Tenuta Sant'Antonio offered journalists and experts a wonderful opportunity at Vinitaly 2019: a series of guided tastings with famous somms. Special mention honors go to the four Castagnedi brothers for organizing this event. The whole Italian Grapevine team was involved in covering the three tastings. On Monday, a vertical tasting of Lilium Est Amarone Riserva…
Nice thing about Vinitaly is getting to see the wine producers, whether old friends or new acquaintances. Meeting who is behind the wine is what it's all about. And besides, it's fun! So here are some of my highlights of the last Vinitaly! Just another Italian American from New York living in Italy? Joe…
My father used to say I saw the world through rose colored glasses. That's what it felt like at this latest Vinitaly 2019. Never saw so much rosé in my life! Ophelia (Macchie Santa Maria, Avellino, Campania) Malgré (Tenuta Scuotto, Campania) Lilianne (Tenute Cuffaro, Sicily, Nero d'Avola) Not surprisingly, the displays featuring rosés often…
One of Italy's best under-appreciated native grape varieties is Aglianico. Can I say how much I love it? It grows principally in the South of Italy, mostly in the regions of Campania, Basilicata, Puglia, and Calabria. Whether a wine is 100% Aglianico, or a blend, there is a lot to be said for this grape,…
Almost three days have already flown by at Vinitaly, and we at Italian Grapevine are looking forward to a great last day tomorrow! This morning I had the chance to participate in Young to Young, a tasting led by the famous Food&Wine journalists Paolo Massobrio (La Stampa, Il Golosario) and Marco Gatti. Young to Young aims…
This year's annual tasting sponsored by Le Donne del Vino (the national association of Women of Wine) featured young women winemakers, all under 40. Led by Vinitaly International Academy's Ian D'Agata, an expert on Italian native grape varieties, this was an opportunity to taste some exceptional vintages made from some famous - and some not-so-famous…
Maybe it is the bubbly, colorful logo of this year's Opera Wine, but Vinitaly 2019 started with a bang! The cold and rather gray weather did not put a damper on the kick-off: Wine Spectator celebrated its choice of Italy's 100 Finest Wines and Producers, so yours truly was on location to sample vintages, meet…
Italian Grapevine took a vacation, to explore other grape-growing, wine-making terroirs, this time going quite a distance... all the way to the New World! My trek to the Maipo Valley, so near to Santiago, to visit the Undurraga winery, one of Chile's most important wine estates, was nothing short of idyllic. And such a welcome!…
On my odyssey through the world of Italian wine this summer, I was able to visit producers whose wines had intrigued me, but whose terroir I had not yet been able to visit. And the great thing about visiting wineries is you see where the wine grows: you breathe the same air, feel the sun…
For those of you who can get the pun in today's title... pour yourselves a drink! And let it be Illuminati Brut! (Answer below) The Metodo Classico is a small production, only 10 to 12 thousand bottles per year, but wow what bubbles! Abruzzo is not the first region that comes to mind when people…
Suzanne Branciforte's Italian Grapevine 