Michele Shah (decanter.com) writes:

The Prosecco DOC^? di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Consorzio^? has applied to the Italian government for promotion to the higher DOCG^? status.
 
At the same time, the basic IGT^? (Indicazione Geografica Tipica^?) level Prosecco grown in the lower plains will also have to go though stricter quality control, the DOC says.
 
Some IGTs will be elevated to to DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata^?) while others will be demoted, losing the right to put 'Prosecco' on the label.
 
DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita^?), established in 1963, is the highest legal category of Italian wines.
 
The Prosecco Consorzio has applied to the Ministry of Agriculture to allow promotion of the best Proseccos in 2009.
 
Speaking at the Consorzio tasting in London on Monday, Consorzio director Giancarlo Vettorello told decanter.com it was time 'to push ahead with our UK promotion as sales in UK are on the rise and Prosecco seems to be all the rage.'
 
There were 37 producers at this year's tasting, 12 more than last year.
 
Today the Prosecco DOC produces some 57m bottles of which 15m are exported worldwide. The currently imports 6% of total exports, the equivalent of 1m bottles exported in 2007.

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Tags: melgab, wine, italian, prosecco, docg, south-africa, South Africa

Eric Asimov (nytimes.com) writes:

ALL right, class, summer vacation is long gone and school is well under way, but I?m forced to interrupt our curriculum for a quick review session.
 
Why is this? Because it?s come to my attention that a crucial word in the lexicon of Italian wines has fallen by the wayside.
 
That word is aglianico, which, just to be clear, is pronounced ah-lee-YAHN-ee-koh, and which is the name of the leading red grape of southern Italy.
 
Yet the entire category of aglianico wines seems to pass unnoticed by most people, which is a shame because they have so much pleasure to offer.
 
...
 
For years, the aglianico torch was largely carried by two producers, Mastroberardino in Campania, best known for its Radici from the Taurasi zone, and Paternoster in Basilicata, which has long made exemplary aglianicos from the volcanic soils of Mount Vulture (pronounced VOOL-too-reh). Now, dozens of producers export their wines to the United States. Sadly, we couldn?t find wines from some of the top producers, like Paternoster, Antonio Caggiano and Galardi, which makes Terra di Lavoro, as close as an aglianico wine comes to cult status.

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Mastroberardino

Aglianico

Radici Taurasi Riserva DOCG

Tags: melgab, wine, aglianico, campania, italy, south-africa, South Africa