Tag: Decanter

Articles

Moscato d’Asti: Rappers’ delight

Moscato’s rapid accession to the drink of choice for the hip hop crowd has propelled this delicate light sparkler into the spotlight....

Read More

Articles

Col d’Orcia

The first thing to do was to pull up tobacco and wheat; after that it was years of studying Sangiovese. All that work has paid off, says...

Read More

Articles

Police arrest suspect in Soldera wine sabotage

Police have arrested a former employee of Brunello producer Soldera in connection with the destruction of thousands of litres of wine. As...

Read More

Articles

Montalcino rallies round as Soldera’s Brunellos are destroyed

Vandals have destroyed thousands of litres of ageing Brunello in the cellars of cult producer Gianfranco Soldera. The cellars at...

Read More

Articles

Italian legend Aldo Conterno dies

Legendary Barolo producer Aldo Conterno passed away in Monforte d’Alba in Piedmont at the age of 81. Aldo Conterno, who played a crucial...

Read More

Articles

Guess who’s coming to dinner?

Bardolino has finally stopped worrying about – or trying to emulate – its better-known neighbours. Its return to authenticity is...

Read More

Articles

Modest maestros

From the shadows of Italy’s famous consultant winemakers, who drove the country into the spotlight with cult bottlings from international...

Read More

Articles

Montalcino: time to get in the zone

Forget blending scandals and infighting over the make-up of Rosso – the biggest issue facing Brunello di Montalcino is the creation of...

Read More

Articles

Lugana. World Class White with Finesse

Lugana is one of the most exciting white wines made in Italy thanks to its unique growing conditions, very old vines and native grape...

Read More

Articles

Pio Cesare

Refusing to be pigeonholed as either traditionalist or modernist, this historic Piedmontese winery is a staunch believer in blended wines,...

Read More

Articles

Barbaresco 2008 and Riserva 2006

More than an understudy to Barolo, these powerful, elegant wines are stars in their own right, says Kerin O’Keefe – especially now that...

Read More

Articles

Bruno Giacosa

This eminent Barolo producer has been around the block more than once since starting in wine 68 years ago. Kerin O’Keefe pays the great...

Read More

Articles

Meet the mavericks

They’re wild, they’re wacky, they have unconventional ideas – and they make some of Italy’s finest reds and whites....

Read More

Articles

US love affair with Italy

Why the US can’t get enough of Italian wine. Food and wine have always been important for Italian Americans, and today many star US...

Read More

Articles

A Rosso by any other name

Rosso di Montalcino used to be a light, simple quaffer, not a rich powerhouse like its big brother, Brunello. So why are so many Rossos now...

Read More

Articles

Brunello: 2005 now, 2004 Later

The tail-end of the vintage was a washout, leading some to write it off. Yet many smaller estates have made impressive Brunellos in 2005,...

Read More

Articles

Chianti Classico divorce papers come through

The Chianti Classico Consorzio has confirmed that after 78 years of distancing itself from the Chianti denomination, the divorce is now...

Read More

Articles

The Quiet Revolution

From its high as Italy’s flagship white, to its mass-produced, dilute low, Soave has improved quality, rebuilt its image and earned a...

Read More

Articles

Brunello: no change in the rules, producers vote

Brunello di Montalcino producers have voted by a landslide to leave the wine 100% Sangiovese. In yesterday’s highly publicised assembly...

Read More

Articles

Brunello on the brink

An overhyped 2003 vintage, a fraud scandal, and the threat of a US ban has left Brunello in crisis. Could subregions be the answer, asks...

Read More

Articles

The Great Escape

It is rare today to find vines that have not been grafted to American rootstock to counter phylloxera, which destroyed so many of the...

Read More

Articles

Italian and other producers turn back to large casks

Orders for traditional large wooden barrels are sharply increasing in Italy and abroad, as barrique imports fall dramatically, according...

Read More

Articles

Barolo patriarch Bartolo Mascarello dies (by Paolo Tenti)

Italy’s Bartolo Mascarello – the patriarch of Barolo – died at his home in Barolo on Saturday at the age of 78. A teenage...

Read More

Articles

Italian wine culture in danger of outsiders and ‘vultures’: Tachis

Giacomo Tachis, the most celebrated Italian winemaker, has outlined a bleak future for corporate-owned Italian wines – and says those who...

Read More

Articles

Pioneer Luigi Veronelli dies

Italy’s most celebrated wine and food critic Luigi Veronelli died at his home in Bergamo yesterday after a long illness. He was 78....

Read More

Articles

Nebbiolo is viognier cousin, conference hears

Nebbiolo, one of Italy’s most famous black grape varieties, is related to the aromatic viognier, DNA boffins have found. The noble...

Read More

Articles

Anti-Berlusconi label becomes collector’s item

A hand-painted Barolo label lampooning Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has become a collector’s item. The label scandal...

Read More