Wine countries
48 countries, each with its classification ladder, its signature grapes and the things its labels assume you already know.
Europe
25- AustriaDry, precise, mostly white, and the country that rebuilt itself from the strictest wine law in Europe after a scandal.Grüner VeltlinerRieslingBlaufränkischZweigeltSt. Laurent45,000 ha2023
- Bosnia and HerzegovinaHerzegovina gives the country its clearest wine identity, with Žilavka whites, Blatina reds and a landscape of family cellars and long-established vineyard traditions.ŽilavkaBlatinaVranecMerlotSyrah
- BulgariaA Thracian wine country that was once a major exporter, rebuilding around its own red grapes.MavrudCabernet SauvignonMerlotPamid60,000 ha2023
- CroatiaThe origin of zinfandel, a Dalmatian coast of steep island vineyards, and a cool continental north.Plavac MaliPošipZinfandelItalian RieslingRefosco20,000 ha2023
- CzechiaMoravia supplies most Czech wine, with fresh whites, distinctive local crossings and a smaller but serious red-wine tradition.Grüner VeltlinerMüller-ThurgauRieslingItalian RieslingBlaufränkisch
- England and WalesThe fastest-growing vineyard area in Europe, on the same chalk as Champagne, making sparkling wine.ChardonnayPinot noirPinot meunierBacchus WeissSeyval Blanc4,200 ha2023
- FranceThe country that gave the world most of its grape names and the idea that a place, not a producer, is the label.Cabernet SauvignonMerlotCabernet FrancPinot noirChardonnay773,000 ha2024
- GeorgiaThe oldest continuous winemaking tradition known, and the origin of skin-contact white wine.SaperaviRkatsiteliMtsvaneKhikhvi55,000 ha2023
- GermanyThe coldest serious wine country in the world, and the one that makes riesling better than anywhere else.RieslingPinot noirMüller-ThurgauSilvanerDornfelder103,000 ha2023
- GreeceOne of the oldest wine cultures on earth, rebuilt in one generation around grapes that grow nowhere else.AssyrtikoAgiorgitikoXinomavroMoschofileroRhoditis103,000 ha2023
- HungaryThe country that classified its vineyards in 1737, and the home of Tokaji.FurmintHárslevelűBlaufränkischKadarkaCabernet Franc62,000 ha2023
- ItalyMore native grape varieties than any other country, and a wine culture that grew out of the table rather than the cellar.SangioveseNebbioloBarberaMontepulcianoAglianico722,000 ha2024
- LuxembourgA small Moselle wine country known for still whites, Pinot-family grapes and traditional-method Crémant.RieslingPinot blancPinot grisAuxerrois BlancElbling
- MaltaTwo small Mediterranean islands with protected local origins, the native red Ġellewża and white Girgentina, and a wide range of international varieties.ĠellewżaChardonnaySauvignon blancMerlotSyrah
- MoldovaMore vineyard per head of population than any country on earth, and the two largest wine cellars ever dug.Fetească albăFetească neagrăCabernet SauvignonMerlotSauvignon blanc128,000 ha2023
- MontenegroA small Adriatic wine country led by Vranac reds, with Krstač whites and vineyard areas around Lake Skadar, Podgorica and the coast.VranecKrstačZinfandelCabernet SauvignonMerlot
- North MacedoniaOne valley, one grape and an enormous surplus: Vranec from Tikveš, most of it still sold in bulk.VranecStanušina CrnaKratošijaSmederevkaMuscat Blanc à Petits Grains24,000 ha2023
- PortugalA small country with about 250 native grapes, the oldest demarcated wine region in the world, and two of the great fortified wines.Touriga NacionalTouriga FrancesaTempranilloTinta BarrocaBaga173,000 ha2024
- RomaniaOne of Europe's largest vineyards, almost entirely drunk at home, with a set of grapes nobody else grows.Fetească albăFetească neagrăFetească regalăBăbească NeagrăMerlot187,000 ha2024
- SerbiaA large old vineyard rebuilding around one native red, Prokupac, after fifty years of making bulk wine for someone else.ProkupacTamjanikaSmederevkaItalian RieslingCabernet Sauvignon22,000 ha2023
- SlovakiaAustria's grapes and Hungary's Tokaj, in a country most drinkers have never seen a bottle from.Grüner VeltlinerItalian RieslingRieslingMüller-ThurgauPinot blanc8,500 ha2023
- SloveniaThree small regions, an Alpine-to-Adriatic range, and the modern revival of skin-contact white wine.Ribolla GiallaItalian RieslingSauvignon blancChardonnayRefosco15,000 ha2023
- SpainThe largest vineyard area on earth, a low-yielding one, and the home of both Rioja and sherry.TempranilloGrenacheMourvèdreCarignanGraciano930,000 ha2024
- SwitzerlandTerraced Alpine vineyards, a set of grapes found almost nowhere else, and almost no exports.ChasselasPinot noirGamayMerlotPetite Arvine15,000 ha2023
- UkraineBlack Sea vineyards, Transcarpathian hills and a growing craft-wine movement give Ukraine a diverse identity beyond a single historical wine style.Cabernet SauvignonMerlotChardonnayRieslingSaperavi
