OK, so it was hardly a Hannibal on an elephant moment, but my peppy Japanese two-stroke piped a note of euphoria sixteen hours since leaving the Shires; sweeping past the ‘Italia’ sign midway along the alpine tunnel before popping out, off-piste amid thick cloud and snow into the Valle d’Aosta below. The euphoria didn’t […]

Last week I went out for dinner with some ‘wine friends’. We always go to a lovely restaurant where the owner lets us bring our own wine – and the pressure is on to bring a really interesting/unusual/just-rather-fine-please bottle of wine to taste blind and share with tapas. With all the recent TV coverage of […]

I’ve just got back from a week on the road (by boat next time surely?) spent reviewing the calibre of the 2008 vintage, one skewed by April frost in the west & June hail in the east. It also proved a fine time to tap into what’s going on round the edges, especially against a backdrop […]

The descent into Autumn has never been my favourite time of the year, there is however a region in north-western Italy that seems to have been created just to celebrate this season. Piedmont nestles in a horseshoe shape of Alps. This protective boundary keeps the worst of the weather at bay and provides a warm […]