California may claim the most wineries (and largest production yield) in the country, but it’s hardly the United States’ only destination for oenophiles. States such as Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and New York are chipping away at the Golden State’s mantle, working hard to woo wine lovers to their grape-growing terroir. Even Idaho and Arizona are elbowing their way in on the wine connoisseur’s map, offering finely crafted pours in tasting rooms far removed from the bustle of the best-established wine regions. With these flourishing viticultural areas often come small wine towns begging to be explored, with a glass in your hand. Here are 11 of the very best of them.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Surely you’ve heard of Napa and Sonoma, but California is loaded with other destination-worthy wine regions vying for attention, too, from the Central Coast’s Paso Robles to Southern California’s Temecula Valley. Upscale Carmel-by-the-Sea in Monterey County is one such locale, a fairy-tale seaside town whose claims to fame include electing Clint Eastwood as mayor in the 1980s and being founded by the same family that now runs one of its premier vineyards (Galante). Here, 18 tasting rooms and additional bottle shops are squeezed into one delightfully walkable square mile. Don’t miss Galante’s cabernet sauvignon or the award-winning chardonnay and pinot noir from the family-run Manzoni Cellars. The newcomer in town is the Chalone Vineyard tasting room, which opened in November 2023 and offers winetasting paired with either caviar or local cheeses curated by its neighbor, the Cheese Shop.
Where to stay: The area has seen a flurry of new hotel openings and renovations that have made Carmel-by-the-Sea one of California’s truly exciting hotel towns. Last year, the trendy Palisociety chain acquired two popular area hotels and reopened them as Le Petit Pali at Ocean Ave. (a 34-room inn downtown) and Le Petit Pali at 8th Ave. (a 24-room craftsman-style hotel).
Southold, New York
Long Island is shaped something like a lobster claw, splitting at the end into two. The see-and-be-seen South Fork is where you’ll find the Hamptons and Montauk, while the decidedly more bucolic (though no less sophisticated) North Fork is a quieter expanse of farmland and charming towns, with vineyards, farm stands, and beaches between steeple-studded main streets. First settled in 1640, the hamlet of Southold is particularly chock-full of great options for oenophiles. At Sparkling Pointe Vineyards, winemaker Gilles Martin turns out exclusively estate-grown sparkling wines made using the traditional méthode champenoise, while the nearby Croteaux Vineyards is the United States’ only vineyard dedicated to rosé wine, with a killer backyard setup that might make you feel as if you’ve stumbled into an old farmhouse in Provence. Mattebella Vineyards uses sustainable winemaking techniques to produce old-world styles, and for something a bit quirkier, don’t miss One Woman Winery, which was founded by Italian winemaker Claudia Purita, who grew up on her family’s farm in Calabria and makes wines like the rustic Spaghetti Red—which, yes, pairs great with spaghetti.
Where to stay: Opened last summer, the Hotel Moraine sits on a bluff overlooking the Long Island Sound and has a fleet of complimentary bikes that are perfect for exploring the surrounding farmlands.
The Hill Country town of Fredericksburg was founded in the 1840s by German immigrants.
Photo by travelview/Shutterstock
Fredericksburg, Texas
Texas is the fifth largest viticultural area in the United States, and while the greater Lubbock area grows about 90 percent of the state’s grapes, the Hill Country American Viticultural Area remains a favorite weekend getaway for folks in Austin and San Antonio. Base a Hill Country stay in Fredericksburg, which was founded by German immigrants in the 1840s. The surrounding county has more than 60 wineries, vineyards, and tasting rooms, including standouts like Messina Hof, the most awarded winery in Texas, and the picturesque Signor Vineyards, where the grounds include flower gardens and a historic barn turned tasting room. If you have limited time and want the widest sampling of what the Lone Star State’s wine industry has to offer, reserve a table at Cabernet Grill, boasting the largest selection of Texas wines of any restaurant in the world.
Where to stay: Lock in a sweetly rustic 19th-century cabin or cottage at Cotton Gin Village in Fredericksburg, a B&B-style property that’s kitted out with koi ponds, waterfalls, and firepits.
Tiny Palisade, Colorado, offers more than 25 wineries, many clustered along the scenic Palisade Fruit & Wine Byway.
Photo by Arina P. Habich/Shutterstock
Palisade, Colorado
Four hours west of Denver and only 20 minutes from Grand Junction Regional Airport, Palisade is home to about 2,500 people. Many Coloradans know the town for its incredible fruit, especially peaches, but the high-desert climate is also perfect for growing grapes for wine, including cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc. The town has more than 30 wineries, many lining the Palisade Fruit & Wine Byway, alongside orchards and lavender farms that are great for snacks, selfies, and souvenirs. Folks out here are doing exciting and innovative things with grapes: At Sauvage Spectrum, for instance, you can try dry-hopped pét-nats (pétillant natural wines) and sparkling reds, while the Ordinary Fellow is the brainchild of Colorado wine legend Ben Parsons, the founder of Denver’s cult-fave urban winery the Infinite Monkey Theorem. If you have time for just one meal while you’re in town, make it Pêche, where the menu pairs international influences (naan, jerk chicken, molcajete) with produce from nearby Grand Valley farms.
