Barolo to Valpolicella: The Wines of Northern Italy - Softcover

Belfrage, Nicolas

3.81

16 ratings by Goodreads

9780571178520: Barolo to Valpolicella: The Wines of Northern Italy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571178529 ISBN 13: 9780571178520

Publisher: Faber and Faber, 1999

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In the first of two volumes on the wines of Italy, Nicolas Belfrage explores the mysteries of Northern Italian viniculture. Using the many local and international grape varieties as signposts, the author guides us through this most complex and fascinating of wine-lands - from Mont Blanc to the Slovenian border, from the Swiss-Italian Alps to the Apennine foothills. On the way we take in such magical areas as Valpolicella and Soave Classico, South Tyrol and Trentino, the hills of Bologna and the Po Valley plain where Lambrusco vines once hung from trees. Have the Italians got it in them to take centre stage among the wines of the world in the 21st century? The author puts the case for such an eventuality and provides a base from which readers may form an opinion for themselves.

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Review:

Viticulture in Italy has a history of more than 2,000 years, having been severally introduced by the Estruscans and the Greeks. The product of this great weight of tradition was, until recently, a virtually unregulated chaos of hundreds of different grape varieties and wines of wildly and unpredictably varying qualities. As Nicolas Belfrage observes in Barolo to Valpolicella, the first, northern, volume of a two-part geographical study of Italian wines, producers now face the challenge of preserving the vigour and often highly local character of these varieties, while adapting to the modern world of a regulated industry and scientific methods of production. Much Italian wine, moreover, is produced with an eye to bulk rather than quality; and there seems to be a reluctance on the part of many Italians to accept wines with a high degree of character. However, all that is slowly changing. Belfrage remarks that the idea of Italy surpassing the stature of France as a producer of high quality wines is unlikely but no longer preposterous. Barolo to Valpolicella is an exhaustive guide to this formidably complex subject. Dividing the country into very broad geographical regions, the discussion within each is by grape variety (an interesting approach that reflects the importance of this richness), by the wines made from it and by the principal producers of those wines. Belfrage's command of his subject is impressive and detailed: he seems to have been everywhere and talked to everyone. Anyone daunted by the notorious complexity of the Italian wine business will find Barolo to Valpolicella an ideal cicerone. --Robin Davidson

Synopsis:

The first volume on the wines of Italy which explores Northern Italian viniculture. Using the local and international grape varieties the author provides a guide through the wine-lands of Italy, covering areas including Valpolicella, Soave and Lambrusco. Includes black and white maps and illustrations of wine labels.

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