Wine Atlas

2007 Fattoria Sovestro, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Siena, Rs. 1800. Vintage, winery, grape, sub region, price - This is how the wines appear on my wine list, says Stephane Soret, Head Sommelier at The Imperial, New Delhi.

A bottle of Kingfisher beer costs Rs. 250 at the hotel. Your average Indian guest can add only Rs. 150 more and get instead a fantastic wine by the glass such as an Italian wine imported directly. Vernaccia di San Gimignano is a unique white wine from Tuscany that I bought to promote our Italian restaurant, San Gimignano, because the name of the wine and the restaurant is the same.

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In northern Italy, you don't need to visit a big city to see spectacular art. Harriet O'Brien presents a cultural itinerary of frescos, paintings and sculptures – all off the beaten track

Why not 'art cities'?

From Roman ruins to Renaissance masterpieces and Baroque glories, Italy is so packed with sensational sights and art collections that it is difficult to know quite how to start choosing what to see. So we have stepped away from the big cities and centres such as Rome, Naples, Milan, Florence and Venice and have opted to take in several of the most atmospheric smaller art-venues of northern Italy, which is liberally endowed with amazing masterpieces. Finding a major work of art in a minor town is a fabulous and intrinsically Italian experience.

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THE TOP FIVE “SUPER WINES” THE MOST IMPORTANT ITALIAN WINE GUIDES ALL AGREE ARE THE BEST: SAN LEONARDO 2003, SERENADE 2004 (CANTINA DI CALDARO), SASSICAIA 2004, MONTEVETRANO 2005, TERRA DI LAVORO 2005 Now that all of the classifications have been made by the most important Italian wine guides, “the classification” of the wines that received the highest scores across the board has also been calculated by WineNews.

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This is one of those good news, bad news stories. The good news is that the quality of Italian wine is improving at a palate-pleasing rate, but the bad news is that the prices are rising even faster than the quality is improving.

It is not unusual to find the great Barolos and Brunellos selling for more than $100, and when you see unknown, supposed "Super-Umbrians" heading north of $50, things are getting a little ridiculous.

It was, after all, only 30 years ago that Italian wine was seen as nothing more than cheap plonk, wine that came in straw-covered bottles, the ubiquitous fiasci of so many college dorm rooms, and was confined, in the U.S. at least, to Italian restaurants with red and white checkered tablecloths.

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Two Edmonton happenings last week proved Italy is a strong challenger to be crowned the next "in" wine country.

First, the local Italian Chamber of Commerce hosted a trade delegation from Latina, located 60 kilometres south of Rome in the region of Lazio.

Italy is second to Australia in wine exports to Canada and the quality-cost ratio of the Latina wines showed why Italy is knocking hard on Alberta's door.

Second, a "mini" Italian wine festival staged by Liquor Select, at 8924 149th St., attracted a sell-out crowd.

There were a handful of old favourites there, such as the Antinori and Fontanafredda offerings. But there were some exciting wines new to the market.

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Wine: Italian wine labels can throw anyone for a loop

By Frank Sutherland and Kate Sutherland Gannett News Service

Even if you stick to the most well known red Chianti there are often plenty of other words on the bottle to decipher.

Some wines might just say Chianti, which are inexpensive everyday wines from anywhere in the region. The next step up in quality is a wine from a specific subregion that is listed on the label after Chianti.

There are seven subregions, but most readily available and highly regarded is Chianti Classico. One step beyond that is the Chianti Classico Riserva, which must be aged at least twice as long as regular Chianti Classico. These wines are fuller bodied, more complex and age longer. As with all Chianti, the Riservas usually taste better with food than alone.

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Abramovich rumoured to be considering buying a vineyard (ANSA) - Spoleto, September 18 - The Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich could be planning to extend his business interests from soccer and oil into wine, according to reports from this central Italian town .

Abramovich, best known as the boss of British soccer champions Chelsea, has stopped at several of Italy's top wine cellars during a visit in recent days .

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Bubbly or a glass of white beat out the pop drinks

The pre-dinner rage summer in Italy will not be exotic cocktails or the trendy alcoholic pop drinks, but sipping a nice cool flute of Italian bubbly or glass of crisp white wine, a number of studies have predicted .

A study carried out for next October's Turin Wine Show, in fact, found that wine as an aperitif is gaining constant ground, with a marked preference for sparkling wine and whites with a strong personality, many made from indigenous vines .

These wines are particularly popular at Happy Hour in the age group between 30 and 35, the report said, and many wine bars have reported an upsurge in sales by the glass of wines costing more than of 15 euro a bottle, while bottle sales have slipped .

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Representatives of the Italian wine trade in the UK have agreed to go out to Italy later this year to meet representatives of the Italian wine-producing regions to put forward the case for regional funding for a generic Italian wines marketing campaign. This was the outcome of the Anglo-Italian Liaison Meeting hosted by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association Italian Wines Committee last Wednesday (29 June).

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The latest innovation in wine technology, the "talking" label, is slated to make its debut this autumn in Italy, Italian News Agency ANSA said on Tuesday.

The introduction of talking label is the brainchild of Daniele Barontini, whose company Modulgraf designs labels for the leading producers of Brunello and other top flight Tuscan wines.

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