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The area of Saint-Emilion extends around the homonymous village, near the city of Libourne, along the Dordogne river.  Here, among gentle hills covered with vineyards, some of the most prestigious French red wines are produced.  And walking in this wonderful landscape is a pure pleasure! Saint Emilion The main grapes are Merlot and Cabernet Franc, followed, in a much lower percentage, by Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. The wines of Saint-Emilion are quite different from those produced in Médoc; this is due both to the different composition of the soil (mainly limestone in Saint Emilion) and to the greater use of Merlot grapes that produce wines much rounder and softer than the Médoc ones. Grapes, Saint Emilion The tourist office in Saint Emilion offers plenty of brochures and maps to explore the surrounding area. During our weekend there, after visiting the beautiful city centre , we chose to walk the 11Km long circular trail called 'Entre Combes et Coteaux' .   T...

Saint-Emilion is the ideal destination for a weekend break in the countryside and a must stop on a road trip through France. Saint-Emilion Saint-Emilion is known all over the world for its wines and its beautiful chateaux surrounded by vineyards, but very few people know that this village has a rich history of 2000 years. One of the testimonies of this historical baggage is underground, in the 200 Km of galleries that run under the village; the rest is above, in the many religious buildings and monuments to visit .  The village was founded in the 8th century by a Breton monk, Emilian. Since 1999, Saint Emilion and the 8 municipalities within its jurisdiction have been listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site .  Here, the omnipresent limestone provides an exceptional soil for the vines. And the same limestone was used to build the elegant medieval city and many buildings in Bordeaux. As soon as you enter this small town, you will come across the ancient ruins of a former Dominic...

Rome is an amazing city, one of the most beautiful in the world, and in addition to the cultural and artistic heritage, it has ancient food and wine traditions.  But while the quality of its gastronomic culture is renowned around the world, most people don't know much about the local wines. This is probably due to the fact that, despite its long viticultural history and good potential, the regional wine production has always been more directed towards quantity rather than quality. Nonetheless, things have changed lately, and the local producers have started to focus on indigenous varieties and the use of modern technologies, so that it is now possible to find very good local wines. Most of the local wines come from the Castelli Romani , an area of ​​great traditions in the field of viticulture. Since the time of the ancient Romans, the hilly area of ​​the hinterland produced wines for the capital. The beautiful exposures and the moderate climate, still affected by the breezes of ...

When talking about wines from Friuli Venezia Giulia , most people immediately think of the famous whites of Collio and Colli Orientali, the precious and rare passito Picolit and Ramandolo, the Refosco and the other wines from Grave, but they often tend to forget that piece of land that stretches towards Trieste , along the Adriatic coast; the Karst .  Indeed, despite being so rocky and arid, the Karst is actually a DOC area. International vines such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Semillon, Cabernet and Merlot grow successfully among its hills. But it's the native vines such as Vitovska, Malvasia, Terrano that stand out for their peculiarity. And that's what you should drink when visiting Trieste and tasting the local cuisine . Photo by Jordon Kaplan on Unsplash The most typical wine of the area of Trieste is the Terrano, also named 'Karst blood'. The reason for that is the high concentration of Iron in the soil that gives the wine, made from Refosco d'Istria grapes, a d...

The surroundings of Gorizia , in Friuli Venezia Giulia , offer an enchanting and relaxing landscape of rolling hills dotted with wineries and cellars where the best Italian white wines in the world and full-bodied reds are produced: it is the Collio , which has its main center in Cormons .  Vineyards in the Collio Goriziano This area, geographically delimited by the Isonzo river and its tributary Iudrio, covers 150 square km divided between the province of Gorizia and Slovenia. Here, the location between mountains and sea creates a unique microclimate, in terms of ventilation and temperature range, that works perfectly with the characteristic terrain of the Collio (called ponca ), made up of stratified marl and sandstone, ideal for growing grapes.  This is white wine land where the local  Ribolla Gialla , Malvasia Istriana ,  Friulano  and Picolit grow side by side with the international Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc to create whites that are amon...

The Collio Goriziano is famous for its excellent wines, certainly among the best Italian white wines produced both from indigenous and international vine varieties. Thanks to its unique microclimate and to the specific soil (called ponca or ponka), made of layers of marl and sandstone and rich in mineral salts and micro-elements, this area is particularly suited to the cultivation of the vine.  And walking through the green rolling hills covered in beautiful vineyards is a pure pleasure! Vigne Alte trail The " Sentiero delle Vigne Alte " is a splendid panoramic trail near Cormons winding for 3 km through shady woodlands, olive groves and the vineyards of some of the most interesting wine producers of the Collio Goriziano; a real naturalistic jewel, an easy walk that can be done on foot, by mountain bike or even on horseback. View from the Vigne Alte Trail Vineyards Collio Goriziano The best time to walk the trail is spring or autumn, when the chromatic shades of nature giv...

Viticulture has a long history in the Dordogne : the vine arrived here with the emergence of the Gallo- Roman civilization. And, although in the 12th century production was often neglected in favor of food crops, the wine trade resumed in the 17th century. The vineyard extended throughout the department until the late 19th century when the outbreak of phylloxera destroyed most of the vineyards reducing the whole surface to one fifth of the total. The vine came back to life in the 20th century on both banks of the river Dordogne in the area of Bergerac and Duras, but it’s in the last 20 years that wine production became more refined and reached a wider attention with various wines awarded in French competitions and the advance of organic and biodynamic techniques. Vines, Dordogne Vines, Dordogne Vineyards now cover more than 12,000 hectares under 9 appellations and produce 5 different types of wine: red, rosé, dry white, medium sweet white (moelleux) and dessert wine. The de...