Above: I caught up with Jancis Robinson (center) this fall at the Boulder Burgundy Festival, where I serve as the event’s official blogger. Some people call her “the world’s greatest wine writer.” But I call her the world’s coolest wine blogger. She is super nice (and so delightfully funny as well). And hers is one of the 8 essential wine blogs Italian wine professionals need to know. That’s winemaker Étienne de Montille on the left, Master Sommelier and festival founder Brett Zimmerman on the right. Among the English-language wine blogs that we discussed at length in our seminars last month at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Piedmont (for the Master’s in Italian Wine Culture), there were two that I didn’t include in a post yesterday on eight wine blogs that Italian wine professionals need to know: one was Elaine Brown’s Hawk Wakawaka Wine Reviews and the other was the Jordan Winery Blog by Lisa Mattson. I didn’t include them because neither focuses on or publishes regular content devoted to Italian wine.

But both merit the attention of anyone working in the fine wine trade today. Elaine’s, because of the way she has pushed the envelope and expanded the horizons of wine blogging. best wine tours auOver the arc of her career as a wine-focused writer, she has created a sui generis form of enoscripture, blending the personal, the political, and the vinous in a stream and feed of often spectacular and compelling quasi-real-time memoir (can you tell I am a fan and a friend?).high end wine kits Lisa’s, because, perhaps to a greater extent than any other, she has elevated the benchmark for what social media can do in terms of promoting awareness and visibility of a wine and winery brand. best place to buy wine las vegasIn the days that ran up to the U.S. presidential election, as my students and I met for our seminars, we watched Lisa lambaste the now president elect like the fat Christmas turkey he is. top 5 wine producing states in us

It was a bold and audacious move for a California winery brand (and I agree with and share the sentiment wholly). But beyond (our shared) political or ideological leanings, it revealed an authenticity and a deeply personalized approach to marketing that Lisa has mastered despite and thanks to an impressive technical apparatus that she has realized. best wine tour in new jersey Of course, we also discussed Alder Yarrow’s pioneering blog, Vinography. best white wine for holiday partyHe was one of the early trailblazers of America’s new wave of wine writing (I remember when Lettie Teague made him the first wine blogger to speak at Aspen). Tom Wark’s excellent Fermentation was another we looked at in Piedmont. Another one of the great pioneers of the new wave and another benchmark for what can be achieved in terms of activism and marketing in the wine trade.

And last and least, we gave honorable mention to the venerated Italian wine critic and broadcaster Levi Dalton, that beloved denizen of the New York wine scene, a Donald Trump among wine dilettanti (remember the song I wrote for him last year?). Here are the eight that I profiled for UniSG this week: not an exhaustive muster roll but a hand list and a good place to start (not finish) for Italian wine professionals. Click here to learn more about UniSG’s Master’s in Italian Wine Culture Program.It’s that time of year again. Voting is about to close for the 2014 Wine Blog Awards. If you are passionately devoted to one or more wine blogs, you should definitely cast your vote. And if you haven't yet found a wine blog to follow, consider the list of finalists as a guide to sussing out interesting writing about wine online.The awards are organized in nine categories, with five blogs nominated for each: best blog post of the year, best original photography or video on a wine blog, best industry/business blog, best wine reviews on a wine blog, best single subject wine blog, best winery blog, best new wine blog and best overall wine blog.

The finalists include such familiar names as winemaker and eccentric wordsmith Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon up for best winery blog and best overall wine blog for his Been Doon So Long. Wine writer and illustrator Elaine Chukan Brown is a finalist in best overall wine blog too for her charming and erudite Hawk Wakawaka Wine Reviews. Best single subject wine blog finalists include Alfonso Cevola for On the Wine Trail in Italy and the blogger “Pamela P.” for her blog Señorita Vino, pitched to Latinas and "wine lovers of all stripes." Chris Kassell’s Intoxicology Report — “all the lafite and twice the street”—is a finalist for best writing on a wine blog. Also up for that award is HoseMaster of Wine from Ron Washam, who spent 19 years as a sommelier in Los Angeles before moving to Sonoma County. Take a look at the finalist for best new wine blog. The polls close in hours, at 11:59 PDT Thursday.Follow @sirenevirbila for more on food and wine.A couple days prior to my arrival the

