Kerin O'Keefe

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Kerin O'Keefe
Kerin O'Keefe 3.jpg
BornBoston
OccupationWine Critic and Author
Website
kerinokeefe.com

Kerin O'Keefe is a wine critic specialized in Italian wine and author of four books. She reviews wines and writes articles on the growing areas, wines and producers for kerinokeefe.com. [1]

Contents

O'Keefe was Italian Editor for Wine Enthusiast from May 2013 [2] until June 2022. [3] From 2002 to 2013, she wrote regularly on Italian wine for Decanter and from 2004 for The World of Fine Wine. She was also Contributing Editor for The Wine News from 2003 to 2009. [4] [2]

Career

Kerin O’Keefe holds a degree in English literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and also studied English and American literature for a year at the University of East Anglia. [5] O'Keefe has a keen interest in fine Italian wine made from autochthonous grape varieties. [5] She has been acknowledged to be "one of the great wine commentators on Italy" [6] and "a critic in the best sense of the word, not shy with her opinions, which she offers without polemics or bluster." [7]

She won the Premio Consorzio Brunello di Montalcino in 2008 [8] for her cover article "Brunello de-con-struct-ed" in the Oct-Nov 2007 issue of The Wine News. [9] She was named Honorary Knight by the Ordine dei Cavalieri del Tartufo e dei Vini di Alba on April 7, 2017. [10]

Books

Her first book was published in Italian by Luigi Veronelli in 2004: Franco Biondi Santi. Il gentleman del Brunello. [4] She authored the English edition of the book in 2005, Franco Biondi Santi. The Gentleman of Brunello, a recipient of a Gourmand Wine Books Award. [2]

Brunello di Montalcino - Understanding and Appreciating One of Italy's Greatest Wines, (University of California Press, 2012), gave Montalcino and its wines the in-depth treatment they deserved. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

Her latest book, Barolo and Barbaresco - The King and Queen of Italian Wine, (University of California Press, 2014), filled a gap in the wine literature [17] by helping consumers understand the differences among the various sub-zones of Barolo and Barbaresco. [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]

Kerin O'Keefe
Cavalieri del Tartufo.jpg
Speaking at Grinzane Cavour castle to the Ordine dei Cavalieri del Tartufo e dei Vini di Alba

Contentions

In The Times Literary Supplement Tim Crane put her in the Clive Coates/Michael Broadbent camp of wine critics, rather than in the Robert Parker camp of "loud and fruity descriptions". [16]

Her article "Rebels without a cause? The demise of Super-Tuscans" [24] was discussed by Eric Asimov in The New York Times and spurred a lively debate on the merits of Super-Tuscans. [25]

The Brunellopoli scandal was not a surprise for O'Keefe, [5] [14] as she had been questioning Brunellos which were suspiciously dark and without the typical aromas of pure Sangiovese wines for years. [11] [15] [26] O'Keefe wrote in 2003 that many of 1997 Brunellos she had tasted: "were so jammy it was hard to believe they were Brunello", [27] in 2006 that: "illicit blending with other grapes, to make luminous ruby-garnet color unnaturally darker, is staunchly denied on all official fronts" [28] and in 2007 that: "Doubts can only remain in the face of some of the darker, impenetrable Brunellos sometimes seen". [9]

O'Keefe opposes the view held by many about the so-called American Palate, or the preference for highly oaked, sweet and powerful wines. She maintains it is a crass stereotype to believe that an entire nation has a uniform taste with respect to wine. [29] She argued instead that US wine drinkers have shown a growing appetite for more balanced and drinkable wines. [30]

O'Keefe has also been critical of the tendency of some Italian wine producers to "equate what they call un vino importante with overwhelming sensations of French oak." [26]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barolo</span> Type of Italian red wine

Barolo is a red denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) wine produced in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is made from the nebbiolo grape and is often described as one of Italy's greatest wines.

