Nicolas Belfrage

MW
Born
Nicolas John Belfrage

19 July 1940 (1940-07-19)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died17 September 2022 (2022-09-18) (aged 82)
London, England
CitizenshipBritish, American
Alma materUniversity College London
Parent
Relatives

Nicolas Belfrage MW (19 July 1940 – 17 September 2022) was a British Master of Wine,[1] a wine writer and considered one of the foremost experts on Italian wine.[2][3]

Life and career

Belfrage was born in Los Angeles in 1940, the son of British socialist writer Cedric Belfrage and his wife Molly Castle.[4] He grew up in New York City and later in London where he was educated at St Paul's School on a scholarship.[5] He studied French and Italian at University College London.[6] He worked with Italian wine, either in the trade or as a writer, since the early 1970s and qualified as a Master of Wine in 1980, the first American to achieve this honor.[7]

Belfrage has contributed to publications such as Decanter, The World of Fine Wine, Wein Gourmet, and shared a column in Harpers Magazine with Franco Ziliani,[8] with whom he has also collaborated on contributions to Tom Stevenson's annual Wine Report.[9] For several years he has contributed the Italy section to Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book as well as to the Oz Clarke Pocket Wine Book.

Belfrage was involved commercially in wine since the early 1970s as buyer for various specialist wine merchants. In 1996 he founded Vinexus, a specialist Italian wine importer.[10]

Belfrage's sister was Sally Belfrage, his uncle was Bruce Belfrage and his great uncle was Bryan Powley.[11]

Belfrage relinquished United States citizenship in 2020.[12]

Belfrage died from complications of Parkinson's disease on 17 September 2022, at the age of 82.[13][14] He was survived by two daughters: Beatriz Belfrage (born 1988) and Ixta Belfrage (born 1991).[11]

Published works

  • Life beyond Lambrusco: understanding Italian fine wine (1985)[15]
  • Barolo to Valpolicella: The Wines of Northern Italy (1999)[16]
  • Brunello to Zibibbo: The Wines of Tuscany, Central and Southern Italy (2001)[17]
  • The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy (2009)[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Nicolas Belfrage MW". www.mastersofwine.org. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  2. ↑ Robinson, Jancis, jancisrobinson.com (1 October 2005). "Italian wine in the doldrums..."{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ "The Wine Society". www.thewinesociety.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  4. ↑ Fowler, Glenn (22 June 1990). "Cedric Belfrage, 85, Target of Communist Inquiry". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 June 2019 – via NYTimes.com.
  5. ↑ Obituary in The Times, 11 October 2022
  6. ↑ "Nicolas Belfrage MW - Chateau Monty". Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  7. ↑ The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy. Retrieved 22 June 2019 – via www.ucpress.edu.
  8. ↑ Belfrage, Nicolas; Ziliani, Franco (24 October 2005). "In defence of our column". Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010 – via harpers.co.uk.
  9. ↑ McCarthy, Ed; Ewing-Mulligan, Mary (2 November 2015). Wine For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781119118848. Retrieved 22 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ "Who we are". Vinexus Ltd. :: The Italian wine specialists. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  11. 1 2 "Ancestry® - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records". www.ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  12. ↑ "Quarterly Publication of Individuals, Who Have Chosen To Expatriate, as Required by Section 6039G". Federal Register. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  13. ↑ "Nicolas Belfrage MW". The Institute of Masters of Wine. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  14. ↑ Speller, Walter (25 October 2022). "Nicolas Belfrage obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  15. ↑ Belfrage, Nicolas; Robinson, Jancis (22 June 1985). Life beyond Lambrusco: understanding Italian fine wine. Sidgwick & Jackson. OCLC 925053987.
  16. ↑ Belfrage, Nicolas (22 June 2019). Barolo to Valpolicella: the wines of northern Italy. Mitchell Beazley. OCLC 938342019.
  17. ↑ Belfrage, Nicolas (22 June 2019). Brunello to Zibibbo: the wines of Tuscany, Central and Southern Italy. Mitchell Beazley. OCLC 51030764.
  18. ↑ Belfrage, Nicolas; Wyand, Jon; Fine Wine Editions (22 June 2019). The finest wines of Tuscany and Central Italy: a regional and village guide to the best wines and their producers. University of California Press. OCLC 317461664.
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