Editorial
DoctorWine’s editorial is a Monday regular feature with an in-depth article, analysis and commentary on current topics from both the wine and food worlds of the Italian and international scene.
The wine crisis: part three
The image of wine, the territories from which it comes, the culture associated with it, is in question, and the generalist press, which as a whole reaches millions of people, is not helping the wine crisis. Talking to a famous...
The wine crisis: part two
After a “first episode” dedicated to the wine crisis, Daniele Cernilli continues to analyze the phenomenon and offers some advice dictated by experience. Of course, analyses done by the span are as valuable as they are. But Those five issues...
The wine crisis: part one
Daniele Cernilli addresses the topic of the wine crisis by focusing on the reasons that are causing it. We thus try to understand why the market is trudging along. We have never seen a sales crisis like this in the...
Nebbiolo Prima, the first of the previews
Every year, the major wine consortia organize preview tastings of new vintages, usually for the press and trade professionals. Nebbiolo Prima, dedicated to the great red wines of Piedmont, opens the dances. From January 22 in Alba, the Albeisa Consortium...
Additives and adjuvants
The distinction between the two categories-additives and adjuvants-is not clear to a non-technician. For a technician, on the contrary, it is not possible to confuse one with the other. Let us, then, try to provide some clarity. I quote from...
What are IGT wines
The acronym stands for Indicazione Geografica Tipica (Typical Geographical Indication) and indicates a category of wines produced in areas generally larger than those regulated by DOC and DOCG. What are IGT wines? IGT were introduced with the Law 164 of...
Tipicamente
Antonio Boco and Paolo De Cristofaro, with graphic design by Tiziana Battista, excellently produce Tipicamente, a print magazine and website dedicated to wine. A Chicca to be discovered. I gave myself a gift for Christmas. I purchased online the first...
The return of Franco Ziliani, the sniper
We had lost track of journalist Franco Ziliani for a few years, and we were a bit worried. There were a lot of rumors… But here he came back out of nowhere with a phone call. A few days ago...
Wine for chocolate
It is a common belief that with chocolate, in all its expressions, wine cannot pair. Some possibilities, however, are there: let’s find out the right wine for chocolate. The “sacred texts” of the sommellerie (said sympathetically, of course) until a...
Ask who was Gualtiero Marchesi
Seven years after his death, the memory of the great Gualtiero Marchesi is fading. Many young people do not even know who he was and what he did for Italian cuisine. True, it is not about the Beatles as in...
Edo and the Michelin Guide
A few thoughts on the Michelin Guide, taking a cue from Edoardo Raspelli’s long-standing criticism of it, mainly concerning the small number of inspectors, which does not allow all reviewed establishments to be visited every year and thus involves repeating...
Tasted for you by DoctorWine
Starting this week, a new video feature dedicated to the wines we awarded in The Essential Guide to Italian Wines 2025 begins. Anyone who follows the DoctorWine network knows that the pillars on which it rests are the wine tastings....
Wines and grape varieties
Often, in common speech, we run the risk of confusing wines and grape varieties and defining a wine not by its territory of origin, but simply by the grape variety to which it belongs. Serious mistake! It is now a...
Those who… the Sauvignon
Sauvignon is a wine enjoyed by consumers around the world, perhaps because its aromas are unmistakable and varied. There are few wines loved and hated, thus divisive, like the various Sauvignons around the world. Meanwhile, let’s see what it is...
Mother Ais
Almost sixty years of outreach, an immense amount of work to spread the culture of wine not only among wine professionals but also, perhaps especially, among wine lovers. The Italian Sommelier Association will be 60 years old next year. It...
Are we at the end of an era?
For several years in the wine industry there has been a discussion about the changes in consumption in various markets. Are we really at the end of an era? And what will the next one look like? Let’s hazard a...
Viticultural contaminations
In light of current knowledge and also in view of increasingly pressing climate challenges, are we really sure that we have the best grape varieties in the optimal territories? I take my cue from an editorial by Stefania Vinciguerra, on...
Mas que nada
Mas que nada, that is, better than nothing. We refer to the DOC system, which may be imperfect, but it protects the interest of consumers as well as competition among producers. “The system of wine rules has existed for more...
The enemies of origin
From the exaltation of the terroir of origin to that, in the opposite sense, of the grape variety or method. What matters most? “Enemies of Origin” may seem a provocative title at a time in history when there is so...
Thanks to everyone!
We are definitely very happy. The presentation of The Essential Guide to Italian Wine 2025 was a wonderful celebration both in Milan and Rome. This is evidenced by the comments and thanks that are still coming in, but we are...
Coming soon: The Essential Guide to Italian Wines 2025
Once again this year the miracle is accomplished. At least that is how we experience it. The races in June, July and August to be able to close the guide have been the constant of our summers for 11 years....
Origin or process (bis)
Still in the vein of resuming old editorials that seem very relevant to me and at a time when so many are enjoying their vacations and there is not much striking news in the wine world, I repost this. One...
Nonino, not just grappa
The recent death of Benito Nonino, one of the fathers of Italian grappa, Friulian in particular, cannot but prompt some considerations about the role that the Nonino family has had, and still has, in the world of agribusiness in our...
The inflation of excellence
Every now and then I get to reread old editorials that still seem really relevant to me. This is one of them. One of the frankly boring and rhetorical aspects of Italian politics when it comes to agribusiness is the...
Between orange and gold
Like a white man singing the blues, Ca’ Rugate’s Soave Classico Superiore Bucciato 2022 is a highly original wine, reminiscent of old-fashioned whites, but with great technical expertise. My personal experience with white wines fermented “on the skins” starts from...
Ten years ago
It has been 10 years since the sudden death of Stefano Bonilli. We publish the letter that Daniele Cernilli published in the aftermath of the sad news. Rome, August 4, 2014 Dear Stefano, I don’t know why but I had...
Some general considerations
Reflecting on the data on Italian viticulture, interesting information emerges that makes us understand why Italy is the country of “wine artisans.” I have a habit, when addressing a topic, of having some data at hand, to understand the extent...
Wine scores
Reducing the judgment of a wine to a number (in our case in hundredths) is always a stretch that has the value of an indication, whose subjectivity is limited by the presence of a panel of tasters. To necessarily give...
Wine at the supermarket
Too often we hear that wines at the supermarket are poor quality wines, but while this may perhaps have been true in the past, it is now totally outdated by the increasing focus by large-scale retail chains. Every now and...
The 2020 Trebbiano
We are talking about Valentini’s Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, which is being released these days. As has been the case for decades, the bottle’s arrival is accompanied by a handwritten letter (by Edoardo first, by his son Francesco Paolo now) telling of...