Wine Regions
Just about every country in the world grows grapes, but not every country in the world can grow wine grapes. And although many try and do make wine from the grapes they harvest, not many are world-class and are usually consumed locally for good reason. The areas of the world traditionally suited to growing vitis vinifera, the true wine-making grapes, lie between 30 and 50 degrees north latitude and 30 and 50 degrees south latitude.
North of 30 degrees south latitude and south of 30 degrees north latitude puts you closer to the equator where it is too hot and/or humid to grow grapes; they get too ripe or they rot in the humidity. North of 50 degrees north latitude or south of 50 degrees south latitude, it's just to cold to grow grapes. They never attain proper ripeness or die on the vine from extended freezing or late spring or early fall frosts. In either case, north or south of the boundary, even if they are grown and harvested, they will never achieve balance, producing wines that are either too fat with not enough acidity, or too thin with not enough ripeness.
In this section we'll talk about the regions where our wines are made and the some of the other important regions of the world. We'll explain to you why these regions are best for producing vitis vinifera above their specific geographic location and what grapes grow best there and why.
