But here at the peak I decided I had to take it all in and stop for a coffee and a streudel and a roadside chalet advertising their bar.Skiers were decked out in their gear, fortifying for the day with pastry, granola and coffee. I watched as the ski lifts across the street carried the days first passengers to the top.

The Alps are a place of breathtaking beauty and travelling these high mountain roads with their spectacular views are worth the trip alone. My day of tasting that laid ahead would be equally inspiring.

I left the chalet and after several kilometers of switchbacks, weaving through tiny villages that seem to barely cling to the rocks, the valley began to open up. That's when I first noticed the mindbogglingly vertical vineyards of the Valtellina.

Nebbiolo has been cultivated in Valtellina since ancient times. No one would build these now. This is truly viticulture on the edge--the kind of wines we like--and we're happy to be working with some of Valtellina's best wines in the very near future.

Stay tuned for more!

If you follow me on twitter you know that I've arrived in Italy and have been visiting Tenuta di Angoris as well as some exciting new producers in Friuli–Venezia Giulia that we're extremely excited to be working with in the very near future. 

I met up with Angoris' trade manager Matteo Buranu and enologist Alessandro Dal Zovo in their Colli Orientalli vineyard named Stabili La Rocca. Stabili (meaning 'always here') and La Rocca ('the rock') refers to the Ponca soil that typifies the eastern hills of Friuli and gives Friulano wines their signature minerality. 

Ponca is a strata of clay and Eocenic marls, locally known as ponca, with low levels of active calcium. As Sandro demonstrates, this is very friable stuff and the Friulano vines dig deep into this stuff to give wines that ar unique to this place.

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Alto Adige (Südtirol) is the northern, German-speaking section of the Trentino-Alto Adige region of Italy. The Dolomites surround the valley on three sides where vines grow precipitously up the soaring mountainsides. Apple trees canvas the valley floor with villages. Houses feature decorated balconies and sharply-slanting roofs to fend off the heavy snows. Apples are featured in the cuisine of the region, as well as smoked speck and bread dumplings known as canederli served in a warming broth. Menus in Bolzano, the region’s commercial hub, are often written in both German and Italian, a telling sign that Alto Adige is at the crossroads between Italian and Austrian cultures. 

I recently wrote a few words about Alto Adige on our website. Click here and scroll down to read more about all the diversity and pleasure that Piedmont has to offer. 

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You will be hard-pressed to eat better in Italy—in the world, maybe—than in the region of Piedmont. Piedmont, meaning “foot of the mountain,” lies in the northwestern corner of Italy, bordering France to the west and Switzerland to the north. It is enclosed on three sides by the Apennines and the Alps, and the cuisine here reflects its Alpine climate and proximity to France. Although the costal tourist destination of Cinque Terre lies just an hour from Gavi, the cuisine of Piedmont is decidedly mountainous rather than Mediterranean. In a typical Piemontese osteria, butter, eggy pastas, rice, and red meat are cooked with such honed and loving skill that you might wish you’d eaten here instead of your last Michelin-starred experience. 

Such exalted cuisine requires equally glorious wine, and Piedmont produces more DOC/DOCG classified bottles than any other region in Italy. Barolo and Barbaresco are the best-known wines of Piedmont. These highly collectible and highly sought-after long-lived reds are the product of the calcareous strewn hills of the Langhe, and the grapes seem perfectly content in the environs of northeast Italy. Nebbiolo, named for the morning fog of the region called “la nebbia,” gives such a beguiling aroma and satisfying structure that its most avid admirers are the wine world’s most passionate fanatics. 

I recently wrote a few words about Piedmont on our website. Click here and scroll down to read more about all the diversity and pleasure that Piedmont has to offer. 

At the 48th parallel, Champagne is the most northerly wine region in France. The challenge of ripening at such a northerly extreme can be a challenge, and quality can vary widely from year to year. Through the centuries, the large merchant houses of Champagne developed a system of blending from multiple vineyards and vintages as a means of maintaining a consistency. And although the "méthode champenoise" process is mimicked worldwide to create sparkling wine, the distinctive flavor of Champagne has yet to be replicated anywhere else on earth. 

