“News in a Wine Glass” is a monthly press review with the most interesting news from the world of Italian wine, with the aim of creating a direct line from the information point of view between Italy and Ireland. We strongly believe in the power of information, which is also a very effective way to know and discover new facets of the complex world of Italian wine: an extensive constellation of terroirs, people and stories to tell.
“News from Italy’s Wine World to Read While you enjoying a pleasant glass of wine (Italian, of course)”: this is the slogan that promotes the reading of this new press review, to be enjoyed in the time of a glass of wine, to get in touch with the Italian essence and enhance the best experience.
Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive: Chianti Classico’s new units of terroir
Chianti Classico producers are now able to put one of 11 Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive, or “Additional Geographical Units,” on their labels. For Jim Clarke, it’s a welcome official acknowledgement of the significant variations in the Tuscan region’s terroir…read more.
Franciacorta is the first of the great Italian wine territories to start the harvest
Franciacorta is the first of the great Italian wine territories to begin the 2023 harvest: today, under the best of circumstances, the grape harvest begins in some areas of our country’s Metodo Classico sparkling wine’s denomination symbol. Specifically, the first bunches of Pinot Noir are harvested in Gussago, at the foot of the Parco della Santissima. The harvest of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, and Erbamat in the denomination’s various areas will begin in the coming weeks, closer to August 15th. In terms of meteorology, the 2023 vintage differed significantly from the 2022 vintage: rains were plentiful compared to last year’s hot and dry climate, and the vineyards had a good production load…read more.
Wine and research, Masi Agricola represents Italy in the OIV International Business Consortium
It is critical for anyone involved in research and science to be able to rely on companies that not only support but also experience that research in a tangible way, and whose results they implement in their work. It applies to all industries, but especially to wine, where the times and cycles of nature are long, and research and experimentation necessitate significant resources in terms of know-how and structures, whether cellars, laboratories, or vineyards…read more.
Abruzzi wines against the Labeling Decree that proposes “liberalizing” the names of vines
President Alessandro Nicodemi said, “Montepulciano is now a brand on the market. Whoever uses the vine should call it “Cordisco”, its synonym”. The objective stated in the Ministerial Decree draft on the subject of labeling and presenting wines, is to fill various gaps in terms of correct information to the consumer. Applying EU regulations on the subject, the latest version of which has been updated to 2022 (though it is still awaiting definition and approval), would also allow indicating in the product descriptions (usually on the back label, ed.) names of the vines that make up the blends in Denomination wines, as required by regulations.
This is not really unusual, except that in Italy, while it is true that many Denominations are indicated exclusively by their geographical reference, such as Chianti, Valpolicella, Chianti Classico, Barolo, Franciacorta, Alto Adige, Soave, Bolgheri, Colli di Luni, Frascati, Costa d’Amalfi, Torgiano, Sicilia and so on, just to name a few, in other denominations, instead, the name of the vine is a component, i.e., Primitivo of Manduria, Verdicchio of Castelli di Jesi, Cannonau of Sardegna, Sagrantino of Montefalco and, specifically Montepulciano of Abruzzi… read more.
“Oscar del Vino 2023”, great Italian wine brands and symbols of their territories
From Banfi to Donnafugata, from Marchesi di Barolo to Biondi Santi, from Marisa Cuomo to Terlano, from Enrico Serafino to Cantine del Notaio: here are the wineries, great griffes of Italian wine and reference points of their territories, awarded the “Oscar of Wine 2023 – XXIII International Wine Awards”, one of the historical awards of Italian wine, conceived in 1999 by Franco Ricci, president Fis (Italian Sommelier Foundation) and Bibenda, “with the intention of emphasizing also a lighter aspect in tasting, a little further from rigid schemes, a more “worldly” side of wine, by including it in a competition that traces the parameters of the movie Oscars, complete with an academy that, in the case of wine, decides only the nominations, while the prizes are awarded live from the audience of participants”… read more.
Extreme weather in Italy’s vineyards
Decanter explores the impact of recent intense heat and storms on vineyards and speaks to winemakers about how they are adapting to extreme weather events linked to climate change. Different parts of Italy – as well as other areas of Europe – have faced severe storms, heatwaves, wildfires and floods so far in 2023, leading to devastation of infrastructure and loss of life in some cases. In vineyards, extreme weather phenomena have added to winemakers’ concerns around the impact of climate change. Italy’s wine harvest may shrink in 2023, said agriculture group Coldiretti, citing recent storms and intense heat linked to climate change… read more.
Italy’s finest white wines: 20 top bottles, region by region
This roll call of 20 top Italian white wines highlights the country’s unparalleled number of grape varieties, which produce an array of superb wines worthy of greater acclaim than they often receive… read more.
Beating the heat: How Italy’s winemakers are responding to climate change
Extreme weather events are having an impact on wine-growing globally as climate patterns shift, but across Italy producers are responding to the challenge and working hard to find alternative solutions as they adapt to new conditions.
The Italian peninsula has historically benefited from the sea’s mitigating effect on the climate, whether hot or cold. Not by chance, the major anomalies of warming trends in 2020 came from the more continental towns such as Perugia (Umbria) at +2°C, Bologna (Emilia Romagna) +1.8°C and Turin (Piedmont) +1.6°C (source: Istat)… read more.
