Åsa Johansson is Star Wine List's new Tuscany ambassador
Freelance wine writer Åsa Johansson can be read in international magazines such as Decanter, Quench Magazine and Corriere Vinicolo. Now she has taken on the role of Star Wine List's Tuscany ambassador and has created a guide to the best wine places in Florence and Tuscany.
"I am thrilled. Star Wine List is a great tool and community that I have been following since the beginning - and I am happy to be on board among colleagues I admire highly," she says about her new role.
Åsa Johansson is originally from Sweden but has lived in Italy since 2001. After a degree in Political Science and journalism at the University of Florence and a DipWSET in London, today she writes about wine, food, and travel for Swedish and international magazines like Decanter, Quench Magazine, Corriere Vinicolo, Food & Wine Italy, Svenska Dagbladet, Aperitif, Törst – and others. She has visited all twenty Italian regions and is travelling for a large part of the year.
"I studied Political Science for four years, and during the summers, I worked extra in a wine bar in the city centre. I got the job because I spoke English - I knew nothing about wine. I had no clue that this summer job would change my life completely," she says.
"I started studying wine in the evenings, and when I finished university, I got a job as a wine tour guide. Something that made me travel all over Italy and learn on the field, talking to the producers, seeing the vineyards, and discovering new things every day – and then I got hooked. I continued to study, taking the DipWSET in London - and wine became my life. I could not be happier."
Åsa has also started Sweden's first podcast about Italian wines, Italienpodden.se and makes her own Tuscan extra virgin oil, La Collina Blu. She goes back to Sweden regularly to give masterclasses and to teach at the new Swedish school of sommeliers, The Wine Hub, for which she also has written the step-two material about Italy.
She is also the ambassador in Sweden for HEVA – volcanic wines of Europe, and is often invited as a judge in wine competitions.
What are you looking forward to the most in your new ambassador role?
"I hope to be able to help create a bridge between the colourful wine and food community in Tuscany and the wine-loving crowd out there."
What makes a great wine list, in your opinion?
"Diversity and personality."
It was static and traditional for a long time, but things are changing now
Describe the wine scene in Tuscany in general and Florence in particular right now?
"The challenge in a city like Florence, with its incredible history and art treasures, is that the main focus is to maintain and not create. It has been the same thing with the wine and food scene. It was static and traditional for a long time, but things are changing now. A new young, ambitious, curious, and knowledgeable generation is stepping on the scene, making everything more fun and creative."
Any specific trends regarding wine venues in Tuscany right now?
"In the past and not that long ago, everything was about Tuscan wine from the most well-known areas, mainstream wine lists with mostly big players, and classic labels from other countries (read France). Today, there is a more open-minded wine scene with more international wines that help put Italian wines into a bigger context."
"Natural wine is big, of course, but there is also an increasing focus in lesser-known areas in Italy, small and artisanal, and considerable emphasis on the autochthonous Italian grape varieties."
Check out Åsa Johansson's guides to Florence and Tuscany below.
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