STORIE DI VINI E VITICOLTORI
Since 1988, in Collio Goriziano, land marked by a fratricidal war during the Second World War, there is the winery of Damijan Podversic, with its vineyards, located on the top of Monte Calvario, protected by a thick bush. Damijan’s vocation for viticulture was inherited by his grandfather, who cultivated lands not owned by selling wine for a handful of air, and by his father, from whom he inherited just half a hectare. [Read more…] about Ribolla Gialla Selezione 2005, Damijan Podversic
No doubt Champagne’s Maison Bruno Paillard, despite its youth (it was founded in 1981), has long conquered the most refined and demanding hearts and palates. Before starting to produce Champagne Bruno worked as mediator, learning the difficult work of selecting the best grapes, and their correct economic evaluation, skills that are still useful to him today, when he has to negotiate the purchase grapes price, with the historic holders of his winery, from vineyards located in 30 different villages. [Read more…] about Assemblage Brut 2002, Bruno Paillard
To try an explanation of Cantina Cecilia Beretta success we need to take a few steps back, and start from the group of which it is part, owned by the Pasqua family. This group was born in 1925 with the intention of enhancing the Venetian viticulture, with wines produced in the San Felice winery, in the province of Verona. [Read more…] about Amarone Classico Riserva Terre di Cariano 2013, Cecilia Beretta
Tramin winery is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious wineries in South Tyrol. Founded in 1898 on the initiative of the Tramin pastor, to bring together the small winegrowers of those areas, and merged in 1971 with the nearby Cantina Sociale di Egna, today the winery brings together 160 families who cultivate 260 hectares of vineyards under the careful guidance of winemaker Willi Stürz. [Read more…] about Troy 2017, Cantina Tramin
The Juval hillside is located near Naturno, in the lower Val Venosta, a valley at the foot of the Sessa Dolomites, 30-40 kilometers north-east of Bolzano, in South Tyrol. Its name comes from the latin Mons Jovis (Mount of Jupiter) as evidence of the fact that the ancient Romans knew the area and guarded it because of its strategic position, just above the valley. [Read more…] about Blauburgunder Riserva 2017, Unterortl-Castel Juval
The ancient Roman emperors and, later, the German ones of Sacro Romano Impero, knew very well the high quality of the vines cultivated in the sunny basin of Bolzano, and were used to stock “Potzner, the wine produced there. Today, in the same area, stands the Cantina Produttori Bolzano, one of the most important cooperative wineries in South Tyrol, formed in 2001 by the merger of Cantina Gries (founded in 1908) and that of Santa Magdalena (founded in 1930). [Read more…] about Cabernet Mumelter Riserva 2016, Cantina Produttori Bolzano
Despite three years have passed since the death of Bruno Giacosa, it is still very complicated to talk about the wines of “his” winery, run since 2006 (with roles of increasing importance) by his daughter Bruna, without referring to the figure of this real giant of Langhe enology. [Read more…] about Roero Arneis DOCG, Bruno Giacosa
Bollinger is one of the most famous and historic Maison of Champagne, founded in 1829 and, since 1884, awarded the prestigious Royal Warrant, the certification of the status of British Court official supplier (whose golden-transparent adhesive stands just above the label of its wines). The winery is still owned by the homonymous family that over time has come to own 178 hectares of vineyards, mainly Premier Cru and Grand Cru in the sub-area of Aÿ. [Read more…] about Blanc de Noirs Brut Vieilles Vignes Françaises 2002, Bollinger
The valley between Bolzano and Merano was known since the time of Reti and Romans for its climate and the composition of its lands dedicated to the cultivation of vines, whose juice, in the Early Middle Ages, was a popular source of income. In those lands, between San Paolo, Missiano, Appiano Monte and Riva di Sotto, was born in 1907, the Cantina Produttori St. Pauls, by the work of 36 farmers gathered in a social cooperative. [Read more…] about Pinot Bianco Riserva Sanctissimus 2016, Kellerei St. Pauls
Tramin winery is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious wineries in South Tyrol. Founded in 1898 on the initiative of the Tramin pastor, to bring together the small winegrowers of those areas, and merged in 1971 with the nearby Cantina Sociale di Egna, today the winery brings together 160 families who cultivate 260 hectares of vineyards under the careful guidance of winemaker Willi Stürz. [Read more…] about Stoan 2018, Cantina Tramin
