Two things we love: WINE and TRAVEL. So when our story producer Lauren headed to Italy for her honeymoon, we asked her to bring back one story of an incredible glass of wine in this vino-obsessed country. She travelled far and drank lots to bring back this gem! -A&K

Let’s be honest, I didn’t have one bad glass of wine in Italy. There was the glass (or well few bottles) at “my” castle, Castello di Potentino, in Tuscany (if you stay there, ask for the golden room!); the celebratory glass after finding my dad’s birthplace in Venice (that is a whole other story); and in Rome, I drank wine among movie stars at Antica Pesa. (Seriously, click on photo gallery and then “friends and people” to see every celebrity that has eaten there. It’s insane!)

But the most satisfying and well-deserved glass of wine came after completing the 7 hour hike in Cinque Terre! While on the hike, we met Chiara, the most kind and wonderful cafe manager at 0 KM Cafe in Corniglia. (All their food is sourced within one kilometre. Makes the 100-mile diet look like your food is coming from the other side of the world!) We chatted about the incredible vineyards we saw all along the mountain’s edges on our hike, and she asked us if we’d like to visit one.

Of course we jumped at the chance, and she called her friends Lise and Bartolo for us. Before we knew it we had met a smiling Bartolo in Vernazza and with his wife Lise (and dog Diva!), they kindly showed us their baby: Cheo Vineyard.

After learning about the logistics of running a vineyard on a steep mountain cliff, exposed to all the elements (they have landslides and harsh winds every year), where there are also no cars (HELICOPTERS have to drop off materials to rebuild the support walls!), it was obvious that there could not be more love and care put into a vineyard.

I’m not sure if it was the exhaustion from the hike, the kindness of Lise and Bartolo, or the thrill of riding on the small monorail, but that night my glass of special sciaccetra wine from Cheo Vineyard was the most delicious glass of wine I’ve tasted in my life.

Sadly they don’t export it to North America, but it is the perfect reason to go back!

And if you are not headed to Italy anytime soon or able to spring the cash for a case shipped directly from the source (for a whopping $539!), pick up a bottle of Canadian Ice Wine. It’s a very similar taste and after a beautiful summer evening or long dinner outside with friends, it might just be a perfect glass of wine!

Evidence of my life’s best: a glass of sciaccetra, a very special wine that you are meant to drink as you “ponder the wonders of life”. I pondered and appreciated it all!

Lise and Bartolo, owners of Cheo Vineyard.

Percio is one of the white wines from Cheo Vineyard, made from vermentino and bosco grapes. You can find it for sale at O KM cafe in Corniglia as well as in all 5 towns of Cinque Terre.

Don’t let the metal tracks amongst the hills fool you! They aren’t an elaborate sprinkler system like we originally thought, they are a monorail system.

The view of Vernazza from Cheo Vineyard.