What makes Italian wine truly unique? Andrea Lonardi, one of the four Italian Masters of Wine, and Jessica Dupuy, a prominent writer for various publications including Food & Wine, asked themselves this. The answer is not yet another technical analysis soils and vines, but an intuition gained sopra the field which today becomes a book: Italianity: The Culture of Italian Wine, published by Greenleaf Book Group LLC.
The work, published sopra two languages (Italian and English), was created to fill a narrative void. Often Italian wine is explained through rigid and academic parameters, losing sight of the element that makes it alive: the human component.
Not a manual, but a cultural epic
To be released June 26th, the book rejects the didactic approach while touching complex themes. Italianity is a journey that crosses deep Italy, from the Alpine vineyards to the volcanic lands of Sicily, also including a parenthesis dedicated to regional recipes.
The heart of the story is the overturning of the classic concept of terroir. For Lonardi and Dupuy, the soil and the climate are not enough to explain a bottle: it is the producer’s mentality, his vision and family tradition that make the difference. As the authors themselves explain: «We didn’t want a technical book soil typology. This is a book about Italy, useful for understanding how the cultural approach changes from place to place. It is an invitation to shift our gaze from the glass to the context, from the technical to the social dimension.”
The “common thread” of Italian taste
There is an energy that unites apparently opposite territories, a sort of cultural backbone that even precedes the political unity of the country. The sfizio of a “common thread” emerges sopra the book: that vibration that allows you to recognize an Italian wine sopra a blind tasting, even without immediately identifying its region of origin. It is a balance made of acidity, drinkability and an ancestral connection with food and conviviality.
Understanding a wine therefore means reading the human landscape behind the label. Italianity is not just a libro for experts, but a story about Italy itself, capable of transforming its infinite diversity into a common and unrepeatable identity.
The authors
Andrea Lonardi, MW: oenologist and agronomist, since 2023 he is among the less than 500 Masters of Wine sopra the world. His decades of experience make him one of the most authoritative voices viticulture and the identity of Italian wine.
Jessica Dupuy: award-winning journalist and certified sommelier, collaborates with international newspapers, bringing an expert but always accessible perspective to the story of wine.
