An Italian Wine Reading List
Posted By Joel on October 18, 2010
Allow me to rewind this thread just a bit:
Recently, a fascinating concept caught my attention, the brainchild of @tirebouchon, born when he suggested use of the #tutor hashtag to support a wine learning / sharing initiative via the social media application Twitter.
The initiative summarizes a growing trend among enlightened wine appassionati to take responsibility for one’s own palate (learning), and help friends and wine lovers to do the same by acting as tutor-mentors who give advice and transfer knowledge via social internet (sharing).
It’s happening on Twitter. It’s happening on Vinix. And on Blogs. Everywhere.
AKA –> Real Wine Culture.
You can find more about #tutor here on @tirebouchon’s blog, including a list of friendly, helpful #tutors http://tirebouchon.tumblr.com/post/1276079404/tutor.
BTW: The extraordinary wealth of wine information on the internet Is Not always available in your first language. If you don’t already use Google’s Chrome browser with auto-translation, I politely suggest that you install it immediately. It will automatically render translations of foreign language web pages. If you’re an English speaker, for example, exposure, say, to the French, Italian or German conversation about wine and food oftentimes provides perspective invaluable to any real understanding of either topic.
Meanwhile, in the spirit of sharing, and since several persons have inquired, I list below a few books about Italian wine for home reading, available in English, which I have found to be interesting and helpful in their respective topics:
A Wine Atlas of the Langhe: The Great Barolo and Barbaresco Vineyards
Authored by Vittorio Manganelli and other writers, Published by Slow Food Editore, Edited by Carlo Petrini
ISBN 88-8499-041-6
Barolo to Valpolicella: The Wines of Northern Italy
Author, Nicholas Belfrage, Published by Faber & Faber LTD / Octopus Publishing Group LTD, London
ISBN 1 84000 901 2
Brunello di Montalcino
Author, Guelfo Magrini, Published by Morganti Editori sas
ISBN: 88-87549-27-3
Brunello to Zibibbo: The Wines of Tuscany, Centra and Southern Italy
Author, Nicholas Belfrage, Published by Faber & Faber LTD / Octopus Publishing Group LTD, London
ISBN 1 84000 790 7
Chianti and the Wines of Tuscany
Author, Rosemary George, first published for Sotheby’s Publiscations by Phiop Wilson Publishers Limited, London. In US, Rizzoli International Publications, New York
ISBN 1-55949-881-1
Italian Wine
Author, Victor Hazan, Published by Alfred Knopf, New York
ISBN 0-394-50266-3
Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy
Authors, Joseph Bastianich & David Lynch, Published by Clarkson Potter Publishers, New York
ISBN 0-609-60848-7
Wines of Italy
Author, Patricia Guy, published by Tide-mark Press LTD, Windsor, CT
ISBN 1-55949-881-1
Seems like a bit of work, you say? What’s the alternative? Believe me, you don’t want to know:
“Here’s a great bottle of wine, produced by one of our biggest advertisers, we gave it 97pts and just happen to have it available for your purchase today.”
Feelin’ motivated now ? 
About the author
Joel
Joel Mack has worked for a celebrated importer / distributor of Italian wines and continues to study the wines and winemaking of Italy. He has advised many restaurants in making their Italian wine list selections and has provided training to restaurant staff. Today, Joel conducts wine classes and leads specialized private and corporate tastings of Italian wines. Joel carried out his higher education at a highly regarded College of Music and continues to extend an artistic point of view to Italian wine, balanced with factual information about wine, its nature and identity. By day, he applies his time to collaborative software technology. Joel can be contacted at joel@vintrospective.com.Comments
2 Responses to “An Italian Wine Reading List”
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SALUTE! vino vivo. ohhh… bella italia.
your blog is really cool! cheersss….
Hi Bruce, nice to hear from you ! How’s the bike ???? Hope all is well, thanks for stopping by Vintrospective … — joel.