Alto Adige: On a Roll
Italy: North, featured
, Feb 2020
Readers will find some of Italy’s best wines in Alto Adige, the northerly mountain region that borders Austria. It is here that the country’s top white wines are made, while there are increasingly more compelling reds to choose from as well. Readers won’t want to miss out on the latest vintages. Overall quality has never been higher.
Volpe Pasini Pinot Bianco Zuc di Volpe: 1999-2017
Italy: North, featured
, Feb 2020
Pinot Bianco has called Friuli Venezia Giulia home for centuries now. Volpe Pasini’s Zuc di Volpe single-vineyard bottling is one of the best Pinot Biancos Italy has to offer. Pretty and varietally expressive, it’s also quite ageworthy.
Gulfi Nero d’Avola Nerosanloré: 2001-2015
Verticals & Retrospectives, featured, Italy: Center & South
, Jan 2020
Gulfi was the first winery in Sicily to believe in single-contrada Nero d’Avolas. Today, Gulfi makes four such wines that highlight the extraordinary diversity of these sites, all of them so well-suited to showing the potential of Sicily’s indigenous Nero d’Avola. This vertical spanned a representative selection of the Nerosanloré - arguably the most elegant of the wines.
Valle d’Aosta: Micro Productions, Mega Quality
Italy: North, featured
, Jan 2020
Valle d’Aosta makes some of Italy’s most distinctive wines. Unlike most other regions of Italy, producers here excel with both native and international varieties. The latest vintages confirm this – and then some.
Tiberio Pecorino Colline Pescaresi 2005-2018
featured, Italy: Center & South
, Jan 2020
Tiberio’s Pecorino has fast become a gold standard for the variety, delivering aromas and flavors and a relatively rich glyceral texture that are archetypal of the cultivar, but with more refinement than most wines made with this trendy Italian native grape.
Friuli Venezia Giulia: The New Releases
Italy: North, featured
, Jan 2020
Along with Piedmont and the Valle d’Aosta, Friuli Venezia Giulia offers wine lovers the greatest diversity in grape varieties and wine styles of any region in Italy. The whites and sweet wines are among the best in the country, and the reds have also become especially enticing in recent years.
Grosjean Petite Arvine: 1997-2016
Verticals & Retrospectives, Italy: North, featured
, Dec 2019
Although the birthplace of Petite Arvine is contested between the Switzerland’s Valais and Italy’s Valle d’Aosta, there is no doubt both countries make beautiful wines. The Grosjean family’s Petite Arvine is especially fine, and it ages well, too.
Vinous Table: Da Romano, Burano, Italy
Vinous Table, Italy: North
, Dec 2019
Da Romano is not just a restaurant, it’s an institution. Located on the colorful island of Burano, Da Romano offers wonderful Venetian cuisine, a solid wine list and extremely friendly, competent service, all in a historic, evocative setting.
Campania 2018: Early Appeal And Accessibility
featured, Italy: Center & South
, Nov 2019
Readers who have followed my writings over the years know I am a huge fan of Campania. The whites are some of Italy’s greatest and most ageworthy wines. The best Campania whites are terroir-driven and full of varietal character. With some notable exceptions, Campania's red wines are unfortunately less consistent because of the combination of overripe grapes and too much oak. For that reason, it pays to be especially selective when it comes to the reds.
Accornero Bricco del Bosco Vigne Vecchie 2006-2015
Italy: Piedmont, featured
, Nov 2019
Accornero’s Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese Bricco del Bosco Vigne Vecchie is arguably Italy’s best Grignolino, one that proves just how remarkably ageworthy the wines made with this highly underrated grape can be.