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Issue 458 - February 3rd -7th 2020 - Expressly created for 11.897 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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Is it possible to measure the quality of a vineyard? According to agronomist Giovanni Bigot, yes: an index is enough to establish the quality potential of the wine starting from the plant based on nine parameters, as already explained to WineNews. The study is based - underlines Bigot - on observation, deduction and action. Angelo Gaja, one of the greatest wine producers in Italy, a few years ago, having heard of Bigot’s work, contacted the consultant for a visit to Barbaresco and the vineyards of his estate, and who says: “Climate change is now a daily example to be approached seriously but with serenity because there are solutions”. |
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Better united than divided. It is impossible to succeed when people do not work together. This is the message that more than 200 producers of Barolo and Barbaresco, two of the most important wines in Italy, told the world, from New York, among the capitals of the planet. It is a message of great unity in diversity - crystallized on the label by the Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive (Additional Geographical Mentions), namely the “cru”, 181, those identified, historicized and regulated, in the Barolo area - the one that maintains a balance between international critics, trade and American consumers, in the first edition of Barolo & Barbaresco World Opening (BBWO), a format created by the Consortium of Barolo Barbaresco Langhe Alba and Dogliani, which in the “Big Apple”, staged the great tasting of wines from the area, with a focus on the MGA, led by Alessandro Masnaghetti, one of Italy's top experts. And ended at Eataly Downton, with the gala dinner signed by the No. 1 of the great chefs of the Belpaese, Massimo Bottura, who created ad-hoc dishes dedicated to Barolo and Barbaresco, the music of Il Volo, one of the most internationally successful Italian music phenomena, and the entertainment of the showman Alessandro Cattelan. The declared desire is to further increase the knowledge and prestige of Barolo and Barbaresco in the world (in 2021 the event will stop in Shanghai, China), not only by communicating to the trade, but also to consumers. And the producers, from the big historical names to the younger ones, from small brands to quality cooperatives, are convinced, in a choral way, of the messages that the two most important forerunners of the Langhe UNESCO World Heritage Site’s hills with vineyards must tell. “It has never happened before to bring abroad such a large number of producers from the Langhe - Angelo Gaja tells WineNews - from here comes the message that Nebbiolo as a variety builds wines with a very strong identity, which comes from the good fortune that Nebbiolo is planted mainly in Piedmont, and there are no comparisons. Barolo and Barbaresco come from a specific place, they have an extraordinary human factor, sometimes even small productions, but they are ambassadors of our great territory”. |
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These are times of economic crises and geopolitical uncertainties, between the start of Brexit and the threat of the tightening of US tariffs. Themes, on which Paolo De Castro, of the Agriculture Committee of the EU Parliament, also spoke, trying to clarify, but also reassure insiders. “Between now and December 2021 there will be no change in the trade of goods, services and people between the EU and UK. The future will depend on the agreements we sign a year from now”. As far as the duties imposed by the USA are concerned, in order to avoid their tightening, the meetings between representatives of the governments and the EU with the Americans are continuing. “Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission - explained the MEP - will meet Donald Trump in the next few days in order to avoid the escalation of the duties from 25% to 100%”. |
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Experts in the field say that the 2016 vintage is turning out to be very interesting for several Italian wine territories. Valpolicella is no exception: the Anteprima Amarone 2016 of the Consorzio Vini della Valpolicella, which took place in Verona, presented bottles with a wide and well-balanced aromatic spectrum and a taste-balanced sip, thanks to the climatic trend of the year: cold but dry winter, rainy and cool spring until May and then a not particularly hot summer, which, however, ended in a pleasant autumn with high temperatures and good ventilation, precisely in the months decisive for optimal technical-phenolic maturation. The constant humidity during the year caused quite a few headaches concerning downy mildew and the constantly below-average temperatures delayed the various phenological phases, which only resumed in autumn: all this meant that 2016 was declared as a difficult vintage. However, wine manages to demonstrate its evolutionary capacity independent of agronomic data and forecasts. In fact, here are the organoleptic characteristics of Amarone 2016: all the fruity markers are present, from the black fruits to the red ones, up to the citrus notes of blood orange. The spices are present and the balsamic notes, both deep, but often fresher. |
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France loves Prosecco, the most famous Italian sparkling wine in the world: after having included it in Le Petit Robert, the most famous French dictionary, the Hexagon has become the third country of destination for sparkling wine exports in Italy, behind the United Kingdom and the United States, and surpassing Germany, with sparkling wine shipments in the first 11 months of 2019 up 35% on 2018. According to the data of the study signed by Nomisma Wine Monitor, carried out for Prosecco Doc, and told to WineNews by research manager Denis Pantini. |
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The Italian wine situation on the US market seems a little less gloomy in Florida, the third largest State population-wise and the second for wine consumption. The dark cloud looming above; that is, the tariffs on wine and other Made in Italy products in the agri-food sector, which President Trump periodically re-launches, is still definitely there, but it is a little less threatening. The reason is that although the importers that WineNews talked to in Miami during the first leg of the Simply Italian Great Wines Americas Tour 2020 (the second in Mexico City, on February 6th) organized by IEM - International Exhibition Management, headed by Marina Nedic and Giancarlo Voglino, are still hesitating about expanding their own product portfolios, as they still feel the burn from the 25% tariffs imposed on French, Spanish and German products, the numbers, instead are for the most part, stable. |
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Tenuta San Guido’s Sassicaia 2016 is at the top 100 of Gentleman’s best 100 red wines, obtained by crossing the ratings of the most important Italian guides (Gambero Rosso, Doctor Wine, Vitae-Ais Associazione Italiana Sommelier, Bibenda, Veronelli and Luca Maroni), confirming WineNews intersection. Behind Sassicaia 2016 - at the top with 579 points - there are Solaia 2016 by Marchesi Antinori and Torgiano Rosso Rubesco Vigna Monticchio Riserva 2015 by Lungarotti - in second position with 577 points - and Montiano 2017 by Falesco, the Cotarella family’s winery from Lazio, with 576 points. |
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