<i>Denominazione di origine controllata</i> Quality assurance label for Italian wine products

The following four classifications of wine constitute the Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sangiovese</span> Wine making grape

Sangiovese is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin sanguis Jovis, "blood of Jupiter".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brunello di Montalcino</span> Italian red wine

Brunello di Montalcino is a red DOCG Italian wine produced in the vineyards surrounding the town of Montalcino, in the province of Siena, located about 80 km south of Florence, in the Tuscan wine region. Brunello, a diminutive of bruno, is the name that was given locally to what was believed to be an individual grape variety grown in Montalcino. In 1879 the province of Siena's Amphelographic Commission determined, after a few years of controlled experiments, that Sangiovese and Brunello were the same grape variety, and that the former should be its designated name. In Montalcino the name Brunello evolved into the designation of the wine produced with 100% Sangiovese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian wine</span> Wine making in Italy

Italian wine is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the country with the widest variety of indigenous grapevine in the world, with an area of 702,000 hectares under vineyard cultivation, as well as the world's second largest wine producer and the largest exporter as of 2023. Contributing 49.8 million hl of wine in 2022, Italy accounted for over 19.3% of global production, ahead of France (17.7%) and Spain (13.8%); the following year, production decreased by 11.5 million hl, and Italy was surpassed by France. Italian wine is also popular domestically among Italians, who consume a yearly average of 46.8 litres per capita, ranking third in world wine consumption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decanter</span> Vessel to hold a liquid

A decanter is a vessel that is used to hold the decantation of a liquid which may contain sediment. Decanters, which have a varied shape and design, have been traditionally made from glass or crystal. Their volume is usually equivalent to one standard bottle of wine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbaresco</span> Italian red wine

Barbaresco is an Italian wine made with the Nebbiolo grape. Barbaresco is produced in the Piedmont region in an area of the Langhe immediately to the east of Alba and specifically in the comunes of Barbaresco, Treiso and Neive plus that area of the frazione San Rocco Seno d'Elvio which was once part of the comune of Barbaresco and now belongs to the comune of Alba. It was granted Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) status in 1966 and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita status in 1980. The wine is often compared with Barolo—another Nebbiolo-based wine from the Piedmont area. Though the wines do share many similarities, there are some distinct differences between them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuscan wine</span> Notable wine region in Italy

Tuscan wine is Italian wine from the Tuscany region. Located in central Italy along the Tyrrhenian coast, Tuscany is home to some of the world's most notable wine regions. Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano are primarily made with Sangiovese grape whereas the Vernaccia grape is the basis of the white Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Tuscany is also known for the dessert wine Vin Santo, made from a variety of the region's grapes. Tuscany has forty-one Denominazioni di origine controllata (DOC) and eleven Denominazioni di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG). In the 1970s a new class of wines known in the trade as "Super Tuscans" emerged. These wines were made outside DOC/DOCG regulations but were considered of high quality and commanded high prices. Many of these wines became cult wines. In the reformation of the Italian classification system many of the original Super Tuscans now qualify as DOC or DOCG wines but some producers still prefer the declassified rankings or to use the Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) classification of Toscana. Tuscany has six sub-categories of IGT wines today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenuta San Guido</span> Italian wine producer

Tenuta San Guido is an Italian wine producer in the DOC Bolgheri in Toscana, known as a producer of "Super Tuscan" wine. It produces Sassicaia, a Bordeaux-style red wine. The estate also produces a second wine, Guidalberto, and a third wine, Le Difese. Tenuta San Guido is member of the Primum Familiae Vini.

<i>Brunellopoli</i> 2008 scandal

Brunellopoli is the name given by Italian press for a scandal involving producers of Brunello di Montalcino under suspicion of wine fraud, first reported by Italian wine journalist Franco Ziliani and American wine critic James Suckling of Wine Spectator. The name "Brunellopoli" bears reference to Tangentopoli, or Bribesville, the Italian political scandal of the 1990s, while some English language reporters have applied the name "Brunellogate".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franco Ziliani</span> Italian wine critic

