From the heady perfume of pine trees in the heat of the summer to the cry of seabirds that remind that the Camargue delta is just minutes away, Domaine de Moulines embodies the soul and seduction of France’s winemaking south. This generations-old family estate was an abbey in the Middle Ages.
Raised biodynamically, with yields that often dip lower than the lowest at Yquem, Grande Maison offers an elegant expression of Monbazillac botrytized wines. All of the estate’s vineyards surround the “grande maison,” a fortified manor house originally built in the thirteenth century.
We went looking for a taste of Syrah d’antan—flavors pulled from the earth with no makeup or modern frills—and found it at Domaine de Gouye. Peppery spice, blackcurrant leaf, fresh and tangy black fruit as taut as a bow string: this is the essence of high-altitude, northern Rhône Syrah.
From its perch seemingly at the top of the world, Dama del Rovere sets itself apart from the Soave masses with high-altitude vineyards, strict attention to yields and vibrant, character-rich white wines that have become the true benchmarks of quality for the Soave Classico appellation.
Italy’s modern-day Garden of Paradise is found just outside the gates of Verona at Azienda Agricola Musella. Encompassing more than 1,000 acres of forestland where olive and fruit trees share space with grape vines and ancient churches and cozy cottages dot the banks of a meandering river, this inspiring biodynamic estate is a regional treasure.
The Portaz family since the early 1980s have cared for Jacquère vines in their native Chapareillan in Savoie, a mountainous region not far from the Italian border. Their top wine is ‘Apremont,’ a tribute to the raw power of nature that dominates this breathtakingly beautiful corner of France. The combination of cheese fondue and white Jacquère wine is a Savoyard specialty.
Winemakers Olivier and Bruno Bererd know that the secret to the finest Beaujolais is all about location. The village of Le Perréon shares much of the same rugged, mineral-rich soils, high-altitude vineyards, and older, low-yielding vines as its cru neighbors.
Marie-Ange represents the fourth generation of vine growers in the family. It was her father Guy who slowly, parcel by parcel, purchased vineyards in the 1960s; yet it is Marie-Ange who has brought the winery to a level of greatness for which it was always destined. Simply put, there are few other Chablis estates with such a rich collection of older vines and as a result, few other estates that deliver Chablis wines of such character and complexity.
Carso, or the Karst region, is a formidable limestone plateau that reaches from northeastern Italy into southwestern Slovenia. In this breathtaking yet rustic corner of Italy, grape vines share space with wild forest and family farms. The Skerlj (scare-lee) family for generations has worked the land here, raising pigs and grain, and crafting natural wines that capture the region’s indomitable spirit.
The appellation of Graves de Vayres is historically renowned for its silky, full-flavored wines. The region’s unique, sandy terroir is what gives wines their fine-grained texture, a characteristic that is expressed fully in Pontête Bellgrave’s elegant, silky blend.