Tag Archive for: september 2019

After five highly fun and enjoyable years spent working with people the wine knowledge of which he respects immensely, Ian D’Agata has decided to move on from Vinous in order to engage in a different lifestyle and to accept a diversity of new challenges, such as for example increasing his work in wine education. Asked about his decision to leave Vinous, which by his own admission was not an easy one, Ian had this to say: “I can’t say enough good things about Vinous, just as I had nothing but absolutely fantastic things to say about my time at Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar. I never stopped learning and I am undoubtedly a better wine writer today because of those associations; but most importantly, I come away with memories I will cherish all my life. The people I worked with, from Antonio to Marzia, to Steve to Josh, to David and all the others on the team will remain my friends and I will always be happy to run into them in the vineyards and cellars of the world, or go out to lunch or dinner with. And anyways, I have been asked to write guest articles for them, and depending on time commitments and other work engagements, I will always be immensely happy and honoured to write an article for Vinous”.

So what pushed him to move on?

“After twenty years of basically tasting 400-500 wines a month or so non-stop, and I do mean non-stop every month, I had frankly had enough. It’s simply something I no longer wish to do. Instead, I wish to increase my role in wine education and help form the future wine stars of tomorrow, especially as referred to Italian wine, because I believe the current level of Italian wine education is poor at best. A lot more needs to be done in this regards. With the 3iC and yet another new international teaching institution I will be launching in 2020 – check out my next newsletter out in February 2020 ad eventual press releases for all the related info- I hope to help forward and better broadcast the quality of Italy’s and the world’s wines. Last but not least, I have been asked for a number of years now if I might like to consider directing a wine magazine, but I had always refused for I greatly enjoyed the day to day tasting of wines…but now the time has come to step back and let younger people write about the 400 wines of Puglia or Alto Adige or Jura or the Baden worth telling people about, and I will be happy to sit back and oversee that the work is done correctly and accurately. In ultimate analysis, it’s just a normal step in the career path of all wine writers…we start off as junior people writing occasionally while preparing/coordinating wine tastings and events, then we become staff wine writers, then editors and ultimately, if all goes well, the chief. I have always enjoyed new challenges and when I decide to take that plunge, I will. I know that more well written and in-depth articles on wine and food may not be the equivalent of finding a cure for cancer, but I firmly believe they are a small but significant step by which we can improve the world we live in and make it a better, healthier, happier place”.

Ian’s departure from Vinous was announced in September 2019; you can check out his last articles written for Vinous from August to December 2019.

NEW RELEASES: The wines of Abruzzo and Molise; The wines of Campania; FVG revisited: the new releases; Alto Adige’s mountain magic strikes again; The wines of Southern Italy.  VERTICALS:  Accornero Grignolino Bricco del Bosco Vignevecchie, Grosjean Petite Arvine Valled’Aosta, Gulfi Nerosanlorè, Schiopetto Friulano Collio, Tiberio Pecorino Colline Pescaresi; Venica Friulano Ronco delle Cime;  Volpe Pasini  Pinot Bianco Friuli Colli Orientali.