This past year I’ve been ‘on my bike’ racing round the peninsula, snapping up authentic, delicious wines to offer you as part of a comprehensive range for drinking today or tomorrow. Approaching it in stages, our ‘Giro d’Italia’ kicks off in the South. Sicily’s Alberto Graci, on the slopes of volcanic Monte Etna, treats us […]

The news from Florence this week is of a ‘Chianti Classico Revolution’. Wow! Alas it’s more of a whimper. The Consorzio are not offering a dramatic delimitation of vineyards (‘menzioni geografiche’ as per the Langhe), nor an unprecedented classification of Grand or Premier Cru/Vigna sites, nor even of a study of the unique geological, terroir […]

Tied up with contributing (proudly) to Oz Clarke’s Pocket Wine Book 2014 (…on Italy) I’ve been unable to make my annual trek to the Loire to catch up with the latest vintage. Fortunately I know a man who did: Adam Bruntlett, Junior Buyer at Fields Morris & Verdin, and here’s his report: ‘Muscadet – Fantastic […]

Living in the Langhe since 2009, and buying wines for London wine merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd now for over a decade, including spells promoting Australian, New Zealand, South African, Californian and French wine, I’ve been amazed and saddened by the overwhelming influence of the predominantly US press on the styles of wine produced here […]