A finely honed bottle with eucalyptus and wet stone aromas that edge into black fruit and crème de cassis. Full-bodied and velvety, the palate offers fresh red fruit, black tea, and a bracing minerality …
Verdicchio has been the shining star of white wine from the Marche since Fazzi-Battaglia hit the market with its fish-shaped bottle over thirty years ago. Lesser-known whites were pushed even farther …
Verdicchio is the sole white varietal of note in a region whose lush, well-crafted red wines are slowly garnering adherents. Of the two DOC zones producing Verdicchio, Castelli di Jesi hard …
Now and then, I come across a bottle that can only be described as an Al Pacino wine – you know, an experience that moves you to say “..hooo ahhh”, like …
A few of our favorite wines from our trips to Sicily.Gambino ViniThe Gambino winery sits in the shadows of Mount Etna near Linguaglossa, its terraced vineyards sloping toward the ring of …
Along the Dora Baltea river in northwestern Piemonte is the town of Caluso, center for the Erbaluce di Caluso DOC. The eponymous grape, named for the goddess Albaluce, takes on a …
During the 1970s winemakers in Friuli proved the aesthetic and commercial viability of monovarietals that showcased the region’s unique mesoclimates and cultural influences. One of the most succesful was Tocai Friulano, …
Cataratto is one of the most widely planted grapes in Italy. It accounts for over half of Sicily’s vineyard acres and is known primarily for use as a bulk wine grape …
One of the fascinating aspects of Italian wine is the number of varietals under the radar, especially in renowned areas such as Tuscany and Piedmont. It’s hard to acquire cachet when …
The southwest corner of Sardinia has provided a welcome home for the Carignano varietal, the most notable versions being in the Carignano de Sulcis DOC. The use of up to 40% …
The volcanic soils of the Etna DOC, like those created by the ancient activity of Campania’s Vesuvio, impart to its wines an expression of southern Italian power and flavor. The zone’s …
Those Sardinian wines that don’t compromise cultural fidelity have a feral, not-for-everyone quality that evokes their rocky and wind-swept terroir—a sense of mystery, intrigue, the unknown – which is a translation …
Located in the northwestern part of the island, Sella & Mosca has become Sardinia’s signature winery. Its vast acres of vineyards have made it, and Argiolas is synonymous with wine from …
While the member of the Wine School team laying waste to Spain’s porcine population, yours truly was engaged in exhaustive research concerning patterns of wine consumption among Italians. Specifically, what will …
Though it has been vinified since the pre-Roman era and was once an important wine for trade by Venetian merchants (known as recaldina), Raboso literally lost ground to Merlot and Cabernet …
If you’ve read any of the wine reviews I’ve posted over the last couple of years, you are well aware of my fondness for the unusual, the eccentric, and the downright …