As we wrote in March, this year I became the global ambassador for the LG Signature Wine Cellar. As part of this partnership we created an animation with Monocle magazine, which you can see above, where I described how I entertain guests at my home in Italy, theming the evening by grape, country or wine style but also based on the mood or the tastes of people attending. It's fun and easy!
Watching the video, it makes me feel homesick for my house in Tuscany. Usually I live in Italy for at least a few months each year, but for obvious reasons I haven’t been able to travel there this year and it’s the first time since 1992 I haven’t spent the summer in Italy.
I miss my time there, not to mention the wines, beautiful vineyards, and winemakers. But I am tasting thousands of Italian wines at the moment at our wine bar in Hong Kong!
I think many of us are dreaming of Italy and the rest of Europe right now. So to make up for it, we are publishing a full four weeks of content around Italian wines and culture on JamesSuckling.com. Our content will cover big lists of outstanding wines from various regions, as well as documentary films from Hollywood writer and filmmaker James Orr (Three Men and a Baby, Sister Act 2) about wines, vineyards and even pizza!
Here’s what we plan:
- The Magic of Brunello – documentary by James Orr about how a small medieval village became one of the foremost sources of fine wine in Italy, and the world.
- $15 wines that taste like $50: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
- 100 great Italian white wines for the summer
- Tasting and talking with Lamberto Frescobaldi over Zoom
- Italian Pizza Masters: a short documentary about how a new generation of pizzaiolos are redefining how pizza is made
- Great Value Wines: Fiano
- Top 100 Barolo wines of the last three years
- Cannubi: A vineyard kissed by God – documentary by James Orr about what makes this diminutive vineyard in Piedmont so special.
- Piedmont tasting report
- Top 100 Sicily wines of the last three years
- Brunello tasting report
- Our top 10 Italy wine videos
- The Miracle of Alto Adige - a documentary created by James and Jack Suckling and James Orr, exploring the mountainous vine-growing region in northeast Italy and its unique local wines
- Top 100 Italian wines of 2019
- Chianti tasting report
- Full Italy tasting report: 1,000+ wines tasted this year + PDF download
I hope to be able to travel back to Italy next year. In the meantime we hope you enjoy our month of special Italian content.
Ciao for now.
James Suckling
