I received a press release mentioning the February issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine’s list of Best Wine Travel Destinations of 2015. I always enjoy their list. Kathy and I have traveled to and written about more than 1,100 wineries and vineyards in North America, Europe and Oceania. I always enjoy seeing who made the Wine Enthusiast list and which of those regions we have visited.

Mission Estate Winery is one of the oldest wineries in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand

Here is their list:
• Piedmont, Italy
• Finger Lakes, NY – USA!
• Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
• Rhône Valley, France
• Orlando, FL – USA!
• Galicia, Spain
• Okanagan, Canada
• Loire Valley, France
• Mendocino, CA – USA!
• Istria, Croatia

We have not been to the Piedmont in Italy and know that we should. It will be on our radar for a future year. We have made several trips to the Finger Lakes wine region in New York. Once you get there, visiting wineries is very easy. We also had the opportunity to visit wineries in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand and have many fond memories of our visits there. The Rhône Valley in France is another wine region on our radar. We are going to France this year for the International Wine Tourism Conference during April in Champagne. Orlando, Florida is a surprise. That wine region wasn’t even on our radar. We’ll have to research the area and plan a future visit.

Biodynamic vineyard in Mendocino County, California

Kozlovic Winery in Momjan, Istria, Croatia, has vineyard photos in the barrel room. A gentle reminder that wine starts in the vineyard.

We have been to two of the regions on the last of the five regions on the list. We enjoyed visiting wineries and meeting with the personalities in Mendocino County, California. This is an easy to visit wine region. We also visited wineries in the Istria region of Croatia. We would love to return to the region in warmer weather. We have not been to Loire Valley, France or Okanagan, Canada or Galicia, Spain. In 2014 we made our first trip to Spain and visited wineries in the Catalonia region. The Okanagan is definitely on our radar perhaps for 2015. Living on the east coast of the United States, we have made several trips to Canadian wineries in Ontario and one trip to wineries in Quebec. The Okanagan is our next area in Canada to visit.

The Wine Enthusiast article will also include where to dine, lodging, activities and where to taste. Check out the February edition of Wine Enthusiast for details.

Cheers,
Terry