Franco Ziliani

Franco Ziliani (Francesco Ziliani, born 09/23/1956 in Milan, died in 2021[1]) was an Italian journalist, blogger and wine critic, with a specialty in Italian wines since 1985.[2] 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[3] 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.[4]

Ziliani has often criticised Angelo Gaja and his style of winemaking,[5] and frequently and controversially refers to James Suckling as "Giacomino Suckling" and his employer publication Wine Spectator as "Wine Speculator".[6][7]

A right-winger, Ziliani has been harshly criticized after he publicly declared he won't ever again review Giovanna Maccario's wines as a punishment for her pro-immigration stance.[8]

  1. ^ "Ziliani Franco". wein.plus (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  2. ^ Winepros.com.au. "Author profile: Franco Ziliani". Archived from the original on 2008-07-21. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  3. ^ Belfrage, Nicolas; Ziliani, Franco, Harpers (October 24, 2005). "In defence of our column". Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved January 8, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Murphy, Linda, jancisrobinson.com (April 4, 2008). "Montalcino vineyards update". Archived from the original on September 10, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ O'Keefe, Kerin, Decanter.com (March 3, 2004). "Gaja 'cold and soulless': Gambero Rosso". Archived from the original on April 20, 2005. Retrieved November 23, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Ziliani, Franco, vinowire.com (November 25th, 2008). Opinion: The best that Enotria has to offer? Reflections on the Wine Spectator Top 100 Archived 2008-12-07 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Ziliani, Franco, vinoalvino.org (November 10, 2008). James Suckling liquida il Brunello 2003, ma con alcune, doverose, eccezioni… Archived 2010-07-06 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian)
  8. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2022-02-12.