Four Unexpected Wine Regions Worth Visiting

(Salon) - Napa, France, and Tuscany are obvious places for oenophiles to visit, but wine enthusiasts and adventurous travelers looking to enhance their palettes and up their street cred at a dinner party may want to consider booking a flight to the following four locations. Grapes are versatile fruits that can be – and are – grown anywhere from the frozen tundra of the Upper Midwest to the arid deserts of Africa.

#1: Bolivia

Food & Wine recently profiled Bolivian wines as part of an article on Claus Meyer’s new restaurant, Gustu, in La Paz. Though the region claims to be the highest vineyard in the world at 10,000 feet, Denver, Argentina, and Kenya also make that claim, so we’ll just go ahead and superlatively say that Bolivia has the cheapest wines with the biggest cultural bang for visitors who can adjust to the altitude and don’t mind communal wine tastings (as in eight people, one cup) with strangers. Bolivian wines may not beat out other southern countries vintages in a blind taste test, but Merlot blends are rich and smooth, while Syrahs have a tannic finish. La Vinoteca in Tarija carries nationally made wines at prices under five dollars a bottle. For better or worse, most Bolivian wines aren’t exported so you’ll have to make the approximately 20-hour journey from New York to sample them. Whether you ride an Alpaca or not is a personal choice. 

#2: Morocco

While drinking wine in Morocco isn’t legal for the predominantly Muslim population that lives there, making wine is. The country’s history as a former French protectorate and microclimate near the ocean makes it an ideal spot for viticulture. Though most of the wine is consumed in country, much of it is exported to France, and that’s saying something. Traditional Moroccan dishes like hearty tangine stew and deeply spiced couscous pair well with bold reds, and visitors can try more than two dozen Moroccan wines at La Mamounia Hotel (pictured above) in Marrakesh. Sommelier Manueal Schott tells BloombergNews.com that he works around Morocco’s infamous heat by having wines delivered early in the morning or after seven in the evening so that the bottles aren’t compromised in the extreme temperatures. Look for blends made with the native Faranah grape for a truly exotic taste and notes of violet, grapefruit, and mint.