In South Africa, the world’s seventh largest wine producing region is housed, to the northeast of Capetown. Here the local favorite grape is the white grape and one of the famed wines is Chenin Blanc. However, a lot of grape cross-breeding to come up with unique, exotic flavors also goes on here. One of the most prominent products of this practice is the South African Pinotage wine, a cross between Cinsaut and Pinot Noir grapes. Sauvignon Blanc is another favorite wine of South Africa, and is grown near the coast.

The Iberian Peninsula is one of the world’s finest wine producing regions. The gorgeous northern Spanish territory of La Rioja features bodegas (small wineries) that specialize in the production of Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva (“reserve” wines are of a superior quality–and price). Meanwhile, down in Douro, Portugal, you’ll come across the world’s most famous (and likely original) producer of the fruity, sweet, and extra strong wine called Port. Check out the Quinta do Vesuvio and the Quinta de La Rosa wineries if you are lucky enough to travel there.

The mountain-ensconced, 30-mile-long expanse literally covered in grapes called the Napa Valley in California emerged in the middle of the 20th century as one of the world’s most incredible wine growing regions. It’s here that you’ll find the finest wines made from the grape that saved–and essentially launched–the wine industry of California and Napa: the Zinfandel. Northern California produces vastly more wine than what’s just in the Napa Valley and is considered to be an excellent region overall, but the valley is where you’ll find 220 wineries and what most consider to be the best of the best wines in California.

The Maipo Valley of Chile offers you delectable Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir wines at surprisingly low prices considering what you get. The Santa Rita vineyard ships about 340,000 cases of its wines to the U.S. every year. The Concha y Toro winery in Puente Alto is widely regarded as producing the best red wines of the South American continent.

Travel to the land down under, Australia, and you’ll find the amazing wines of Penfolds Grange (1200 acres of vineyards all by itself), and you’ll find rich tasting wines of many different kinds including Chardonnays, Sauvignons, and the market-storming Shiraz. The Yarra Valley (Victoria’s oldest vineyard region), which is close to Sydney, delivers some of the world’s finest Pinot Noirs.

In Italy you’ll find the Veneto and Tuscany regions of wine growing fame. Soave, Recioto, and Valpolicella are specialties of Veneto, while Chianti, Merlot, and many one-of-a-kind names for wines that you’ll never find produced anywhere else in the world are to be discovered in Tuscany.

Germany and France produce world famous wines. Germany’s Baden region produces the “aristocrat of red wines” in its Pinot Noir product, but also yields superior whites like Pinot Gris and Muller Thurgau. In France’s Germany-bordering Alsace region, you’ll find a wide array of different wines including Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Tokay Pinot Gris, Sylvaner, and Muscat d’Alsace. And then there’s France’s Bordeaux region–regarded overall as the greatest wine-producing region on the planet. Over 284,000 acres of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc grapes grow the world’s most coveted red wines called Pomerol, Graves, and Malbec. And if you go there, you’ll never forget the vineyards in the gorgeous medieval town of of Saint-Emilion–where they produce a prized wine also called Saint-Emilion.