La Spezia is the gateway to the Cinque Terre and one of the best-served superyacht stops on the Tyrrhenian coast. Porto Mirabello sits on its own island in the gulf with deep water and proper superyacht berths; Porto Lotti, across the water, has been a fixture of the Italian yachting scene for decades. Between them they handle a fleet that uses the gulf as a base for Portovenere, Lerici and the villages up the coast.

The gulf is inside our own van’s delivery zone, so wine for La Spezia goes on our driver’s scheduled run from Antibes rather than into a carrier network — normally within 48 hours of confirmation, delivered to the berth. For a yacht basing here for a fortnight or a season that means we can stock properly in one delivery rather than in nervous instalments.

This is also refit country. The yards around the gulf and up at Viareggio keep boats here through the winter, and a yacht laid up is a yacht whose cellar should not be aboard. We collect collections into climate-controlled storage near Antibes, hold the records through the crew change, and return them racked and listed when the boat recommissions — restocked for the season if you want it done in one step.

The wines directly behind the gulf are some of Italy’s most distinctive: the steep-terraced Cinque Terre whites, Colli di Luni Vermentino, and the Tuscan coast starting just south. Guests who have spent a day walking above Vernazza tend to want the local bottle that evening, and we would rather you had it aboard than send the chef ashore for something ordinary.