Franco Ziliani was an Italian journalist, blogger and wine critic, with a specialty in Italian wines since 1985. He has contributed to several periodicals including Decanter, A Tavola, Barolo & Co. and Merum, Il Corriere Vinicolo, De Vinis, The World of Fine Wine, as well as a column for Harpers Magazine with Nicolas Belfrage MW with whom he has also contributed to Tom Stevenson's annual Wine Report. Ziliani and Jeremy Parzen launched VinoWire.com in March 2008, to provide an English language news service on the subject of Italian wine. Ziliani has since been credited by La Repubblica with first breaking the 2008 Brunello scandal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaja (wine)</span> Italian wine

Gaja is an Italian wine producer from the Piemonte region in the district of Langhe, chiefly producing a number of Barbaresco and Barolo wines, and later diversified into Brunello di Montalcino and "Super Tuscan" production. Its current owner and president Angelo Gaja is credited with developing techniques that have revolutionised winemaking in Italy, and terms such as "the undisputed king of Barbaresco", and "the man who dragged Piedmont into the modern world" have been applied to him, and whose Barbaresco wine is considered a status symbol on a par with Château Lafite Rothschild or Champagne Krug.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruno Giacosa</span> Italian wine producer (died 2018)

Bruno Giacosa was an Italian wine producer from the village Neive in the Langhe region (Piemonte), who produced a number of Barbaresco and Barolo wines, as well as bottlings of Arneis, Barbera, Dolcetto and a sparkling wine. Wines produced from owned vineyards are bottled under the label Azienda Agricola Falletto , wines from bought grapes or from grapes from leased vineyards under the label Casa Vinicola Bruno Giacosa. In terms of the production of Nebbiolo, Giacosa was considered a traditionalist. He has been described as the "Genius of Neive".

Fiorano was an Italian wine-producing estate owned by Alberico Boncompagni Ludovisi, a prince of Venosa of the Ludovisi family, active during a period from the late 1940s to 1995. Fiorano is situated in the vicinity of Rome near the Via Appia Antica in the Latium district. Famed wine writer Burton Anderson dubbed Fiorano's wines 'the noblest Romans of them all' in his 1980 anthology Vino. The estate, its methods, wines and its proprietor were all noted for their unorthodoxy in comparison to norms of the wine industry. Though limited in terms of fame, the red wine and two white wines produced at Fiorano during its period of activity achieved reputations for innovation and longevity. Since the late 1960s a small number of devout 'cognoscenti', especially among restaurant owners in Rome, knew about the extraordinary qualities of the two whites Fiorano Bianco and Fiorano Riserva Semillon, and overcame numerous obstacles in order to get the wines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aldo Conterno</span>

Aldo Conterno was an Italian winemaker of eponymous wine producer Poderi Aldo Conterno from the Piemonte region in the district of Langhe, chiefly producing Barolo wines. The winery is located in Monforte d'Alba, and Conterno was widely ranked among Piemonte's foremost producers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Case Basse di Gianfranco Soldera</span> Italian wine producer

Azienda Agricola Case Basse di Gianfranco Soldera, commonly referred to as Case Basse or Soldera, is an Italian wine producer located in Montalcino, Tuscany, producing highly priced wine declared under DOCG Brunello di Montalcino. It was owned by Gianfranco Soldera from 1972 until his death on February 16, 2019, at age 82.

Burton Anderson is an American writer. A native of Minnesota, he is the former editor of the International Herald Tribune in Paris. He lives in Italy and writes about wine, food, and travel. The New York Times called him "the leading authority on Italian wines writing in English."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franco Biondi Santi</span> Italian winemaker

Franco Biondi Santi was an Italian winemaker, most known for producing Brunello di Montalcino, a red wine produced only in Montalcino, Tuscany.

Countess Noemi Marone Cinzano is an Italian businessperson. A wine personality, she is known for owning many well established vineyards and Cinzano Glass. Her flagship wine is considered to be Noemía de Patagonia.

Giorgio Pinchiorri is an Italian sommelier. He is the cofounder with Annie Féolde of the Enoteca Pinchiorri restaurant in Florence.

