Bay Area folks can get spoiled by the abundance of vineyards on their doorstep. Why go out of the way to seek out new wine-tasting experiences, when there’s a grape-loaded cornucopia in Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles and elsewhere?

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Well, some people like to search far and wide for their wine, and for them Wine Spectator has a few suggestions. The magazine asked beverage directors at award-winning U.S. restaurants for their favorite wine-centric excursions, which it has compiled into “10 Wine Country Travel Destinations to Visit in 2025.”

Most are European, but two places in North America do make the list: the Finger Lakes in New York and Valle de Guadalupe in Mexico. The latter is reachable via a short plane trip (or long day’s drive) from the Bay Area and “feels to me a lot like what I assume Napa felt like in the 1960s and ’70s,” a sommelier explained. “Creativity and experimentation are through the roof.”

And why Upstate New York? A wine director told the magazine: “The Finger Lakes is a center for research on climate change, hybrid varieties and clonal selection, and getting to experience it all first-hand is both educational and highly enjoyable.”

Wine Spectator’s Wine-Country Travel Destinations for 2025

1 Alsace, France

2 Canary Islands, Spain

3 Douro, Portugal

4 Finger Lakes, New York

5 Jura, France

6 Puglia, Italy

7 Rhône-Alpes, France

8 Roussillon, France

9 Sardinia, Italy

10 Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico

Source: winespectator.com/articles/travel-best-wine-country-hidden-gems-underrated-2025