I’m fresh out of the ‘Radici del Sud’ tasting of southern Italian wines here in Savelletri di Fasona, Puglia, after three days of sampling indigenous white and red varieties. I was privileged to be part of an international panel of judges lead by Jancis Robinson MW. Like Jancis, it was my first visit to the region, whose […]

Forty years after having to sell the prized vineyard to her uncle, Ester Rosso (nato Canale) is now once again able to walk among and work the very Nebbiolo vines she played between as a child. On page 218 in Slow Food’s ‘A Wine Atlas of the Langhe’ (2008 edition) is written: ‘If you ask […]

It’s very simple: everyone’s heard of Barolo and Barbaresco but few realise that the grape behind these two wine styles is Nebbiolo. And that when you plant, harvest, vinify and age Nebbiolo grape to be made as ‘Langhe Nebbiolo’ or ‘Nebbiolo d’Alba’ DOC, you’ll quite likely to be treated to a great value, perfumed early […]

There’s been quite a lot to stomach of late, and I’m not just referring to the festive roll of cotechino e lenticchie (sausage and lentils), cappone (capon), marron glaces, and panettone. No, at the turn it’s perhaps worth reflecting on what’s been served up wine wise from Italia over the past 12 months, and what’s […]