyrtiko, the indigenous white grape, is the wine to know — mineral, high-acid, and increasingly sought after internationally. Santo Wines, a cooperative perched on the caldera's rim above Pyrgos, is the island's most visited winery and arguably its most dramatic: tastings on the terrace come with a direct view over the volcanic caldera and, in the evening, one of the best sunset spots on an island already famous for them.
- Location: Pyrgos, Santorini
- Book a visit: santowines.gr
4. Quinta do Crasto — Douro Valley, Portugal
The Douro is best known internationally for Port, but its dry red and white table wines have quietly become some of the best value in serious wine over the last two decades — a trend sommeliers keep flagging as still under-recognised outside Portugal. Quinta do Crasto, on the Douro's steep, UNESCO-listed terraced slopes between Régua and Pinhão, has been in the Roquette family for over a century and produces both. The estate's visit is genuinely one of the more scenic in Portugal: a tour through the century-old lagares (traditional stone treading tanks) and barrel cellar, a tasting of five wines including a vintage Port, and a terrace with a swimming pool cantilevered directly over the river valley — worth timing your visit for sunset if the schedule allows.
- Location: Gouvinhas, Sabrosa, Douro Valley
- Book a tour: portugalbywine.com — Quinta do Crasto
5. Vena Cava — Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico
Mexico's wine industry is genuinely young by comparison to everywhere else on this list — Valle de Guadalupe, in Baja California about 90 minutes south of the San Diego border, has grown to over 150 wineries only in the last two decades, and now produces around 90% of Mexico's wine. Vena Cava, founded in 2005 by British-born winemaker Phil Gregory, is one of the valley's defining names and a good example of its scrappy, experimental character: the winery is built from recycled boat hulls repurposed as roofing, farms organically with no added sulfites in its natural wine range, and overlooks its own duck pond from the outdoor tasting area. It's an easy pairing with the valley's well-regarded farm-to-table restaurant scene, including Corazón de Tierra, run by the same ownership group.
- Location: Rancho San Marcos, Francisco Zarco, Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California
- Book a visit: venacavawine.com/en/visits
Why these regions, and why now
Beyond the novelty, there's a practical case for seeking these out: quality has caught up fast in every one of these regions over the last decade, prices are still well below their famous counterparts, and — because these industries are smaller and younger — visits tend to mean more direct access to the people actually making the wine, rather than a scripted tour through a hospitality operation.
Planning tips
- These regions reward flexibility more than the classics do. Tasting rooms, hours, and even which wineries are currently open change faster in younger wine regions — check ahead rather than assuming a listing is current.
- Combine with the destination, not just the wine. Each of these pairs naturally with somewhere you'd likely visit anyway — Tbilisi, London/the South East, the Greek islands, Porto, or a San Diego trip extended across the border.
- Language and payment can differ from Western Europe's wine regions — cash is still preferred at some smaller Georgian and Mexican wineries, and English fluency varies more than it does in, say, Tuscany or Bordeaux.