I am about to set off to visit the small DOCs in Piemonte’s Western Alps: Valsusa, Pinerolese and Colline Saluzzesi. To call these little known would be an understatement. I am not sure any journalist has visited them recently, apart from the indefatigable Ian d’Agata. They also boast some extremely rare grape varieties, including Avanà,
Diary 40: the small DOCs in Piemonte’s Western Alps Read More »
Vinitaly returns to Verona Vinitaly is the Italian national wine fair, usually a behemoth with 50,000 visitors a day, held in Verona. After two years when Covid prevented the fair from taking place, April 2022 saw its return. Mercifully, it seemed rather smaller in terms of visitors. For example, while the trade does not have
Diary 38: Return to Vinitaly Read More »
Before tasting Albarossa wine, it is good to know something about its story. It is the product of crossing Chatus (also known as Nebbiolo di Dronero) with Barbera in 1938. The aim was to confer some of the elegance and prestige of Nebbiolo onto an offspring of Barbera. Later it was discovered that one parent
Diary 37: Tasting Albarossa wine: more than a blockbuster? Read More »
The socialist ethos of co-operatives is often noticed, their dynastic leadership pattern less so. I spoke recently with John Leech, Commercial Director of Araldica Castelvero, a major co-operative producing Piemontese wines. The company processes the grapes from 900 hectares of vines, of which they own just under 100 ha. John is particularly a fan of
Diary 36: Wine co-operatives: socialist ethos or dynastic leadership? Read More »
The first day of a new year, beginning 2022, feels like a good time to give you an update. The current Covid situation looks bad but hopefully–and who can know?–2022 may allow us to do rather more things in person than 2021 did. Most of all I wish you a healthy and productive new year!
Diary 35: Beginning 2022, an update Read More »
In 1990, Michael Garner and Paul Merritt published their groundbreaking book, Barolo: tar and roses, a study of the wines of Alba. It was the first full-length book in English to deal with the now world-famous wines of Barolo and Barbaresco. It remained the standard work on these wines until Kerin O’Keefe’s Barolo and Barbaresco
Diary 34: ‘Barolo, tar and roses’, 30 years on Read More »
Why the Judgment of Overton? Two of our tasting group decided to collect the wines to re-run the so-called Judgement of Paris. In short, this blind tasting in 1976 changed the world of wine. It demonstrated that Californian wines can be of the same quality level as the top wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy. Our
The Judgement of Overton, 2021 Read More »
On Friday, Janet and I returned to England after a fantastic month in Piemonte. I am exhilarated, slightly overwhelmed by the amount of material I have gathered and somewhat exhausted too! We made 93 visits in around 25 days of visiting … The research was for my book on The Wines of Piemonte, to be
Diary 33: a month in Piemonte Read More »
There is a time for words and a time for images. Today, the images of Piemonte vineyard landscapes convey far more than words.
Diary 32: Piemonte vineyard landscapes Read More »
One of the joys of visiting a region is learning about the local grape varieties, in this case, the rare variety Uvalino. Yes, everyone in Monferrato grows Barbera and Moscato but Uvalino is basically grown mainly by Cascina Castlet in Costiglione d’Asti. It has been treasured by Maria Borio who has grown and studied it
Diary 31: Uvalino on the vine Read More »
