From a very early age, Francis Orban knew he’d follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather before him. Indeed, at the ripe age of 19 he joined the family domaine, imbued with their generations-long passion for making pure Pinot Meunier wines. Here on the banks of the Marne, Pinot Meunier has pride of place; nearly 90% of the family’s vineyards are dedicated to this singular grape.
There are mountain wines, and then there are wines from wind-swept peaks so high they seem to be grown in the sky. This is the glory of Alto Adige, a dramatic wine region in northeastern Italy, and home to the century-old cantina of Kurtatsch. Here on the border with Austria, it is white grapes that reign supreme, grown at altitudes that top 3,000 feet.
Inspired by his passion for Barolo, Tiziano Mazzoni in 1999 returned to his family’s roots in Ghemme to prove that the Langhe wasn’t the only source of world-class Nebbiolo in Piedmont. This historic micro-region in the shadow of the Alps, thanks to pioneers like Mazzoni, is now returning to its former iconic status.
The Cherrier family has been a trusted name in Sancerre since the late 1800s. Here in Chaudoux, north of the village of Sancerre, Sauvignon Blanc is equally in its element: soils are a refined mix of flint and chalk, a terroir marriage that makes the best Sancerre so vibrant.
Tenuta di Valgiano is the gateway to a different Tuscany. The manicured estates of Montalcino seem a world away; here in the hills above the city of Lucca, dense forests hide weather-worn villas and older-vine vineyards, with climbing herbs winding round “palistorti,” crooked stakes that mark each vine row.
Knocking on the family’s weather-beaten cellar door, steps from the village center, reveals a practice that has not changed with time. Nicolas treads his organically raised grapes by foot, and presses them in an old-fashioned basket press—Cornas tradition is alive and well at Dumien-Serette.
Located between Angers and Nantes, this family-run estate in the petite village of La Pommeraye enjoys a particularly warm microclimate, which helps to push grapes to perfect ripeness, even in cooler years. This family estate on the banks of the Loire River was founded in 1994, bringing together three generations of “savoir faire” and honoring Anjou’s native grapes.
Representing the third generation of her family to have answered the siren call of northern Rhône Syrah, Christelle Betton’s vision is one of pure and refined fruit, inspired by the cool northern mistral winds and stony personality of her family’s vineyards in La Roche de Glun.
To the northeast, the towering Alps; to the south, the placid Adriatic Sea. The Maccan family couldn’t have found a more charmed spot to cultivate Friuli’s native grapes. Here along the banks of the Livenza river in the foothills of the Alps, the classic stones of Grave mix with limestone, giving a Burgundian finesse to Friulano and Refosco.
Verduno, the northern corner of the Barolo appellation, is experiencing a renaissance, and it is the “brothers” Alessandria who are guiding the wines of this region back to the heights they once held. What Verduno gives is exactly what we crave in our Barolo wines: complexity without heaviness, structure with finesse.