Åsa Johansson is Swedish but lives in Italy. She is in charge of most of what BKWine does in Italy, she virtually is BKWine Italia, and she sometimes writes here on BKWine Magazine. But she also writes in numerous other publications, even in Italy. Here are a few examples: In Gambero Rosso: on the Swedish [...]
Tag Archives | Italy
A super-Tuscan wine tour lunch at the prestigious Antinori winery Tenuta di Biserno
A super-Tuscan super-lunch Tenuta di Biserno is in the Maremma region on the Tuscany coast. The owner is Lodovico Antinori who used to own well known Ornellaia. To get there you need to navigate some winding roads but you are awarded with beautiful nature and great wines made by Swedish born wine maker Helena Lindberg. [...]
Åsa’s Wine of the Month: Pietradolce, Archineri, Etna Rosso DOC, 2010
On the slopes of Etna you can find a small vineyard, 10 hectares, called Pietradolce. The old vines, between 40 and 80 years old, grow in the black volcanic soil. They produce small yields but of high quality. The grape variety is nerello mascalese, typical for Etna. It gives red wines of light colour but [...]
Verona threatens Valpolicella?
Verona is spreading and it is time to stop the urbanization, says Count Pieralvise Serego Alighieri and other wine producers and environmentalists in Valpolicella, one of Italy’s most famous wine regions. Valpolicella is still a beautiful wine region with gentle hills behind which you find the city of Verona. But for how long, asks Alighieri, [...]
Högberga Wine Factory – Swedish wine from Italian grapes
Two crazy Swedes make Italian wine in Stockholm The strange story of how two Swedish wine enthusiasts began making wine on Lidingö, an island that is part of Stockholm. The truck the grapes home with a lorry from Tuscany in Italy. And it actually tastes good! Britt Karlsson tells the story. Sweden has a difficult [...]
New rooster and new rules for Chianti Classico
During the launch of the new vintage of Chianti Classico, the “anteprima” or the “primeurs”, in mid-February in Florence the consorzio presented the new design of the black rooster, the gallo nero symbol of Chianti Classico. They also presented the new rules, as of this year, that will apply for Chianti Classico. BKWine’s Åsa Johansson reports. [...]
Even more on Sicily: a photo essay
This photo essay will show you the magnificence of Sicily: the food, the wines, the landscape, the culture, the people. Sometimes a picture is worth a 1000 words. See some of our photos from Sicily, and dream about your next holiday, on BKWine Magazine: Sicily: wine, food, vineyards, history, and landscape in pictures.
Nittardi in Tuscany, a wine and art enthusiast
We know of several wineries where beautiful works of art are on display in the cellar and in the vineyard. Åsa has visited Nittardi in Tuscany, owned since 1981 by a German-Italian couple that also has an art gallery in Frankfurt. Besides having sculptures and pictures by well known artist here and there the couple [...]
Sicily seduces
Sicily seduces you with its nature, culture, gastronomy and wines. Surprisingly fresh and aromatic whites and interesting and flavourful reds. Britt has been there and shares her impressions of this mountainous, wild but very charming island, the largest in the Mediterranean. She remembers the scent of the orange flowers that fill the air in springtime, [...]
Organic food and biodynamic wines in Tuscany
The Fattoria Poggerino is one of the few organic and biodynamic wineries in Chianti. It is run by Piero and Benedetta Lanza, brother and sister. Piero runs the wine cellar and Benedetta runs their agriturismo as well as being a very talented cook. This autumn we stopped by on our “Super Tuscan” wine tour for [...]
A super-Tuscan with Bordeaux links
Eric Albada Jelgersma owns Chateau Giscours and Château du Tertre in Margaux in Bordeaux. But he had, apparently, money left to spend so some years back this rich Dutchman started a winery in Tuscany, on the coast, not far from where many of the “super-tuscan” wines are made. This past autumn we found our way [...]
One of our favourite restaurants in Florence
There are almost innumerable restaurants in Florence, anything you may want from luxury and abundance to a quick pizza to go. One that is in the category friendly neighbourhood restaurants is Le Carceri (i.e. The Prison). We have previously written about it in a restaurant review and now we have added a few videos and [...]
Sicily leaves traces in the soul. A journey to Sicily’s eastern part.
The biggest island of the Mediterranean, a treasure trove of wine, gastronomy and experiences “Without Sicily Italy leaves no trace in the soul. Sicily is the key to everything”, Goethe is supposed to have said. Sicily surely leaves traces in the soul. It’s not just the food, the wine and the beautiful landscape that hits [...]
Sicily: wine, food, vineyards, history, and landscape in pictures
A photo essay from the island of Sicily Sicily is a big island, the biggest in the Mediterranean. It is also one of Italy’s biggest wine regions. It is an island where you can find everything from sandy beaches, tiny wind swept islands, high mountains and of course volcanoes, vast fruit plantations and olive groves [...]
River deep, mountain high – sparkling wines from Trentino
Overshadowed by Prosecco and Franciacorta in export markets, Trento DOC accounts for 12% of the domestic Italian sparkling wine market. Ten percent of its production is exported. The event “bubbles over Trento” , held in November last year in Trentino, offered guests a chance to try some of the finest sparkling wines that the region [...]
