Exploring wineries
The supernatural wine of Bodegas Menade
Thanks to the Blend 2024 event, we were able to taste a very special wine: the Castilla y León Sobrenatural 2018 Bodegas Menade. The 2024 edition of Blend, the enocultural review conceived and implemented by Bellenda. “Event, reserved for producers,...
Amalberga, rediscovering the Ostuni Doc.
Dario De Pascale, with friends and partners Roberto Fracassetti and Roberto Candia and together with winemakers Valentino Ciarla and Gloria Battista, launched the Amalberga project. The rediscovery of the Ostuni Doc, revitalizing Ostuni oenology and revaluing the territory. Ostuni, known...
Marjan Simčič and the Bigot method. 100, 300, 500 questions
The meeting between Slovenian winemaker Marjan Simčič and Friulian agronomist Giovanni Bigot helped further raise the level of this winery’s wines. Fragrant, concrete, elegant wines-in a word, memorable. I visited in Brda to Marjan Simčič, one of the most internationally...
The sparkling adventure of Claudia and Giulia Benazzoli
The Benazzoli sisters “come home” with their new Trentodoc, a classic method 100% Chardonnay. A sparkling adventure wanted by Dad and dedicated to him. Claudia and Giulia Benazzoli Physically, big shoulders do not have them; they are both well-proportioned. Figuratively...
What’s new in Franciacorta, at the Consortium and Montina
Revamping image and logo is not just a matter of form, but serves to reinforce the intended brand idea. This is what guided both the Franciacorta Consortium, which changed its historical logo, and the Montina company. The Franciacorta Consortium will...
Cuvée Tal, the Supertirols of Cantina Bolzano
There are two new Cuvées Tal le Supertirol from Cantina Bolzano: Tal 1930, white, and Tal 1908, red. Two highly expressive wines that stand at the top of the winery’s range. Anyone who loves South Tyrolean wines knows the consistent...
Fessina Estate. A new wine for Silvia
Two years after the untimely death of Tenuta di Fessina founder Silvia Maestrelli, her heirs are dedicating a special Reserve to her. The label is of a color bright coral red, Silvia Maestrelli’s favorite. The source vineyards are also those...
The Renaissance Tradition of the Marchesi Gondi
Unforgettable was the evening "Salato Stil Novo - Vin Santo Dinner," conceived by the Gondi family, which featured seven vintages of Vin Santo Cardinal de Retz paired with the unparalleled dinner created by chef Vito Mollica. The world of wine...
Butussi family selections
A meeting at the winery allowed the press to learn more about the selections, vineyards and cellar of this important producer in the Colli Orientali del Friuli. Just at the beginning of spring, the Butussi family wanted to organize a...
Vigna Michelangelo: an urban vineyard is reborn in the heart of Florence
The first modern urban vineyard in Florence is pink. Young female entrepreneurs plant 700 new vines creating Vigna Michelangelo. We are on the hill overlooking the Arno River, just a few steps from Piazzale Michelangelo, with a view that sweeps...
Brolo dei Giusti, the high-end of Cantine di Verona
Cantine di Verona's Brolo dei Giusti line all includes identity wines dedicated to the restaurant industry. Cantine di Verona is increasingly focused on projects dedicated to catering. Having consolidated the foundations, the union and coherence between different territories united under...
Vietti’s extraordinary “battery”
A tasting of the Piedmont-based winery Vietti's 15 upcoming wines demonstrated the absolute quality of the entire range. A beautiful Roman evening at Achilli in Parliament, featuring new vintages of products from Vietti. Vietti represents about 150 years of Langa...
Albino Armani and the care of the land
Passionate about mountains as well as wine, Albino Armani seeks out fragile territories to care for. Strictly mountain or high hill, sloping possibly, in an inevitable pandering to the forms of nature. I got lost in the stories of Albino...
Restivo: is a star being born?
Young Catanian entrepreneur Francesco Restivo is setting up a 50-plus-hectare winery on Etna, and with advice from the Cotarella-Chiasso team he has come out with his first, excellent wine: the Etna Bianco Contrada Arcuria 2022. The adventure of Francis Restivo...
