Granducato, the prestigious Italian wine label from Tuscany available in Malta, has clinched a number of important awards that have confirmed the quality and tradition of this long established range of wines.
"The Wine Professor"Featured will be the outstanding vintages of Verdoni Imports; and the speaker will be Anthony Verdoni, "The Wine Professor."
Here's a look at the outstanding menu and wine pairings...
Since its mandate is to promote trade and industrial cooperation between Italy and foreign countries, it's little wonder that the commission has found that focusing on Italian wine is good for business. It is also little wonder that Selvaggio and Corti made the organization's short list.
Italy and France are the two biggest wine producers in the world, and Italy has more land under the vine than any other country in the world, with the exception of Spain.
Unlike either France or Spain, the Italians cultivate grapes almost everywhere on the Italian peninsula, from the Alps in the north to the islands that are closer to the north coast of Africa than the Italian mainland. The Danzante Pinot Grigio we review this week is a light, fresh wine made from grapes grown in North East Italy.
The three northeastern areas where the fruit is sourced are Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. Together they form a region known as Tre Venezie. The land is at high altitude and subject to cool summers, while warm winds blow in from the Adriatic Sea.
Can’t pronounce “Fiano d’Avellino,” let alone describe its taste?
Savona, Gulph Mills’ upscale French and Italian restaurant, hopes to change that.
On Friday, January 9 at 5:30 p.m., Savona’s sommelier, Melissa Monosoff, will host an evening of wine tasting and education that will feature six wines from southern Italy, including: Fiano d’Avellino, Greco di Tufo, Grillo, Nero d’Avola, Primativo and Aglianico.
The event costs $35 per person, and includes samples of each vintage (three whites and three reds), as well as hors d’oeuvres prepared by Savona’s executive chef Andrew Masciangelo.
Louisville-based Brown-Forman (NYSE: BFB) has marketed Bolla since 1968. It bought a minority share in the brand in 1972 and purchased the business and trademark in 2000.
Brown-Forman has owned the Fontana Candida trademark since 1987.
Gruppo Italiano Vini has produced Fontana Candida for Brown-Forman since 1987. It began making Bolla for Brown-Forman in 2006.
In a news release, Brown-Forman CEO Paul Varga said Brown-Forman is selling the Italian wine brands as “a continuation of its efforts to focus the time and resources of the company on their best opportunities for growth and shareholder returns.”
MILAN, Italy (AP) — A bumper harvest is expected to push Italian wine production above that of neighboring France for the first time in a decade, possibly making Italy the world's largest wine producer.
The Coldiretti farmers lobby estimates the production of Italian wine is up 8 percent over 2007 to 4.7 billion liters, compared with 4.44 billion liters in neighboring France, where production fell 5 percent. Figures will be confirmed in January.
Italy last surpassed France's production in 1998, and has since been reducing the area of land cultivated as vineyards in favor of improving quality, Coldiretti's wine expert Domenico Bosco said Wednesday.
Italy's strong harvest is largely due to good weather, Bosco said, which helped Sicily, in particular, recover from lower 2007 yields caused by a deadly fungus there.
I spent six months in Barolo, Italy (pop. 646) living out of a tent in the garden of the local Pittatore farmhouse. Through the Pittatore family, I was able to secure work picking wine grapes for famed vintner Luciano Sandrone. My story documents the experience of harvesting the grapes for such a luminary, from the daily schedule to the relationships of the crew members; from the unspoken hierarchies and politics to Sandrone's humble evolution into wine giant.
This morning the rocks of Raffaella’s driveway bow in genuflection as the tires of a gray pick-up roll hoof-like toward the front gate. The horn cries, and I walk, still half-frozen from a cold night in the tent, toward the sound of my ride to the vineyard. I am in Barolo, Italy, lucky to have scored a job picking wine grapes for the season.
The royalty of Italian wine visited Miami this week, bringing some of that country's rarest and best wines. The group of 18 top producers, called Il Grandi Marchi, is led by Tuscan pioneer Piero Antinori.
