Winefriend by David Way

Writing about the wines of Piemonte, Italy and France

Wine photography by David Way

Photography–especially of gardens, landscapes and, latterly, all things wine–has been my other passion for many years.  The images on this page are highlights of some of my favourites captured over the years of my wine journey.  

Sergio Germano of Ettore Germano, Serralunga d'Alba
Three generations at Cà del Baio, Barbaresco

I have recently been on an extended visit to southern Piemonte. During my time there, I took as many pictures of winemakers as possible. On the left is Sergio Germano of the famous Serralunga winery, Ettore Germano.  Read about his sparkling wine here. On the right, we have the lovely picture of three generations of the Grasso family at the delightful Cà del Baio in Barbaresco. Paola on the extreme right is one of three sisters who are the public face of the winery but all three generations are very hands on. Read about an earlier visit here

Garnacha or Grenache?

I love many things about my job at the WSET, writing study materials for our great Diploma students. And I also get to write much more detailed pieces for the WSET blog. Here is my piece on Garnacha (or is it Grenache?), one of the world’s upcoming varieties. 

Garnacha/Grenache

English vineyard

Nutbourne

A year ago Janet and I had a short holiday. As Covid 19 had struck, this had to be in England and, guess what, we ended up visiting some English vineyards. The greenness of this scene, the deciduous trees , not to mention the somewhat grey skies all suggest that this is England. This was Nutbourne, a charming small estate with very worthwhile wines.  Read more about Nutbourne and some more famous names – Nyetimber, Wiston and Rathfinny – here. 

All the colours of tank fermented sparkling wine

Tank method sparkling wine is normally pale lemon in colour but not in Piemonte.  Yes, the most important wines might be Asti and Moscato d’Asti. But there are also fascinating wines made with a whole gamut of local varieties. Pretty as a picture. Read more about the three red Piemonte Malvasias plus sparkling Freisa, Bonarda,  Nebbiolo and Barbera …

 

Tank method sparkling: full array of colours

Wine photography in Covid 19 lockdown has been a bit of a challenge. There have  been no beautiful landscapes, no scenic winery shots and no beautiful people to photograph. And there are only so many ways that you can improvise with bottle shots. But capsules are also worthy of attention. Here are Mauro Veglio’s golden collection, a very appetising prelude to the great wines themselves! 

Wine photography in lockdown ...

Mauro Veglio's gold capsules

Wine photography in Covid 19 lockdown has been a bit of a challenge. There have  been no beautiful landscapes, no scenic winery shots and no beautiful people to photograph. And there are only so many ways that you can improvise with bottle shots. But capsules are also worthy of attention. Here are Mauro Veglio’s golden collection, a very appetising prelude to the great wines themselves! 

Spring in Roero, Piemonte

Today, 10 May 2021, I watched a thrilling end to a stage of the Giro d’Italia, cycling race, that finished in Canale, the main town of the Roero area. It brought back happy memories of my last, pre-pandemic visit to Roero. And indeed of a perfect spring day in 2010. Looking forward to returning soon!  

Spring in Roero

Masnaghetti wine maps

Masnaghetti wine maps of La Morra, Barolo

New photo

Masnaghetti Wine Maps, created by the inspiring Alessandro Masnaghetti, are designed to display the full microclimate of  famous vineyard sites. This image is a very simple shot taken with a iPhone XR which I think  just works.

To find out more about why Masnaghetti is so much more than just maps, visit my recent blog post:

The geology of Barbaresco

One of Alessandro Masnaghetti’s aim with his world-famous wine maps is to highlight the terroir-specific differences between individual vineyard sites in one of the world’s most sought after wine regions.Here we have a rare glimpse of the underlying geology of Barbaresco in the cellars of Cascina delle Rose. For more:

Masnaghetti wine maps aim to express the entire micro climate of sites, here is some exposed underlying rock formations in Barbaresco

Gorgeous Grignolino wines

Grignolino wines

Super charged Grignolino, the amazingly underrated red wine grape of Piemonte.  Pale, aromatic, and tannic, these wine shine with better producers and perfect food pairings.

To find out more, visit my recent blog post…

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