General, JamesSuckling.com rated greater than 7,400 Italian wines out of the greater than 32,000 wines we tasted in whole this yr. It was a document for me personally as a wine critic masking Italy for greater than 4 many years. That’s quite a lot of wine tasted, and it was principally achieved throughout the summer time once I was in Italy in our workplace in Tuscany or on the highway visiting areas and wineries with numerous my editors, together with Claire Nesbitt, Andrii Stetsiuk and Kevin Davy.
One of many highlights of the yr was touring with my workforce to Sicily, particularly Etna. The volcanic area on the southeastern tip of the island is out of this world. We have been strolling the dusty vineyards with wine producers and residing the distinctive microclimate of the area. I imagine that among the particular sub-appellations, contradas in Italian, are actually among the greatest locations in Italy to make distinctive wines, together with such names as San Lorenzo, Calderara Sottana, Santo Spirito, Moganazzi, Guardiola and Feudo di Mezzo. Though there’s nonetheless quite a lot of upside and enchancment to be made in viticulture and winemaking, we select eight wines from the area for this record of the highest 100 from Italy.
“We haven’t been making excellent high quality wines for that lengthy,” stated Marco de Grazia, who started making wine below his label, Tenuta delle Terre Nere, within the early 2000s. “There’s a lot extra to do.”
