Italian wine

Wine, people, place: Nicholas Belfrage’s and Jon Wyand’s Tuscany

Nicholas Belfrage MW, The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy.  A regional and village guide to the best wines and their producers, Fine Wine Editions, Aurum Press, London, 2009  Nicholas Belfrage is a well-known figure on the English wine scene, a wine trader and author of the best general introduction to Italian wine.  An

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Wine, people, place: Nicholas Belfrage’s and Jon Wyand’s Tuscany Read More »

Serraiola – picture essay

These few pictures are some highlights from a visit in August 2007 with the British Institute’s Tuscan summer school. It was a great day out!  Thank you to Margaret Leon, an American living in Umbria, for the photos.  More information: on Serraiola, see the full write up on the page on the Tuscan Maremma.  on

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Serraiola – picture essay Read More »

Podere 414

Two Tuscan models

Taking a break from writing the pages for my website on the Tuscan Maremma, it’s time to feature two Maremman wines, available in the UK and models of good (drinking) practice.  The first is Podere 414’s Morellino di Scansano 2007 (Wine Society, £11.50).  A little translation is required here: Podere is simply a farm or

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Two Tuscan models Read More »

Old style Chianti

Old style Chianti probably conjures up wicker baskets (in Italian – fiasco, which seems a little harsh) and thin, sharp wines.   In truth much of the cheap, commercial wines of previous decades was pretty awful.  Today’s wines are vastly better – quality wine making, vibrant if still sharp fruit, well judged use of oak-ageing in the

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Old style Chianti Read More »

Tasters 1

Zind-Humbrecht at Coe Vintners

Being an orderly sort of soul, in general, I much prefer to go to a themed tasting, rather than a broad sweep across regions.  Comparison is a very powerful tool but I would rather limit the field and try to learn a bit more about an area or grower in depth.   Occasionally you get the

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Zind-Humbrecht at Coe Vintners Read More »

Gaja in action

Homage to Gaja

After Brunello with Banfi, Barbaresco and much more with Angelo Gaja … where does one start?  This was simply one of the greatest experiences you can have in Italian or world wine, laid on by Decanter magazine as part of its Fine Wine Encounter.  But it was really two related experiences, with an underlying connection:

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Homage to Gaja Read More »

Talking about wine

Most people get by without a developed language about wine.  ‘I know what I like’ is a fairly common response, with a laugh or smile, which probably means, ‘let’s face it, people drink for the pleasure, for the taste, for mild (or more) intoxication ’.  The further implication is that talking about wine is for

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Talking about wine Read More »

Scroll to Top