Gatti Lorenzo Raboso - something a little different

One thing I love about the world of wine is its diversity. Here’s an Italian wine that stretches the boundaries of that diversity, and I love it.

Gatti Lorenzo Raboso NV IGT Marca Trevigiana, Italy
Very interesting: a fresh, vibrant, joyous gastronomic red. It has a fresh cherryish nose with some appley notes and a bit of meatiness. [...]

Superb Pinot Noir from northern Italy: Gottardi

This is nice. It’s a Pinot Noir from Gottardi, a grower in the northern Italian region of Alto Adige, which is often referred to by its Austrian name of the Südtirol. I love this style of lighter, more elegant red wine. I always seem to be in the mood to drink it.

Weingut Gottardi Südtiroler Blauburgunder [...]

A pair from Nicodemi, in Italy's Abruzzo

Two nice wines here from Abruzzo producer Nicodemi. Affordable and delicious, with plenty of personality.

Nicodemi Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2009 Italy
12.5% alcohol. Really lovely aromatic nose with citrus, grapefruit and herb notes. The palate has a warm nutty edge to the fruit, which is rounded and broad with a bit of grapefruit freshness. Very appealing wine with [...]

Planeta Cerasuolo di Vittoria: an elegant Sicilian red

Back in February 2009 I visited Sicilian producer Planeta (report here). It was a great visit, and I particularly enjoyed the Cerusuolo from Vittoria, a blend of Nero d’Avola with the bright, fresh Frappato variety. I even went out and bought some afterwards, which for a wine writer deluged by samples is a true endorsement.

Planeta [...]

A wonderful evening at Terroirs

Spent the evening with Doug Wregg at Terroirs. It’s hard to imagine a better evening of food and wine: authentic, expressive and in good measure. It proved hard to draw myself away to catch the last train back home.

We dined well. Matje Herring, a bit like ceviche, was delicious, as were the clams with coriander [...]

In Piedmont

So I arrived in Italy courtesy of the world’s worst airline last night at 10 pm. I was staying at a nearby hotel, but it’s proximity really upset the taxi driver who had been waiting for 3 hours for a fare into Milano (45 km away) rather than a quick 2 minute ride.

He was visibly, [...]

Conan the Barbera

This project wine, produced by a member of the Meridian wines team in conjunction with Araldica, is quite remarkable. The note below was written on the day I opened the bottle, but three days later it’s still dense, tannic, pure, robustly fruity and quite impenetrable. It’s Piedmont’s answer to Penfolds Grange – a wine that [...]

A convincing Aussie Sangiovese - Greenstone

Italian red grape varieties all seem to travel poorly. While they achieve good results in Italy, they seldom work abroad. Here’s an exception: possibly the best non-Italian Sangiovese I have yet tried. It’s from a vineyard in Heathcote, and the name Greenstone refers to the colour of the rocks in the soil which are coloured [...]

A wonderful Gravner lunch

I spent the morning filming undercover with the BBC (which was very exciting; I’ll tell you more when I can), before heading over to Aspinall’s on Curzon Street for an incredible lunch (see The Metro review), with a vertical of the wines of Josko Gravner, one of the world’s most interesting wine growers.

Aspinall’s is a [...]

Cos Frappato at Terroirs, a nice end to a busy day

It has been a long day. It began with a Bernard Magrez tasting and lunch at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, which was very impressive (write up to follow). Then I went for a quick pint at the Coach and Horses with Douglas Blyde, Richard Siddle and Caspar Auchterlonie, before hot footing down to the Atlas, [...]