Edoardo Miroglio’s Bulgarian Pinot Noir
Piedmontese producer Edoardo Miroglio has purchased a farm in Thrace and produces, among other things, an excellent Bulgarian Pinot Noir there. When you go to lunch with certain friends who have made a love of wine their life, you expect...
Cavazza between Gambellara and Colli Berici
Renewing its image, with a new logo and restyled labels, the Cavazza family renovates vineyard facilities, improves technologically and lengthens the aging time of the wines. Drawing from the past with a light touch. Less austere, more modern and current...
Whites from black grapes: 5 wines between Campania and Basilicata
As unusual as it may seem, making a white wine from red grapes is neither strange nor difficult: just separate the must from the skins (where the coloring substances reside). We propose 5 labels from the South, between Campania and...
Alexandre Bonnet, an ode to the territory of Les Riceys
The domaine Alexandre Bonnet, a symbol of the Les Riceys territory in the Côte des Bar, has made a docufilm that is an ode to its territory. We tasted his champagnes. It is not every day that one is invited...
Suavia steps up for the territory
The Tessari sisters of Suavia create a true homage to the geographical units of Soave by creating a dedicated line and allowing their personalities to shine through. At number three, the Tessari family had long been accustomed to it. There...
Marche’s Collina delle Fate
In the Marche region, in the center of the Metauro valley, which runs inland from its native Fano, we come to Fossombrone. Massimo Berloni, in addition to being mayor of the city and a successful entrepreneur in the field of...
A day in Monteverro
I spent a day at the Monteverro estate on the Costa d'Argento in the far southern part of the Maremma. Between the vineyards, the winery and the tastings. An experience to share. For those who love Tuscany, and the Maremma,...
Cantina Dorgali 1953, an important growing business
More than 70 years ago, Cantina Dorgali 1953, one of the most important entities in the Sardinian wine world, was born in eastern Sardinia. Today, the winery has implemented a production upgrading project, the results of which are brilliant. La...
Marco Lazzaroni, wine producer and rugby player
Marco Lazzaroni wanted to be a chef as a child, but then studied at the scientific high school and is now a professional Rugby player. In your spare time, what do you do? The winemaker of course! Marco Lazzaroni That...
Fedra , the collectible wine of Tommaso Inghirami
Tommaso Inghirami, owner of Fattoria di Grignano in Rufina, launches the Fedra project, his first collectible wine linked to art and territory. “ Just as for so many years we sewed shirts, today we also sew wines that have the...
Tenuta Donna Elvira and its wines
Tenuta Donna Elvira wines and that mix of London charm and Italian authenticity. It is beautiful, modern and well-equipped winery at Tenuta Donna Elvira. It is due to Tony Fink, an Englishman with Italian roots, who bought the first land...
Errata Corrige: Cantine Santa Barbara
We remedy an error of denomination published in the Essential Guide to Italian Wines 2024 regarding Cantine Santa Barbara in Puglia. We received a phone call from. Maria Rosaria Giorgiani, owner of the Catine Santa Barbarain Apulia, who was complaining...
Pol Roger, the Champagne of Friendship
2024 is a significant year for the Champagne house, which celebrates 175 since its founding. The consolidation of the sixth generation, as well as the 40th anniversary of the market launch of Winston Churchill Pol Roger the Champagne of the...
Bossi Fedrigotti, a piece of history
A centuries-old winery, Bossi Fedrigotti in 1961 gave birth to Italy's first Bordeaux blend, Fojaneghe, and now it also amazes us with its Trentodoc Riserva, Conte Federico. I remember as if it were yesterday when from the editorial office of...
Picolit, a Friulian rarity
Historically a wine of the great European nobility, Picolit is considered a "meditation wine" of great prestige, a true Friulian rarity. Put four high school friends over dinner one night, a raspberry Bavarian cream and a Picolit that many know...
Audace, Serena Wines’ Prosecco that ages underwater
The great Conegliano-based sparkling wine company offers a Prosecco Trieste Doc aged 22 meters deep under the water of the Gulf of Trieste. Have you ever happened to observe wine-from water? Looking at the lands where wine is produced from...