The wines of Piemonte/Piedmont
Blind tasting line-up – with a few interlopers (shop samples) Ah, the monthly challenge of blind tasting … can you tell your Chardonnay from your Chenin, your Syrah from your Sangiovese? This month there were a couple of easy numbers, some real surprises and some that were completely off the wall. It all makes for
After the excitements of the Lea & Sandeman tasting (see previous post), more of the biggest names in Italian wine were on show at Armit’s ‘Blooming Lovely’ Spring tasting. Certainly, they had the day for it, London being bathed in brilliant northern sunshine with temperatures higher than currently in Tuscany or even Southern Italy –
Sorì Tildìn among the Italian icons Read More »
Some wine tastings are large and very mixed in quality: the fun is keeping your wits about you enough to find the best or the interesting in the midst of the ordinary. Put a lot of wines in a small room and event might buzz – but it’s difficult to concentrate or even reach the
Five top Italians … and a bonus 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 »
Stephen Brook has an enviable task – to pick some of his favourite newly-released Barolo and Barbaresco and introduce them to the trade at a recent Decanter event entitled ‘Highlights of Piedmont’. He has to get his selection down to ten wines and so he can only nod at Dolcetto and Barbera as grape varieties
In praise of Nebbiolo Read More »
The landscape of wine Before the wine and certainly before words about wine, the landscape of Piemonte – more particularly of the Langhe – is to be celebrated. The town of Barolo has the sleepy air of a small place which has inadvertently given its name to a world-famous product. But what really stands out
After the Capezzana tasting, the riches of Decanter’s Italian day at the Landmark Hotel. This has to be the best one-day introduction to the Italian quality wine scene in the UK and maybe beyond. It’s big – with 86 listed producers – and pretty representative, 13 out of 20 regions present, with Sardinia a surprising
Piemonte 2-3 Toscana: A weekend in Italy part 2 Read More »
Giacosa Fratelli is rather different from most of the wineries we visited in our recent week in Piemonte. The winery is much bigger than most of the places we went to, a large, functional building coincidentally right next door to Bruno Giacosa, who, after Gaja, is probably the biggest name in Barbaresco. The business is
Giacosa Fratelli – perfume and austerity Read More »
Planning a week’s tasting in a region is a mixture of thorough preparation, chance meetings and recommendations, and sheer persistence. And there is the question of whether to visit wineries which you already know and whose wines are available in the UK as opposed to those you can only taste in situ. Our final day
Multi-faceted Vajra Read More »
This winery is appropriately enough near ‘three stars’ (Trestelle), itself a sort of midpoint between the three Barbaresco communes – Treiso, Neive and, of course, Barbaresco itself. But the three stars could also refer to the three daughters of the family or indeed to the excellent quality of the wine in relation to price. The
Ca’ del Baio – rapporto qualità prezzo buonissimo! Read More »