Writing about the wines of Piemonte, Italy and France
The wines of Campania
In my last post, I reported that Piemonte won the race over Tuscany and Campania/ Basilicata. But can I persuade a publisher that this is a good subject … and that I am the person to write the book? I am a fan of the Classic Wine Library. It was founded 50 years ago and
Diary of a wine writer 3: cue celebration! Read More »
As I explained in my last blog post, I have now completed my wine studies and have decided I would like to write a book. This is probably going to mean choosing between Italian regions. But what is the subject going to be? Readers of this website will know that I have devoted much of
Diary of a wine writer 2: choices Read More »
Taking the temperature of Italian wine: VinoVIP July 2017 Recently I was a guest of the Italian wine magazine, Civiltà del Bere (English website here), at VinoVIP 2017, held in spectacular Cortina d’Ampezzo, high in the Dolomites. You can see my pictures of Cortina here. I contributed to a session on Communicating Complexity (of
Taking the temperature of Italian wine Read More »
Bring a Special Bottle Christmas 2016 celebration Keen wine tasters in North West Hampshire meet in a range of formats – Andover Wine Friends, BBC (‘bring a bottle club’), TWITS (don’t ask), TWITS Diploma group and, of course, informally. To these can now be added BSBC, bring a special bottle club. This pays homage to
Bring a special bottle, 2016 Read More »
Recently, because of studying for wine exams, I have had to concentrate on tasting mainstream, commercial wines. If it isn’t ‘widely available and commercially important’ sadly it isn’t high on my current list of priorities. This is a complete volte-face for me. Normally, I would seek out the local varieties and ignore the Cabernets, Chardonnays
The Italian road less travelled Read More »
Andover Wine Friends’ January tasting gave the opportunity to review the stirrings of a quiet revolution going on in the heel of Italy. Puglia’s recent history – to add to the waves of foreign overloads going back to Greek times – has been of a reduction of the huge production, overproduction, of the 1980s (13
Puglia – the quality revolution Read More »
One table at Grape Expectations Christmas Wine fair really stood out for me. This wasn’t just because it was Italian but because it featured wines mainly from one region, Puglia, usually known as the heel of Italy. It’s always a bonus to be able to compare local styles side by side and to taste less
Puglia comes to Hampshire Read More »
Italy is blessed with a very large number of local grape varieties. One of the standard guides lists more than 500, others speak of thousands. More importantly, it has a significant number of great varieties – however much it’s fun to have something local, you still want it to make good wine or better. This
Italian half-marathon Read More »
Lunch today with colleagues at The Contented Vine in Pimlico. What a great name for a slightly rambling wine bar cum restaurant on three or even four levels. Well executed, good value food and a well constructed wine list – Champagne, French classics, currently a whole page on Australia. We drank a very good Benevento
Fabulous Falanghina Read More »
Tasting in situ is a dangerous business. Wines can taste so much better when you are in the winery, the sun is shining or if the proprietor is particularly persuasive. So, it is good to have the chance to re-taste wines in a more neutral setting, with a bit of distance and with the comparison
Campania in the glass in England Read More »