Every time I write an introduction for one of these newsletters I feel a great weight, like all of Italy is depending on me to explain their wines, because a lot of the wines do take some explaining! Italy’s bountiful wine culture produces a plethora of styles from hundreds of unique varieties—it’s really complicated. It’s not just grape varieties that contribute to the intricacy of the wine culture; it’s the varied terrain of mountains, valleys, cliffs, plus a myriad of different trellising methods—and then there’s diverse winemaking methods such drying the grapes as well.  But this month I’ll be talking about Italy’s bread and butter—or maybe focaccia and olive oil—with a focus on Piedmont and Tuscany, new and old.

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