▸ Acacia. Vanilla. Quince.

▸ UNESCO hills. 75-year vines.

▸ Stone vs Cream

Hand-harvested Cortese spends six months in small acacia and oak barrels, layering vanilla and acacia blossom over ripe quince. Fruit comes from chalk-limestone slopes near the Tanaro River, a UNESCO buffer zone that keeps night temperatures low and acidity bright.

Koen and Anna De Backer, Belgian architects turned vintners, farm 75-year Cortese vines on chalk and loam inside a UNESCO vineyard landscape. The wine sees a short skin fermentation before six months in small acacia and oak barriques. Result: honeyed apple richness held in place by brisk acidity.