Terroir - The Winelibrary's Oenophile Journal

A deeper look at wine and the people, places, and cultures from which they grow.

What is "Terroir"? A wine growing area`s unique physical characteristics: soil type, vineyard steepness and compass orientation, long- and short-term weather patterns, and prevailing local winemaking styles and techniques.

An Interview with Franco Cesconi of Azienda Agricola Cesconi

Posted: August 7th, 2006

Azienda Agricola Cesconi is truly a family affair. The patriarch, Paolo, is ably assisted by his four sons Franco, Alessandro, Roberto and Lorenzo ...

An Interview with Claudio Cipressi of CANTINE CIPRESSI

Posted: July 21st, 2006

Located in the Molise region, which is bordered by the regions of Puglia, Campania, Lazio, Abruzzo, and the Adriatic Sea, Cantine Cipressi is directed by its young founder, Claudio Cipressi.. . .

Verdicchio – Is it Italy’s greatest white grape variety?

Posted: May 25th, 2006

The first thoughts about Italian wine are almost always of reds: the “big B’s” (Brunello, Barolo, Barbaresco) Chianti, Valpolicella . . .

Emidio Pepe - A Peculiar Lodestar in a Crowded Sky

Posted: March 14, 2006

Many a vigneron will self-identify as a “purist” or a “traditionalist”, but Emidio Pepe and his daughters take these terms to new extremes . . .

Tiny Bubbles

Posted: April 24th, 2006

It seems that within the last ten years or so, the drinking public has finally begun to turn the corner in making substantive. . .

The Sugar and Alcohol Problem

Posted: April 7, 2006

t seems painfully obvious to say that alcohol is one of the major pillars that hold up the edifice that we know as “wine” – it is an integral . . .