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Piedmont—or in Italian, Piemonte (pee-yay-MOHN-tay)—the large region that comprises most of northwestern Italy, has many historical and cultural ties with eastern France. Among the connections is a predilection for surgically dividing its winegrowing areas into multiple layers of defined parcels based on terroir, grape varieties, and past usage. As a result, Piedmont has more wine […]
This month we look at two Italian regions—Basilicata and Calabria—that are unfamiliar to a lot of people unless they happen to have relatives that came from there or perhaps have a local restaurant that is run by someone from there. Let’s start with Basilicata (ba-zee-lee-KAH-ta). Medium in size, it has the third smallest total population […]
The locomotive of the Italian wine train is the region of Veneto (pronounced VAY-neh-toh or VEH-neh-toh, but not veh-NEE-toh), which is responsible for nearly a quarter of all of Italy’s wine production. It is located in the northeast of the country, stretching from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea. On Veneto’s Adriatic coast is its […]
This month, we turn the spotlight on the Italian region of Marche. Le Marche (lay MAR-kay), occasionally referred to by the English equivalent The Marches, is located on the eastern (Adriatic) coast of the Italian peninsula and is best known for white wines made from Verdicchio, with its hallmark high acidity. One of Italy’s lesser-known […]
Posted December 20, 2017 Summary: Soave DOC is Veneto’s most prestigious denomination for still white wine, made primarily from Garganega. The wines produced in the hilly Classico subzone are the most highly regarded, while the collocated Soave Superiore DOCG is on its way out. A small amount of sweet dessert wine is produced in the […]
Posted May 30, 2017 Summary: Lugana DOC is a small denomination that straddles the border between Lombardy and Veneto and produces only white wines from the high-quality Turbiana grape variety, also known as Trebbiano di Lugana. Location: Lugana lies south of Italy’s largest lake, Lago di Garda, partly in Veneto and partly in Lombardy. The […]
Gran Selezione and New Labeling Terms Posted June 11, 2015 For a three-century-old denomination, a lot has been going on in Chianti Classico lately. Much of the activity follows from a major scientific study known as Chianti Classico 2000, which spent 16 years (1987–2003) doing experiments in the vineyards to determine what “best practices” means […]
Posted December 4, 2014 Quick quiz. Pignoletto is: A. An opera by Giuseppe Verdi B. A fairy-tale puppet that magically becomes a little boy C. A sketch from The Muppet Show D. An Italian grape variety The correct answer is none of the above. Until very recently, Pignoletto was the name of a white grape […]
Posted March 27, 2014 Myriad Sources of Rosato Wines in Italy With the arrival of spring and the changing of clocks to daylight time, it’s also time to start thinking about the seasonal shift from the heartier foods and wines of the cold months to the lighter fare of warmer weather. One of the great […]