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The Italian abroad wine blog is my wine blog and diary. I founded Italyabroad.com in 2003 and have been living abroad for almost 20 years and this blog is a collection of my thoughts mainly about Italian wine and food, but also wine and food in general. I come from an Italian wine making family and got acquainted with wine at a very early age, but I don't just love Italian wine, I love any good wine and enjoy plenty of it, as well as good food and travelling, and often my posts include a bit of everything.
To help you understand Italian wines, we have designed a series of Italian wine regions maps featuring DOC and DOCG wines showing the origins and the grapes making your favourite Italian wines. I also wrote a post on the Italian wine appellation system explaining and demystifying the Italian wine classification system and what it really means for Italian wine lovers and wine drinkers in general.
Lastly, we have a Youtube channel where you can watch me tasting some of our wines and answer your questions about Italian wines and grapes, from the real meaning of DOC to what is an orange wine.
Hope you enjoy reading this wine blog and please get in touch if you have any question.
Andrea
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?
Sicily is normally associated with bold, warm and powerful red wines, whether obtained from the native Nero d’Avola or the international varietal Merlot and Syrah or Shiraz, but Sicily also means the bright, light and soft Frappato, obtained from the homonymous native grape mainly grown in the southern-eastern part of the island, between the provinces of Ragusa and Siracusa, with grapes grown inland producing lighter wines with higher acidity
The mediterranean diet is not about a secret ingredient or a few special recipes, is about giving the food the importance it deserves, appreciating the quality of what we eat rather than its cost. It is about understanding that we are what we eat and if we eat rubbish, not only we feel rubbish but will eventually, down the line, in a few years, be paying a toll. If we truly want to reap the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, using extra virgin olive oil is a great start, but on its own, it won’t make much difference. We need to rethink the whole approach to food and eating. Only then we will live longer, healthier, and happier lives even if we can only the see the Mediterranean from a map.
In the UK, there is a saying: "never judge a book by its cover", still, we often judge rosé wines by their colour. And it is not just restaurateurs. I see it every time I choose a rose wine’ for one of our wine tastings, the first comments are always about its colour. This doesn't happen for white or red wines despite their colour’s differences. We don’t seem to notice the different shades in red and white wines, but we do in roses
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
We are all aware that Great Britain has an obesity problem, still, every year we give the award for the cheapest supermarket ignoring that what drives obesity is the cheap food. Let's shift our focus from finding the cheapest supermarket to recognizing and awarding quality food and its ingredients. At Italyabroad.com we stand with Hippocrates “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food”, live a happier and healthier life simply buying healthy, proper food.
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.
However, I also tasted wines I did not like. Some were the result of winemaking decisions I disagreed with, but there was one winery in particular whose wines I found particularly poor. They were marketed as "natural," which confirmed that people still drink bad wine simply because it's labelled as such. I have previously written on my blog about poorly made natural wines at the start of the “natural wine” trend and the difficulty of finding good ones. I believe that ultimately, a wine should be a pleasure to drink, not a medicinal chore, independently on how they are obtained, but these wines were different, they would not fit the definition of “natural wine” as it is intended.
Creating 134 subzones risk further diluting the brand and worsening confusion among wine drinkers, many of whom, still associate Italian sparkling wine with Prosecco and are unwilling to pay a premium for Italian alternatives. When faced with a choice between a bottle of Franciacorta or Champagne, based on my experience made of tastings and conversations with thousands of wine drinkers, 7 out 10 still opt for Champagne, despite not knowing how it is made, often choosing it solely for its reputation
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