And the Next Napa Valley is ...

  Anyone who has been to Napa during the busy season would probably wonder why anyone would want to put up with that on a daily basis, but still, everyone in the wine business is pretty jealous of their success. This means there's a queue of places wanting to be, or writers declaring here is, the next Napa Valley.

  A few examples from news articles found with a simple Google search:

Amador and El Dorado counties in the California Sierra Foothills (from the Financial Times, your experts on everything wine).
 

Amador County in winter

  Yeah, they are nice wine regions and I love to visit this area. Everything is definitely cheaper here than in Napa. The wines? Zinfandel, Barbera, Syrah. None of them household names. None of them Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay. That there is your problem.

Okanagan Valley, British Columbia from something called the Matador Network, that seems to be some sort of travel website

  They do grow Cab. They are kind of in the middle of nowhere. There are 6,000 acres of wine grapes (Napa has 18,000 acres of Cabernet alone). They are in the middle of nowhere. But, as the article states, you can boat between wineries! So there's that. In all fairness I've never been there or even had a wine from BC so you might consider that a problem for them, also. The scenery does look stunning though.

Ashland in southern Oregon from Vogue (another big source of wine expertise)

  I have been to this region of Oregon and did some wine tasting. BTW this is not anywhere near the famous Willamette Pinot Noir growing area. This is a warmer area. The article is written by someone from Ashland and starts with "where to get coffee" and eventually "where to get wine and weed." Ashland is a very nice town known for its Shakespeare Festival. The area of the Rogue Valley appellation near Ashland is known for their Bordeaux varietals like Cab Sauv and Sauv Blanc.
  As a NY Times writer said, "Only hours from Napa, but a world away" and they should try to keep it that way. They probably will because it's a fairly long way from any major population areas -- about 4-1/2 hours from Sacramento or Portland -- the closest big cities.

Texas Hill Country from Southern Living

  Yes, they make wine there, as Texans love to tell me. Only a few have admitted it's not very good wine. Tempranillo seems to be a big deal -- it never will be in the U.S. Those focusing on Cabernet and Rhone grapes have a chance. But the next Napa? LOL

Paso Robles in central California from Huffington Post

  They have the location, the micro-climates, lots of wineries, and some recognition. I ain't no expert on this region, but they seem to shine with Rhone grapes like Syrah and Viognier. Their Zins and Cabs have never been favorites of mine and I think it's the climate. That doesn't mean there aren't any good Zins and Cabs, just not consistently good, in my opinion.
  The area has gotten quite popular and maybe has the best chance at rivaling Napa/Sonoma someday. As of now the towns have not gone all wine country cutesy and therefore are less expensive than the likes of Yountville or St. Helena.

Valle de Guadalupe in Baja, Mexico. Mexico? From the L.A. Times
 

Baja. Well, that doesn't look so bad!
image from sunset magazine

  What the hell, they make wine in Mexico? It turns out most of Mexico's wine comes from Baja just a bit south of San Diego so if you're from Mexico you probably do consider this small area your Napa. Do you ever see Mexican wine in a retail store? I don't.

Western Kansas from The Onion

  This was a funny little piece where locals asked, "Can't grow nutin' else here. Might as well plant grape vines and become the next Napa."  LOL

Sonoma County

  Oh God, no. Napa has been creeping in for years and it can stop now. I blame it on the quality of our wines.  :)

Edit: Here's a new addition, and pretty damn funny Lake Erie!