Cervinia: Matterhorn's Italian Wine

The Matterhorn Ski Paradise reaches 3,899m — the highest lift-served skiing in the Alps — with glacier runs open even in summer. But the real revelation is Aosta Valley wine. Petit Rouge is the most planted grape in the Valle d'Aosta, producing tart, medium-bodied reds that form the backbone of Torrette DOC. Then there's Fumin — called 'The King of Reds' in the Aosta Valley — a dark, full-bodied, savoury wine with a complexity that shocks people who've never heard of it.

These vines grow at 4,000 feet on granite hillsides in the Valtournenche valley, where Châtillon — the gateway town at 550m — has been making mountain wine for centuries. The après-ski here is distinctly Italian: wood-fired pizza at 2,000 metres, espresso that would make a Roman barista nod, and a relaxed atmosphere that feels nothing like the buttoned-up Swiss side. You ski the same Matterhorn as Zermatt, drink wine that Zermatt has never heard of, eat better food, and pay half the price. Ski across the Plateau Rosa glacier on a clear day and you cross from Italy to Switzerland on skis — one of the only international border crossings you can make in ski boots.