I was hugely honoured to present ‘Piedmont: off the beaten track’ at Texsom in a tasting/seminar in Dallas. If you had told me even a few years ago that I would present Piemonte in Texas, I would not have believed you. My session was on the Monday of the two-day event and was followed by

It is a year since I wrote to you about the publication of The Wines of Piemonte. It has been a full and exciting year. Here are the highlights in a review of the year:  The Classic Wine Library which published my book has a new home. The Académie du Vin Library bought the company, founded by

Giuseppe Mascarello is one of the storied names of Barolo. I recently had the pleasure of tasting a Mascarello Monprivato vertical which merely confirmed the greatness of these wines. Mauro Mascarello, now approaching his 90th birthday, decided back in 1970 to bottle Nebbiolo from the Monprivato vineyard as a separate wine. What a great move

I spent quite a lot of time in Alto Piemonte in 2022 researching for my book, The Wines of Piemonte. I couldn’t go to the big annual tasting and press trip in 2022 as my good friends were getting married at exactly the same time. But this year it fitted in well and gave me

It is always a pleasure to visit new producers. I have commented on Emanuele Gambino before, a winery only set up in 2016. He makes a very good dry, still Moscato, a rarity in the Asti area. I visited his winery and boutique hotel outside Costigliole d’Asti in May 2024. This allowed me also to

Tasting and learning Nebbiolo Prima is the by-invitation-only tasting of the latest releases of Nebbiolo wines held in Alba each January. The current releases were Barolo 2020, Barolo Riserva 2018, Barbaresco 2021, Barbaresco Riserva 2019, Roero 2021 and Roero Riserva 2020. The wines are served blind. Those who are invited are principally those who score

This year I had the honour of making a presentation on themes from my book, The Wines of Piemonte, at the annual producers’s meeting. This is hosted by Vignaioli Piemontesi/Piemonte Land of Wine in Turin. It was conveniently timed leaving just a long weekend between it and the trade show which features the new releases

I owe Borgogno a considerable debt. It was a vertical of their wines that definitively helped me to understand the capacity of Nebbiolo to age positively for decades. This was well before I researched and wrote my The Wines of Piemonte. There were undoubtedly other influences that led me to choose Piemonte over Tuscany or

Before we get to the Ceretto wines, we should celebrate the exceptional view of Castiglione Falletto, within Barolo DOCG, from the Bricco Roche vineyard. This vineyard is a monopole of the Ceretto family and the site of the small winery where its single vineyard wines are made. I happened to catch the view on a

It was a pleasure to start my week of visits and vintage tastings with Paola Sordo of the historic Sordo winery. The bonus was tasting with its current winemaking consultant, Gian Luca Colombo. He was a partially objective participant as most of the wines we tasted were made before he began to work with the