James Suckling is a wine critic and the CEO and publisher of the wine media platform, JamesSuckling.com.

He hosts some very nice wine tastings around the world throughout the year. This past June in New York, he held Great Wines World. It was a mega tasting with two days of 800 worldwide wines that had scored 90+ points on his rating scale.

This past September 3 & 4 he held the New York leg of his Great Wines Italy wine tour. It was a smaller event than the Wines World with “only” 300 wines from all the regions of Italy.

Italy is one of the great wine producing countries of the world with wine a part of Italian culture for thousands of years. The country is one big vineyard with home to over 1,300 grape varieties so Suckling and his team had plenty to choose from.

This was a walk around tastings open to both trade and the public, I attended on Wednesday evening.

Some of what I sampled:

2023 Tenuta di Montefoscoli “Vacevoli” (Tuscany): Clear dark gold, sweet tropical fruit on the nose, juicy pineapple notes with moderate acidity.

2011 Zyme Amarone “La Mattonara” (Veneto): Opaque dark red, tar, forest floor and crushed red berries on the nose, chunky dark chocolate fruit ending with silky, firm tannin.

2017 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona “Pianrosso” (Tuscany): Clear light brick, sweet tar and cooked vegetable on the nose, juicy fruit with cola notes, firm finish.

2018 Cotarella Le Macioche Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany): Clear medium brick, smoke and sweet cooked fruit on the nose with peppery, silky red fruit.

2018 Zyme Amarone (Veneto): Clear medium brick, tree bark on the nose, juicy, moderate fruit with herb notes on the balanced finish.

2019 Pian delle Querci Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Il Piccho “Serbolino” (Tuscany): Clear light brick, tar and toasty milk chocolate on the nose, toasty dark chocolate fruit with a nice grip.

2020 Sordo Barolo “Monprivato” (Piedmont): Clear light brick, minty tar on the nose, moderate red fruit with a nice grip at the end.

2020 Boschetto Campacci “Masgalano” (Tuscany): 100% Merlot. Opaque dark red, brick rim, stinky tar on the nose, chunky and chewy ending with a good grip.

2021 Antonutto Rosso “Poppone” (Friuli-Venezia-Giulia): A blend of Merlot and Pignolo. Opaque dark red, toasty dark chocolate on the nose, chewy dark fruit with chocolate notes, nice balance.

2021 Ca ‘Viola Barolo “Caviot” (Piedmont): Clear light brick, toasty forest floor on the nose, tight fruit ending with big tannins.

2021 Kloster Neustift Pinot Nero Riserva “Praepositus” (Alto Adige): Clear light red, toasty spice on the nose, light and spicy fruit, some tartness on the finish.

2023 Tenuta Liliana Cabernet Sauvignon (Tuscany): Clear medium purple, band aid notes on the nose, toasty red fruit, moderate acids.