Diary of a wine writer

I started work on my book, The Wines of Piemonte, for the Classic Wine Library in October 2019. The idea was to deliver the text for this 300-page book in three years. However, Covid 19 had other ideas. Fortunately, I was hugely helped by the growers who sent me samples during lockdown and were happy

Barolo is of course made with the Nebbiolo grape but there are also rare varieties around the Barolo area. For me, the week of 18–23 July 2022 was devoted to Pelaverga piccolo, Gamba di Pernice, Nascetta and Croatina. With, naturally, some fine Barolo along the way. All of this research contributes to my forthcoming book,

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,

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

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

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

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!