Miscellanea
Miscellanea is the section where we report on food and wine topics that do not fit into DoctorWine’s other thematic columns.
Retail media: a new frontier for Italian wine
Retail media refers to the set of promotional activities that take place within the sales channels managed directly by brands. A way of speaking directly to shoppers. Over the past three decades, the Italian wine industry has invested decisively in...
GDO: local production vs. common assortments
The challenge of large-scale retail with regard to wine assortments concerns the space to be given to local productions compared to those of other regions, that is, the assortments common to different stores. Italy’s large retailers face an increasingly obvious...
Scuppoz, natural liquors from Abruzzo
A visit to the Scuppoz company allowed Iolanda Maggio to take an all-around immersive journey into the world of artisanal liqueurs with an Abruzzese heart, discovering Genziana, Ratafià, Gin and bitter… In Abruzzi dialect, “Scuppoz” is an onomatopoeic word that...
Ningxia, the new frontier of Chinese wine
Between the Helan Mountains and the Yellow River, Ningxia, an arid region has been transformed into a dynamic wine hub, amid climatic challenges, international ambitions and wine tourism. Francesca Granelli tells us about it. Over the past three decades, Ningxia...
Concours Mondial de Bruxelles: a global compass for wine quality
For more than 30 years, the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles has been rewarding winemaking excellence with blind tastings and an international jury. The 2025 edition takes place in Yinchuan, in the heart of China’s Ningxia wine region. One of the...
Private label: the new face of wine in GDO
Who is the real producer of the name-brand wine we buy in large-scale retail? The selection is in the hands of the retailer, who is placing increasing emphasis on private labels for customer loyalty. Focusing on value. For years, the...
Interview with Ettore Germano
Fabrizio Carrera, editor of Cronache di Gusto, interviews Ettore Germano, president of the Consorzio Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani: “Barolo and Barbaresco are liked because they are unique. And on relief irrigation yes, but…” Relief irrigation? Why not....
Wine promotions in the large-scale retail trade
In large-scale retail, is discounting still the king of sales? Are promotions an indispensable lever or a strategy to be rethought? Pietro Rocchelli tells us about it. For years, promotion has been the queen of wine sales in GDO. Double-digit...
Mixology: Liquid Art?
We asked Roman bartender Simone Mina to write an article that somehow related to such a growing phenomenon as mixology, the world of mixing. The result surprised us very pleasantly. Welcoming the invitation of dear DoctorWine Daniele Cernilli a write...
Beer and craft devils
That is, the grab for craft beers: even winelovers fall for it, but it’s nonsense. Stefano Milioni is really sure of this. A devil in the guise of a tempting angel prowls around the purest admirers of good wine and...
GDO: assortment strategies and category management
How large-scale retail chains build their wine offerings: balance between big brands and more refined choices, localism and customization. Pietro Rocchelli tells us about it. There is a misconception still circulating in the industry: that supermarkets select wines based on...
The importance of the right wine glass
When we sip a wine, we are all caught up in understanding its pleasantness and organoleptic characteristics. However, we should also pay attention to the glass in which it is served. Iolanda Maggio advises us from personal experience. Have you...
Wine in Italian retail: numbers, trends and prospects
Large-scale retail is changing its skin. From a place where anonymous, low-priced bottles were sold to a large area dedicated to even and increasingly quality wine. There was a time when buying wine at the supermarket was considered an afterthought:...
Vinitaly Tasting The DoctorWine Selection 2025
Vinitaly 2025: Registration has started for the 15th edition of Vinitaly Tasting – The DoctorWine Selection, scheduled to take place at the Verona Fairgrounds April 6-9. Also confirmed for Vinitaly 2025 is the appointment with “Vinitaly Tasting – The DoctorWine...
The new vintage of Umbria PDO evo oil
The new vintage of the denomination’s extra virgin olive oils was presented in Spoleto with the fourth edition of the Umbria PDO Preview. Positive balance despite weather challenges. The new 2024 oil year of extra virgin olive oil PDO Umbria....
Sebago and Antica Bottega del Vino, one icon for another
The world of fashion, with the Sebago brand, has met the world of wine. A common style: right compromise between accessibility and exclusivity, balance between elegance and functionality. Sissi Baratella talks about it. If Amarone della Valpolicella was a shoe?...
Interview with Professor Giorgio Calabrese
Education is the key word to learn how and how much wine to drink in order not to cause harm to our bodies and enjoy a good glass of wine, we talk about it with Giorgio Calabrese. Wine consumption in...
The 10 most read articles of 2024
Here is the very special ranking of the 10 most read articles in this 2024 just behind us on DoctorWine. The reasoned opinion is what interests us most. We intentionally left out of this ranking the articles dedicated to the...
Natural wines: Riccardo Polegato talks about it
“The concept of natural wine is, at best, a clever marketing strategy; at worst, a deception.” the word of Riccardo Polegato, a producer from Friuli and owner of La Viarte. And here he explains why. Riccardo Polegato, born in 1996,...
Journey to Franciacorta, a book, a diary
Treccani celebrates Franciacorta with the book “Viaggio in Franciacorta,” a kind of diary, signed and lived by Armando Castagno. The tale of a territory to explore with the five senses, between nature and good wine. A travelogue, a personal and...
Angelo Gaja’s article in La Stampa on Sunday 24
Here is what Angelo Gaja wrote for the Piedmont newspaper La Stampa on Sunday, Nov. 24. The Langhe at the crossroads and the courage to dare. But our wines are not workhorses. It is a mistake to expect Barolo and...
Interview with Andrea Moser
Andrea Moser is a winemaker and manager, a strategic consultant who helps wine companies develop their identity in the market. We interviewed him to learn about his new projects. Trentino-born, class of 1982. After working Nine years for Franz Haas...
Barolo en Primeur returns
The 4th edition of Barolo en Primeur is scheduled to take place next October 25 in Grinzane Cavour. Philanthropists from around the world will be connected live from New York and London. So many new developments this year, among the...
The wine-image
Different typology from the previous ones, which does not talk about the wine itself but about what it represents and its ability to fulfill expectations that are not tasting but status symbol. This sixth macro-typology would be worth serious consideration...
The wine-earth
After wine-alcohol, wine-sugar, and wine-fruit, here we come to the fourth “category”: wine-earth, the one that puts its connection to the territory of origin before everything else. If you reread the rating sheets published in the old vintages of the...
The wine-wood
We came to the third category identified by Stephen Millions, that of wine-wood. A type of wine that corresponds to a world taste standard, as long as the wood is well dosed. Wine-wood has dominated the scene for a few...
The wine-fruit
Here we come to the third category of wine identified by the author: wine-fruit, that which releases aromas and flavors of fresh fruit. There is not a person in the world, expert or novice, regular or occasional drinker, who does...
The wine-sugar
From wine-alcohol we moved to wine-sugar. Because the sweet taste is the one most likely to meet people’s taste buds. If wine-alcohol has been the dominus of the wine scene for millennia, in each time it has had to cede...
Wine alcohol
For millennia, alcohol was the parameter by which wine was judged, made and drunk. Today, things have radically changed thanks to evolving winemaking techniques. Alcohol wine is that wine that has trod the scene as a protagonist for a few...
The six faces of planet wine
In addition to classic categories, remembering to unconventional parameters can guide us to enjoy even more fully what we pour into our glass. The primary supplier of raw material of any form of communication has a specific identity: it is...