Taste, drink and be happy...

(Rippon, NZ, image ©Marc Meunch)

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Is this the most unusual?

Founded in 1858 in the medieval town of Elciego in Rioja Alavesa, Marqués de Riscal is the oldest winery in the Rioja region and the source of one of the most ambitious oenotourism projects ever undertaken by a Spanish winery: the City of Wine. 

Surrounded by extensive vineyards, it incorporates one of the most audacious hotel designs imaginable. Immediately identifiable by it varicoloured titanium roof and asymmetrical structure, the complex is an avant-garde masterpiece housing 43 luxury rooms, a Caudalie Vinotherapie spa, convention centre and more.

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Best Vineyard in Africa

They really know how to do idyllic landscapes in the Cape Winelands. South Africa’s leading wine, hospitality and art destination, Delaire Graff Estate – aka ‘the Jewel’ of said Winelands – is almost too perfect. 

Situated under the peak of the Botmaskop mountain between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, the estate boasts unparalleled views of the Banghoek Valley, Stellenbosch vineyards and Table Mountain – and plenty more besides.

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Best Vineyard in Europe

There are wine co-ops and then there are wine co-ops. With its maze of 300-year-old cellars, its Baroque castle and its pick of every prime vineyard site in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Wachau, Domäne Wachau tops the lot. 

For the past 15 years, under the expert stewardship of managing director Roman Horvath MW and winemaker Heinz Frischengruber, this historic winery has established itself as a must-visit, quality-orientated wine destination – and so, wine enthusiasts, if you’re planning a visit to the Danube region, be sure to set your GPS to the village of Dürnstein.

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Best Vineyard in Asia

The oldest established wine producer in Japan, Château Mercian has led the way in the emergence of Japanese wine on the world stage over the past 10-15 years, producing cool-climate-style wines of real elegance and distinction from three wineries: Katsunuma, Kikyogahara and Mariko. 

Opened in 2019, the Mariko Winery, on the outskirts of Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, is the most recent addition. For those seeking wine adventures off the beaten track, a visit to this immaculately presented winery and vineyards, with panoramic views of the verdant Jinba plateau, is highly recommended.

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Best Vineyard in North America

Picking his first harvest in 1966, Robert Mondavi chose the historic To Kalon vineyard in Oakville from which to realise his then-outlandish vision – of creating Californian wines that would match the finest in France. First planted in 1868, To Kalon has long been renowned for producing some of the world’s finest Cabernet, while its Sauvignon Blanc (which goes into Mondavi’s signature Blanc Fumé) is believed to be the oldest in the Americas. 

After more than 50 years of refinement and innovation, Robert Mondavi Winery is now firmly established as one of the quality-leading wineries in the world – and an unmissable destination for wine lovers wishing to explore the epicurean pleasures of Napa.
 

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Best Vineyard in Australasia

What makes Rippon one of the most desirable estates in the world to visit? The wines, the views and the people – in equal measure. Lake Wanaka, an ancient moraine lake, shimmering under the crystal light of a sunny Central Otago day must count as one of the most Instagrammable images on the planet. 

That Rippon maintains 15ha of vines in this immaculate landscape is wonder enough, but the quality and sense of place of its wholly estate-grown wines gives this little corner of heaven an extra special appeal.

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AND, finally (drum-roll please!)

World's Best Vineyard AND Best Vineyard in South America

Topping the World’s Best Vineyards list two years in a row, Zuccardi Valle de Uco in Mendoza remains one of the most dazzling wine experiences bar none, with Andean scenery as unimprovable as its architectural vision of a winery and Sebastián Zuccardi’s precision-made, high-altitude wines merging into a memorably perfect whole. 

Located at around 1100 metres above sea level on the alluvial plain of the Tunuyán River, the Zuccardi estate vineyards express the characteristic diversity of the chalky soils of Paraje Altamira.

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Check here to read more about the world's top 50 best vineyards....