The most expensive 1.8 hectares of farmland on earth, and you can walk right to the edge of it. Serious collectors treat the pilgrimage to the cross as a rite of passage — no appointment, no fee, no substitute.
1 Pl. de l'Église, 21700 Vosne-Romanée, France
Vosne-Romanée, Côte de Nuits, Burgundy
France
Romanée-Conti Grand Cru
Vineyard 1232; domaine 1869
A modest door on the village square, and the legendary walled parcel a short walk up the track behind it
No cellar visits; the vineyard and its stone cross are open to anyone
The largest cellar network in Champagne, running under the most valuable avenue in France. If the tours are full you can still drink very well at the bar — but the private Dom Pérignon vertical is where the house keeps its real theatre.
20 Av. de Champagne, 51200 Épernay, France
Épernay, Champagne
France
Dom Pérignon · Grand Vintage
1743
28 km of chalk galleries beneath the Avenue de Champagne, plus a bar, boutique and the Trianon for private receptions
The oldest Champagne house, and the most beautiful cellars in the region by a wide margin. The new Sou Fujimoto pavilion makes the whole estate feel closer to a contemporary art museum than a winery.
4 Rue des Crayères, 51100 Reims, France
Reims, Champagne
France
Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs
1729
UNESCO-listed Roman chalk crayères 38 metres down, hung with rotating art commissions, plus the Nicolas Ruinart Pavilion above
Open daily 9am–7pm; private dinners in the cellars on request
Garrus proved rosé could age and command Grand Cru money. Tasting it beside Whispering Angel in the room where the decision was made is the fastest education in how a category gets invented.
4005 Rte de Callas, 83920 La Motte, France
Côtes de Provence
France
Whispering Angel · Garrus
Estate medieval; relaunched 2006
The estate that made serious rosé a luxury category, with a hilltop château and tastings up the ladder to Garrus
Biodynamic since the 1950s, decades before it was fashionable, and the benchmark for the whole southern Rhône. The stone-strewn vineyard looks like a dry riverbed and makes some of the longest-lived wine in France.
Chem. Gironde, 84350 Courthézon, France
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône
France
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin
1549; Perrin family from 1909
Galets roulés vineyards, all 13 permitted grape varieties, and a new subterranean cellar cut into the site
Booked appointment essential — the gates stay locked to passers-by
Twenty-six generations of the same family, housed in the most spectacular piece of contemporary winery architecture on earth. Named World's Best Vineyard in 2022, and the building is invisible from the road yet utterly cinematic from within.
Via Cassia per Siena 133, 50026 Bargino FI, Italy
Chianti Classico, Tuscany
Italy
Tignanello · Solaia
Family 1385; winery 2012
A winery buried inside a hillside with a dramatic spiral staircase, rooftop vineyard, museum and the Rinuccio 1180 restaurant
Open daily; tours sell out weeks ahead — book far in advance
The most comfortable way to sleep inside a Brunello estate. Poggio alle Mura's ramparts at sunset, with a twenty-year-old Brunello in hand, is the postcard Tuscany actually delivers on.
Castello di Poggio alle Mura, 53024 Montalcino SI, Italy
Montalcino, Tuscany
Italy
Brunello di Montalcino Poggio all'Oro
1978 (castle Etruscan-era origins)
A restored medieval castle with a glass museum, the Michelin-starred Sala dei Grappoli and a luxury relais
Hotel, restaurant and tasting room open to guests; tours daily
The estate that literally invented Brunello di Montalcino. The riserva library — vintages from the 1890s still alive and still re-corked by hand — is one of the great living archives in wine.
Villa Greppo 183, 53024 Montalcino SI, Italy
Montalcino, Tuscany
Italy
Brunello di Montalcino Riserva
1888 (first Brunello)
The historic reserve cellar holding bottles back to the 19th century, on grounds most collectors never get to see
Private appointment only — no walk-ins, and the gate stays shut without one
Masseto is Italy's answer to Pétrus, grown on a single seam of blue clay you can see with your own eyes. The Vendemmia d'Artista programme makes each vintage release a collector's event in its own right.
Località Ornellaia 191, 57022 Bolgheri LI, Italy
Bolgheri, Tuscan Coast
Italy
Ornellaia · Masseto
1981
Artist installations throughout the estate, a minibus tour of the vineyards, and cellar tastings by the sea
By appointment, weekdays; tour and tasting around €100
The wine that broke Italian appellation law and created the Super Tuscan category overnight. Driving the cypress avenue that Carducci wrote a poem about is half the pleasure of the visit.
Località Capanne 27, 57022 Bolgheri LI, Italy
Bolgheri, Tuscan Coast
Italy
Sassicaia
Estate 1940s; first Sassicaia 1968
The five-kilometre Viale dei Cipressi cypress avenue leading to the estate, plus a wild-game reserve
Very limited; appointment essential. Osteria San Guido nearby for lunch
September–October
+39 0565 762003
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