One of the things about being a wine writer is that when people learn what you do, they often pull their phones out to share visuals of their own wine experiences. Now, on the one hand, this is a great thing. It is a gesture that ties together mutual passions and experiences in wine and is meant to bring a smile.

But on the other hand, the process of looking at the great photos makes me want to be in the places that the images project. Wine travel envy is a regular event in my life, as friends, neighbors, and sometimes even strangers, share their happiest wine moments. This week, shortly before I sat to write this column, I had a pair of these experiences. The first came directly from Padua, a magical place in the Veneto region of Italy.