Anyone who has been to a wine shop or tasting is likely familiar with wine maps (and wine lovers’ affinity for them). In wine shops, you’ll see them on display, on shelf talkers, and as handouts.
So, why all the maps? In today’s blog, we explain why wine maps are so beloved to wine enthusiasts. We’ll also share where you can get great wine maps of your own.
Whether you want a wine map for wine education, as home decor, or to plan a trip, we’ve got the 411 on all the best wine maps!
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Why All The Wine Maps?
Wine is an agricultural product. With the label on the bottle indicating origin, a bottle of wine invokes a sense of place. Lovers of wine often have a case of wanderlust, and poring over wine maps (as you enjoy a glass of wine from that region) can help satisfy that passion for travel. Or, if you’ve already done a great deal of traveling in wine country, wine maps can take you back to the terraced vineyards of the rustic Rhone Valley or the rolling hills of Saint-Émilion in Bordeaux.
More so than other agricultural products (there are no asparagus maps, for example), wines carry the characteristics of the places they are grown in their taste, color, and aroma. Wine reflects the quality of the soil and the sunlight of its region, as well as the particular details of elevation and climate. You can learn a lot about a wine by studying the map of where it is grown.
Wine students and enthusiasts also have an interest in learning the geographic areas that are in scope of AOCs or appellations.
Do I Need A Wine Map?
You certainly don’t need a wine map to enjoy wine, but it can definitely be an entertaining accompaniment to your evening pour. In fact, many sommeliers and wine collectors have larger collections of wine books and maps than they do of wine!
It’s important to know, though, when buying a wine map, that many wine maps online and in print will have errors. People copy from each other and errors proliferate (as is so common on the internet!). We can direct you towards the most reputable wine map makers, but remember that even the best maps may have typos and errors, as they are all made by humans.
What Are the Different Purposes for Wine Maps?
Wine maps are used in a variety of purposes and by different types of users. Consider the following:
Wine Maps for the Wine Trade. These maps tend to focus on on geography, individual vineyards, geology, water, proximity to bodies of water and mountains or valleys (elevation), regulation aspects like the delimitation lines for an AOC or appellation (e.g. what land is in or out of scope for labeling purposes).
Wine Maps for Decorating. Wine maps are very colorful and make beautiful framed art for dining rooms, living rooms, and kitchens. Perfect decor for wine lovers!
Wine Maps for Wine Pros. Wine pros, who may use maps for educating others about wine, tend to rely on DeLong maps or The World Atlas of Wine (more on those below!).
Antique Wine Maps. Antique wine maps, great for collectors, can be found on eBay or Etsy.
Wine Maps for Travel Planning. Tourist wine maps can be found on the websites of wineries in the region you plan to visit (we’ve also listed a few below!).
What Are The Best Wine Maps?
Wine lovers and serious students of wine will routinely point to the first two resources we list here as the best wine maps. We also share a great comprehensive set of wine maps plus a few examples of good wine maps for planning a visit to wine country.
Best Wine Map for Wall Display
Steve De Long was an architect with a passion for wine. When he first started looking at wine maps in the early 2000s, he thought, “Well, that’s been done.” However, after digging deeper into the topic he found that a lot of wine maps were full of errors.
What started as a side gig for Steve has turned into a full time small business dedicated to making limited production high-quality wine maps. When Steve got started, he didn’t realize what a demand there is for high quality wine maps. In fact, there’s been such demand for the maps that a few years ago counterfeiters made illegal and low-quality copies of his maps and sold them on Amazon! Thankfully, that’s not a problem today.
Steve’s wine maps are made by painstakingly reviewing the governmental documents of various countries followed by tedious proofreading. Behind the scenes there’s also a lot of emailing to confirm content. Here’s one of France:
Steve’s maps are have become quite well-know. They’ve even been in movies (Patriot Day) as props! Steve is currently working on a book about the history of food pairing.
KnowWines is a proud Kickstarter contributor to his recent project, the Wine Maps of the World Essential Collection, coming out in July 2020. If you’re interested in learning more about Steve’s maps and his map-making process, check out more of his work.
Best Wine Maps in a Book
Recently updated in 2019 is the 2020 James Beard Award-Winning book The World Atlas In Wine, weighing in at almost 5 pounds and boasting over 400 pages. The first edition of this classic wine book came out in 1971, and each edition has grown along with the changes in the wine world. Eric Asimov of New York Times calls it “the single most important reference book on the shelf of any wine student.”
In addition to 230 maps in the book, the book has been significantly updated since the 7th edition of six years ago. This video explains more about those updates:
Best Set of Maps for Wine Enthusiasts
Maps for enthusiasts are likely to be colorful and more geography based, with a focus on familiarizing wine fans with the general size of a given wine region and proximity to cities or other wine regions. Emphasis is placed on font size and just enough information to get the desired point apart.
This set of 24 wine maps by Wine Folly is a great collection of the world's major wine-producing countries and regions.
Best Wine Maps for Travel Planning
Tourist wine maps, intended to travel along with you in a purse, carry-on, or backpack, are convenient additions to your wine country travels. They also make great collector’s items and serve as mementos of your trip.
Here’s a great travel map for Napa and Sonoma:
Here’s a travel-sized book of Virginia wine country maps:
And here is a Michelin guide to wine regions of France:
Other Places to Buy Wine Maps (or Get Them for Free!)
Bookstores in wine regions
Online retailers
AOC / Appellation office in wine region (cheap or free) or tourism offices (for example Napa Valley Vinters or St. Emilion Tourisme.
Some Wine Stores have maps available as part of in-store or online classes, or at special tasting events.
Educational bodies Like IWG or WSET provide wine maps for free or as part of a membership.
Wine Map Conclusion
Interest in maps is increasing along with consumer interest in knowing where food and drink comes from. This is also true about wine maps for wine enthusiasts.
The recent success of the SOMM movie series and food television in general has led to an increase in students in wine programs (such as WSET) and sommelier certifications.
Currently, there are a number of maps available on the market intended for various audiences. We’re big fans of the Steve De Long maps as well as the World Atlas of Wine.
We love that wine maps can make us feel well-traveled without ever leaving our living rooms!
Happy mapping!