Writing about the wines of Piemonte, Italy and France
I am delighted to say that my book has been published and is now available for sale directly from the publisher or Amazon in the USA. This is the culmination of a huge amount of intense work, especially over the last four years. I am hugely grateful to all the producers and other colleagues who have made
Since my last update in January, I have made important progress on The Wines of Piemonte. The big news is that on 31 May, on time, I submitted my full text to the Classic Wine Library. This is genuinely an important milestone! While it has been on the publisher’s and Amazon’s websites for some time to pre-order, that
Vinitaly 2023 The biggest event in Italian wine business is the national wine fair, Vinitaly, held in Verona every year in spring. It is massive. 93,000 visitors, of which more than a quarter were foreign buyers, attended this year. The organisation has improved over the years, especially since the pandemic, with a better shuttle bus
Where and what is Boca? Last spring I was able to spend two weeks in Alto Piemonte, the remarkable Nebbiolo territory close to the Alps. However, even a fortnight in a relatively small region means you can’t visit all the top producers. I came back knowing that I needed more depth in Boca DOC in
It is always exciting to be in on something new. Most wineries in Piemonte are happy to regale you with how many generations have been farmers before them. And there is nothing wrong with local pride. By contrast, Emanuele Gambino of the winery with the same name is a new venture. Yes, part of the
Happy new year! A year has passed since I last wrote to update you on the progress on my book, The Wines of Piemonte. It has been an excellent year. I have spent a good amount of time in the region and have finished the basic research for the book. I also have complete first drafts
Update: in January 2023, I added additional material on the hectares of the top varieties in Friuli as a whole and in Friuli Collio Orientali, Collio’s neighbour. Collio DOC is a small but high quality denomination in Friuli Venezia Giulia, 130 kilometres north-east of Venice. It was the first Italian region to make fresh, clean
As the old joke goes, you wait and wait for a bus to come along in London and then two come along at the same time! Only for me, the ‘buses’ have been vertical tastings of ageable wines. The first of these was Cantina Kurtatsch‘s Bordeaux variety wines, Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva Freienfeld and its Merlot
I was fortunate to attend a complete vertical tasting of Guido Rivella’s Barbaresco Montestefano, courtesy of Ultravino, his UK importer. Ultravino is doing a great job finding hands-on winemakers producing small volumes of really high-quality wines from Piemonte. It has been impossible to visit every important winery for my forthcoming book on The Wines of
The Colli Euganei is one of Italy’s less well-known but distinctive wine regions. Situated close to Venice, between Padua and Vicenza, it is a series of hills of volcanic origin whose main attraction is the thermal springs. Abano Terme, close by, has endless spa hotels from the grand to the functional. If you can tear