Absolutely invaluable in my quest for uncovering order behind Italian wine classifications (there is none by the way). The only other in depth books that cover Italy so well are the Vino Italiano and Italian wine for dummies...trust me even though it is a dummies book it is well done.

This text covers Northern Italy while the companion, Brunello to Zibbibo covers everything from Tuscany south.

I am still working my way through it, but this is an extremely informative book. It contains tons of information about regions of Italian wines that are not often addressed. The lists of quality producers for each grape, region, etc. make it easier to have a safe choice when ordering from a wine list.

Nicolas Belfrage has used his extensive wine knowledge and more importantly his excellent understanding of Italy to write a book for the serious wine lover. Belfrage takes you completely across northern Italy and describes the wines of each area. While he doesn't give vintage charts for the wines, he does discuss the recognized better producers which allows the reader to find the wines and make his own decisions. More maps and some color pictures would have made the book more visually appealing, but would have increased the cost and made the book less travel friendly. It's definitely a condensed source of information that will prove very useful to the Italian tourist/wine traveler. I've been fortunate enough to have seen many of the wine areas in northern Italy. I wish I would have had this book with me. On my next trip, Belfrage's book will be packed in my carry-on.

Nicolas Belfrage has used his extensive wine knowledge and more importantly his excellent understanding of Italy to write a book for the serious wine lover. Belfrage takes you completely across northern Italy and describes the wines of each area. While he doesn't give vintage charts for the wines, he does discuss the recognized better producers which allows the reader to find the wines and make his own decisions. More maps and some color pictures would have made the book more visually appealing, but would have increased the cost and made the book less travel friendly. It's definitely a condensed source of information that will prove very useful to the Italian tourist/wine traveler. I've been fortunate enough to have seen many of the wine areas in northern Italy. I wish I would have had this book with me. On my next trip, Belfrage's book will be packed in my carry-on.

Those who have read the Faber & Faber guides to wine regions such as Burgundy, Alsace and the Rhýne valley and expect something similar, may be disappointed, but of course you can't squeeze that much into about 350 pages. What we get instead is a kind of long essay which covers Italy north of Tuscany. Belfrage still manages, almost miraculously, to cover quite a number of producers (including some that are not included in the Slow Food/Gambero Rosso annual guide to Italian wines), and, what's more, he gives you an idea of what's going on. A very useful update ten years after Burton Andreson's groundbreaking atlas. If you want to know more, you need to read Italian (and get the regional guides published by Slow Food).

This book is a disappointment ! Having bought other Faber books (publisher) I had expected a well-written walk-through of Northern Italy with extensive descriptions of many producers, many tasting notes and vintage charts.

Verdict ? There are absolutely no vintage charts, the description of the vineries are superficial, the book is badly organised (no headers to indicate where you are in the book, for quick look-ups) and generally no specifications to the producers individual Wines. To me, this is a 'blah-blah' book... Conclusion: NOT recommendable, neither to the amateur nor the 'pro'

I have been searching long and hard for a book on Italian wines that does seek to complicated an already difficult region and Mr Belfrage has succeded with aplomb.

The vineyard and wine description are concise, well laid aout and interesting to read. He raises intellegant points about producers and their wines and manages to encapsulate something of the spirit of this vast region.

Three cheers and I look forward to the Tuscan series.