Northern California is known for many things from San Francisco to the excellent wine vineyards. Northern California winery escapes are some of the best around given the close proximity of so many great wineries.

California is one of the richest wine producing states in the US. The Napa Valley, located in the northern region of California, is home to miles of vineyards and many different wineries – all of which produce different wine varietals and blends. The climate of northern California makes this area a perfect spot for wine lovers to take a vacation. Enjoying the beautiful surroundings and the many excursions available make this California destination a special place for couples and other groups of wine enthusiasts.

One company that offers to make your stay complete in Northern California is California Wine Tours and Transportation (800-294-6386), located in Sonoma, California. This company offers tourists in the Northern California (and San Francisco) areas many different types of vineyard experiences. With shuttles and other vehicles available (including limos and specialty vehicles), tourists can choose to see whichever vineyards of the Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley that they are interested in. Private trips (or small group excursions) can be tailored to your individual interests, and can include stops at specific wineries or stops for specific types of wine (for example, visits to champagne cellars).

The California Wine Tours company also offers “public excursions”, which are an economical way to see many of the great vineyards without having to pay for a custom trip. The public excursion to Napa Valley includes transportation by limousine, and departs daily from two popular hotels in Napa. The Napa Valley version offers visitors a trip to several different wineries: the Cosetino Winery, Miner Family Winery, V. Sattui, Maryvale and Andretti Wineries. Be prepared to spend an entire day in Napa Valley, as the limo departs from the hotels at 10:30 and does not return until 4:30 in the afternoon.

If you would prefer to see some of the wineries in Sonoma Valley, a public excursion explores this area via bus. It departs from two local hotels in Sonoma at 10:30 in the morning, and includes several winery stops as well as lunch at one of the winery’s gourmet eateries. If you choose this trip, you will be able to stop at the following vineyards: Kunde Estate Winery (includes a cave tour), Ledson Winery, St. Francis Winery, VJB Vineyards and Cellars and Valley of the Moon Winery. Many different vintages and varietals will be available for you to enjoy, ranging from full bodied red wines to lighter chardonnays.

Whether you prefer the wineries of Sonoma or Napa, it is easy to see why northern California is a mecca of wineries. There are many different places to explore, along with many different ways to see this beautiful wine country.

By Xavier Modini

It’s easy to assume that New Zealand is a lot like Australia with its geographical proximity to the Outback: visitors may often be on the lookout for crocodile wrestling and Nicole Kidman sightings. Despite this assumption, New Zealand is a country all its own. Located halfway between the South Pole and the Equator, this nation is divided into the North Island and the South Island, with several smaller islands peppered in; it is a country filled with culture, history, and, of course, flora. Due to recent advances, it is now a country also filled with wine.

In the book of wine history, New Zealand hasn’t had much of a place, exiled to the small font of the index page. With diseases, poor quality grapes, and inexperienced farmers all serving as factors, its wines have been kicked out of liquor stores and booted out of bars. Nonetheless, these wines refused to stay out, sitting behind their vines and sulking; they decided to try again.

Perhaps it was the perseverance of the winemakers, or the zeal that partly makes up the nation’s name, but something kept the New Zealand wine industry going. After a hundred and forty years of poor quality wine, things changed: vineyards became more innovated and the lessons from experience began to stick, giving this nation’s wine a second chance. By the early 1990’s, New Zealand wine had found a place: their grapes shed their former skins and emerged into something special.

The four years between 1994 and 1998 were literally a time of growth for the New Zealand wine industry: the number of winemakers increased from 31 to 293, the number of wineries tripled, and the amount of land reserved for viniculture nearly doubled. But the wine industry, as a whole, still remained small: presently, New Zealand produces an annual amount of wine that is one twelfth of Australia’s stock.

Greatly influenced by the English, Scottish, Irish, Asian, Polynesian, and Maori cultures, New Zealand as a country is a bit of a melting pot, and this shows in its wine: there are as many kinds of grapes as there are kinds of people. Over 20 varieties of grapes are grown in the ten main growing regions located all across the country. These grapes are made into wines at wineries that range from large to small.

New Zealand is known in particular for white wine, with 75 percent of wine produced being of this type. One white wine, the Sauvignon Blanc, is very much the grape of this country’s eye; it is the wine that put this nation on the map. With a flavor and a sharpness said to trump all others, this Sauvignon Blanc is one the most well-liked wines around. Many people attest that New Zealand produces the best Sauvignon Blanc in the entire world.

Red wines are, however, not absent; they are starting to be produced more frequently. Cabernet and Merlot are helping the red wine industry by climbing up the corporate vine, but the true red wine of New Zealand is Pinot Noir. This wine is becoming increasingly more and more popular; soon it may rival Sauvignon Blanc for prom queen.

New Zealand is home to vineyards extremely close to the ocean. When this is coupled with a southern location, possessing vineyards that are the southernmost in all the word, a different kind of climate is introduced to the grape. With a different kind of climate comes a different kind of wine. Marked by weather that is cool and consistent, the grapes of New Zealand are able to ripe at a slow, steady pace. This produces a wine that is intense, sharp in flavor and tastes like no other.

The rocky start behind them, New Zealanders are looking to the future of wine with their chins, and their glasses, held high. With the production of Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir, not to mention the hype the Riesling is creating, there is no knowing where the New Zealand wine culture will sit in the future. Chance are, it will sit among the best wine cultures in the world, known as one of the greatest lands for wine anywhere, not just north of the South Pole.

By Jennifer Jordan

Wine making in California, otherwise known as the Golden State, can be traced back to late in the 18th century, when Spanish missionaries from Mexico arrived in California with knowledge of the wine making process. California has the perfect climate for growing grapes, and with some two and half centuries of experience the region produces some of the best wines in the world, much to the delight of American wine enthusiasts.

Indeed California’s wines are in high demand, with an average increase in international sales of just under 20% per year over the last twenty years. Even recent years have shown the immense growth in Californian wine making, with 850 wine cellars in 1998, steady growth in the industry means that today there are over 1,300 wineries in the Golden State. More than forty red wine grape varietals and over 26 white wine grape varietals are produced in California.

Some experts point to a trend in Californian wine making over the last two decades which has shown a marked shift in the attitude of wine makers concerning the importance of the vineyards and the wine grape. Today the wine maker’s knowledge of a the vineyard from which grapes will be sourced is considered to be one of the most important aspects of the wine maker’s job. The ripeness, acid levels and flavour of the grapes, as well as the general condition of the vineyard are important to the wine maker, and as such close lines of communication must be kept between the growers and the wine makers from the time the grapes are growing till when they arrive at the wine press. Many times the wine maker and vineyard manager work together with a common goal and idea of what type of wine they will produce.

After Italy, France and Spain, California’s production of wine is the fourth largest in the world. Eighteen percent of all wine produced in this region is exported to 125 countries around the world, including Britain, Canada, Germany and Japan. There are wines produced to cater for all price brackets, from wines lining supermarket shelves to exclusive wines that are harder to get hold of.

Reliable quality standards and diversity are what California wines are known for. This is because of a combination of elements; the wine makers in the region have a strongly developed sense of individuality, coupled with international experience in many cases, and the variety of micro-climates and soil types also play a large role in creating a diverse wine producing area consisting of almost 100 grape varietals.

By Marius Bezuidenhout

California Wine Regions produce some good wines.