The List: 10 U.S. wine regions to explore in 2025 — with a major omission

Not long ago, USA Today’s 10Best readers choice awards named the nation’s 10 best wine regions. It’s been more than a bit, but honestly, we’re still gobsmacked.

Readers were invited to vote for their faves from a list of 20 nominees provided by wine and travel bloggers, journalists and other experts. And as you might have guessed, California’s wine scene raked in ample applause on the final list. Five of the top 10 showcase Golden State wine regions from Sonoma to Santa Barbara County.

So we realize we’re going to sound really, really spoiled when we take issue with the rankings.

But guys, where is Napa??

Oh well, it’s always fun to see what makes the list when you have wine lovers from across the country voting for their favorites.

Washington’s Yakima Valley took the top spot, with its 90 wineries and 17,000 vineyard acres reaping the benefits of an agriculturally rich location and 300 days of sunshine per year. No quibble there. Other non-California wine regions on the list include Virginia’s Loudon County (No. 4) just west of Washington, D.C., New York’s Finger Lakes district (No. 7) and Oregon’s Willamette Valley (No. 8). Nada on Napa, though.

Here are the 10 regions that made the list. Check out the details at 10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/, then cast your votes in other categories including Best Small Town Beer Scene, Best Safari Park and Best Renaissance Fair (Just be careful on that last one: The Northern California Renaissance Faire is the one in Hollister. The Bay Area Renaissance Festival is in Florida.)

USA Today’s Top 10 wine regions

1 Yakima Valley, Washington

2 Temecula Valley, California

3 Paso Robles, California

4 Loudoun, Virginia

5 Suisun Valley, California

6 Santa Barbara County, California

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