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....
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...
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...
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...
Modest maestros
From the shadows of Italy’s famous consultant winemakers, who drove the country into the spotlight with cult bottlings from international...
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...
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...
Meet the mavericks
They’re wild, they’re wacky, they have unconventional ideas – and they make some of Italy’s finest reds and whites....
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...