Italian Wine News - January 2007 |
YOU ARE HERE >>
|
Welcome to
VOLUME V,
NUMBER 1 of Wine News, the e-Letter from the WineCountry.IT network. (Would you
rather see the e-Letter on your favorite browser? Use
this link. Usa il link seguente se vuoi leggere
le News in italiano).
Happy New Year to all of you.
Whether you are still skiing on the slopes, lazing on the sun in some exotic beach or are back to work, as we are, we have a wealth of interesting articles to keep you abreast of the latest goings on in the Italian wine world.
For instance, have you heard of the 'Emilian Paradox?' To better understand it, we suggest that you read first the interseting culinary face-off between Emilia and Piedmont, where the richness and abundance of fat in the Emilian diet are plainly exposed, then read the piece about Lambrusco and health.
If you are planning a ski vacation in Italy, or happen to be in the northeastern part of that country, check out what the Isarco Valley, in the Trentino Alto Adige region has to offer. On the other hand, if you happen to be in San Francisco, California, check out Biondivino: a new shop which focuses on Italian wines.
In addition to introducing the Piedmont native vines, Rosa d'Ancona also reports on a meeting on the state of the wine/food/tourist industries in Sicily.
Buon Capodanno and happy reading to you all.
Loris Scagliarini, WineCountry.IT President |
|
|
Articles
|
|
|
Visit to Napa and the Rubicon Estate |
| |
 Since Caterina Prochilo is the communications and promotion manager for the very first Monte-Carlo Wine Festival, I thought it would be a good idea for her to visit Napa, so I organized a trip for Friday, December 22nd, 2006. The trip included a visit to the Rubicon Estate, formarly known as Niebaum-Coppola Estate in Rutherford. Gérant and general manager, sommelier Larry Stone, was kind enough to meet with us, despite the short notice and the fact that it was almost Christmas and part of his staff was in vacation.
Continue...
|
|
|
|
|
Lambrusco and Health |
| |
 A new study involving one million people, conducted by the Università Cattolica (Catholic University) of Campobasso, found that drinking wine in moderation has a healthful effect. These positive data confirm the results of other research done by other institutions in various parts of the world.
Continue...
|
|
|
|
| Lambrusco, or The 'Emilian Paradox' |
| |
 In 1999 the Consortium of Lambrusco from Modena and Reggio Emilia, and the Enoteca Regionale Emilia Romagna (Emilia Romagna Regional Wine Bar) decided to commission an anonymous detailed analysis of components with possible vascular-protective characteristics in four Lambrusco wines.
The research was organized by Professor Carlo Fernandez and was awarded to the Istituto Mario Negri Sud, the world renowned center for pharmacological and biomedical research.
Continue...
|
|
|
|
| Two Books and a Calendar– First Part |
| |
 The Tirsomedia publishing house recently released two new gastronomy books and a calendar in the local dialect. The calendar celebrates its tenth aniversary honoring the historian Alfredo Giovine, from Bari.
The two books are dedicated to the enogastronomy of Apulia and Basilicata: "La Basilicata è servita" and "La Puglia è servita". |
| Second Part |
| |
 In this second installment we will introduce the second issue of the book "La Basilicata è servita" (The Basilicata Region is Served). This is the 2007 edition of the enogastronomic guide of the Lucania, as the Basilicata region is sometimes called, which follows the great success of the first 2006 edition. The book is greatly appreciated by the general pubblic, but even more by the restauranteurs who participated entusiastically in the project. They know that currently, information and marketing are as important as the quality of the food that comes out of their kitchen.
|
|
Third Part |
| |
 “La Puglia è servita”, or "The Apulia Region is Served), offers the widest look at the Apulian enogastronomy. The guide presents a selection of 105 restaurants and trattorie, 11 caterers, 24 wine bars, 31 masserie (farmhouses), 21 bed & breakfasts, 20 historic homes, 43 wineries and 12 olive mills. In short, this is a must-have tool for all gourmands interested in finding out more about this Italian region. The guide, which this year celebrates its eleventh birthday, is distributed in all Italian bookstores by the Touring Club.
Continue...
|
|
|
|
|
Olive Oil Fraud |
| |
 Olive Oil produced with Greek, Spanish and Tunisian olives is currently distributed on the international market falsely labeled as Italian-made. This was revealed by a research conducted by Coldiretti and published by Italia Oggi (Italy Today), on the occasion of the Giornata nazionale dell'olio italiano (National Italian Oil Day).
Continue...
|
|
|
|
|
Wining, Dining and Skiing in Valle Isarco (Isarco Valley) |
| |
 There's no other Italian skiing area from whose slopes one can see the geometric crisscrossing of the vineyards. In the six skiing zones of Valle Isarco, in the Trentino Alto Adige region – Plose-Bressanone, Gitschberg-Maranza, Jochtal-Valles, Racines-Giovo, Vipiteno-Monte Cavallo and Ladurns-Colle Isarco – it is possible to ski overlooking the northernmost Italian vines. In particular, at Plose, the skiing facility above Brix - Bressanone and its bright valley, while skiing down from above the fir trees and Alpine meadows, the skier soon reaches the high density vineyards cultivated according to the latest techniques.
Continue...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Fraud: Italian Wine Table Ready to be Sold as DOC |
| |
 A blitz by the Corpo Forestale dello Stato (an Italian branch of police in charge of agricultural- and food-related frauds) brought checks and seizures in various wineries in the provinces of Ravenna and Bologna, as well in the Piedmont, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions.
