Although 30 years may seem fairly young in many parts of the world, in Australian terms it is an anniversary to be celebrated. And to mark the occasion, Cameron Ashmead, co-owner of Elderton Wines in Australia (makers of many fine wines, not least our very own Berrys’ Australian Shiraz and Chardonnays!), came to visit us […]

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 […]

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 […]

  As I write, the last of the Nebbiolo is being harvested, notably by Mario Fontana (Cascina Fontana) and Davide Rosso (Giovanni Rosso). This year I struggled up the hill to talk to Ferdinando Principiano in his vertical Barolo Ravera vineyard, Luca Roagna in the gem of a Barbaresco site: Montefico, ‘newboy’ Pier Bovone at Cornarea […]