THE NATIVE GRAPES
A couple of weeks back we had the good fortune to attend the ‘AFTERS’ party to celebrate the VINIBUONI D’ITALIA guides top awards for 2017.
Held at the Villa Toppo Florio in Buttrio, on the outskirts of Udine, it was billed as a Night of CORONA’s. No folks, we’re not talkin’ Mexican beer :) We’re talking about the crowning glory of 700 of Italy’s finest wine-makers, whose wines are all exclusively created from native italian grape varieties.
The VINIBUONI D’ITALIA guide, now in its 14th season, has got to be one of the most unique wine guides in the world.
Focused on wines produced from Italy’s endless ocean of native grapes, a total of 26,000 wines were tasted in order to reach the final selection for 2017. A monumental task indeed and one for which guide curator, Mario Busso and his team deserve huge praise.
In addition, the 2017 guide also continues to feature the growing cultural interest in Italian sparkling ‘Metodo Classico’ wines. While the majority are still produced using international grape varieties, there is a genuine growing trend in the cellar to see what some native Italian varieties can offer.
Showing promise are Durella (Veneto), Erbaluce di Caluso (Piemonte), Grillo and Nerello Mascalese (Sicilia), Ribolla Gialla (Friuli) and Verdicchio (Le Marche) to name just a small bunch.
We’ve even heard that Schioppettino’s been given a shot at making bubbles. We hope to cover this native niche in the not-too-distant.
In chatting with Mario and Ada Freire, one of the guides regional co-ordinators, one new innovation they’re really excited to talk about is the imminent publication of their new Guide App later this year. Keep an eye out around November. Bearing in mind that to date the guide has only been published in Italian, the good news ‘per il mondo anglofono’ (that’s us in the English speaking world), is that there’s gonna be a version of the App in ENGLISH. Top !!
‘Til then, on behalf of THENATIVEGRAPES
We salute you Mario and all the crew at ViniBuoni D’Italia.
Raising a glass to continuing Progress !!
#CORONA
#GOLDENSTAR
#POINTOFORIGIN
#AGEOLDVINES
#REBORNWINES
#BEADVENTUROUS
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