The wines of Piemonte/Piedmont
The first day of a new year, beginning 2022, feels like a good time to give you an update. The current Covid situation looks bad but hopefully–and who can know?–2022 may allow us to do rather more things in person than 2021 did. Most of all I wish you a healthy and productive new year!
Diary 35: Beginning 2022, an update Read More »
In 1990, Michael Garner and Paul Merritt published their groundbreaking book, Barolo: tar and roses, a study of the wines of Alba. It was the first full-length book in English to deal with the now world-famous wines of Barolo and Barbaresco. It remained the standard work on these wines until Kerin O’Keefe’s Barolo and Barbaresco
Diary 34: ‘Barolo, tar and roses’, 30 years on Read More »
On Friday, Janet and I returned to England after a fantastic month in Piemonte. I am exhilarated, slightly overwhelmed by the amount of material I have gathered and somewhat exhausted too! We made 93 visits in around 25 days of visiting … The research was for my book on The Wines of Piemonte, to be
Diary 33: a month in Piemonte Read More »
There is a time for words and a time for images. Today, the images of Piemonte vineyard landscapes convey far more than words.
Diary 32: Piemonte vineyard landscapes Read More »
One of the joys of visiting a region is learning about the local grape varieties, in this case, the rare variety Uvalino. Yes, everyone in Monferrato grows Barbera and Moscato but Uvalino is basically grown mainly by Cascina Castlet in Costiglione d’Asti. It has been treasured by Maria Borio who has grown and studied it
Diary 31: Uvalino on the vine Read More »
This really is a diary entry: a first day in Asti DOCG. For the first time in nearly two years, Janet and I are in Piemonte, visiting wineries, talking to technical experts and enjoying brilliant early autumn sunshine. After months of tasting samples and Zoom calls, it is great to actually be here and enjoy
Diary 30: first day in Asti DOCG Read More »
It’s easy to think that Piemonte’s great Nebbiolo wines come exclusively from Barolo and Barbaresco. This post features two wines, both 100 per cent Nebbiolo, that come from nearby, one quite well known, one a real hidden gem: two fine Nebbiolos outside Barolo. As part of research for my book, The Wines of Piemonte, I
Diary 29: Nebbiolo outside Barolo, two fine examples Read More »
Yesterday I had the chance to talk to Paolo Aiassa, director of the Terre dei Santi co-operative, as part of my research for The Wines of Piemonte in the Classic Wine Library. I love co-operatives when the wine is good, and it certainly is here. Here are my reflections on another fascinating wine co-operative in
Diary 28: native varieties in a Monferrato co-operative Read More »
Aiming for pure fruit expression Tank method sparkling wine has such a bad rap. Do we complain that delicious, refreshing Beaujolais is not grand cru Burgundy? Both have their time and place. In the same way, it makes no sense to compare a fruity and undemanding Prosecco with a grand Champagne. Indeed, within Piemonte, there
Diary 26: tank method sparkling wine: much more than Asti Read More »
In mapping Piemonte, I explained the fun I had at the beginning of research for The Wines of Piemonte in commissioning a large (A1) size map of the region. I have now gone a second step, acquiring a wine map of southern Piemonte. It is based on the ‘heart of Piemonte’ map in The World
Diary 25: Wine map of southern Piemonte Read More »
