Review by Barb & Ron Kroll
Grandi Vini
- an opinionated tour of Italy's 89 finest wines
(Clarkson Potter) ISBN 978-0307463036 0307463036
Joseph Bastianich brings readers on an Italy wine tour to discover vintage wines. In each Italian wine region, he introduces the winemakers, brings you to Italian vineyards and discusses grape varietals, winemaking styles, aging, annual production and quality of fine Italian wines.
Grandi Vini is a perfect wine book for an Italian wine tasting. A wine list provides websites for Italian wineries, making it easy to buy Italian wine online.
In his wine tasting notes, Joe Bastianich describes color, bouquet, acidity and unique characteristics of 89 Italian red and white wines. Grandi Vini is more than a wine book. It is a tour of Italian wine regions with a wine expert as your guide.
This 292-page wine book is organized by Italian wine region. Each chapter begins with an Italian wine regions map and a list of the best Italian wines for each region. For example, Northwest Italy is subdivided into Liguria, Lombardia, Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta wine regions.
In the introduction, Joe Bastianich explains the history of Italian wines in America and how he selected the best Italian wines for his Grandi Vini book.
Hand-drawn maps of Italian wine regions pinpoint the locations of the wineries that produce the best Italian wines described in Grandi Vini.
For each Italian wine region, a wine list specifies the denomination, date of first vintage, grape varietal, annual production, aging time and production method for fine wines.
For example, in the Piemonte wine region of Northwest Italy, Joseph Bastianich provides information on 22 Italian wines, including barolo wine, made from nebbiolo grapes.
One of the best Italian red wines is Barolo Brunate. Joseph Bastianich introduces you to winemaker, Roberto Voerzio, and his vineyards in La Morra, a region known for great barolo wine.
You learn that Roberto Voerzio planted nebbiolo vineyards in Barolo crus regions to create lower yields and higher quality barolo wine. Joe Bastianich describes Barolo Brunate as powerful, yet soft and round, with a vanilla, dry flower, black licorice, leather and box spice nose.
Joseph Bastianich, the son of Lidia Bastianich, owns Tarry Wine Merchants and four wine estates. He also co-owns Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza, in Los Angeles, with Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton.
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