Italy
From the Alps to Etna: where the cool comes from.
Italy runs some 750 miles from the Alps to Sicily, and its growers find cool in different ways. In the north it comes off the mountains: the Alps above Alto Adige and Alto Piemonte, and the autumn fog that fills the Langhe valleys at harvest. In the middle it comes from height: Chianti and Montalcino on their ridges. In the south the best sites climb or open to the sea: Etna's north face at 765 metres, the hills of the Sannio, the coast at Bolgheri.
Underneath, the stones change as much as the weather: the porphyry of ancient volcanoes at Bramaterra and Bolzano, the sea sands of Lessona, Langhe marl, Tuscan sandstone and limestone, Etna's black lava.
Every estate in the book is on the map and on the chart. Hover or tap one to find it in all three places.
Bars run from the estate's lowest to highest vineyard. Hollow marks are the height of the village, where the grower gives none.
- Alto PiemonteLessona on old sea sand, Bramaterra on the porphyry of an ancient volcano, Sizzano on a glacial ridge, all under the Monte Rosa.
- MontalcinoNorth slopes against south, and the height of the hill: why two Brunellos from one town differ.
- EtnaThe contrade of the north face, each on its own lava flow, from 400 to over 1,000 metres.