Seneca Lake Wine Trail called out to my attention that Ventosa Vineyards located in Geneva at the top of Seneca Lake was working with a fewI had been to Ventosa Vineyards years ago, but this was well before my wine blog so I really couldn't recall the winesThankfully a private tasting and tour was arranged for myself and family with their winemaker and vineyard 2015 Ventosa Vineyards Pinot Gris2014 Ventosa Vineyards Tocai FriulanoVentosa Vineyards Tocaice Don't miss an Italian wine blog ~ Subscribe Vintrospective is voted by Ville in Italia as 2014 Top 15 Italian Wine Blog Do you think about the place where your bottle of Italian wine came from, who made it, how it was made?  If you stop to consider these things you will begin to taste the unique cultural message which Italian wine offers.  The wine will tell you about the land where it was created.  It will invite you to drink the traditions and histories of the people that made it. That is good wine. 

It’s always been like this, more or less. Some would have you believe that understanding Italian wine is a technical undertaking.  It’s not like that, believe me.  It is impossible to understand Italian wine without an awareness of the culture, people and place that created it.   Only after we have a sense of these things does the technical stuff add value. That its wine regions are beautifully different, distinct and many is Italy’s strength and its difficulty.  Her dazzling array of wines will both charm and bewilder you.  I suggest one approach: get to know Italian wine by your own sensory perceptions and experiences: you will create a real, personal wine culture independent of the professional wine press.the wines have their own way of deciding the itinerary for you…  The somewhat unfamiliar denominations of (Rosso) Piceno DOC and Marche IGT undoubtedly present a an upstream paddle in terms of consumer recognition for a couple memorable Italian wines I tasted recently.

The producer name Ciù Ciù – yep, like the train sound – on the other hand, may issue enough memory-provoking power to generate eons of consumer recall. Ciù Ciù, a family run winery located in Italy’s Marche, works with indigenous red varieties Montepulciano, Sangiovese and Lacrima, as well as international grapes Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Ciù Ciù also has a white wine catalog based on the likes of home team white grape varieties such as Passerina, Verdicchio, Pecorino, and Trebbiano, and a couple of the usual white international grape suspects. The estate’s red and white varieties also lend their particular respective talents to Ciù Ciù’s rose and sparkling bottlings. Interestingly, Ciù Ciù’s press sheet indicates that winery is vegan certified. From the 2014 vintage, the press sheet states, their wines bear the Vegan logo on the back label, indicating that the wines are suitable for vegans. The certification warranties that during the entire production cycle no ingredients, agents, manufacturing related products, etc., of animal origin or tested on animals are used.

Nor does the winery use Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), according to the press sheet. Ciù Ciù also carries an organic certification. Again, according to the press sheet, the “…protocol excludes the use of artificial chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides and rely on low yield per acre as well as on ripening curves to establish the right harvest time. Through a strong use of the “cold” technology, we manage to keep our grapes healthy and can avoid adding sulfites until the very end bottling process.” The certifications are good stuff, providing the wines are, well, something to write about. I put a couple of bottles (note: received as samples) through their paces in a technical tasting and at table. Ciù Ciù’s Bacchus, a bottling under the Piceno DOC, is simply joyous, full of harmony, and performs exceedingly well at table. A blend of Montepulciano and Sangiovese, the wine is full-bodied enough for cheesy eggplant parmigiana, yet, the wine’s gentle tannins pair well with more delicate food plates as well.

The kind of wine one wishes retail shops would make more broadly available. The winery’s Oppidum, a deep, voluptuous red produced as Marche IGT Rosso, is lush with layers of ripe black cherry, herb, coffee, cigar smoke, and cocoa. Finishes with rich, sweet tannins and a savory lick of salty minerality. 100% Montepulciano, 30% of the wine is aged in barriques, 70% in 10 HL barrels. As 2016 was sliding to a close, the elements of style, grace, elegance and good taste seemed nowhere to be found on the US national stage. Which is, in part, why raising a toast to honor the 20th vintage of Falesco’s flagship wine Montiano stood out in the moment. The Cotarella family of Falesco winery and the Paone family of Kiton Bespoke Clothing, a master of the Italian art of fashion, joined forces to provide a vertical tasting of the famed wine at Kiton NYC, alongside Kiton’s immaculate designs. Yes, the wines gave good testimony to the fame and acclaim they have earned. But, we’ll get to that soon enough.