While 96% of all Champagne is produced by either a grande marque or a co-op, the popularity of "farmer fizz" has risen steadily. One can confirm that a wine was grown and produced by a small grower by looking for a tiny code on the bottom of the wine’s side label. If the code begins with "RM" (Récoltant Manipulant), it means the growers grew the grapes and made the wine themselves.

I recently wrote a few words about Champagne on our website. Click here and scroll down to read more about all the diversity and pleasure that the Champagne has to offer. 

Pictured above: Raclette!

One of the great differences between the wine-growing regions of the New World and those of Europe is that in Europe local wines play an essential role in everyday life. 

The humble red Schiava grape, for example, is an indispensable partner to Bolzano's bread dumplings flavored with speck, but its pale pink color and high acidity make it an unlikely candidate for "international" status. 

Lambrusco, the simple and frothy red wine from Emilia-Romagna, will never be taken seriously, and yet its specific purpose is to wash down rich plates of lasagna and Prosciutto di Parma, and the locals wouldn't have it any other way. 

The mountainous Savoie region in eastern France produces similarly overlooked but locally important wines. Overlooked but not unsold, that is. The Savoie is tiny and winegrowers in the region have no trouble selling most of their wine to thirsty tourists aprés-ski. But the Savoie's dry white wines are full of sap, minerals, flavors of pine nuts and orchard fruits, and I can't imagine having boiled potatoes and melted cheese or fresh boudin blanc without some. 

I recently wrote a few words about the Savoie on our website. Click here and scroll down to read more about all the diversity and pleasure that the Savoie has to offer. 

Pictured above: the harbor in Nantes. 

The Loire finally end its journey in the region of Nantes before it empties into the Atlantic. This coastal region features granite and gneiss soils on which the neutral-tasting Melon de Bourgogne produces bone dry, lemony, almost briny white wines that seem to pair magically well with the famous oysters of the region. The appellation of Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maineproduces the most intense and salty Melon wines of all, where they are frequently bottled directly off the fine lees for added richness.

I recently wrote a few words about the Loire on our website. Click here and scroll down to read more about all the diversity and pleasure that the Loire has to offer. 

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Photos from a past visit to the Loire Valley's Anjou-Saumur: 1. Morning fog near the Layon; 2. Beth Becker at Château Piere-Bise; 3. Tasting at Château Pierre-Bise; 4. Les Treilles in Coteaux-du-Layon; 5.Tasting at Domaine des Baumard ; 6. Jesse with Nicolas Joly; 7. Quarts de Chaumes; 8. Boudin noir and apples à la Jo Pithon; 9. Beth in Saumur; 10. Nady Foucault of Clos Rougeard

Anjou-Saumur is the largest region of the Loire Valley and is one of its most diverse. The Cabernet Franc growing areas of the Touraine (Chinon and Bourgeuil) continue into Saumur-Champigny (meaning "field of fire") where the red wines are particularly aromatic. The "Saumur" appellation serves as a catch all and may be still and red or white but more than half of Saumur wines are sparkling. Further west, Anjou is known for its off-dry Anjou Rosé which is made from the local Grolleau grape variety.

But the real pursuit of Anjou is sweet and golden Chenin Blanc produced in a luscious dessert style in Coteaux-du-Layon and its crus of Quarts de Chaume, and Bonnezeaux. These sweet Chenins are the result of passerillage (late harvest) or pourriture noble (botrytis). The difference between a sweet passerillage wine and a sweet pourriture noble wine is remarkable and becomes crystal clear for a taster visiting the region.

Perhaps most importantly is the dry and powerful Savennières where the biodynamic guru Nicolas Joly holds court among many other worldclass producers. 

I recently wrote a few words about the Loire on our website. Click here and scroll down to read more about all the diversity and pleasure that the Loire has to offer.