With Chile securing the top position, Japan cementing its regional influence and South Africa making significant gains, the 2025 list reflects a global shift toward diverse, experience-driven vineyard destinations
The World’s 50 Best Vineyards 2025 were announced last night at Amelia Park Wines in Margaret River, where the rugged beauty of Western Australia—all wild coastline, ancient soils and luminous evening light—proved an apt backdrop for an awards programme increasingly shaped by place, experience and landscape. It underscored a central theme of this year’s list: vineyards are no longer simply sites of production, but destinations that express their geography as vividly as their wines.
Chile’s Vik claimed the #1 position, a decisive win for the Millahue Valley estate founded in 2006 by Alexander and Carrie Vik. Their property, a 4,450-hectare nature reserve with 327 hectares of vines planted across 12 microclimates, has long been admired for its bronzed-titanium architecture, sustainable winemaking and panoramic hotel overlooking the Andes. But its rise to the top reflects something more contemporary: the idea that wine is a lived experience.
“People want to experience differently,” said Alexander Vik. “When they come to Vik and they’re staying at Vik, you see there’s another level of understanding.” Carrie Vik added, “When they go out in the vineyard and they see what we’re doing, and they go into the winery and see that it's 100% sustainable… It’s just another level of understanding that really does make a huge difference.”
Alexander and Carrie Vik, the husband-and-wife team behind Chile’s boundary-pushing estate
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Across the full ranking, the awards highlight vineyards that anchor their identity in both tradition and innovation: Schloss Johannisberg in Germany (#2), the world’s first Riesling winery and this year’s Best Vineyard in Europe for its extraordinary 1,200-year heritage and atmospheric subterranean cellar; Bodegas Ysios in Rioja (#3), where sculptural architecture meets modern Spanish winemaking; Klein Constantia in South Africa (#6), winner of Best Vineyard in Africa for its scenic estate drives and tastings of the iconic Vin de Constance; Jordan Vineyard & Winery in California (#13), named Best Vineyard in North America for its immersive tours through rolling hills, olive groves and food-pairing experiences; 98Wines in Yamanashi (#20), crowned Best Vineyard in Asia thanks to its panoramic Mount Fuji views and multisensory vineyard hikes; and Cloudy Bay in Marlborough (#26), securing Best Vineyard in Australasia for its terroir-driven vineyard tours and raw-bar lunches that showcase the region’s freshest produce.
The list is determined by The World’s 50 Best Vineyards Academy, a panel of more than 700 wine and travel experts and sommeliers who nominate the most memorable vineyard experiences they’ve visited during the voting period, with no set criteria, just the strength of the experience itself.
