Thinking of a trip to wine country this summer? Get the full Napa experience at these newly-opened hotels and wineries to visit…

Imagine a place that’s said to have been too wild for Al Capone. That was Ogden. A tiny town in Utah that sits 40 miles north of Salt Lake City, it was once considered one of the most dangerous cities in America.

The Southern Hemisphere is world-renowned for its wines from Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. But Brazil—famous for Ipanema and Copacabana, not malbec and sauvignon blanc—remains a quiet underdog, despite the fact that it’s the fifth-largest wine producer in the Southern Hemisphere (ahead of New Zealand).

Although it shares a border with France — you know, the country with some of the most famous wine regions in the world — Germany’s wine industry is underrated and undiscovered. It may forever be overshadowed by its neighbor, but this underdog offers spectacular wine, scenery, and culture that is vastly different from what you’ll taste and find next door. This is a tale of two German wine regions worth exploring. They have different soils, climates, and mindsets, but both are a quick drive away

"From Gold Rush towns preserved in time to 140-year-old grapevines, the Sierra Foothills area keeps one foot in the 19th century. In this region, known as Gold Country and the Mother Lode, you will uncover rich history, best explored via raft or wine glass."

Eugene is to Portland as Oakland is to San Francisco. It’s less populated, less polished, but rapidly shedding its former bad-boy rap and gaining notoriety as the cooler little brother.

One hour north of San Francisco, all of life’s greatest indulgences — wine, food, relaxation, and adventure — can be experienced all at once in Napa Valley, one of the top Wine Country destinations in the world.

“A poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.” That’s how John Steinbeck describes the down-at the-heels district at the center of his 1945 novel, Cannery Row. The smells and sounds of the sardine canneries have long disappeared from Ocean View Avenue in Monterey. Those factories now house gift shops, chic wine-tasting rooms and seafood restaurants..."

Nile Zacherle of Mad Fritz is starting his own hop movement, crafting hyperlocal beers with a winemaker’s Mad perspective.

The Herzog family reflects on nine generations of winemaking through their new Lineage portfolio.

Winter might just be Napa Valley's best kept secret: Free of crowds and traffic, the off-season also promises steals at Wine Country's hottest luxury hotels.

You could say that the wine world nearly missed out on Heidi Barrett and her elegant, expertly-balanced cult cabernets.