From America to Tuscany’s Chianti makes sense. From Franciacorta to Sangiovese makes… maybe less sense? Thus is the tale of Vecchie Terre di Montefili, a producer situated on the Monte Fili hill in Greve in Chianti, which is a spot that is actually as gorgeous as it sounds from the name. Montefili was founded by…
Category: elegant wines
“The Big, Forgotten Elephant in the Room” (An Encounter with 9diDANTE Vermouth)
As the saying goes, hell is the absence of reason. But for 9diDANTE founder Alex Ouziel, hell was the absence of quality wine in Vermouth. Ouziel is a 20+ year alcohol industry veteran, originally from Barcelona, who moved to Moscow in the mid-1990s working for an importer of Spanish wines. This stint was followed by…
Once Again, Less Is More (Catching Up With Tenuta Carretta)
It’s never a bad day when you get to taste through samples with the remote/virtual help of Tenuta Carretta, whose 550+ years of history have seen them craft some of finest wines that you can get your grubby hands on from northwestern Italy. Which is exactly the good fortune that I had a few months…
Existential Gambles (Cantina Tramin Recent Releases)
It’s a bit strange to think of Cantina Tramin making an existential gamble. After all, this is third oldest cooperative winery in Italy’s South Tyrol. Founded in 1898, it took Tramin almost three quarters of a century to make a major business move (merging with Cantina Sociale di Egna). Their current winemaker, Willi Stürz (who,…