Jumbo Shrimp Guide to Italian Wine - Foreword

Welcome to the Jumbo Shrimp Guide to Italian Wine. This guide is an instant book, and hopefully one of many in an ongoing series. The idea is not original; a quick introduction to the complicated and yet fascinating topic of Italian wine.

We are lucky to have four dedicated and enthusiastic writers on board and whilst each one of them was vigorously opposed to the “Jumbo Shrimp” oxymoron title of the series, they lost - there is no democracy in the world nowadays! In all seriousness, the Four Musketeers (Rebecca, Jacopo, Lyka and Lan) have managed to make a seemingly dense and unapproachable subject one that can be enjoyed with humor and lightness, without taking away from the intricacies that make it great.

The thing that unites the book is that it is Italian wine seen through the eyes of people who love it, who are immersed in it, but who aren't necessarily Italian (okay, okay we threw in a Ligurian to keep us in check! ). The aim is a simple guide to Italian wine, useful information, but also fun facts and some frivolities. It should educate but also amuse. How to read this book and how much time is needed?

Whilst our initial inspiration for a short book came from Jancis Robinson's The 24-hr Wine Expert, (thank you very much Ms. Robinson!), our objective was not so much that you should become an Italian Wine Expert simply by reading this book (there are other more painful ways of becoming an Italian Wine expert, for that go to the back of the book for more info on the Vinitaly International Academy), but to begin the Italian wine conversation.

You can read the entire book once, not necessarily in order, but more importantly you can go back to find some anecdotes and fun facts to impress your fellow wine lovers! We hope that some parts of this Jumbo Shrimp Guide will navigate you on your way to exploring more about Italian wine, and have you looking forward to the next book in the series.

What's more, we've transformed parts of the book into an audio series for the Italian Wine Podcast, so now you can literally take your Jumbo Shrimp Guide wherever you go using your favorite podcast platform. This book was a labor of love. Even for a small book like this, there was an incredible amount of coordination, generosity and time dedicated by every member of the team. In addition to the authors, I'd like to thank the talented Silvia with her fun drawings and Andrea who manned the entire project patiently but rigorously, respecting the timeline. We love Italian wine, we hope you will too, even more after this book!