Why does someone write a book about Italian wine? A wine blogger has the answer.

When Gertrude Stein published The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas in 1933, she wasn’t just sharing a portrait of her and her partner’s life with readers. One of the great critical theorists of the 20th century, Stein also presaged a concept that would become central to the deconstruction movement: no matter what story you are telling, you are telling your own story. The rub is in the title itself: Alice B. Toklas didn’t write the “autobiography.” Stein did.

To compose a monograph on Italian wine today is a herculean task. Giants have come before the would-be Italianist: Nicolas Belfrage (Life beyond Lambrusco, 1985; Brunello to Zibibbo, 2003); Burton Anderson (Vino, 1992); and Sheldon and Pauline Wasserman (Italy’s Noble Red Wines, 1991) — just to mention a few.

As scholarly and finely tuned as those books may have been, we must still read them with Stein in mind: the authors are recounting their own personal experiences and impressions of Italian wine. By telling the story of Italian wine, they are telling their own story. This can be said of nearly all wine writing, save for the most technical (like a lab analysis).

Kevin Day’s newly released, self-published love letter to Italian wine, Opening a Bottle: Italy (2025), is no compendium of Italian wine. The after-thought, scant sections devoted to important wine regions like Puglia and Emilia-Romagna disqualify the book from that Pantheon.

The author’s focus, like much of Italian wine enthusiasm today, is centered on Piedmont and Etna. And his “top 100” omits some of Italy’s most iconic wines.

But in my view, that’s the point: this beautifully photographed and meticulously scribed book offers a window into an Italian wine blogger’s journey as he reminds us of what makes Italian wine truly magical. Kevin doesn’t prescribe the Italian wines that we should be drinking. Instead, he tells us what he’s been drinking, inviting us to join him.

Kevin’s blog and book stand apart among on Italian wine scene today because of the authenticity of his curiosity. His agenda? To share his experience and hopefully inspire and thrill us along the way. He’s not gaming for access or preening for self-affirmation. He’s just digging Italian wine and that’s good enough for me. Check out his book and blog here.