North-Eastern Italy: Trentino, Alto Adige & Friuli with Michael Franz

2 hours, $85

Although relatively few tourists venture farther north than Venice, savvy wine lovers can tap into whites that are arguably the finest in all of Italy, plus reds that balance purity and precision with excellent depth of flavor.

On the white side, we’ll explore regional specialties such as Friulano, Ribolla Gialla and Kerner as well as “international” varieties like Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Bianco that have settled in for over a century, producing locally distinctive wines that easily rival the world’s best examples.  Similarly, we’ll discover indigenous reds such as Lagrein, Refosco and Schiava that deserve to be much more widely known than they are, plus wines made from well-known grapes like Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Franc that are so superb that most bottles are slurped up locally before any can be exported.