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Wine Guides & Travel · Insider's Wine Travel Guides

Insider’s Wine Travel Guides

Where to go, taste and stay in the world’s great wine regions — written from the road, not the desk.

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Insider's Wine Travel Guides

Jose Ignacio lighthouse on the Atlantic coast of Maldonado, Uruguay, with wine country inland
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Uruguayan Wine: Tannat, the Atlantic, and the Country That Kept It Quiet

Uruguay is South America's quiet overachiever: the world's Tannat capital, planted by Basque settlers in...

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Aerial view of a village among the vineyard hills of Oltrepo Pavese above the Po plain, Lombardy, Italy
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Lombardy: Franciacorta, Valtellina and Milan's Cellar

Milan's cellar runs from Franciacorta's champagne-method bubbles to Nebbiolo grown on alpine terraces. The lake-country...

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Rows of vines turning red and gold in autumn on a hillside in Emilia-Romagna, Italy
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Emilia-Romagna: Real Lambrusco and the Food Capital of Italy

Italy's food capital has a wine secret: real Lambrusco is dry, dark-foamed and built for...

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Hilltop citadel of Castelsardo above the sea with vineyards in the foreground, Sardinia, Italy
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Sardinia: Cannonau, Vermentino and an Island Apart

An island apart, where shepherds drink Cannonau and centenarians take the credit. Granite-grown Vermentino, the...

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Castle and terraced vine rows below the Dolomites near Bolzano in Alto Adige, northern Italy
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Trentino-Alto Adige: Alpine Precision in Two Languages

Alpine precision in two languages: German-accented whites on high slopes, Teroldego's dark side and Trentodoc's...

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Winding road through steep terraced vineyards on the Friuli-Slovenia border, northeastern Italy
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Friuli-Venezia Giulia: Italy's White Wine Laboratory

Italy's white-wine laboratory sits on the Slovenian border, where Friulano and Ribolla Gialla meet orange-wine...

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Terraced vineyards and the Amalfi Coast dropping to the Tyrrhenian Sea in Campania, Italy
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Campania: Aglianico, Fiano and the Wines Rome Drank

The wines Rome actually drank: Aglianico on volcanic slopes, Fiano and Greco in the hills...

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Vine rows below the forested Apennine ridges of Abruzzo, central Italy, with the Gran Sasso beyond
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Abruzzo: Montepulciano, Pecorino and the Greenest Region in Europe

Mountains on one side, the Adriatic on the other, and Europe's greenest wine region in...

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Olive groves above the Ionian coast with a whitewashed old town across the water in Puglia
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Puglia: Primitivo, Negroamaro and Italy's Best-Value Reds

Italy's heel grows its best-value reds: Primitivo with Zinfandel's DNA, brooding Negroamaro and bush vines...

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Mount Etna rising above terraced vineyards on black volcanic soil, Sicily
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Sicilian Wine: Etna's Volcanic Cru System and the Island Beyond

A hundred grapes on one island, and a volcano with its own cru system. Etna's...

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Italian Wine: Twenty Regions, 500 Grapes, One Table
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Italian Wine: Twenty Regions, 500 Grapes, One Table

Twenty regions, five hundred grapes, one table - Italian wine is a country-sized menu. Barolo...

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Paso Robles: Limestone, Big Swings, and California's Rhone Capital
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Paso Robles: Limestone, Big Swings, and California's Rhone Capital

Limestone under the vines, forty-degree temperature swings above them, and the biggest-hearted wines in California....

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Oregon Wine: Pinot Noir at the 45th Parallel
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Oregon Wine: Pinot Noir at the 45th Parallel

Pinot Noir at the 45th parallel, farmed by families who bet on Burgundy's grape in...

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Alsace: France's Most Germanic Region and Its Easiest Label to Read
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Alsace: France's Most Germanic Region and Its Easiest Label to Read

German grapes, French polish, and the only region in France that puts the grape on...

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Limestone river canyon cutting through the high plateau of northern Castile
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Ribera del Duero: High, Harsh, and Home to Spain's Most Coveted Reds

High, harsh and home to Spain's most coveted reds: Tempranillo at 2,800 feet, where summer...

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Rioja: The Region That Ages Your Wine For You
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Rioja: The Region That Ages Your Wine For You

The region that ages your wine for you: Crianza to Gran Reserva, released only when...

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Champagne: The Chalk, the Bubbles, and the Two Letters on the Label
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Champagne: The Chalk, the Bubbles, and the Two Letters on the Label

Chalk, pressure, patience - and two small letters on the label that change everything. How...

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Sunrise over the vineyards of Domaine de Chevalier in Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Bordeaux Wine: Two Banks, Five Growths, and the Gravel That Decides Everything

Two banks, five first growths, and gravel that built the world's most famous wine region....

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Golden autumn vineyards on the Cote d'Or slope above a village in Burgundy, France
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Burgundy Wine: Two Grapes, One Slope, and 1,247 Arguments

Two grapes, one golden slope, and a thousand years of arguments about dirt. How the...

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Tuscan Wine: Sangiovese, Cypress Hills, and the Rebellion That Changed Italy
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Tuscan Wine: Sangiovese, Cypress Hills, and the Rebellion That Changed Italy

Sangiovese, cypress hills and the rebellion that changed everything. Chianti Classico to Brunello di Montalcino,...

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New York Wine: Glacial Lakes, Riesling Nerve, and the Doctor Who Proved Everyone Wrong
  • by Big Hammer Wines

New York Wine: Glacial Lakes, Riesling Nerve, and the Doctor Who Proved Everyone Wrong

Glacial lakes, Riesling nerve, and the doctor who proved everyone wrong about East Coast vinifera....

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California Wine: The Fog Line, the Fault Lines, and the Golden State's Real Map
  • by Big Hammer Wines

California Wine: The Fog Line, the Fault Lines, and the Golden State's Real Map

California's real wine map is drawn by fog, not county lines. Napa and Sonoma, the...

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German Wine: Riesling, Slate, and the Most Misread Labels in Wine
  • by Big Hammer Wines

German Wine: Riesling, Slate, and the Most Misread Labels in Wine

The most misread labels in wine hide some of its greatest bottles. How to decode...

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Piemonte Wine: Fog, Nebbiolo, and Italy's Quietest Grand Cru Country
  • by Big Hammer Wines

Piemonte Wine: Fog, Nebbiolo, and Italy's Quietest Grand Cru Country

Fog rolls in, Nebbiolo ripens late, and Italy's quietest grand cru system hides in plain...

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