Martinelli has a terrifically romantic history. In 1887 a teen-aged couple from Tuscany eloped to the Russian River Valley. Giuseppe Martinelli, a young winemaker, then 19, and his 16-year-old wife set to work growing grapes and making wine.

Gaja’s wines are among Italy’s most distinctive, and as a businessman and winemaker, patriarch Angelo Gaja has always been visionary. Inspired by French wines, Gaja in the 1970s advocated for better quality Italian wines, leading with his own.

Château Léoville-Poyferré was part of a large estate divided up after the French Revolution. Today the estate is owned by Didier Cuvelier and his family. The quality of the wines has soared with modernization of the cellars and other improvements.