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The Italian Abroad Wine Blog is a wine blog and diary where I share my thoughts, primarily about Italian wine and food, but also on wine, food, and travel in general. I founded Italyabroad.com in 2003 and have been living abroad for over 20 years. Coming from an Italian winemaking family, I was introduced to wine at a very early age. While my roots are in Italian wine, I appreciate and enjoy good wine from all over the world, alongside great food and the joys of travel. My posts often weave these passions together.
To help you better understand Italian wines, we've created a series of Italian wine regions maps that show DOC and DOCG wines, their origins and the grapes they are made of, including your favorite Italian wines. I’ve also written a post on the Italian wine appellation system explaining and demystifying the Italian wine classification system and what it really means for wine lovers and enthusiasts.
Additionally, I host a YouTube channel , where you can watch me taste some of our wines and answer your questions about Italian wines and grapes. From the meaning of DOC to what makes an orange wine, we cover it all.
I hope you enjoy reading this wine blog! Feel free to reach out with any questions.
Salute
Andrea
Gen Z drinks less, but expecting them to consume alcohol the way people did 30 years ago is unrealistic. The world has changed. Decades ago, Italy, Spain, and France only to mention the main consuming countries, will stop for lunch, and lunch meant food and wine. Now, even in those countries, lunch is often a quick sandwich and a soft drink. Wine has become a weekend indulgence or, at most, a single glass with dinner. The quantities will never be what they once were, and future generations will likely follow the same trend
We’re all familiar with the saying, “too much of a good thing,” and wine is no exception. While I’m not a physician, it’s clear that whether it’s wine, banana, chocolate, just any type of food, abuse or overconsumption can turn something enjoyable into a health problem. When we consume too much, not only do we stop enjoying it, but it can lead to various health issues.
Every day, I come across articles discussing how Gen Z is drinking less wine and alcohol in general compared to previous generations. These reports are often backed by various statistics and surveys, claiming that Gen Z is drinking less and driving the demand for alternative beverages, especially no and low alcohol. But is this really an accurate depiction of what's happening? Or are big brands merely adapting to a perceived trend by expanding their range of no and low alcohol drinks to make up for declining numbers in traditional alcoholic beverages?
Restaurants’ wine lists vary from very short to hundreds of pages, making the task of choosing a wine sometime challenging, a challenge that, whenever I'm out with friends or family, usually falls on me - to find a wine that will please everyone. I may be a wine expert but certainly don’t know every wine or region
Education is crucial. For example, I often stress the importance of serving wine at the correct temperature. Serving wine too cold can mask flaws, so wine drinkers should ensure their wine is served at the right temperature to fully appreciate its complexity. A friend of mine, who works at a local restaurant, recently received a complaint about a Pinot Grigio Rosé tasting "acidic" when served at the proper temperature. However, the same wine, served at 4 degrees Celsius, was considered delicious.
Lets hope that 2024 will bring plenty of good Italian wine. My dad, when growing up, used to say to me “if you are going to get drunk, do it by drinking good wine, at least you won’t have headache the next morning”. My dad’s recommendation aside, less is better, and this applies to wine as well, drink less but drink better and more importantly enjoy your wine, sip it. Maybe this living cost crisis will help all of us to enjoy and appreciate more, whether wine or clothes.
Imagine buying a bottle of wine and reading “It seriously harms health” written on the label. What would your reaction be? I would be seriously p****d off.
On the other side, we should not be too angry because according to a new study, within 5 years we will be able to drink something that look like wine and would make us feel like we are drinking alcohol, without any of the side effects. What we seem to forget is that wine has been drunk since 7000 BC; the problem is not the wine, alcohol is not evil, the problem is the people abusing it.
When I founded Italyabroad.com, in 2003, wine was, for many, an unknown subject; a subject that very few people could understand let alone explain; these were the times where wine critics could make or break a winery, they were treated like celebrities. These were the times where winemakers worshipped wine writers; winemakers would have given anything for a 90 plus review or a mention from the likes of Robert Parker, and wine drinkers were eagerly waiting for their Sunday’s wine columns with their wallets ready and there were only a few wine competitions. These times are now gone
A few evenings ago, when looking for something to watch on tv, I came across the Gino D’Acampo show, the one with Gordon Ramsay and Fred, while they were tasting Gino’s wine so, I am not one of his fans but because there was wine involved, I decided to watch it. But this episode made me decide to write a post on alcohol and wine. Unfortunately, still too many wine drinkers associate and rely on alcohol content to determine the quality of the wine, the higher the alcohol the better the wine, however, this could not be wronger
January is normally a quiet, boring month for the wine industry, nothing really happens. The harvesting is over, the quality of the vintage has been declared and the wineries have been deeply cleaned. The wine is still in the making, it will be at least another 4 or 5 months before the wine is bottled, released and tasted and even in the vineyards there isn’t much to do. This is also a time when family owned wineries take a few days off.
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