Sicily seduces
An island of wine, olives, food and sunshine in the Mediterranean Sicily, the island, the sun, the wines, the olive oil, the food… The largest island of the Mediterranean Sea has many charms, much to make you want to go there. Britt Karlsson did and discovered a region with a little known but very dynamic [...]
Wine and art blend well at the Nittardi winery in Tuscany
Fattoria Nittardi is a wine producer in the heart of the Chianti Classico district in Tuscany. Each year they commission a famous artist to design the label for their Chianti Classico wine, Casanuova di Nittardi. This year’s label, the thirteenth, is made by the Nobel Prize winner in literature Dario Fo. BKWine’s reporter Åsa Johansson [...]
Vandals in Montalcino: six vintages of Case Basse destroyed
A dark night in November vandals broke into the wine cellar at the wine producer Case Basse in Montalcino in Tuscany. The hoodlums opened all wine vats. The total production from 2007 to 2012 was destroyed. Some 600 hl are said to have been destroyed. Case Basse is a small vineyard in Montalcino with only [...]
Colombaia in southern Tuscany, a vineyard worth a visit
Colombaia is actually the Italian name for a small dovecot that you often can find on the roof of old Tuscan houses. But it is also the name of a very interesting wine producer in the southern part of Tuscany. The vineyard is at the very end of a long dirt road and it is [...]
The best amarone wines
That is of course a question of personal taste. Amarone has over a few decades become an immensely popular wine, especially in northern countries. It is almost a bit anachronistic, this massive, compact, intense wine in an era when most tendencies go towards lower alcohol. Our contributor Stuart George went to Valpolicella in Veneto, amarone [...]
Swedish wine making waves in Italy
It is not (yet) the wines made by Göran Amnegård at the Blaxta vineyard south of Stockholm (Sweden) that has reached Italy but it is his reputation. Blaxta is perhaps the Swedish vineyards that has achieved the most international attention, especially his sweet ice wines. That may have to do both with his talents as [...]
Reporting from Montecucco, a new wine region in southern Tuscany that was just made DOCG
Montecucco is one of the “new” wine regions in Tuscany, Italy, that has powerful neighbours to fight for consumer mind share with and has several challenges. But that is making great progress and wines to take note of. BKWine’s reporter in Italy, Åsa Johansson, goes into the details of some of the producer in this [...]
A sparkling display in Trentino – Tasting Trento DOC
River deep, mountain high The event “bubbles over Trento” , held in November last year in Trentino, offered guests a chance to try some of the finest sparkling wines that the region has to offer. BKWine’s contributor Stuart George reports back from his visit to hillsides of the Dolmites and shares his thoughts on the [...]
Åsa’s Wine of the Month: Batár 2009, IGT Toscana, Querciabella
Åsa’s wine of the month comes from Querciabella, a winery in Tuscany that has been organic since 1988 and biodynamic since 2000. The vineyards are in a superb location in the Chinati Classico region at a good altitude (300-600 m) with a south facing exposure for most of the vineyards. Batár is made from 50% [...]
Ristorante Fratelli la Bufala, Verona restaurant | BKWine Pick
They have the tagline “pizzaioli emigranti” and they probably have a large emigrated family: It is actually a chain of restaurants that exists in more than 20 cities. We are not fans of chain restaurants – they tend to be impersonal – but this one we do recommend. We have only visited the Fratelli la [...]
Tasting Amarone, a selection of excellent producers
That’s Amarone! The “big bitter” from Italy has wooed wine drinkers all over the world. Rich in both history and taste, the wines from Amarone continue to impress and intrigue. Guest writer Stuart George reports from his visit to Amarone in 2012, and details his best tastings from the trip. Sixteenth century Venice, devastated by [...]
Trattoria ai Piloti, Verona restaurant | BKWine Pick
Trattoria ai Piloti is a fish restaurant, which is not easy to find in Verona. It is on the corner of the San Zeno square (a charming square with an impressive church 10 minutes walk outside the old city centre). You can sit outside, either in front on the square or in the garden they [...]
Enoteca Zero 7, Verona restaurant | BKWine Pick
Enoteca Zero 7 is a small wine bar, café and wine shop. Will find it around the corner on a side street from Corso Porta Nuova just outside the Portoni della Bra. The perfect place to have a glass of wine before you walk into the old city for dinner, or just a quick espresso [...]
Osteria Le Vecete Ristorante, Verona restaurant | BKWine Pick
The restaurant Osteria le Vecete is an old-style classic Italian taverna. A touch rustic, a touch gastronomy, a touch friendly. A good mix. The restaurant is bang in the centre of Verona, between Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza Bra, but on a small side street that you will have to look for. It is a [...]
Pizzeria Du de Cope, Verona restaurant | BKWine Pick
It is very crowded, very busy. It is very likely that they will say “we’ll have a table for you in 20 minutes” and you will have (!) to go and have an aperitif somewhere. Unless you have booked a table of course. This is a simple corner pizzeria at its best. Even though it [...]
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