Swapping the cellars of No.3 St. James’s Street for the Langhe vineyards proved an effortless transition for my colleague Sue Wren as she joined the team at Cantina Mascarello Bartolo for three weeks of harvesting… and cleaning bottles this September/October. Here’s how she recalls the experience… ‘David Berry Green picked me up from Turin Airport […]

Barbaresco has often struggled with its own identity. Half the size of the neighbouring Barolo zone just ten minutes down the road, references about it being Barolo’s ‘sister’, the ‘queen’ to Barolo’s ‘king’, has only served to heighten its complex of inferiority. As a result many of its producers over the past twenty years have […]

Trying to convey to Peter Turner, and his companion Christine Wild, in a couple of days what I’d learnt about buying over ten years was the task. I’d set out a programme that first addressed the context and, importantly, the culture of fine wine; on the second day one of understanding the raw material (the […]

Following a three day training visit to Maremma/Bolgheri, Chianti Classico & Montalcino last week, below are their unedited impressions… Adrian Lancer (aka ‘Rocky’) ‘Overall, I was very impressed with the quality of the wines in the region. The prices compare favourably with wines from other areas of the Old World – it’s getting increasingly difficult […]