Maculan – Three Red Wines from Breganze in the Veneto

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Italy, Sustainability, Veneto

Maculan Reds

Maculan – Three Red Wines from Breganze in the Veneto The Veneto in North Eastern Italy is one of the powerhouses of Italian wine.  After all, this region has been making wine for three or more millennia. Today, it contains many famous appellations, such as Valpolicella and Soave, and even more famous wines, such as Amarone, Prosecco and Pinot Grigio. …

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Greatest Hits – A Case for Christmas 2024

Paul Howard Alto Adige/Südtirol, Articles, Biodynamic, Blog, Calabria, England and Wales, Italy, Lebanon, Lombardia, Molise, Organic, Piemonte, Sardegna, Spain, Sparkling Wine, Sustainability, Toscana, Veneto

Greatest Hits - Happy Christmas 2024

Greatest Hits – A Case for Christmas 2024 This year, I’m ringing the changes for the Case for Christmas 2024 article. This time, it’s a Greatest Hits package. This features a dozen wines selected from all my previous annual Christmas wine recommendations. They are twelve wines that stand the test of time and fully deserve highlighting again. Such a listicle …

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Lugana DOC – Jewel of Lake Garda

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Italy, Lombardia, Veneto

Lugana DOC

Lugana DOC – Jewel of Lake Garda Regular readers will know of my love for Lake Garda and its multifarious wines. Garda is Italy’s largest lake, handily placed at the crossroads of European travel. Some of the wine appellations surrounding Garda feature elsewhere on these pages, each with its own identity and story.  Now, it’s the turn of Lugana. This …

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Monte del Frà – a preview of five new wine releases

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Italy, Sustainability, Veneto, Wine Business

Monte del Frà

Monte del Frà – a preview of five new wine releases Monte del Frà is a family winery in Sommacampagna, between Lake Garda and Verona. They are highly regarded, and rightly so, for a wide range of wines of excellent quality and value. While some of these wines have been featured on Wine Alchemy previously, this article previews five new …

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Bardolino Cru – the first vintage from the new subzones

Paul Howard Articles, Biodynamic, Blog, Italy, Organic, Sustainability, Veneto

Bardolino Cru: La Rocca, Montebaldo, Sommacampagna

Bardolino Cru – the first vintage from the new subzones On the eastern shores of Lake Garda, Bardolino DOC and Chiaretto di Bardolino DOC share geographical boundaries, and most wineries make both styles. However, Bardolino represents the reds (60%), while Chiaretto is the well-known Rosé (40%). Rule changes were ratified in April 2021 and applied to both from the 2020 …

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The Cost of Living Crisis Case, Festive Season 2022

Paul Howard Articles, Biodynamic, Blog, Calabria, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, New Zealand, Organic, Sicilia, Spain, Sparkling Wine, Sustainability, Veneto

Cost of Living

The Cost of Living Crisis Case, Festive Season 2022 I hope you like my Christmas card! Everyone knows we’re in a cost-of-living crisis, so this situation has affected my wine recommendations for the festive season. We all want to celebrate and enjoy ourselves, but in a cost-conscious way. What is a wine-lover to do? A real price cap Hence, for …

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Tommasi: two terrific classics. Amarone and Ripasso

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Italy, Sustainability, Veneto

Tommasi Cantina

Tommasi: two terrific classics. Amarone and Ripasso Back in July 2021, I wrote about Le Fornaci. a Lugana DOC white wine made by Tommasi. Tommasi is famous for two outstanding red wines from Valpolicella Classico, benchmarks of their contrasting styles. Their Amarone originated in 1959, while their Valpolicella Ripasso started in 1995. These red wines rely on drying the fresh grapes, …

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Le Fraghe – a delightful Bardolino, any time

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Italy, Organic, Sustainability, Veneto

Bardolino Montebaldo subzone

Le Fraghe – a delightful Bardolino, any time Regular readers will know that recent articles have been exploring the shores of Lake Garda – virtually, of course, as travel hasn’t been possible. Those wanting to catch up with these can find pink wine from Chiaretto di Bardolino and whites from Custoza and Lugana, all of which are DOC wine regions. But what …

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Le Fornaci – an exciting Lugana white wine from Tommasi

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Italy, Lombardia, Sustainability, Travel, Veneto, Wine Business

Tommasi Le Fornaci Lugana DOC

Le Fornaci – an exciting Lugana white wine from Tommasi Le Fornaci is an ongoing wine project by the Tommasi family. It’s in the Lugana DOC on the southern tip of Lake Garda. Gradually, this project has come to fruition, and the latest 2020 release is a beauty. (Update – so is 2021). Here’s why. Tommasi Tommasi is arguably so …

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The Knot of Love and Custoza DOC wines, Part 2

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Food, Italy, Organic, Sustainability, Veneto

Big skies in Custoza

The Knot of Love and Custoza DOC wines, Part 2 Part 1 of this article looked at Custoza DOC and the reasons influencing the taste and quality of its dry white wines. Now Part 2 puts that to the test with six representative Custoza DOC wines presented by the Consorzio. An interactive map below shows the locations of the featured producers, while …

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