Beverages

From the vine to the wine

Section 8 is dedicated to beverages of all kinds, however a large part of the collection deals with wine, winemaking and tasting.

The enological books date back to the 19th century, some of the more significant of which are Fabbricati, recipienti ed utensili vinarj (1869); Sunto teorico pratico di Enologia (1888) by Carpené; Enologia teorico–pratica (1888) by Ottavi; Arte di fare il vino insegnata ai campagnoli (1885); and Cantiniere (1899) by Arnaldo Strucchi.

Then there are the books on wine tasting and pairing, including Il vino giusto (1971) and Matrimoni d’amore (2005) by Luigi Veronelli.

There is also a series on cooking with wine, which includes the following books: Cucinare con il vino, Grandi vini e ricette delle regioni Italiane, Vino a tavola e in cucina (1980) by Fernanda Gosetti and Giovanni Righi Parenti, and Vino in pentola (1977) by Vincenzo Bonassisi.

Wine and Culture

Wine is an amazing ambassador of flavor and culture. It is capable of brining people together and is the focal point of parties and fairs.

It is also full of symbolic meaning.

Many books have been written about the cultural significance of wine, including Storia naturale dei vini d’Italia e dei conviti degli antichi (1596) by Andrea Bacci; Il vero bevitore (Longanesi, 1963) by Paolo Monelli; Guida spirituale delle osterie Italiane da Verona a Capri (Voghera, 1909) by Hans Barth;  Vino al vino (Mondadori, 1969) by Mario Soldati; Svinatura by Paolo Francesco Carli; Le Undici conferenze sul vino, or “Twelve conferences on wine,” held in the winter of 1880 by Arturo Graf and Quando siam dall’oste insieme, by Giovanni Mariotti, published in 1931.

Italy and beyond

Here you will find books dedicated to famous wines throughout the world. When it comes to Italian wine, there are books on all the regional varieties like Barolo, Amarone, Prosecco, Valpolicella, Lambrusco, Chianti, Brunello, Verdicchio, Marsala and Vin Santo, just to name a few.

But there is also room for books on the great wines of France, like 4,000 Champagnes by Richard Juhlin and La Cave by Georges Blanc, which is decidedly the largest book in the Academia Barilla collection.

You can also find information on wines from Europe, America and Australia.

There is a special part of the group dedicated to Degustazione dei vini spumanti, or “Tasting sparkling wine,” and Vini della gioia, “Joyful Wines.”

Liquor, coffee and mineral water

In addition to wine, there are numerous books about liquors and distillates, including a book put out by the liquor company Liquori Vittorio Ardrizzoia di Vercelli, that includes over 300 different cocktail recipes.

Il nuovo e unico manuale completo del distillatore-liquorista (1857) is an interesting book written by Pietro Valsecchi, as is Il liquorista pratico compilato sui più recenti sistemi e senza il concorso della distillazione, by Luigi Sala (1911).

 

Specific shelves of the library are dedicated to Grappa, Cognac, and Brandy. Beer is addressed in Teoria e pratica della preparazione del malto e fabbricazione della birra by Pietro Wührer (Hoepli, 1948) e Birra nell’arte e nel costume by Ferruccia Cappi Bentivegna (Canesi, 1965), whereas information about coffee can be found in Caffaeum Carmen by Guillaume Massieu (1740,) Il caffè by Filippo Lussana (Padua: 1872), Biografia del caffè (Bompiani, 1936), Vida maravillosa y burlesca del cafè (Buenos Aires, 1945) and Dolce come l’amore, ovvero il caffè ieri e oggi (Ferro, 1972).

You can also find books on tea, juice, milk, soft drinks and mineral water, like L’acqua e le bevande gazzose by Louis Guillaume Figuier (Treves, 1882) and Le acque minerali artificiali by Michele Giua (Hoepli, 1914).