The story of Federico Staderini start in the early 2000s, when he began to study the characteristics of a land in Pratovecchio, near the plain of Campaldino (Arezzo). The area, at an altitude of 500 meters, surrounded by mountains of over 1000 meters, was characterized by a perfect micro-climate (excellent sun exposure balanced by cool nights) and a clay-calcareous soil, with a rocky substratum already at 50-60 centimeters deep. In that area, on the 4 hectares purchased, Federico decided to plant Pinot Noir, after a series of in-depth studies on environmental conditions, including the intersection between the 30-year meteorological data of Beaune and those of Poppi and Pratovecchio. [Read more…] about Cuna Brendino 2016, Cuna
Château d’Armailhac history has its roots in the past because as early as 1680 those lands, in the Bordeaux region, were owned by the brothers Dominique and Guilhem Armailhacq, as reported by a municipal register of the same period. Also, from official sources we know that the descendants began to plant vines in the family estate from 1750. [Read more…] about Château d’Armailhac 2010
Among the great wineries, famous for the production of Champagne wines, Billecart-Salmon Maison occupies, without a doubt, a remarkable position. On the other hand, it is not by chance that two thousandths (1959 and 1961) place themselves in the first two places of the ranking emerged from the famous blind tasting held in Stockholm in 1999 (the first, 1959, even called the “Champagne of the millennium”). [Read more…] about Blanc de Noirs Brut Le Clos Saint-Hilaire 2002, Billecart-Salmon
The rise that the young Arianna Occhipinti, and her wines, have had in little more than 15 years of history, is a phenomenon that deserves to be studied, as it is a reality made, certainly, of success but also of a lot of commitment and effort. This young woman, newly graduated in oenology, soon began to cut her teeth, buying in 2004 , at just over 20 years, a piece of land in the area of Vittoria, in Sicily. [Read more…] about Il Frappato 2017, Arianna Occhipinti
The area of “San Marco de Corticellis” was an ancient Langobard agricultural court, located in an Umbria area already known for its microclimate, particularly suitable for wine and oil production. Those same lands, between the 13th and the 19th century belonged to the properties administered by the Bishop of Spoleto until, in 1881, the lawyer Francesco Antonelli (also from Spoleto) took over the property. [Read more…] about Contrario 2015, Antonelli San Marco
St. Michael Eppan winery, established in 1907, occupies an important place in South Tyrolean oenology, with its 340 partners and its 380 hectares of vineyards. Despite the large amount of undeniable value labels, I do not think I stray too far from the truth by stating that the success of this winery is still linked to its line of reserves branded Sanct Valentin. [Read more…] about Chardonnay Sanct Valentin The Wine Collection 2009, St. Michael Eppan
Too often, currently, we are used to talking about Sicilian wines thinking almost exclusively about Etna with its Nerello, Carricante and Minnella. In fact, Sicily is definitely much more, as Giambattista Cilia, Cirino Strano and Giusto Occhipinti knew as early as 1980, when they bought an old cellar, with a plot of about three and a half hectares, in the area of Vittoria (Ragusa), and established COS winery. [Read more…] about Nero di Lupo 2018, COS
The area of Terlano began to produce wine at least in the 6th century B.C. as it dates back to that time a characteristic vine pruning billhook, very similar to those still used in those areas, in the sub-area “Siebenheich/Settequerce”. On the other hand, this was a particularly well-suited area, as knew the large landowners who held its monopoly in the 19th century. Just to escape this monopoly, a group of 24 small winegrowers founded, in 1893, the Cantina Sociale di Terlano, a cooperative winery that, over time, has expanded to count, today, 143 members who cultivate 190 hectares of vineyards, with the help of oenologist Rudi Kofler, and the supervision of President Georg Eyrl. [Read more…] about Terlaner 2019, Cantina Terlano
The Juval hillside is located near Naturno, in the lower Val Venosta, a valley at the foot of the Sessa Dolomites, 30-40 kilometers north-east of Bolzano, in South Tyrol. Its name comes from the latin Mons Jovis (Mount of Jupiter) as evidence of the fact that the ancient Romans knew the area and guarded it because of its strategic position, just above the valley. [Read more…] about Riesling Windbichel 2016, Unterortl-Castel Juval
Telling about Karst viticulture by ignoring the figure of Benjamin Zidarich is a rather complicated theoretical exercise, given the symbiotic bond that holds the first to the second and that officially begins 1988, when the winegrower inherits from his father half a hectare of land planted with vines. [Read more…] about Ruje 2015, Zidarich
