Four Facets of Domìni Veneti Looking back to the beginning of my wine journey, I quickly found that the best way to get an overview of a wine region and its wines was to visit the local cooperative winery first. That was certainly the case with Cantina Valpolicella Negrar in Valpolicella Classica, with its wide range of wines from across …
Agroforestry, in Search of Tomorrow’s Viticulture – Mosnel 190
Agroforestry, in Search of Tomorrow’s Viticulture – Mosnel 190 April 2026 marked the 190th anniversary of the Mosnel winery in Franciacorta. A major part of the celebrations was attending a conference about Mosnel’s Agroforestry project, which is the subject of this article. Ten years ago, I was privileged to attend the celebrations of Mosnel’s 180th anniversary 1 This time, their …
Carminium by Inama – The French Connection
Carminium by Inama – The French Connection Carminium is a dry red wine from the famous Inama estate, and is 100% Carmenère.1 That’s a rare cuvée in Italy, as we shall see. In 2017, while visiting the Colli Berici DOC, I spent a memorable August afternoon at Inama’s Oratorio vineyard, though at that time, Carminium was still in the future. …
Susumaniello by A. Mano – the Donkey of Puglia
Susumaniello by A. Mano – the Donkey of Puglia Susumaniello is a red grape native to Puglia, grown mainly around the major southern port of Brindisi, in the heel of Italy’s boot. Like some other Italian native grapes, Susumaniello became rediscovered in the late 1990s. Modern wine-growing has enabled it to make a significant comeback in this area, with around …
Titolo by Elena Fucci, Aglianico del Vulture
Titolo by Elena Fucci, Aglianico del Vulture Welcome to the final Part 3 of a feature on Italy’s three greatest red grape varieties. These three were written in honour of Burton Anderson, the best writer about Italian wine in the English Language. So far in the series, we’ve covered Nebbiolo in Part 1 from Barolo DOCG in Piemonte (north), and …
Les Crêtes – Petite Arvine – An Ode to Joy
Les Crêtes – Petite Arvine – An Ode to Joy You could be forgiven for assuming that the Les Crêtes winery, run by the Charrère family, is French. In fact, this is an Italian producer based in the Valle d’Aosta, the autonomous Italian region bordering France and Switzerland. For many, the Aosta Valley provides the first experience of Italy when …
Garda is evolving – What’s new in Garda DOC?
Garda is evolving – What’s new in Garda DOC? Regular readers of these pages will recall that I visited Lake Garda last year. This was to explore the Garda DOC appellation at their annual Garda Wine Stories event. You can read about this in a two-part article here and here. Part 1 was about Lake Garda and the role of …
Parusso 100 Mesi Extra Brut – Ancient Yet Contemporary
Parusso 100 Mesi Extra Brut – Ancient Yet Contemporary The Parusso estate is at Monforte d’Alba, with a stellar reputation for great Barolo DOCG, one of the world’s greatest red wines. Meanwhile, Monforte d’Alba is one of the major wine villages of the Barolo DOCG. It has previously featured on these pages several times, and is one of my favourite …
Ronchi di Castelluccio in Romagna
Ronchi di Castelluccio in Romagna Ronchi di Castelluccio is a boutique winery at Modigliana, on the hillsides of Romagna in Italy. When the opportunity to try their flagship wines arose, no further encouragement was necessary. This wasn’t just because of high-quality or because the wines of Romagna deserve better recognition abroad. In fact, it was a way to revisit this …