Continue...
|
|
|
|
| World Wide Tourism – Part 1 |
| |
 "Land, art, wine, food": could these things be the magnets that make Sicily an international wine and food destination?
Based upon the 2004 data provided by the 11 Sicilian Strade del Vino (Wine Roads), wine and food tourism brought on the island 3.5 million visitors. These are promising numbers, however this reality clashes with the traditional difficulties that the island faces in bringing together the various social and institutional elements involved. |
| Part 2 |
| |
 Important data about the Australian promotional and marketing machine have been provided by Sara Covino of Austrade, the Australian Commercial Office in Italy. Australia has produced wine for about one century now. The production is represented by about 140 thousand hectares of vineyards managed by five thousand vintners. The country exports its wines to over 40 countries worldwide, most of which are in Europe. In the 'Australian system', private enterprises and public institutions have worked together to create what is currently one of the most aggressive competitors in the international wine world market.
|
|
Part 3 |
| |
 Today 14% of the Sicilian vineyards are planted with Nero D'Avola vines. According to the IRVV director, Salvatore D'Agostino, "the Sicilian goal of doubling the production cannot be achieved focusing exclusively on this grape variety, since based upon the extension of the vineyards, the yield and the characteristics of the soil, it's not possible to produce more than 70 million bottles."
Continue...
|
|
|
|
|
Grappas from Brunello di Montalcino by Nannoni Distillery |
| |
In the past, Tuscany did not pay too much attention to distilled spirits, until Maestro Distillatore (Distillery Master), Gioacchino Nannoni brought honors the grappa di fattoria (farmhouse grappa). Aware of the aromatic potential, as well as the organoleptic characteristics of the Tuscan marc, especially the Sangiovese solid leftovers form Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti production, Nannoni created a product which retains the specific perfume and flavor of each type of vine.
Continue...
|
|
|
|
| Just How Good Can Italy Get? – Part 1 |
| |
 In the shops along and around Via Drapperie, haunches of cured ham dangle far into the distance. Coils of pork sausage spiral high into the sky. Bologna is the capital of Emilia-Romagna, and the region of Emilia-Romagna sees the beauty in swine, as the affiliation of one of its cities with a world-renowned delicacy makes clear. Here lies the plump mother lode of prosciutto di Parma.
|
| Part 2 |
| |
 I didn’t choose these regions at random. Talk to any large group of people knowledgeable and passionate about Italian food and, unless the sample is stacked with seafood lovers, contrarians or Sicilians, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont will probably be the culinary havens mentioned most often and ardently.
|
| Part 3 |
| |
 I bypassed Parma for Modena, which promised two very different restaurants: Hosteria Giusti, which is more than 400 years old, and Osteria La Francescana, where the chef, Massimo Bottura, incorporates avant-garde ideas and techniques into cooking that’s nonetheless rooted in the region and frequently superb.
|
| Part 4 |
| |
 Not once did I experience the kind of elation I did drinking wine in Piedmont, where there’s not only better Barbera but also Dolcetto, Pelaverga and Gavi — the list goes on and on. At its summit, of course, is Barolo. The best one on this trip was by Ettore and Livia Fontana, and it was from 1990. Barolo needs some age.
|
|
Part 5 |
| |
 At the Alba truffle market, I paid $28 for an early-season truffle about the size of a large chestnut. My friend and I turned it into a late-night snack, shaving it over hot buttered toast. Its perfume was fainter than that of a bigger, more mature truffle, but still: an affordable between-meals truffle encounter? Score many points for Piedmont.
Continue...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We open 2006 by introducing a Tuscan estate, the Azienda Agricola Buccelletti - Casali in Val di Chio, located in the small town of Santa Cristina, in the municipality of Castiglion Fiorentino, in the province of Arezzo.
Sisters-in-law Lidia Castellucci and Roberta Giaccherini, are the dynamic duo who joined forces to improve the winemaking and extra virgin olive oil production of the family business – the Azienda Agricola Buccelletti part of the namesake– in addition to managing one of the best agriturismos where I happened to stay in Italy – the Casali in Val di Chio part of the business.
- Read More...
|
Despite the crises that have hit the wine world in Italy and worldwide in recent years, the regional enological sector is doing rather well. Given the current critical global situation, Piedmont wines are facing marketing difficulties, however they are nowhere close to the hardships faced by other Italian and international wine production zones.
Such positive results are mostly due to the production philosophy adopted by the whole regional wine sector, which is ever more focused on turning out high quality products, in all price ranges and for all the wine varieties, based on both international and native vines.
- Read More...
|
|
Here we continue our introduction of Italy's 155 Protected Designations of Origin (PDO, or, in Italian, DOP, Denominazione di Origine Protetta) and Protected Geographical Indications (PGI, or IGP in Italian, Indicazione Geografica Protetta) products.
This month we present two excellent extra virgin olive oils, the olio extravergine di oliva Dauno DOP from Apulia and the olio extravergine di oliva Toscano IGP from Tuscany.
- Read More...
• Column Index |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hard-to-fine wines from small Italian producers are the reason to stop by Biondivino, a stylish and tiny new wine shop in Russian Hill. Think producers like Bruno De Conciliis, made popular by star New York chef Mario Batali; Biondivino carries his whole line.
Some California producers are upset because winemaking regulations allow the blending of local juice with out-of-state and foreign grapes. In fact, despite California's record-breaking 2005 harvest, some local wineries continue to use imported wines to make 'California wine'. 
