The Grapes and Wines of Italy

Book excerpt: The Grapes and Wines of Italy - The definitive compendium region by region is an up to date, scientifically researched but very user-friendly guide to Italy's grapes, wines and most important terroirs. Easy to read yet highly informative, this book is ideal for wine lovers, wine professionals and wine students preparing for exams both at the entry and advanced/Master level. Salient features include: A simple introduction to Italy's 20 regions The latest information on Italy's native, traditional and international grape varieties presented in easy to access individual file format Key information and breakdown of Italy's most important wine terroirs Lists of the denominations and wines Easy to consult tables and graphs The best wine producers region by region. A word from Ian D'Agata: Ever since I wrote my multi-award-winning Native Wine Grapes of Italy (NWGI) and Italy's Native Wine Grape Terroirs (INWGT), people everywhere have asked me when I might follow it up with a shorter, abridged version that might prove less encyclopedic and easier to leaf through and carry around. And so I set out to write just such a book, the one that you are now holding in your hands. You will find it is written in a simple, note-type format, with plenty of tables and graphs so as to make the learning of what is at times a really complex subject matter hopefully a little easier. Five valid reasons why a new book on the subject of Italy's wine grapes and wines had become necessary. First, because seven years have passed since the publication of "Native Wine Grapes of Italy": this is a time frame more than long enough for a considerable body of new information pertaining to Italy's native grapes and wines to have accumulated. Clearly, an update of the original tome had become not just desirable, but necessary. Second: we wanted a new book on the subject of Italy's wine grapes to broach not just the country's plethora of native wine grapes, but the country's international grapes too; so here you will also find information on the likes of Sylvaner, Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot addressed as well. Third: this new book's user-friendly mission also includes sections on Italy's many wines and denominations. In other words, not just the wine grapes, but their wines and their official denominations too, which you'll find listed at the end of every chapter. Fourth: to give wine lovers at least a small working knowledge on Italy's best wine terroirs. Fifth: I am now the President and Chief Scientific Officer of China's TerroirSense Academy, not to mention the Editor-in-Chief of the TerroirSense Wine Review. Therefore, this book will also serve as the recommended text for that school's Italian wine courses.