Where to stay: The Spoke and Vine Motel, a very cool rehab of a 1950s motor court, has a fantastic little lobby bar and patio, where you can pair local wines with a rotating lineup of area food trucks.
The newly built Los Milics Vineyards in Elgin, Arizona, looks more like a piece of contemporary art than a tasting room.
Photo by Bruce Racine
Sonoita, Arizona
Hot as hot can be, Arizona still manages to eke out three notable wine regions: Verde Valley, Willcox, and Sonoita. It’s that last one, 50 minutes south of Tucson, that has been throwing back vino for 400 years (thank the Spanish missionaries). Sonoita and the neighboring town of Elgin (less than 15 minutes away) are home to more than a dozen tasting rooms, including winery/distillery Flying Leap, AZ Hops and Vines, Deep Sky Vineyard, and Dos Cabezas Wineworks, which hosts the incredible Pronghorn Pizza on its crushpad; look for pies that include chiltepín, America’s only wild native chili, which is foraged here. No doubt the most photogenic winery in these parts is Los Milics Vineyards, which opened a stunning new campus last year in Elgin. The sleek, minimalist tasting room comprises glass, weathered steel, and reclaimed wood (charred using the Japanese shou sugi ban method). And the on-site restaurant, the Biscuit, takes its name from a nearby domed peak visible from the tasting room and its menu inspirations from Spain and the neighboring Mexican state of Sonora, which starts a few miles away.
Where to stay: The casitas at Los Milics have patios that look out over the vines and the Mustang Mountains beyond, and they maximize their compact space with a king-size bed that appears and disappears with the push of a button.
The inspiration for TV’s Mayberry is now the hub of a surprisingly robust wine scene.
Photo by LisaCarter/Shutterstock
Mount Airy, North Carolina
Mount Airy is best known as the real-life model for Mayberry, fictional setting of the 1960s-era The Andy Griffith Show (the historic downtown pays tribute with sites like the Andy Griffith Museum and Andy Griffith Playhouse). Nostalgic TV aside, the town is also known for its dry wines, originating from native and European varietals (from cabernet franc to petit verdot to sauvignon blanc) grown throughout the broader Yadkin Valley, North Carolina’s first AVA. Mount Airy, with its sweet shops, restaurants, and galleries, is an ideal location for exploring the Surry County Wine Trail. Of the 18 wineries, Shelton Vineyards in Dobson and JOLO Winery & Vineyards in Pilot Mountain are not to be missed, and the newest of the bunch is Christian Paul Vineyards, which opened last year on a 25-acre estate overlooking the Blue Ridge Mounains. Back in Mount Airy, stop by Un’Corked to sample some of Yadkin’s finest bottles.
Where to stay: Heart & Soul, a B&B inside a 1901 home, makes a lovely base camp for winery-hopping, plus it’s walking distance to Mount Airy’s attractions. (If you’d rather be chauffeured from vineyard to vineyard, the inn also offers wine country tours via its white 1939 Cadillac Fleetwood Imperial stretch limo.)
In Middleburg, wines pair well with historic architecture, including the Red Fox Inn & Tavern, which has been around since 1728.
Photo by Nigel Jarvis/Shutterstock
Middleburg, Virginia
Virginia is already neck-and-neck with New York when it comes to reigning East Coast wine-producing states, but it has gotten an extra bump thanks to celebrity vintners like musician Dave Matthews (Blenheim Vineyards in Charlottesville) and former AOL CEO Steve Case (Early Mountain Vineyards in Madison). An hour west of Washington, D.C., the wee town of Middleburg (with a population under 700) is at the heart of horse and wine country. Bordeaux-style reds are big, with Boxwood Winery leading the pack. There are at least 40 other wineries and tasting rooms in the general vicinity to explore, including the woman-owned Cana Vineyards, or former FLOTUS Michelle Obama’s favorite, Greenhill Winery & Vineyards. Leave time to check out downtown Middleburg, too, which has more than 100 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places; some of them line the Rockwell-idyllic main street.
Where to stay: Get yourself a suite at the palatial Salamander Resort & Spa, owned by BET cofounder Sheila Johnson, America’s first Black female billionaire. At the spa, book the 90-minute Grand Cru Massage, which incorporates a grape seed scrub, or the hydrating and moisturizing Pinot Noir Body Wrap.
The stunning views of Idaho’s Lewis–Clark Valley AVA make for a worthy backdrop while winetasting.
