Tasting three decades of Luce

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Iconic and quintessentially Super-Tuscan yet deeply attached to the roots and the territory where it originates.

An ancient Japanese proverb says, “the meeting between two persons is where everything begins.” It is also how the extraordinary story of Luce came to be, a story that we had the privilege to experience through a historical tasting going back to 1997 of this Iconic wine hosted by Lamberto Frescobaldi at the magnificent Casa degli Atellani in Milan....

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China, a market still in Infancy...

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Last April's visit to Vinitaly of Jack Ma, founder of the mighty Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and richest man in China has brought to light Italy’s position in China’s wine market as well as its tremendous potential going forward.  The reception to his speech brought mixed reviews within the Italian wine industry.

However, after 22 years living in Hong Kong and working in China, I have learned to look at its dynamics with a macroeconomic approach rather than focus too much on the microeconomics of everyday. 

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Taste Like A Pro - Sparkling Wines

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For the sparkling wines category, three main factors fundamentally influence the style of the final wine not only in terms of effervescence, but also in terms of body, aromatic profile and texture.  The first relates to how the bubbles, also called the “mousse”, are obtained.  The second is the choice of grape varieties for the base wine and the third concerns the sweetening of the final wine.

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Taste Like A Pro - The Magic Of Oak...

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Oak usage in winemaking has had a bad rap lately.  Perhaps it is justified in some cases, but one thing is sure, the technique is not recent.  Hundreds of generations ago, oak was the main material utilized for fermentation, maturation, and transportation of wine.  What has changed in recent times, for better or worse, is how oak is applied at various stages of winemaking. 

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