Indulge me, first, to note that the evening’s gracious hospitality and stylish presentations were not only perfect backdrops for the elegant expression of the Montiano wines. They also just happened to give a gentle reminder that civilized living, in some regard, is, well… a matter of good taste. Interestingly, “civilized living” is one descriptor I might use to convey an impression of Falesco’s Montiano. Simply said, the wine is so elegantly done that one cannot help but reflect on civilized living when tasting it. Produced from 100% Merlot, Montiano was first released in 1993, a result of work done by Riccardo Cotarella, aka “Mr. Merlot”(Gambero Rosso), during the ‘80s. In their production zone in Italy’s Lazio, Montiano grapes reach a high level of ripeness which contributes to the wine’s fine balance. Grown on volcanic soil rich in rock, the grapes are sourced from an old, naturally low-yielding vineyard and undergo rigorous selection before undergoing stainless steel fermentation followed by aging in French barrique.

The evening’s wines – vintages 2001, 20015, 2010, 2013 – all showed great depth with gorgeous layers of ripe red fruit, notes of spice and cocoa. Sensual and refined, the wines were a pleasure to hold in the mouth. I include several photos here because most folks can still use a dose of elegance, grace, style … and good taste … at the moment. I hope you enjoy them. Hats off to Teuwen Communications NYC for a wonderful evening of wine, style, brilliant concept and great execution. One of the most interesting wines that have come my way of late hails from one of Italy’s smallest DOCs. Indeed, some sources note Gabiano DOC as Italy’s smallest, in fact. Castello Gabiano’s “A Matilde Giustiniani”, a wine dedicated to Princess Matilde Giustiniani, who last century restored the castle to its former glory, communicates with emotion and personality. The wine is 95% Barbera with 5% addition of Freisa, and speaks in a language of ripe dark berry fruit with notes of spice and baker’s chocolate.

The wine is soft in the mouth, with impressively supple tannins and a finish that is in no hurry to leave you. Gabiano’s Barbera d’Asti “La Braja”, perhaps a more typical Barbera, is a wine that brings enjoyment and interest to the dinner table on any given evening. The massively food friendly “La Braja” is produced from 100% Barbera grapes and is given refining time 60% in cement and 40% in big wood. La Braja showed notes of fresh red fruit with hints of spice and tobacco, and over the course of a couple evenings, never once lost its fine balance. “Il Ruvo”, Gabiano’s Grignolino that is produced under the Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese DOC, is an absolute gem. Made with 100% Grignolino, one of Italy’s excellent though less well-known native grape varieties, Il Ruvo is a lighter red that weighs in big with complex aromatics and flavor. It can be a great pairing for everything from blue fish to poultry to cured meats and cheeses, one reason that if I were headed out for a romantic picnic, I would be packing this bottle along in the picnic basket.

or similar to get a handle on where to locate these wines. Note: wines provided as samples. A quick check of our local weather forecast feels as if mother nature will set the tone heading into New Year’s Eve weekend: “Accumulating snow across the high terrain…overspreading the region…”.Firewood is split and stacked. And anyway, I’m in the mood for a cozy winter night of celebration to welcome in 2017. Top of mind, a warming, hearty menu full of savory rich flavors seems apropos and the wine should follow suit. From the Montefalco region of Umbria in central Italy, the Sagrantino grape is not only indigenous to the area, but has a rather ancient record of growing there according to knowers of local tradition. The name Sagrantino, some believe, derives from the Italian sagra, meaning feast, a fact that resonates during the festive time of New Year celebrations. The variety produces a wine of the same name, known to be Italy’s most tannic wine and with a quality of tannin that is remarkably polished, a distinction making the wines of Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG (made with 100% Sagrantino grapes) truly unique.