5 Unusual Winery Locations Around the World

24 Jul 5 Unusual Winery Locations Around the World

Posted at 11:31h in Wine & Living, Wine Regions, Winery Tours by Marie Cook 0 Comments

For most of us, the word winery makes us think of idyllic landscapes, beautiful countryside, never-ending rich grape vines. While this is true of most, wine is now being produced all over the world and with that some rather unusual winery locations are popping up. So, if you fancy visiting a winery a little different to the norm, take a look at these most unusual winery locations around the world.

The Ice Vines of Canada

Canada is probably not a country that one would automatically associate with wine production, but over in the Niagara region they claim to have perfected the art of Icewine. Icewine is a type of desert wine which is made from grapes which were frozen on the vine, temperatures in the Niagara region hit as low as -8, and with their long, warm summers and these freezing cold winters, the climate is ideal for this rather different approach to wine making. For more information, take a look here.

The Volcanic Island Winery in the Canary Islands

A volcanic Island is probably not the most obvious setting for a winery, but over in the Canary Islands, that is exactly what they have done. Winery ‘El Grifo’, a family company since 1775, is the oldest winery in the Canaries, and one of the 1oth oldest in Spain. Boasting a selection of Red, White and Rosé wines, this winery also has a museum and offers tours and guided tours of its bodega and vineyard too.

The Underwater Winery in Croatia

Croatia’s first underwater winery, not only sells its own wine and has a limited-edition boutique wine bar, but it also gives travelers the unique opportunity to take a dive down to their underwater winery and investigate for themselves (supervised of course.) A relatively new winery, the first wines were produced here in 2011. Once the wines are produced they are then dropped in to the sea for between 1 and 2 years. For more information about this very unique winery, see here.

The Former Prison in Hawaii

Located on the slopes of the Haleakalā volcano on the Hawaiian island of Maui, this winery is best known for it’s pineapple wine, not to mention that it’s tasting room was first used as captain James Makee’s private office and later as a jail in the late 1800’s, where prisoners were held awaiting transportation to County jail. A tasting session here may include unreleased wines, back vintages, special bottlings and wines exclusive to these tastings alone.

The ‘Floating Vineyards’ of Thailand

Found in the Samut Sakhn Province, a mere 60Kms from Bangkok, you will find the intriguingly titled ‘floating vineyards‘ set between the Tha Chin and the Mae Klong Rivers. From above they appear like any other vineyard, but take a closer look below and you will find that the vines are actually planted on narrow strips of land set within a canal. Rows of grapevines are accessed by light barges (or vaulting poles), almost like a wine lovers perfect mini-Venice. The soil is rich and fertile giving the wine produced here a very unique character. A visit here is guaranteed to be a fun and unique day out.