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Find insightful articles on Tuscany & Wine in general and Chianti Classico in particular, organic and biodynamic agriculture and everything else that has anything to do with the world of wine like food/wine pairings, making or history of wine, holidays and more.

How Frost Wreaked Massive Havoc on Vineyards in Europe

How Frost Wreaked Massive Havoc on Vineyards in Europe


Spring is not only longer and warmer days and reawakening of nature, but the weather can also be unpredictable with frost damages in France and Italy last week. After an Easter week with wonderful weather, the night temperatures suddenly went decisively below zero resulting in frost damages in many vineyards. Why is Frost so Harmful to the Vines? During spring when the growing season is in its initial stage with bud breaking, the buds are specifically sensitive to colder weather. The frost can damage buds that are in the opening stage and the young shoots on the vines. It is… read more
How Regenerative Agriculture is the New Buzz Term in Viticulture

How Regenerative Agriculture is the New Buzz Term in Viticulture


We have been talking about conventional, organic, and biodynamic viticulture and winemaking in the past, but what about regenerative agriculture? The new trend emerging in viticulture seems to be talking precisely about regenerative agriculture. In the Italian wine world, it is a concept or ‘buzzword’ that is not that much mentioned yet. So, what is regenerative agriculture? We will soon delve deeper into that but first, we will do a quick historical overview. Agriculture and its Effect on the Soil in a Historical Context Historically, there is nothing new about how to get the most out of the soil in… read more
Easter Traditions in Italy from North to South

Easter Traditions in Italy from North to South


Easter 2021 is just around the corner and we are all getting ready for this event.   Especially in Italy Easter is something that we all look forward to.   Something that is well rooted in our culture. A time of gathering, a time of sharing and of course a time to spend with your family and loved ones.   The Bel Paese, our beloved Italy, is obviously rich of curious Easter traditions.   Each region has its own customs and beliefs.   The Italian culture is the result of the mixture of the customs of all populations that comes… read more
5 Best Travel Spots for an Affordable Wine Trip, Outside of Italy

5 Best Travel Spots for an Affordable Wine Trip, Outside of Italy


Are you a lover of fine wine and an excellent travel experience? If your answer is yes, you would probably love the idea of taking a long wine trip to places that you have been dreaming of for a long time. Given a chance, most people would go on a vacation that involves them spending time relaxing and indulging in their favorite pastimes. For wine lovers, knowing which places to visit is a great start. While we would agree that Italy should/would be the top choice, we thought we would share wine vacations outside of Italy. However, should you be… read more
How Should We Age the Wine? Aging Red Wines

How Should We Age the Wine? Aging Red Wines


Aging Wine Making Wine also means learning to have patience. Understanding that a good wine is produced by respecting the right time and the right aging. It is necessary then, to wait for the wine to reach the best moment of its life. Let's analyze what is the aging of red wines. The nectar of gods will therefore find the perfect environment for aging and getting richer. Let's talk about what is called "elevation".  This term is simply used to explain what is the aging in the barrels. What happens during this kind of aging? Simply, we will observe some… read more
Vine Life Cycle

Vine Life Cycle


One aspect that is of vital importance to both winegrowers and wine lovers is knowing the phases of the vineyard, also known as the phenological phases of the vine. In other words, the vineyard goes through different phases during the annual cycle.  Obviously, different viticulturally techniques will be applied for each phenological phase. Let's discuss the Vine Life Cycle It is important to be careful and to understand that for every action there is a consequence. In the following, we will briefly try to analyze a whole year's cultivation of life. The 3 different life cycles It is therefore important to… read more
The Family of Sparkling wine

The Family of Sparkling wine


Sparkling Wines & Winemaking Sparkling wines or vino spumante are getting more and more attention such as Prosecco, Franciacorta, Trento doc, Champagne, and so on and so forth. Wine lovers from all over the world seem to have a sort of special attention for sparkling wines and it is also true that especially novices have difficulty in understanding the vast and complicated world of sparkling wines. Defining sparkling wines Sparkling wines are defined as those kinds of wine in which there is a quantity of dissolved carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide generates an internal pressure inside the bottle of 3.5… read more
Mindfulness and Mindful Drinking

Mindfulness and Mindful Drinking


What is Mindfulness? Mindfulness is a term we hear mentioned often, but do we have any idea how this term came about and more importantly what it really means?, Mindfulness is an English term that means self-awareness by paying attention to reality. But let's analyze for a moment the definition that was given by Jon Kabat-Zinn. One of the fathers of this "discipline". This is how he defined the meaning of mindfulness: "It means to pay attention, in a particular way: a) with attention b) to the present moment, c) in a non-judgmental way". So we could say that mindfulness is something related… read more
6 Tips to Buy Organic Wines Online

6 Tips to Buy Organic Wines Online


Buying Organic Wines Online More and more people in Italy and in general in the world rely on e-commerce for the purchase of wine. Especially in 2020 we noticed an exponential increase of online sales, in particular in the wine field. Moreover consumers are more and more aware of the benefits of buying (even online) organic products and in particular Organic wines.   2020: Digital Transformation Of course this phenomenon is strictly connected to the current global situation. But in general it seems that, because of this sort of unexpected digital transformation of the world, we simply just accelerated a… read more
Practical Guide to Learn How to Read an Italian Wine Label

Practical Guide to Learn How to Read an Italian Wine Label


Tips to Read an Italian Wine Label It has happened to all of us, at least once, to find ourselves in the situation of having to choose a bottle of wine for a dinner at a friend's house. And for many of us, it can be very difficult to approach the labels of a bottle of wine. Therefore we usually decide to rely on a salesman from the wine store or the one from the supermarket who starts giving us explanations that are incomprehensible to our ears. We often risk buying a product of which we do not know the… read more