If there is a more perfect winter red out there, I have yet to encounter it. This inky beast, made from Alto Adige’s local Lagrein grape, is grown along the slopes of a stunning mountain valley amid the idyllic scenery of the Italian Dolomites, where jagged peaks pierce crystal-clear skies over a patchwork of conifer forest and verdant meadows. The juice is black as can be, emanating a strikingly vivid aroma of wild berries that wakens the senses. It feels like velvet on the palate and offers a bone-warming quality that makes it the ideal foil to hearty stuffed pastas, wild mushrooms, and slow-cooked meats.

While this red consists of grape varieties originating outside of Alto Adige, it tastes as local as can be. Peter Dipoli chose to plant Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in the mountains of northern Italy after extensively surveying the land, accounting for every nuance of soil and climate with the lofty ambition to make an age-worthy wine defined by its place of origin. Over thirty years later, his gamble has paid off. Pour it in a lineup of great Bordeaux growths and Napa’s finest to see how a similar blend behaves in a radically different environment. In its prime now, the 2017 can still be cellared for many more years.

The terraced slopes of the Dolomites are too far out of the way for most Americans who visit Italy, so this Alpine region remains a bit of a secret for its stellar whites. But for curious palates, a taste of Manni’s Kerner will surely spark the travel bug. He grows “aromatic” varieties, technically, but his wines aren’t showy or loud. His Kerner, a grape with some Riesling parentage, is a vigorous white with cool intensity. By keeping grapes shaded in a leafy canopy, then vinifying in stainless steel, Manni sidesteps richness in favor of refreshment.