South America
6- ArgentinaThe highest commercial vineyards in the world, and the country that made malbec its own.MalbecDouce noirCabernet SauvignonSyrahTorrontés200,000 ha2024
- BoliviaThe highest commercial vineyards on earth, up to 3,000 metres, and a national spirit that is legally a mountain wine.Muscat of AlexandriaTannatMalbecCabernet SauvignonSyrah4,500 ha2023
- BrazilA humid southern highland making good traditional-method sparkling wine, and a tropical vineyard with two harvests a year.MerlotCabernet SauvignonChardonnayPinot noirIsabella80,000 ha2023
- ChileA long thin vineyard between the Andes and the Pacific, phylloxera-free, and the only home of carmenère.Cabernet SauvignonSauvignon blancMerlotCarménèreChardonnay130,000 ha2023
- PeruWhere South American wine began, in a coastal desert, and where most of the crop is now distilled into pisco.ItaliaMuscat of AlexandriaMalbecTannatSyrah40,000 ha2023
- UruguayA small, humid, Atlantic wine country that adopted a grape France had almost given up on.TannatAlbariñoMerlotCabernet FrancChardonnay6,000 ha2023
North America
3- CanadaThe world's largest producer of icewine, and a serious cool-climate country in two very different valleys.Vidal BlancRieslingCabernet FrancChardonnayPinot noir12,000 ha2023
- MexicoThe oldest winery in the Americas, and a coastal Baja valley that supplies most of what the country drinks.Cabernet SauvignonMerlotTempranilloNebbioloGrenache40,000 ha2023
- United StatesFourth by volume, first by AVA count, and a country where almost every state now makes wine.Cabernet SauvignonChardonnayZinfandelPinot noirMerlot385,000 ha2024
Oceania
2- AustraliaOld vines older than Europe's, a national obsession with shiraz, and the most rigorous wine science in the world.SyrahCabernet SauvignonChardonnayMerlotSauvignon blanc145,000 ha2023
- New ZealandA small country that redefined one grape, and now has the highest average bottle price of any exporter.Sauvignon blancPinot noirChardonnayPinot grisRiesling43,000 ha2023
Africa
3- MoroccoMeknès and nearby Atlas foothills form a major centre of Moroccan wine, with familiar international grapes and protected local origins.Cabernet SauvignonMerlotSyrahChardonnay
- South AfricaThree and a half centuries of continuous winemaking, the world's oldest wine-farm architecture, and chenin blanc at its best.Chenin blancCabernet SauvignonSyrahSauvignon blancChardonnay90,000 ha2023
- TunisiaTunisia combines an ancient Mediterranean wine history with modern reds, rosés, whites and sparkling wines from northern vineyard areas.CarignanGrenacheSyrahMourvèdreMerlot
Asia
9- ArmeniaThe oldest known winery on earth, a century of making brandy instead, and a wine industry rebuilt from about 2010.Areni SevRkatsiteli17,000 ha2023
- ChinaA very large vineyard, a small fine-wine sector, and one region that has proved itself in a decade.Cabernet SauvignonMerlotCabernet GernischtMarselanChardonnay753,000 ha2024
- CyprusA mountain-vineyard island with Xynisteri whites, Maratheftiko reds and the historic sweet wine Commandaria.XynisteriMavroMaratheftikoCabernet SauvignonSyrah
- IndiaA vast table grape vineyard with a small wine industry inside it, concentrated at Nashik, and two harvests a year if you want them.Cabernet SauvignonSyrahChenin blancSauvignon blancChardonnay185,000 ha2024
- IsraelAn ancient wine land, restarted in 1882, now working out what its own grapes are.Cabernet SauvignonMerlotSyrahChardonnaySauvignon blanc5,500 ha2023
- JapanA humid, mountainous country that grows one pink grape into a very precise white wine.KōshūMerlotChardonnayCabernet SauvignonPinot noir17,000 ha2023
- LebanonThe Bekaa Valley, Phoenician roots, and a wine industry that kept working through a civil war.CinsautCarignanCabernet SauvignonSyrahGrenache2,200 ha2023
- ThailandThailand’s tropical vineyards produce grape wines in places such as Khao Yai and Hua Hin, with vineyard management adapted to a different seasonal rhythm.SyrahChenin blancColombardSangioveseMerlot
- TurkeyA vast vineyard, most of it eaten rather than drunk, over one of the oldest wine landscapes on earth.BoğazkereNarincesultanaCabernet SauvignonSyrah402,000 ha2024
Sources
The prose, the choice of signature grapes and the reading of each classification system are ours. Areas are dated national figures. The 2024 figures come from OIV and include wine, table and drying grapes plus young vines. Other areas are approximate historical figures from the country records. Region and grape records come from Wikidata and Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA 4.0).