Here’s a sentence that sounds made up but isn’t: officially, the grape that makes Prosecco isn’t called Prosecco. Hasn’t been since 2009. Its legal name is Glera, and almost nobody outside the wine trade has ever heard of it. Italy didn’t rename the grape because a scientist discovered something new…
Brunello di Montalcino has exactly one rule that actually matters. The bottle has to be 100% Sangiovese. No blending, no shortcuts, no quiet exceptions for a rough vintage. It’s arguably the simplest, strictest law in Italian wine, and for decades it’s been the whole reason people trusted the name. In…
I used to think Pinot Grigio had one personality: cold, pale, easy to drink, and very committed to minding its own business. You ordered it when you didn’t want to spend ten minutes studying the wine list. Nobody at the table objected, nobody needed an explanation, it arrived cold, did…
Italy loves rules. Denominations, sub-zones, grape percentages down to the decimal, government seals on the cork. You’d think a country this obsessed with paperwork would produce wine that’s tidy and predictable. It doesn’t. Some of the strangest, most rule-breaking things in Italian wine happen precisely because the country takes its…
Picture walking through Pompeii. Ancient streets, ruined houses, frescoes that somehow survived a volcano, Vesuvius sitting in the distance looking far too calm considering what it did the last time. Then you turn a corner and there’s a vineyard. Not a reconstruction behind glass, not a handful of decorative vines…
Some wines make me thirsty. Not all of them, which took me a while to notice. I’ll finish a glass of one red and feel completely normal. Then on a different night, with a different wine, I’m reaching for water before I’ve even cleared half the glass. Real thirst, the…
Here’s a scene playing out at wineries across Italy most weekends now. You arrive, and the first thing that happens isn’t a pour, it’s a photo of the vineyard rows. Then a second photo, because the first one didn’t quite capture the sun drenched Tuscan mood you were chasing, even…
Ripasso is often called “baby Amarone.” I’ll be honest: I can’t remember anyone saying this to me at a table or in a wine shop. This nickname shows up constantly in wine writing and almost nowhere else. That’s exactly why I wanted to dig into where it comes from, rather…
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies.
Manage your cookie preferences below:
Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.
These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website.
Google reCAPTCHA helps protect websites from spam and abuse by verifying user interactions through challenges.
You can find more information about our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.