Photo by Brad Stinson
Lewiston, Idaho
Although wine is one of Idaho’s fastest growing agricultural industries, it has gone largely unnoticed by vine-seeking travelers. Grapes have been grown in these parts since 1864, and the state is now home to three distinct AVAs. The nutrient-rich volcanic soil and high temperatures are great for producing riesling, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay, and syrah. The 479-square-mile Lewis-Clark Valley, Idaho’s most recently minted AVA, encompasses big swaths of northern Idaho and eastern Washington, with its hub in Lewiston. Although the industry has historically had a reputation for being male-dominated, women account for about one-quarter of the vintners and growers in Idaho. Among the wineries in the region where women play a major role as owner or winemaker are family-run Jovinea Cellars, which focuses on small-lot wines; Clearwater Canyon Cellars, where winemaker Coco Umiker gets nerdy about topics like microbiology and soil science; and Colter’s Creek, which has a tasting room and hotel in Moscow’s 1890 Hattabaugh Building.
Where to stay: Moscow’s crisp, clean, cheerful Monarch Motel blends mid-mod minimalism with millennial luxuries like white noise machines. Guests also get 10 percent off meals at Nectar, an upscale comfort-food spot across the street.
Skyview Los Alamos, a reinvented motel, makes for an unbeatable homebase on a wine trip in the Santa Ynez Valley.
Courtesy of Skyview Los Alamos
Los Alamos, California
The Santa Ynez Valley, north of Santa Barbara, is heaven for wine geeks with its Mediterranean climate, four distinct AVAs, 120-plus wineries producing everything from syrah to viognier, and half a dozen heartstring-tugging hamlets to explore. The hip little frontier town of Los Alamos is home to beloved wineries owned by women, including Clementine Carter Wines and Martian Ranch and Vineyard, both known for their Rhône varietals. Other area attractions include a 1920s gas station–turned–boulangerie (Bob’s Well Bread Bakery) and Bell’s, a Michelin-starred bistro with an excellent wine list that draws heavily from France and the surrounding valley. Venture 15 minutes south to Buellton and you’ll find yourself in the filming location of the comedic 2004 wine flick Sideways, on the doorstep of even more top-shelf producers (Alma Rosa, Hitching Post, Margerum), while at a 20-minute drive west, Santa Ynez beckons with its Provençal-esque Sunstone Winery and Brave and Maiden, serving estate-grown syrah, grenache, and sauvignon blanc.
Where to stay: Skyview Los Alamos is a 1950s motel that was impressively gut-rehabbed in 2018; its midcentury bones are still intact, but now they’re gussied up with cowhide rugs and outdoor showers.
The best way to get in the spirit of this farming community is with a stay at Inn the Ground.
Courtesy of Inn the Ground
Carlton, Oregon
This North Willamette Valley farming town of about 2,200 people claims to have the most tasting rooms per capita of any place in the United States, with nearly two dozen and counting. Learn firsthand why so many visitors flip over the Roads End Pinot Noir at Carlton Cellars and how Chris James Cellars racked up two consecutive Best of Show awards for its 2016 Pinot Noir Reserve at First Taste Oregon. If time permits, drop by some other local favorites: Laurel Ridge Winery, Dominio IV, K&M Wines, Soter Vineyards, or Lemelson Vineyards. Order a wine-and-cheese pairing (with a side of live music) at the Horse Radish, or go the full-on white tablecloth route at upscale French restaurant Cuvée, where the kitchen is helmed by Alsace-born chef Gilbert Henry.
Where to stay: The newly opened Inn the Ground is a bed-and-breakfast built directly into a hillside above a regenerative farm; you can spend your days watching cows grazing in front of your window, hiking on eight miles of trails across the farm campus, or joining in a permaculture tour.
Waconia, Minnesota
Minnesota has vineyards? You betcha! The state boasts more than 75 farm wineries, growing cold-hardy grapes like la crescent, marquette, and frontenac gris. In the wine hub of Waconia, 45 minutes west of Minneapolis, there are three standout vineyards to add to your map: the 30-acre Sovereign Estate Vineyard & Winery on Lake Waconia; Parley Lake Winery, which often features live music; and Schram Vineyards Winery & Brewery, a two-in-one perched on Reitz Lake and the first winery/brewery duo in the state. The town is also home to J. Carver Distillery, where some of the local grapes have gone into Minnesota’s first brandy, aged for over two years in toasted barrels coopered in the state. With any free time between pours, you can hug a llama at Carlson’s Lovable Llamas or join in a ranger-led program at Carver Park Reserve.
Where to stay: While it’s mostly nondescript chain hotels in Waconia, you can cozy up with a bottle of wine on a hammock outside this darling 1889 farmhouse apartment in nearby Cologne.
This article originally appeared in 2019; it was updated most recently on July 26, 2024, to include current information.
