I nurture this thought for Soave, Lugana, Gambellara, the long-suffering Verdicchio di Castelli di...
Defending the indefensible – Sr Pulcini's Frascati
Monday 22 September 2014
Italy has many wines which, although famous, utterly fail to make the wine lover’s heart skip a beat. It isn’t a mystery, really, as in spite of their fame these wines are often routinely disappointing. I have come to think that it may be because of their fame that, over time, they have become so mediocre. I am going to defend the indefensible, but I don’t believe that a wine can be famous for hundreds of years while being dull and dilute at the same time.
Become a member or log in to continue reading
This Mother’s Day, give the gift of great wine.
Mothering Sunday is 15 March – and a JancisRobinson.com gift membership is one of the most thoughtful presents you can give a wine lover.
For a limited time, get 20% off all annual gift memberships by entering promo code FORMUM26 at checkout. Offer ends 17 March.
Member
$135
/year
Ideal for wine enthusiasts
- Access 290,611 wine reviews & 15,951 articles
- Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
Inner Circle
$249
/year
Ideal for collectors
- Access 290,611 wine reviews & 15,951 articles
- Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
- Early access to the latest wine reviews & articles, 48 hours in advance
Professional
$299
/year
For individual wine professionals
- Access 290,611 wine reviews & 15,951 articles
- Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
- Early access to the latest wine reviews & articles, 48 hours in advance
- Commercial use of up to 25 wine reviews & scores for marketing
Business
$399
/year
For companies in the wine trade
- Access 290,611 wine reviews & 15,951 articles
- Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
- Early access to the latest wine reviews & articles, 48 hours in advance
- Commercial use of up to 250 wine reviews & scores for marketing
More Tasting articles
Tasting articles
Celebrating wine from clay in southern Portugal. 1,900 wine lovers can’t be wrong. In November last year they thronged to...
Tasting articles
124 wines reviewed, revealing assorted treasures buried in the far south-western corner of Australia. See also Visiting Great Southern. The...
Tasting articles
Proof that Rioja remains a terrific source of mature wines at excellent prices. Above, one of the vineyards of El...
Tasting articles
Plus a selection of top-quality wines made at sufficient scale that they can be found the world over. Above, Juan...
More from JancisRobinson.com
Wine news in 5
Plus mining concerns buying vineyard land in Australia and Champagne’s CO 2 emission goals raised. Above, red lines show major...
Free for all
Overstocked wine collectors round the world share their strategies. A much shorter version of this article is published by the...
Wines of the week
Not cheap but a good buy considering the flood of hedonistic flavour and texture in this organic and biodynamic champagne...
Mission Blind Tasting
Time to put all the details together and take a stab at determining what’s in your glass. Now that you’ve...
Travel tips
Discovering Western Australia’s wine wilderness. Come back tomorrow for reviews of wines from Great Southern. Wherever you stand in the...
Nick on restaurants
A gem for wine lovers in London’s Soho. Just part of its giant wine list (temporarily stolen) is shown above...
Wine news in 5
Also, news on Germany’s Henkell group buying out legendary Cava company Freixenet and legal challenges to France’s copper fungicide bans...
Free for all
If you’re looking for character, individuality and real significance, go Zin, from vines planted in another era of American history...