I grew up with wine. In Piemonte, where we lived, farmers used to make Moscato. As a child, I was allowed to put my mouth under a filter that was filled with wood chips, and drink. It was a wonderful, sweet must; extremely fruity and perfumed. Even as a five- or six-year-old, I was often coming home tipsy.
Since then, Italian wine has slowly got better and better, and, today, France no longer dominates. Sure, you can still get fantastic French wine, but you can also get excellent Italian wine – Allegrini and Masi for example, produce some wonderful, gentle Amarone from the Veneto – and at a fraction of the cost. Truly, this is Italy’s year.
Things started to change when Italian winemakers looked at the impact French wine was having on Europe. French technicians were brought to Italy, who then helped produce the famous Solaia and Tignanello wines – rich, wonderful wines both from Tuscany – and many more, which are comparable with the best French wines. Forgotten grapes, such as the Ansonica grape from Sicily, were rediscovered.
When I first worked in England, back in 1975, as a wine merchant, I used to sell wine to Italian restaurants. It was hard going: they always wanted the cheapest available. They knew nothing about wines that came from outside their region, and I had to educate them.
As the quality of Italian wine improved, so prices became more competitive, and restaurants happily bought the good wine I was trying to sell them and used them as house wines. The customers were also satisfied: they knew they were getting good Italian wine to go with their food.
Today, the English no longer see France as dominating the wine market. Walk into Majestic, or Waitrose – the supermarket that has always had the best selection of Italian wines – and you’ll find the best wine without paying a superior price.
Antonio Carluccio’s book Italia (£25, Quadrille) is out now.
