What are the main food and wine publications in your country?

[magnolia]

Hi - I'm new to this site, someone from another food-oriented site to which frequently turned me on to it, and here I am.

I'm working on some articles that discuss the food and wine press in the major wine-producing/ consuming countries, and I'd very much appreciate some 'local' intelligence.

I am pretty familiar with the US, UK and France but would love to know what professionals and interested consumers read in Spain, Italy, Germany, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and Chile - or anywhere else for that matter.

What are the :

- major consumer publications that cover food, wine and both food and wine where you are - your equivalent of Food and Wine; Gourmet; Wine Spectator; Decanter; La Revue du Vin de France ?

- major professional (trade) journals that cover wine and spirits - what is your equivalent of Harpers Wine & Spirit Weekly; Caterer and Hotelkeeper?

- high profile consumer newspaper columnists that write about wine - your local equivalent of Jancis Robinson, Robert Parker, Frank Prial, James Suckling... and what paper do they write for?

I wonder whether a food and wine oriented culture necessarily has a significant food and wine media. France for example has only a small handful of food and wine magazines, and they are by all accounts struggling. Does this mean there's no real demand for food and wine-oriented media in France of all places, and if not, why not?

Feel free to digress, suggest, discuss. Your comments will be treated as background only so no worries about seeing your name in unwanted lights. However, if you are a food or wine professional and have some specific expertise on the subject, feel free to post & I'll contact you back if your details are available on the site....

Thanks and I look forward to your opinions!

[Francesca]

I am Italian, I don't think in Italy the situation is so different than France.
The most famous magazine is of course "La Cucina Italiana", that thanks God, doesn't have anything to share with the American one (it's not a translation, is totally different). La Cucina Italiana is the most respected one, it's a sofisticated old lady.
Then there is A Tavola, pretty snob. It's seems to me an open commercial for Richard-Ginori and Medagliani (the most important hotel/restaurant supplier in the country), and course of the school of Etoille.
Then there is "Cucina di Casa Mia", not bad. Then there are the pubblications of Gambero Rosso.
My favourite is still "Cucina Italiana".
Of course, I cannot forget Cucina & Vini that I cannot find in the Us.
If you go the italian cooking forum of "La Cucina Italiana", it's obviuos that the 80% of the people is high-middle class. Is that an explanation?

[magnolia]

Francesca - thanks very much, that is exactly the kind of info I am looking for - particularly if a publication is closely tied to a food or hotel company... that is the kind of thing I wouldn't know. Also I didn't know that La Cucina Italiana English edition is totally different from the Italian.