Drinks with altitude: six of Europe's best mountain wines

[Celerity]

Our expert thinks these Alpine wines from France and Italy are summit special

https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/food-drink/article/best-alpine-wines-france-italy-pp6d5zw5k

https://archive.ph/1pvdG



You may have just returned from the slopes or, like me, were enraptured by the clear blue skies and soaring peaks at last month’s Winter Olympics. Now back home and in need of something to help you through the last remaining weeks of winter, why not recreate the thrill of a red run with some of the most vibrant, aromatic and mouthwatering wines out there: those of Alpine country. Amid the mountain valleys that stretch from eastern France to the northeast of Italy, you’ll find a variety of wines marked by high acidity, pure fruit, moderate alcohol and an ability to awaken the senses with their delicate freshness.

In France’s eastern regions of Savoie and the Jura, hunt around and you’ll come across small producers growing local grape varieties such as altesse and jacquère, which produce light, clean, dry wines that are the perfect foil for a scrape of soft, creamy raclette. Italy’s most northerly wine region, Alto Adige, which rises into the Austrian Alps, makes snappy pinot bianco and chardonnay, but it is the crisp pinot grigio that reigns supreme. There are reds too. In the far northwest of Italy, the country’s smallest wine region, Valle d’Aosta, produces characterful, fruit-driven reds with a dark, fresh red-berry character. Look out for the signature grape variety, petit rouge, and the peppery and sour fumin. These may not have the immediate appeal of a riper, oaked style, but when paired with the typical après-ski food of stews, risottos, pasta and anything involving truffle, they come into their own, acting as a natural palate cleanser.

[justaprogressive]

1. Very nice!

Thanks Celerity