It’s just one more industry report, but a fairly influential one, and the International Wine & Spirits Report (IWSR, subscription) March issue says that Europe’s importance to wine exporters is waning. The main reason is the continuing fall, now several years old, of wine consumption in Europe, even though it appears the decline is bottoming […]
Italy
Vermouth: 10 things I learned in Barcelona
When was the last time someone told you they love vermouth? I’ve just spent 4 days tasting vermouth and when I tell people this I get odd looks and grimaces. There’s a vague idea that it is old-fashioned, too sweet, not trendy, and besides, what exactly do you do with it or like about it? […]
Architecture and wine: Italy’s Carapace succeeds
Final article in a 4-part series Wine-alive inside a living sculpture, a photo montage The Carapace, a winery designed by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro for the Ferrari estate Tenuta Castelbuono near Montefalco, is a rarity, for it is everything an architectural masterpiece and working winery should be (see my article on Medium). The Lunelli family, […]
Best of Sagrantino
part 2 of 3 articles on Montefalco’s Sagrantino wines Montefalco’s top wines: my picks A note about prices: the Montefalco Rossos, which are blends, vary from about €10 to 15 (cellar prices), sometimes higher for reserves, and in Europe you can expect to pay anywhere from €18 to 40 for Sagrantino wines, with higher prices […]
Umbrian good karma: rebirth of Sagrantino
First of a 4-part series Montefalco is a relatively new Umbrian magnet for winelovers, thanks in no small part to its intriguing contrasts. Start with the town itself, all hardness cushioned by softness: built on and surrounded by pink-tinged monastic era stone, perched above green rolling hillsides. Shop after shop boasts foods for grandmothers’ recipes and […]