{"api":{"host":"https:\/\/pinot.decanter.com","authorization":"Bearer ODU0YzZhNGZlYWI2ZmE0OTM0MWYzMThlMmQxZDI2ZDUyOGMwNzZkYWQ1NTgyMTg1N2Q5YTNkMWQ4ZmRhMGI0Mg","version":"2.0"},"piano":{"sandbox":"false","aid":"6qv8OniKQO","rid":"RJXC8OC","offerId":"OFPHMJWYB8UK","offerTemplateId":"OFPHMJWYB8UK","wcTemplateId":"OTOW5EUWVZ4B"}}

PREMIUM

Experimental Italy: Three producers defying convention

Trailblazers in some of Italy’s most traditional areas have been ripping up the rulebook to bring about new expressions of wines, to meet the changing preferences of today’s consumers. We meet three at the vanguard in their respective regions.

In 1983, the first French oak barriques arrived in Barolo. Elio, son of Giuseppe Altare, who had founded his estate in La Morra in 1948, had seen first-hand the affluence of winemakers in Burgundy during a visit to the region in the 1970s.

The situation there was in stark contrast to that in the Langhe, northwest Italy, where producers were struggling to make ends meet.

Returning to the family estate and inspired by what he had seen, in the summer of 1978, Elio began removing unripened bunches of grapes from the vines in the manner of the Burgundian winemakers, much to his father’s horror.


Scroll down to seen notes and scores for six wines Italian wines that defy convention



See notes and scores for six brilliantly boundary-pushing Italian wines

Wines are ordered by colour then score


Related articles

Italy’s future greats: 10 wineries from Piedmont to Campania nominated by their peers

Decanter’s rare finds: A journey through Italy’s lesser-known varieties

Bolgheri 2021: Overview of a milestone vintage and top-scorers

Latest Wine News