''We are all highly individualistic, competitors but with a real friendship,'' said Antinori.
Their wines are individualistic too.
''Our wine is an expression of our soil,'' says Alberto Chiarlo, who poured a powerful, mineral-scented barbera. ``We used to feel inferior to barolo, so we want to make a very special wine.''
Barolos, meanwhile, are trying to soften their image. Based on the inky nebbiolo grape, they have been known as powerfully tannic when young, needing years of aging. That's changing.
''It's partly because of global warming,'' said Pio Boffa, of Pio Cesare. ``But we also learned to decrease our yield, which makes the grapes ripen earlier.''
Italian wine distributors La Fattoria have launched a selection of Italy’s finest regional wines onto the Portuguese market, the official presentation taking place at the exclusive Vilamoura Hilton Hotel.
La Fattoria’s project was introduced at the same time as the winner of Best Sommelier 2008, Manuel Moreira, elected by the Association Internacional de Sommeliers.It is hoped that La Fattoria will become a point of reference for quality Italian wine in Portugal.
“We are ready to take on the great opportunities presented by the Portuguese market, which has a long, mature tradition of wine making, and is ready to expand its knowledge beyond the national frontier”, said Roberto Del Gizzo, country manager of La Fattoria Portugal, which is based in Cascais.
In an effort to remedy this sad state of affairs the wine panel recently sampled 25 aglianico wines, mostly from the two leading aglianico regions, Campania and Basilicata, with a couple of other areas sprinkled in. Florence Fabricant and I were joined for the tasting by two guests, Chris Cannon, an owner of Alto and Convivio, and Charles Scicolone, a wine consultant.
Both Chris and Charles agreed that aglianico wines languish unfairly out of the minds of most consumers. Part of the reason is simply that the wines are overshadowed by more familiar names like Chianti, Barolo and even Valpolicella.
More important is the diffuse nature of aglianico production, which has prevented any one name or region from becoming well known. In addition, while the grape is ancient, widespread production for international consumption is relatively recent.
There, you have your little villa, with wonderful pine trees around, ancient stones, the scorching sun, crickets buzzing in the garden. And on the table, slices of mozzarella, Roman plum tomatoes covered in olive oil and basil and, of course, some wonderful white wine ... served in a paper box.
Why would you want to drink quality-labeled Italian wine from a box? Ask the Italian ministry of agriculture.
The agriculture ministry has decided to allow the producers of the country's top-notch wines to sell their vino in cardboard boxes and in more refined versions of the wine box with a plastic pocket inside that protects the wine better.
The reasons are a mix of concerns about the environment and flattening sales abroad because of tough competition.
MONTALCINO, Italy (Reuters Life!) - Sales of top Italian wine Brunello di Montalcino to the U.S. market have powered ahead despite an ongoing investigation into alleged fraud by some producers, winemakers told Reuters this month.
The United States, one of the world's biggest wine markets, scrapped threats to bar imports of Brunello after Italy pledged that a government agency would guarantee authenticity of the premium red wine.
"U.S. sales have not suffered any slowdown. They have been gathering speed since July," said Patrizio Cencioni, chairman of the Consortium of Brunello di Montalcino who was elected after news of the investigation broke out in April.
Resembling something more like a bottle of shampoo, Voga will be marketed towards the younger, more "style-conscious Millenial generation" of wine drinkers, but could result in consumers thinking they’ve ended up in the health and beauty section of Tesco.
Simon Bradbury, Sales Director of GAW, said: “We believe that bold innovation is key in order to attract new consumers and trade others up through the wine category. Voga has proved a massive hit across the world, so we are confident it will also excite plenty of interest in the UK.”
Voga has exceeded company expectations across the pond, but GAW and Enoitalia may be taking a gamble with the brand, as older wine drinkers could be put off by the uncharacteristic design of the bottle. The cork closure with large, airtight twist cap is however a thoughtful feature, and will keep the wine fresh for longer.
