“Wine has become a powerful weapon in the armory of Italian “soft power” in the USA”

“Wine has become a powerful weapon in the armory of Italian “soft power” in the USA. This phenomenon is evident in the growth of “wine-tasting” tourism. The invasion of American visitors in Italy during the last touristic seasons was marked also by this phenomenon: beyond our art cities, beyond the natural landscape, beyond the shopping, Americans queue to visit vineyards, taste wines, they even attend lessons by wine experts”. These are the words of one who knows the USA well, and well beyond the wine, i.e. Federico Rampini. Today he is a columnist for “Corriere della Sera”, from New York, but for over 20 years, he has been correspondent and ratification for other leading national newspapers (“La Repubblica”, “Il Sole 24 Ore”, and not only), in his interesting content in “The best 100 wines and winemakers in Italy”, the guide of “Corriere della Sera”, edition No. 11, signed by Luciano Ferraro, vice director of the newspaper of Solferino Street, and by James Suckling, one of the most well-known and trustworthy wine critic in the world, and founder of JamesSuckling.com website. This guide has been presented, in recent days, in Milan, and it will be in newsstands for two months, with “Corriere della Sera” (at the cost of 12,90 euros, in addition to the cost of the newspaper). And, as WineNews has anticipated, it has awarded six great Italian wines with 100/100: Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2015 by Bertani, historical winery of the territory belonging to Angelini Wines & Estates Group; Brunello di Montalcino Giovanni Neri 2019 by Casanova di Neri, a symbol of Montalcino, and Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Montosoli 2019 by Valdicava, amongst the pearls of wisdom of the territory; Terlaner Primo Alto Adige 2021 by Terlano, a winery which symbolizes the enduring great white wines of South Tyrol; Valdarno di Sopra Galatrona 2022 by Petrolo, a guiding company of the little Tuscan denomination; Toscana Colore 2022 by Bibi Graetz, the most famous wine of one of the most creative artists in Italy. The central theme of the guide is climate change and the way Italian producers are coping with it, which was also the leitmotif of “The climatic challenge” special awards assigned to Giovanni Manetti and to the Consortium of Chianti Classico as “the best Consortium”, to Alessandro Ceretto, by Ceretto winery, among the most important names of Barolo, as “the best Wine Expert”, and Piero Mastroberardino, under the guidance of the winery from Campania Mastroberardino, as “the best Winery”, and to Marco Simonit (who, in collaboration with Simonit & Sirch, works in the vineyards of many of the most important wineries, in Italy and in the world, and, who, created an appendix for the guide of “Corriere della Sera”, which is dedicated to the best Italian vineyards for their history, resilience and beauty, ed), as “the best Specialist”.
But, returning to the words of Federico Rampini, there is also the explanation of the boom of Prosecco in the USA, since the early 2000s, when, from an almost unknown wine, it became a “must” in a short time, thanks to an “operation like “The Normandy landings” in the Second World War. A mass invasion”, writes Rampini, who adds: “the genius, or more probably the team of geniuses, who guided the marketing of the sparkling wine in the USA, should teach in all Italian Business Schools, training a generation of emulators”.