One area of the country that is often overlooked as far as wine trails are concerned is Connecticut. This is a relatively small state and many people may consider it to be too cold in the winter to even grow grapes in the first place. The fact of the matter is, there are 16 different vineyards that you can visit while you are in the state of Connecticut. The Connecticut Wine Trail, however, is split into only two different locations. There is the Connecticut high lands which is in the western area of the country and the eastern part which takes in the Connecticut shoreline. Either one of these makes a beautiful trip and at some points, you can even visit up to four wineries in one day.

In another area of the country, Texas has a lot to offer for anybody that is interested in taking a wine vacation. As a matter of fact, the hill country of Texas offers some excellent choices for people that want to take a day trip and enjoy themselves visiting 22 different Texas Hill Country Wineries. Plan your trip around some of the festivals that occur here, there are five of them that take place throughout the year. Not only can you enjoy visiting the wineries themselves, there are plenty of crafts, musicians and artists to keep you entertained along the way.

Some other wine trails worth exploring:

• Canandaigua Wine Trail
• Cayuga Wine Trail
• Seneca Lake Wine TrailShawangunk Wine Trail
• Shawnee Hills Wine Trail
• Western Iowa Wine Trail

There are many other wine trails on the west coast and in scattered wine regions throughout the United States. To find more just Google “wine trails.”

If you only want to get away on a day trip, perhaps your own area can offer you something. You might be surprised to find that there are actually wineries in many parts of the country, most of them offering their own tours. The next time you think about a wine country vacation, make sure that you look at the bigger picture.

British Columbia wine dates back only 140 years when Father Pandosy set up the first vineyards at the Oblate Mission near Kelowna. Nineteen twenty-six saw the first commercial vineyards and a winery that sold to the general public.

The main wine-growing region in this Canadian province is composed of the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys in the south-central part.

Though the total land and freshwater area of British Columbia is larger than France and Germany combined, with approximately 5,500 acres under cultivation on fewer than 100 wineries the area is tiny by comparison to France, Italy, or even Spain.

The Okanagan Lake filling a large portion of the valley floor moderates the heat in this semi-arid desert region. From the soil of glacial stone, fine sand and silt and clay in the north, to the south’s sand and gravel come Bordeaux varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot as well as the German Siegerrebe, Sylvaner and Ortega. Merlot and Chardonnay top the list as most commonly planted, but Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer are grown as well.

But with a climate governed by the region’s proximity to the Coast Mountain Range which produces hot, dry summers, ample hours of sun and low humidity, vintners have ideal conditions for producing award winning wines. And that they do.

Here the wineries of the Okanagan Valley produce 95 percent of British Columbia’s wine. With only six inches of rainfall annually in the south and sixteen in the north end, this is no mean feat. Especially for vineyards that, on average, are less than 10 years old.

Crisp, fruity whites are often in the German off-dry style, but there are many in the French tradition as well. Reds have advanced in recent years with the Pinot Noir producing an enviable medium-bodied drink from this finicky grape. Despite its small size, British Columbia boasts a range of dessert wines, too, with flavors of plum, blueberry, raspberry and others.

Ever iconoclastic, British Columbia counts among its exports a highly respected German-style icewine made from grapes picked and crushed while frozen. For 200 years a German specialty, in the last 30 years Canada has become one of the world’s largest producers of this unusual drink.

Whites range from the honeyed Riesling with a citrus aftertaste to the Gray Monk Pinot Gris, a recent favorite. The flagship early ripening Merlot with tones of plum and coffee aftertaste won’t disappoint the lover of red, nor will the later Cabernet Sauvignon from the Similkameen Valley.

Even tiny Vancouver Island, a relative newcomer, is getting into the act and experimenting with Ehrenfelser, Muscat, Siegerrebe and other exotic varieties. Most of these 135 acres are planted on hillside vineyards that serve 10 small wineries. But look for great things in the future.

Canada extends 7,800km (4,875mi) from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island off the west coast of British Columbia.

But despite the country’s reputation for northern latitudes and cold winters, some parts actually lie further south than the famous Burgundy region of France. The Ontario region, for example lies between the 41st and 52nd latitudes, putting them at the parallel as Bordeaux, France and California’s Napa Valley.

The enormous land mass, oceans and numerous fresh water lakes and tall mountains give Canada a wide variety of micro-climates that the growers take good advantage of in producing wine grapes. Most grown are some variety of vinifera, long thought not to thrive so far north. Thanks to old traditions combined with modern science, they do well even in Quebec.

One of the newest wineries is the Bosc family’s Chateau des Charmes, founded in 1978 in the Niagara Peninsula where the temperate climate provides up to 190 frost free growing days per year.

Ideally located on the south of Lake Ontario at 44 degrees latitude, this enormous Chateau is headquarters to vineyards that produce an excellent Chardonnay, barrel fermented and aged in French oak barrels. The result is a full-bodied buttery wine with flavors of tropical fruit and melon that pairs well with poultry or pasta.

