Twenty Years of DiWineTaste

 Twenty years. DiWineTaste officially enters its twentieth year, twenty years since – for the first time – DiWineTaste became a reality and the first issue was introduced to the Internet readers which, at that time, was only available in PDF format. Very far from what DiWineTaste has become today, that first issue was the realization of my idea of how to tell and write about wine. It however was a successful event – that first issue – which went way beyond my most optimistic forecasts. The novelty of a “new publication” was certainly also because of the fact, by choice and from the very beginning, it was published on the Internet only. That first issue, available in PDF format only, was in fact downloaded, by counting the total of the two Italian and English editions, by over 6000 readers. Many will notice this is the umpteenth time I am telling about this primordial event of DiWineTaste, and often on the occasion of “special events”, however it is an undeniable fact it was a significant event.

 I always like to recall the moment when DiWineTaste began its journey, officially started with the publication of our Internet website. It was September 9th, 2002 at 10:10PM: a simple command sent from my computer, and DiWineTaste website was made visible to the enonauts of cyberspace. The wine chosen for the inaugural toast of that event – not surprisingly – was what Admiral Horace Nelson called “victory wine” and one of my absolute favorites: Marsala. Specifically, it was a 1987 Marsala Vergine. Talking about wine on the Internet, in 2002, was really something still very far from the enoic invasion of our days. There were already websites dedicated to wine, published in various ways and forms, a periodical publication like DiWineTaste – which had in its primary goal to do independent wine review – definitely was a one-of-a-kind event. The choice – my choice – to make a publication dedicated to wine and available on the Internet only was, in 2002, something absolutely new and probably well ahead of its time.

 Twenty years in the course of which thousands of wines and hundreds of spirits have been poured into our glasses, evaluated by the judgment of our senses. Moreover, the events – currently suspended due to the socio-health condition imposed by the pandemic from Covid-19 – with which we brought hundreds of wines and spirits produced by the wineries reviewed in DiWineTaste into the glasses of our readers. To these should be added the countless courses and classes dedicated to the tasting and sensorial analysis of wine and spirits, including those about enogastronomy and pairing with food. Sometimes we have covered the subject of beer, by also dedicating to the beverage of Ceres some of our events and our sensorial analysis classes. I have always been convinced the best way to understand a wine or a distillate – and the same is for food and beer – is to have it in your glass, the training in subjects related to sensorial and organoleptic evaluation have been a fundamental part of the development of DiWineTaste.

 After all, I have never made any secret of what my primary interest is, also and above all in the professional field, relating to wine, spirits and food, mainly made by technical aspect linked to the sensorial analysis and physico-chemical characteristics. This has strongly influenced the editorial line of DiWineTaste, therefore based on subjects about organoleptic and sensorial evaluation, preferably relating to technical matters. These are the reasons which have always seen me scarcely and relatively interested in the sensationalist side of wine, including the extreme trivialization of certain topics which, despite being for many linked to the primary expression of wine, to me, they have little meaning to the effective and real understanding of wine. I am of course aware that, in any case, the emotional aspect is an important part of wine, spirits and food, I however believe these are aspects of simplification useful for describing wines according to basic narrative schemes and in a way that – I believe – in the end they tell very little or nothing about what a wine really is.

 It is with this vision that we have tried to tell –  over these twenty years – wine as a subject and all the wines and spirits that have been poured in our glasses. The very same vision with which we have always tried to describe wines, spirits and beers during our events and our sensorial and organoleptic evaluation classes. Of course, it is difficult to predict what DiWineTaste's next years will be like, starting from this twentieth, however I believe the way to evaluate and tell the wines will remain practically unchanged. There will certainly be things that will change – after all, in the course of these twenty years, many things have changed in what we do – however I am still convinced this is the way to describe a wine or distillate. Because I am convinced that, first and foremost, wine speaks with its own words, those emerging from the glass and that we listen with our primary senses.

 This is because – substantially speaking – the aspects in which I am mainly interested in wine and spirits are those related to technical, productive and sensorial matters, the results of which are expressed by the glass, without filters and evocative or fairy-tale expedients. Among the technical and production aspects, of course, I also include the fundamental and essential environmental, agronomic and human factors, clearly indispensable and decisive for the production of wine and spirits. I am also convinced, for the sake of clarity, wine and spirits are very effective and extraordinary vectors of emotions, flawless creators of sensations, not least, magnificent and indispensable elements to celebrate good company, especially at the table. As far as I am concerned, I always neglect these important roles of wine and spirits whenever I deal with sensorial and analytical tasting, likewise, I neglect these latter elements whenever I am in good company and cheered by good wine and spirits.

 The twenty years of DiWineTaste – without a shadow of a doubt – have also been possible thanks to the support and “presence” of our readers from all over the world and that, by considering the two editions in Italian and English languages, they are a little under 160.000 every month. To them, there is no doubt, my and our personal gratitude for having helped us to get here, both with their love and with the many suggestions that in all these years have been useful to improve DiWineTaste. A dutiful and equal thanks undeniably goes to all producers, winemakers, vintners, distillers, wineries and distilleries who have allowed us to talk about their wines and spirits in our pages and guides, many of them have also personally taken part to our events and courses. Twenty years, therefore, which we ideally celebrate with you all and which represent an important milestone for us, with the hope of sharing with you all, again and soon, endless glasses of good wine and fine spirits. Ad maiora! (Towards greater things!)