Napoleonic Wines

The Invasion of French Varietals into Italian Soil
(a seminar conducted February 18th, 2010)
The premise of this seminar and tasting is an investigation of wines made in Italy using varietals of French origin. Let’s start by noting that tracking of the movement of grape varietals across international borders is not unlike marking the evolution of any large cultural shift, i.e. language, art, music, et cetera. Timelines to record these changes are intrinsically fuzzy, and the material of concern, namely vitis vinifera in our case, is a constantly evolving population.