Wine Regions

Not all lands in the world are blessed with conducive setting suitable for grape cultivation. Grapes, like other high-demand crops, can grow only in cold atmosphere with specific soil requirement and fertility level. That is why only select locations in the world can cultivate them.

In general, select crops need a consistent climate to survive. There are certain climate characteristic of the regions where they are known to thrive. These regions may vary in locations all over the world. The locations of climate-consistent regions are identified in terms of degrees of the earth's latitude, also called “belts.” In the case of grapes, these climate-consistent regions are found in both the northern and southern hemisphere, in the middle of the 30th and 50th ° latitude. Along these “wine belts,” thousands of acres are cultivated in various vineyards.

When one talks of grape cultivation, the so-called “terroir” determines a region's capability to grow grapes and include four factors: climate, soil, geography and topography. They also determine the seasons for planting and harvesting.

In terms of continents, Europe ranks as the world's biggest wine producer based on the number of countries that produces grape and wine varieties (29 countries). Next are Asia and America with nine countries, Africa with 5 countries and Oceania with 2 countries.

While the United Kingdom does not have an extensive grape terroir to enable mass wine cultivation, there is a growing interest in planting new grape vine varieties especially in Southern England and in some counties that are conducive enough for grape growing like Surrey, Hampshire, Kent, Cornwall, Dorset and Wiltshire.