A wine blog by Susannah Gold
Many years ago, 11 to be precise, I found this winery as I made my way around the Abruzzo pavillon at Vinitaly, Tenuta Ulisse. I was reminded of the winery today as I spoke about the grape Cococciola, an indigenous variety from Abruzzo. Cococciola bianco isn’t exactly the kind of grape variety that you see... Continue Reading →
Once upon a time, in 2009, I started to write a column for an online website called Alta Cucina. I wrote about Italian indigenous grape varieties because I was amazed at how many there are and their link to individual terroirs and the stories behind them. Fast forward 11 years and I am on the... Continue Reading →
This week's indigenous variety is called Negro Amaro Precoce. It was found in some of the Negro Amaro vineyards in the Salento but is apparently it's own biotype because it matures some 20 days before most Negro Amaro. Precoce or Cannellino means precocious and this grape vine is apparently just that. It has the same... Continue Reading →
This week's Italian indigenous variety is called Negrara. There are two different Negrara's though, one is that of the Veneto and the other of Trentino-Alto Adige. The former is an essential component in wines from the Veneto such as Amarone and Valpolicella which is why I put a picture of Verona at the top of... Continue Reading →
Today's Italian indigenous grape variety is Nocera which hails from Sicily. The flag above is called the Trinacria and is the Sicilian flag. The three legs symbolize the space of the Sicilian island and the red and yellow sections, Palermo and Corleone, respectively. Those two cities were crucial in the fight against foreign rule -... Continue Reading →
OperaWine, the Wine Spectator presentation of their selection of the best Italian wines is in its 6th year I believe. I've been to every one of them and now it is the beginning of Vinitaly to me, every year I see producers I know whose wines I love and others that I only read about.... Continue Reading →
This week's indigenous variety is called Malvasia Nera, one of the many in the Malvasia family of grapes. I will be writing about Malvasia for many weeks to come. This first one is thought to have been brought introduced in the Veneto by Greeks in the 13th century, specifically the cities of Monebasia from which... Continue Reading →
When one thinks of Lombardy or Lombardia as the Italians call it, they don't often think of wine. Milan, the principal city in the region, is known for finance, fashion, industry and much else. Wine is never what one first thinks of although even Milan has it's own DOC. San Colombano d.o.c. wine. This is... Continue Reading →
I'd like to be on a boat overlooking Portovenere in Liguria today as I recover from an intense Italian Wine Week in New York. Slow Wine which took place last Wednesday feels like a year ago although it was only one week. I have seen so many people from the Italian wine world this week... Continue Reading →
Although Grillo bianco is thought to have originated in Puglia, it is most widely known for its wines made in Sicily, specifically in the Marsala and Trapani areas. Grillo is a white grape with citrus notes that is used in the production of Marsala and Vermouth as well as in dry white wines, among others. ... Continue Reading →
