A wine blog by Susannah Gold
This week's indigenous variety is called Nigra and is a cross between Merlot and Barbera created by Italo Cosmo in the 1960s in Conegliano. The idea was to increase the acidity in Merlot which at times has a lack of it. It is only grown on some hectares around the city of Treviso. It is... Continue Reading →
This week's variety is one I had never heard of called Nebbiera Nera. As you might expect from the name, its a cross between Nebbiolo and Barbera made by Professor Giovanni Dalmasso at the Istituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura in Conegliano in 1938. The idea was to incorporate some of the rustic qualities of Barbera... Continue Reading →
This week's Wine Wednesday is dedicated to a winery from the Oltrepo'Pavese. Few people think immediately of Oltrepo' when thinking about Italian wine but that is a mistake. The area has 179 wineries plus 1300 growers that are members of the consortium Oltrepo'. The area has 13,269 hectares and constitutes some 55% of Lombard viticultural... Continue Reading →
This week's Wine Wednesday is dedicated to Panizzari's San Colombano Al Lambro wines. San Colombano al Lambro is Milano's only DOC wine region. There are 13 wineries that are part of the Consortium which was created in 1987 and they are located in the provinces of Milano and Lodi. The reds which are the ones... Continue Reading →
This week's women in wine is Alessandra from Azienda Noventa in the Botticino DOC area. I met Alessandra in July at her winery. I had met her husband at Vinitaly in April and arranged to visit them. I gave a seminar on the Wines of Lombardy at the Society of Wine Educators conference in Portland... Continue Reading →
This week's grape variety is from Emilia Romagna, a lovely region with great food and interesting wines. The variety was created in 1970 as a cross between indigenous grape varieties Barbera and Croatina, locally called Bonarda as well. It was created at the Universita' Cattolica di Piacenza by Professor Mario Fregoni, Professor of Viticulture, as... Continue Reading →
One is so used to thinking of important DOCGs from Piedmont that we often neglect to look at the other viticultural denominations from that splended region in Italy. While Nebbiolo may be King of the hill, other red grape varieties are fundamental blocks of Piemontese viticultural history. Collina Torinese DOC is a wine made in... Continue Reading →
While I'm on the subject of fantasizing, I'm having a crazy craving to be in Milan, smell the Fall air and walk around those streets I know so well. When one thinks of Milan, they so seldom think of wine but Milan does have a wine to call its very own, San Colombano d.o.c. wine.... Continue Reading →
All this talk about which areas of Italy have DOCG and DOC denominations can make one's head spin. One province however, has a very limited number of DOCs wines and no DOCG wines to speak of in fact. That province is my former hometown of Milan. Not surprisingly, the area around this big city is... Continue Reading →
