Italy's new Pinot Noir crack corps

Italy’s love of French vine varieties is indisputable. Even if there is a distinct cooling of interest in the international market in favour of more esoteric indigenous varieties, many Italian wine producers continue to see France’s best-known vines as ‘ameliorating’ and use them either to beef or glam up their local ones, or to make varietal wines that are copies of the French originals in the hope of a suitable financial return. 

Pinot Noir is no exception to the rule, and as a blending partner is used almost exclusively in sparkling wines, most famously in Franciacorta and TrentoDoc. Until recently...