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
I never bought a bottle of wine because of its points or awards, not even when I first started drinking wine, I was never attracted to the shiny medal, always liked to discover hidden treasures, it makes you proud, and I took with me this philosophy when I started Italyabroad.com. Italyabroad.com is all about importing wines, initially I then we as the team grew, liked and never because of their points or awards
In a time where meeting people has become “dangerous” and we are being told to stay in our bubble, Christmas hampers and virtual wine tastings are seen as the safe option. Corporate Christmas hampers are the perfect solution for big companies, for companies with dozens or hundreds of employees. Our virtual wine tasting events on the other side, are more suited for smaller groups or companies
A few days ago, I was choosing the theme and selecting the wines for a corporate wine tasting event we will be hosting in Leeds and suggested organic and vegan wines.The organizer, after a few seconds, asked me why vegan wines, were not all wines vegan since they are made with grapes?
We believe that the best Italian Pinot Grigio come from either Trentino Alto Adige or Friuli Venezia Giulia, these are the regions for Pinot Grigio wines with dept, structure, elegance. The Pinot grigio delle Venezie appellation includes good wine as well, but they are more on the easy drinking side, simpler wines. Pinot grigio grapes grown at altitude give the wine a lot more. We really love both wines and we apologise if it took us that long to finally add a Pinot grigio, but we can say it was worth the wait and hope that now that we finally stock Pinot Grigio, you will enjoy them as much as we do
Wine and chocolate was, until recently, thought to be an almost impossible match. Chocolate, due to its characteristics - from the bitterness of the cocoa to the fattiness of the cocoa butter -was often paired with spirits and for Italians, the perfect match was grappa on all its versions. From single origin to single estate, an 80% dark chocolate flavours change depending on where the cocoa comes from, to different percentages, chocolate has become much more than just dark or milk or white and because of that, wine and chocolate not only are now paired, but it is an exciting exercise for all wine and chocolate lovers.
It was a very interesting conversation but it made me wonder how far wine makers are actually going in the hope their wines will sell - sometime at crazy prices - in a very crowded market already full of good and great wines, where the easiest option to stand out seems to be one that has nothing to do with the wine itself.
In my over 20 years of hosting wine events, when explaining the wine tasting process, the first step - the colour of the wine - is always the one that seems to be underestimated. And not just from wine novices or people who attend the event as an evening out. Despite being still very underestimate by wine drinkers, understanding the colour is a very important step toward a better enjoyment of the wine.
There are plenty of charts available showing how much wine is actually in a bottle based on its retail prices, showing us that in a £5.00 bottle there is actually only £0.36 of wine or £2.76 in a £10 bottle and telling us to think twice before buying a £5.00 bottle. Charts that take into account the different price components with the emphasis on excise duty and VAT – they account for the majority of their cost on lower priced wines – but to fairly determine the amount of wine inside a bottle, I believe we need to consider where the wine comes from
It is official now, Prosecco Rose’ is live and alive. From the 2019 vintage rose’ sparkling wine produced in the Prosecco region can be labelled as Prosecco Rose’, will Italyabroad.com be getting any? I don’t know, we will certainly not be getting a prosecco rose’ only for the label, we never bought a wine because of its name and never will
I’ve probably tasted hundreds of wines during these weeks, I start tasting in the morning and finish late in the afternoon, it is harder and more exhausting than going for my daily run, but I am definitely getting fitter, or at least my nose and palate are. I have chosen 5 wines that Italian wine beginners should start their discovery journey with. I have chosen wines made with native grapes, wines easy to understand and enjoy at the same time. Suggesting a Barolo or Amarone to a beginner, can have the opposite effect, put them off Italian wines all together
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