Italy 2012 – hell’s kitchen

Very hot, very dry, and very little – and prices are up.

Although Italy has been buzzing with opinions and comments on the 2012 vintage for weeks, the 'official' vintage assessment from Assoenologi, the Italian association of oenologists, traditionally comes at the very end of the harvest. As you would expect from an organisation whose members are hired by wine producers, it is moderate rather than radical in its comments. But even Assoenologi has had difficulty finding praise for 2012.

The just-published report sums up the 2012 vintage as '39.9 million hectolitres of heterogeneous quality'. Only a month earlier, Assoenologi...