The Cabernet Sauvignon is another favorite with a deep ruby color and the bouquet of cassis and bell pepper. Full-bodied and an excellent match for prime rib, it can age for 5-10 years.

Elsewhere in Niagara is Coyote’s Run which opened its doors in May, 2004. In heavy limestone clay and taking advantage of the warm breezes off the water, the 3C (5.4F) higher average temperature here allows the harvest to occur 1-2 weeks earlier than most other vineyards in the area.

The dark brown clay common to the area produces a grape distinctly different from that of the more fruity and perfumed from the red clay. Look for this small entrepreneur to grow in the coming years.

Even Montreal is home to some of Quebec’s wineries, located on the western section of the glacial plain. Here a medium-body red is produced from a blend of Cabernet Severnyi, Frontenac and Landot. Full of ripe black fruit flavors with hints of oak, licorice and vanilla, it is aged in American oak.

Not to be ignored, tiny Prince Edward Island even gets into the act where the harsh climate requires that some grape varieties be grown only in greenhouses. Seyval Blanc, Marechal, Ortega and others produce a nicely acid balanced Rossignol wine.

Nova Scotia too hosts 22 grape growers where French hybrids Maréchal Foch, Baco Noir, and DeChaunac are grown, though icewine remains the specialty.

There are many others: Alberta. Sunshine ranges from 1,900 hours in the north to 2,300 hours in the south where the Rockies produce warm, dry Chinook winds. One Chinook raised the temperature from -19C (-2.2F) to 3.3C (38F) in a single hour. Saskatchewan in the heart of North America, bordered on the south by Montana and North Dakota. Manitoba, once a flood plain, now seeing cold winters and sunny summers averaging 25C (77F).

All these and more give evidence of Canada’s unquenchable desire to grow the wine making business into one which will rightfully take its place on the world stage.

“There are now more than 2,700 bonded wineries in the United States. Most are farm-based operations, providing significant economic benefits to the rural communities in which they are located. More than 80 percent of these wineries are truly cottage businesses, producing less than 25,000 cases per year – a quantity which could reasonably be marketed through on-site tasting rooms, and by direct shipment to consumers via the Internet and other remote means.”

Relatively few of the wines from small wineries appear on the store shelves.

The map shows the larger wine regions in the USA.

Wine making in the New York region goes back centuries. Ten thousand years ago Ice Age glaciers carved out an ideal region for growing wine grapes. Then, when the glaciers melted, the waters’ effect on the air combined with the cliffs to funnel maritime breezes through the region to create the perfect climate.

Dutch settlers took advantage of this 350 years ago and planted vines on a small island later called Manhattan. The Dutch were the first to plant vinifera (the common European species that forms the basis of almost all French wine), but found it wouldn’t survive in this colder region. Eventually growers learned that vinifera could be grafted onto native rootstock and production began in earnest.

HUDSON VALLEY

Further north in the Hudson Valley and Finger Lakes areas the first commercial wineries planted vinifera in the 1860s and began an industry that thrives today. Twenty-five years ago there were 19 wineries, now over 150.

As one example, here on 500 acres 28 wineries grow 1,280 tons of Seyval, Chardonnay and on another 10,000 acres during a 200 day growing season come 61,500 tons Riesling, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and others from 58 wineries.

Among these is the famous Benmarl, America’s oldest winery which produces Seyval Blanc and Baco Noir.

LAKE ERIE

Arctic air masses flow toward the Lake Erie region, but get water conditioned by the Great Lakes and trapped by the Allegheny Plateau to buffer the vines from extreme temperatures.

The largest area outside California (if the Pennsylvania acreage is included), with 20,000 acres under cultivation the grape production is a whopping 121,697 tons. From the Labrusca varieties of Concord and Niagara are produced grape juice, Seyval and Riesling.

Although 90% of the region’s Concord grapes are used for grape juice, there are seven wineries that grow European varieties for vinification.

LONG ISLAND

Known as New York’s ‘Bordeaux’ region, Long Island is the newest and fastest growing wine area. About 160km (100 mi) east of New York City the island separates into the North Fork and the South Fork separated by the Great Peconic Bay. The Bay and the Atlantic Ocean moderate the temperature, creating favorable conditions for Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Though small at only 1,600 acres and 4,800 tons of grape production, the 24 wineries located here are producing award winning vintages.

NEW YORK STATE

In 2004, considered a light year, over $400 million of New York wine was sold, with an economic impact on New York State of $3.3 billion. The total area under cultivation is second only to California and produces not only Labrusca, but Baco, Aurora, Riesling, Chardonnay.

And now that regulations have changed to permit shipping of New York wine out of state to be sold by direct mail, that number will undoubtedly grow significantly. And thanks, not only to changing laws, but to the continual improvements made by New York’s dedicated vintners.