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Issue 756 - October 20th - 24th 2025 - Expressly created for 3701 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world | |
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| | | Next to the vineyards, among the finest in the world, there are 80 hectares of seasonal marshland and 440 hectares of woods, grasslands, and pine forests inhabited by over 250 birds and other wildlife. This is the Wildlife Refuge Padule in Bolgheri, which Tenuta San Guido, the “cradle” of Sassicaia, is reopening to the public. “It is the deepest root of the bond between Tenuta San Guido and the nature that surrounds it”, says Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta, describing Italy’s first private wildlife refuge, established by Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, one of the founders of the WWF as well as the “father” of the world-famous wine, brought to success by Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta, one of the “noble fathers” of Bolgheri. | |
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| | One of Italy’s most prestigious white wine enclaves, the Collio “half-moon” is a territory covering a total of 7,000 hectares, 1,300 of which are vineyards that are often the ‘backyards’ of many small producers, in the hills that rest on the “ponca”, the characteristic soil of Collio, made up of stratified marl and sandstone of oceanic origin. This area is capable of producing 6.6 million bottles certified as DOC in 2024 (6.9 million bottles on average over the last four years, ed.), with a strong focus on white wines (white grape varieties cover 88% of the appellation’s vineyard area, with Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon, Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, and Chardonnay in the lead), and which, not surprisingly, is among the most recognized territories for the production of quality white wines, as confirmed by a Nomisma Wine Monitor survey (of 1,500 wine consumers), presented at “Collio Evolution”, the appellation’s first institutional event, which kicks off today in Cormòns with the conference “Collio Evolution: the future begins in the present” and the presentation of the “Collio Experience” research (with the deputy editor of “Corriere della Sera”, Luciano Ferraro, and Denis Pantini, head of Nomisma Wine Monitor). An event organized by the Consortium, led by president Luca Raccaro and director Lavinia Zamaro (and bringing together 288 companies), which, for its first edition, will feature Friulano, a wine that embodies identity par excellence, interpreted by over 50 companies through a wide range of vintages, testifying to the evolution of a territory unique in terms of history and vocation. “The research”, explains Collio Consortium president Luca Raccaro, “confirms the positive perception we have of our territory and its wines, and has given us the impetus to create “Collio Evolution”, designed to showcase Collio and its ability to evolve, combining tradition and innovation”. Collio Evolution will continue tomorrow and on October 27 with technical tastings, walk-around tastings, meetings with producers, and the Collio Award, which includes WineNews among the winners for “best digital storytelling” (thanks to our in-depth video story about the territory), which will be given to editor-in-chief Alessandro Regoli. | |
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| | “To be or not to be” was the existential doubt declaimed by Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s play. And now, “to change or to wait”, more prosaically speaking, is what the world of wine is asking itself, which, like so many other products, is facing a society and a global scenario that are changing at an unprecedented rate. At a time when, amid a thousand doubts, the search for “lightness” is becoming increasingly clear when it comes to wine. From the point of view of alcohol content, certainly, but also from the point of view of price, as well as approach and language. This emerges, among other things, from the reflections (in depth) of Professor Gianni Moriani, historian of Italian cuisine and agricultural landscape, with whom WineNews often discusses many issues, according to whom “we have entered the era of light wines”. | |
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| | | “Art and wine share the alchemical aspect of transformation. The transformation of grapes into wine is the result of thousands of years of experience that humanity has always cultivated and achieved, obtaining a precious liquid that we all appreciate, in the same way that an artist transforms a material, such as gold, into a work of art”. These are the words of Bruno Corà, one of Italy’s most important art critics and president of the Burri Foundation, at the recent installation of “Vene d’Oro del Pensiero Magmatico” (Golden Veins of Magmatic Thought), a new permanent work by the great Iranian artist Bizhan Bassiri in the building owned and used by WineNews in Montalcino, for “Venti di ottobre”, the annual event of the Bassiri Foundation, founded with his wife Camilla Cionini Visani. “Investments in art and culture drive the productivity of businesses, territories, and communities”, said Alessandro Regoli, director of WineNews, founded with his wife Irene Chiari, “and beauty is an accelerator of life”. He also created a new “connection” with another highly valuable work of art in Montalcino: “Il Pozzo” by the great artist Jannis Kounellis, based on an idea by the Galleria d’Arte Continua, as recalled by Michelle Coudray, president of the Kounellis Foundation and the artist’s partner, while visiting it together with Bassiri’s work. | |
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| | | From partner of the Michelin Guide in Italy and the US to the official toast at the Emmy Awards and Milan Fashion Week, Franciacorta continues to invest in communication that goes beyond the world of wine. This is what it did, together with the popular magazine Grazia, with which it celebrated Italian cinema at an exclusive dinner at the Bulgari Hotel Roma, created by chef Niko Romito, during the Rome Film Festival, which ends on October 26, with Franciacorta in the glasses of many stars from the world of entertainment and culture. | |
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| | While Istat data analyzed by WineNews on Italian wine exports, updated in July 2025, show a negative trend, sparkling wine exports generated €1.3 billion in the first seven months of 2025 (+0.4% compared to January-July 2024). Prosecco PDO, with over €1 billion in exports from January to July 2025, accounts for 77.7% of Italian sparkling wine exports (and 21.7% of total Italian wine exports), improving on the record year of 2024 (+1.9%). Prosecco PDO, which, in the United States, pending August figures with 15% tariffs, has a 7-month export value of €288.2 million (+10.2%), despite a slowdown in July, so much so that the United Kingdom overtook it in this single month: -7.8% in July 2025 compared to July 2024. | |
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| | Braida, Ceci, Frescobaldi (with CastelGiocondo, in Montalcino), Tua Rita, Nals Margreid, Masciarelli, Feudi di San Gregorio, Pietro Zardini, Damiano Ciolli, and Passopisciaro (Franchetti Vini): these are the producers of the ten wines of the year selected by Bibenda. 2026, the guide published by the Italian Sommelier Foundation (FIS), led by Franco Ricci, among the many labels (764 in total) awarded with the “Cinque Grappoli”. “Labels that remain in the mind, soul, and heart. Wines that are not forgotten”, explains Bibenda (the presentation is scheduled for November 22 in Rome). | |
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