Displaying items by tag: italian wines

Summary: 

A very ancient wine production method probably used by the Phoenicians and certainly by the Greeks, the Italians have raised it to an art form producing today some of the world’s most alluring wines.

In this WSG Live, we will discover the secrets behind “appassimento”, learn its challenges in various regions of Italy and, how it affects the style and the quality of the final wines.

Presenter: Jc Viens

A self-declared “Gourmand and a Storyteller”, JC is deeply passionate about wine, especially that of Italy. Holder of the WSET Level 4, he is a WSET Certified Wine Educator and a Vinitaly International Italian Wine Ambassador. In January 2019, he was appointed Greater China Ambassador for Franciacorta and Master of the Hong Kong Delegation of the “Ordine dei Cavalieri del Tartufo e dei Vini d’Alba”. JC now talks about wine live on RTHK Radio 3 each Thursdays in Hong Kong and contributes to Spirito diVino Italia. After 27 years in Hong Kong, he relocated to Verona in November 2021 where he helps Italian wine companies develop effective storytelling to drive business growth. He is committed to stimulate the growth of Italian wines in international markets.

Summary: 

For many years the area around Marsala has been producing a fortified wine that enchanted the English merchants landing on the western coast of Sicily in the XIX century.

This wine was sold around the globe gaining the same reputation as the well-known Port, Sherry and Madeira wines. Unfortunately, its big success and the large-scale production undermined its reputation, converting it into a wine often associated with low quality and price. But thanks to stubborn producers proud of the local traditions, Marsala´s potential to reaffirm itself as one of the great fortified wines in the world has been revealed again.

This WSG Live will guide you through the world of Marsala wines and their history, their production and the factors affecting the different styles, revealing the new wave of producers who are fighting to take "this Great forgotten" back to fame.

Presenter: Tommasella Perniciaro, DipWSET

Tommasella Perniciaro was born in Italy, but her professional career took her to Spain and Sweden, where she currently lives. After taking the WSET Diploma in Wine and Spirits in London in 2015 and the French Wine Scholar (FWS) in 2016, she became WSET Certified Educator and founded The Good Wine Habit wine school in Gothenburg, where she runs the WSET Level 1-3 wine courses. Moreover, she teaches the online WSET Diploma in Wine for the WSET London School. Tommasella is a Vinitaly Italian Wine Ambassador (VIA), Vinitaly Certified Italian Wine Educator and Valpolicella Wine Specialist (Consorzio Tutela Vini della Valpolicella) for the Swedish market, where she organizes masterclasses and tastings about Italian wines for the trade and wine lovers. She recently got the Italian Wine Scholar (IWS) qualification with the Highest Honors.

When you think of Italy’s vast array of wine grapes, which one comes to mind as the most difficult to study? Maybe Nebbiolo, for its seemingly endless site-specific details? Or Sangiovese, simply because there is so much of it, in so many different forms? I would posit that Trebbiano is perhaps the most perplexing. For one, Trebbiano grapes appear in vineyards across the Italian peninsula. In the case of Trebbiano Toscano and Trebbiano Romagnolo, they are among the most widely planted white wine grapes in Italy. The potential for variability is astounding.

Whether it is in the bilingual wine labels of Alto Adige, or the occasional Slavic grape name in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italian wine often reveals the duality of culture present in some of the country’s border regions. Tucked into Italy’s northwestern corner, Valle d’Aosta certainly demonstrates this, as its language, cuisine and wine seem to have one foot in Italy and another in France.

I returned to Campania recently for the first time in three years and as with most Italian regions, discovered that not much had changed, at least as far as appearances are concerned. I did meet a few producers I hadn’t visited before, with one of them – Petilia – being a great new discovery for me. More on that below, but overall what impressed me most was the consistency of the wines, white and red.

Any wine student or lover of Italian wines can name the country’s most famous red wines, such as Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino or Amarone della Valpolicella. But given the variety of Italian wines and grape types, it stands to reason that there are many more examples produced throughout the country. This article is the first in a series about a few of the lesser known red wines of Italy; we begin with Piemonte.

While there are three famous red varieties in Piemonte – Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto – there are several others that produce very expressive wines.

Summary: 

Barolo, produced exclusively from Nebbiolo, is one of the world’s most celebrated wines. Here in a production zone in southern Piedmont, a mixture of soils and other conditions combine to make wines that can truly be defined as products of terroir.

Join us for an in-depth look at the finest vineyards and producers of Barolo, from the perfumed examples of La Morra and Verduno to the more tannic examples from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba.

We will also examine recent trends in winemaking and well as the factors of climate change to understand how today’s Barolo differ from those made 40 and 50 years ago.

Presenter: Tom Hyland

Tom Hyland is a Chicago-based wine writer/educator and photographer, specializing in Italian wines.

He has authored two books on Italian wines, and has conducted seminars for the trade on various Italian wines in Chicago, New York and in Bordeaux at VinExpo.

He has been writing about these wines for 19 years, and today is a contributor to Decanter and wine-searcher.com. He is also the U.S. ambassador for the consorzio, I Vini del Piemonte.

Learn more about Italian Wines:

• Italian Wine Scholar study and certification program
• Tuscany Wine Study Tours with Jane Hunt MW
• Piedmont Wine Study Tours with Kerin O'Keefe
• Italian Wine Blog Articles

Summary: 

Sure, everyone knows Prosecco — or at least thinks they do.

But most people are familiar with only the very tip of the iceberg, which also happens to be the simplest, most commercial part of it.

In this webinar we’ll take a close look at the unique winegrowing area of Conegliano Valdobbiadene, located in the hills north of Venice where Prosecco was born, to get a clear understanding of what distinguishes it from other sparkling wines, especially Prosecco DOC: of its incredibly complex and diverse terroir; and of the many different typologies, styles and production methods that are utilized to express the extraordinary landscape and long viticultural traditions of this area.

Presenter: Alan Tardi