Upon return from the wonderful week of the Anteprime Toscane, I am struck at how much amazing wine we tasted from just one region of Italy. I truly believe that country offers more amazing and individual wines than all others. I know people think I’m biased but I’m okay with that. I am going to be writing about all the great wines I tasted but I wanted to remark on how this year differed from the past starting with what I noticed in the first four intense days of the tour.
- Chianti Classico was front and center in everyone’s minds
- Wines from Elba did not come to the PrimAnteprima which was a great shame nor di Terre di Casole.
- Morellino di Scansanogot double bidding during the Chianti Collection tasting which was a pleasant surprise
- Many of the regions were speaking a lot about the differences in the terroir within their areas, i.e. Classico Berardenga promoting itself as it’s own area.
- Nouvelle cuisine is all the rage in Italian restaurants.
It was an incredible week and one that needs to be slowly described but general impressions are also useful I find. There were journalists from all over the world and it seemed 100+ Italian journalists as well. There seemed to be a lot of camaraderie which was great and was reinforced by so many occasions to interact. I learned much from all of my foreign colleagues and got to spend time with some great American writers whom I rarely see. All in all, it was a wonderful trip and will be the font of many posts in the coming days and months.
