Slideshow

Globetrotter begins tour of world’s most obscure vineyards

07 January 2014 By Patrick Schmitt

A three-year journey to uncover the world’s least-publicised wine producing countries has started this month beginning with a tour of Africa.

Jean-Baptiste Ancelot will take an inventory of every wine producing country in the world

The expedition, led by a 28 year old globe-trotting wine enthusiast from France called Jean-Baptiste Ancelot, has been called Wine Explorers and promises to cover 250 winegrowing regions and visit 1,500 vineyards, as well as taste over 15,000 wines over 1095 days.

The trip, which aims to yield an inventory of every wine producing country in the world, will be the basis of documentaries and books when it finishes in December 2016 and is being supported by Videlot, DB Schenker and Diam Bouchage.

During research for Wine Explorers it was discovered that just 18 wine-producing countries are most commonly covered by the media, with a further 19 that are rarely mentioned, and as many as 55 that are virtually ignored (see maps below).

This means that 74 wine producing countries, representing a third of the world’s total vineyard area and one seventh of production are practically unknown to the public, according to Wine Explorers.

Ancelot’s aim is not only to uncover these hidden areas but also meet the winegrowers which receive little or no media attention.

Jean-Baptiste Ancelot will be travelling with cameraman Ludovic Pollet (right)

“It is essential to become acquainted with the men and women making wine, to find out where they come from, to get to know their history and their culture, to understand why they make wine, how they drink it and at which occasions, in order to always taste the fruit of their labor in its original context,” he said.

The first trip will take Ancelot and his team to Africa, where they will meet the winemakers of the Cape in South Africa and Namibia, as well as the island of La Réunion, one of the only French wines in the southern hemisphere with IGP status (Protected Geographical Indication).

They will also visit the vineyards of Tanzania and Kenya – the latter situated at 2000 metres above sea level – as well as Ethiopia, Mauritius, Madagascar, Egypt, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Ancelot will be travelling with logisitics coordinator Stéphane Diné, cameraman Ludovic Pollet and oenologist Amandine Fabre, as well as researcher Oriane Beloud – and you can view their biographies here.

Meanwhile, over the following pages are the list of the 92 countries Ancelot and his team will be visiting over the next three years as well as the schedule of the Wine Explorers trip.

Some of these places have already been covered by the drinks business as part of its ten unusual wine producing areas, which can be viewed here.

18 wine-producing countries are frequently mentioned in the media, according to Wine Explorers
19 wine-producing countries are rarely mentioned and less well-known, according to Wine Explorers
55 wine-producing countries are essentially unknown according to Wine Explorers
80% of the wine producing countries are poorly known to the general public, according to Wine Explorers

Below is a list of the 92 countries which will be visited by Wine Explorers

The Wine Explorers logo
Jean-Baptiste Ancelot

South Africa
Albania
Algeria
Germany
England
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belgium
Belarus
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herz.
Brazil
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Canada
Cape Verde
Chile
China
Cyprus
Colombia
South Korea
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Denmark
Egypt
Spain
USA
Ethiopia
France
Gabon
Georgia
Greece
Guatemala
Hungary
India
Indonesia (Bali)
Iran
Israel
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kyrgyzstan
Kosovo
Latvia
Lebanon
Libya
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Madagascar
Morocco
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Myanmar
Namibia
New Zealand
Uzbekistan
Netherlands
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Ans. Dominican
Ans. Czech
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
Turkey
Ukraine
Uruguay
Venezuela
Vietnam
Zambia
Zimbabwe