The millions of tourists who annually visit the Cinque Terre in Italy seldom realize that, in addition to the region’s candy-colored villages and sea views, this is a storied wine region with some of the world’s steepest vineyards. Its grapevines climb mountains that soar as high as 1,300 feet. “Wine came first and the villages came next, so the history of the Cinque Terre is the history of wine,” says local sommelier Yvonne Riccobaldi.

Her hometown of Manarola is one of the five villages that lends this northwestern Italian region its name. The towns—Manarola, Riomaggiore, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare—comprise Cinque Terre National Park, which spans nearly ten miles of rocky coastline between the seafaring cities of Genoa and La Spezia.