References

  1. ↑ @kerinokeefe (October 21, 2022). "kerinokeefe.com is up & running" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 3 "Kerin O'Keefe Named New Italian Editor for Wine Enthusiast Magazine". Wine Business. 22 April 2013.
  3. ↑ @kerinokeefe (June 24, 2022). "Here's some personal news: I've resigned from Wine Enthusiast" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. 1 2 Bordoni, Jessica (Summer 2016). "The wine writer". Exploring Taste.
  5. 1 2 3 Speller, Walter (26 March 2013). "Kerin O'Keefe's Montalcino subzones". JancisRobinson.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  6. ↑ O’Doherty, Paul (2 January 2015). "Books of the year 2014". JancisRobinson.com.
  7. ↑ Asimov, Eric (10 December 2014). "Sip and Turn a Page". The New York Times .
  8. ↑ KFS (Oct–Nov 2008). "Resident Italian expert earns high Brunello honors" (PDF). Wine News.
  9. 1 2 O'Keefe, Kerin (October–November 2007). "Brunello de-con-struct-ed". The Wine News. Archived from the original on 23 November 2007.
  10. ↑ "I Cavalieri del Tartufo e dei Vini d'Alba hanno incontrato la "Wine Enthusiast" Kerin O'Keefe". TargatoCN. 9 April 2017.
  11. 1 2 Dawson, Evan (28 March 2012). "An Honest Look at Brunello". Palate Press.
  12. ↑ O'Doherty, Paul (26 December 2012). "2012 wine books - Italy". JancisRobinson.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  13. ↑ Maresca, Tom (4 June 2012). "The Best Brunello Book Yet". Tom's Wine Line.
  14. 1 2 Certomà, Chiara (November 2013). "Book Review - Brunello di Montalcino". Journal of Wine Research. 24 (4): 328–330. doi:10.1080/09571264.2013.858855. S2CID   97689160.
  15. 1 2 Levenberg, Keith (2012). "Brunello's true believer". The World of Fine Wine (37): 38–39.
  16. 1 2 Crane, Tim (1 August 2012). "The Grace Kelly of wine" (PDF). The Times Literary Supplement .
  17. ↑ Bonné, Jon (3 October 2014). "A bounty of books about wine and spirits". San Francisco Chronicle .
  18. ↑ Asimov, Eric (29 October 2014). "Good Barolo rewards patience". The New York Times .
  19. ↑ Taylor, Charles S. (2015). "Barolo and Barbaresco: the King and Queen of Italian Wine". Journal of Wine Research. 26 (1): 66–68. doi:10.1080/09571264.2015.1009016. S2CID   93292457.
  20. ↑ Belfrage, Nicolas (2015). "A measured, informative and very readable tour of Barololandia". The World of Fine Wine (48): 52–53.
  21. ↑ Maresca, Tom (17 October 2014). "A New Book on Barolo & Barbaresco". Tom's Wine Line.
  22. ↑ McCarthy, Ed (9 September 2014). "A Great, New Book on Barolo and Barbaresco". Wine Review Online.
  23. ↑ Dawson, Evan (28 June 2015). "Barolo and Barbaresco: A Conversation with Kerin O'Keefe". Palate Press.
  24. ↑ O'Keefe, Kerin (2009). "Rebels without a cause? The demise of Super-Tuscans". The World of Fine Wine (23): 94–99.
  25. ↑ Asimov, Eric (13 April 2009). "Are Super-Tuscans Still Super?". The New York Times .
  26. 1 2 Day, Kevin (4 March 2022). "A Life in Wine with Kerin O'Keefe". Opening a Bottle.
  27. ↑ O'Keefe, Kerin (February–March 2003). "Vintage of a Lifetime". The Wine News.
  28. ↑ O'Keefe, Kerin (2006). "Brunello's Moment of Truth". The World of Fine Wine (11): 74–80.
  29. ↑ O'Keefe, Kerin (April 2011). "US love affair with Italy". Decanter .
  30. ↑ O'Keefe, Kerin (2012). "Italy and the American Palate: debunking the myth". The World of Fine Wine (37): 79–83.


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