Bruce Schoenfeld in Stellenbosch, South Africa

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The first time I met the Namibian-born enologist Martin Meinert, nearly a decade ago, he’d embarked on a wine project as quixotic as any I’d ever come across. In celebration of the coming millennium change, he’d been hired to blend the contributions of 100 different South African winemakers into a single, coherent wine.

The result, predictably enough, was a South African blend lacking in personality, singularity, evident terroir, and just about any other attribute that might possibly make a wine interesting. “One of the worst experiences of my life,” Meinert calls it now.

Bruce Schoenfeld in Florence

“There are two categories of wine,” Antinori’s Renzo Cotarella says as he spears a mouthful of spaghetti. “With grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the drinkability of the wine is the priority. Then there are the complicated grapes, like Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo. With those, it isn’t about drinkability. Those are grapes that you have to be in love with.”

He pauses for a first taste from a bottle of Tignanello 2003. “It’s like a woman who can be beautiful – but if you’re not in love with her, she’s nothing to you,” he says. He looks across the table at his wife. “You’re my Pinot Noir,” he says.

Bruce Schoenfeld in Padova, Italy

What: Le Calandre, one of only five Michelin three-star restaurants in Italy.

Where: Via Liguria 1, Sarmeola di Rubano, Padova, Italy;
011-39-049-630303; www.alajmo.it.

Why Go: Few Italian chefs are turning heads like Massimiliano Alajmo, who brings a restless creativity to a stratified and rigid cuisine. And he offers nearly 200 of the 700 wines on his list by the glass.

The Ambience: Off a hotel lobby on a busy street, it’s comfortably sleek, and almost under-decorated for a restaurant of its caliber.

The Cost: $300 for two, including bottled water but not wine: a typical three-star tariff.