Vini Curiosity Online Mini-Tasting with Bat & Bottle Recently, I had the pleasure of taking part in an online wine mini-tasting called Vini Curiosity, run by UK wine merchant Bat & Bottle. Ben and Emma Robson are the founders and owners of this Italian wine specialist in Rutland. I have known Ben and bought some of the Bat & Bottle …
Plaques de Muselets – Every Plaque Tells a Story
Plaques de Muselets – Every Plaque Tells a Story How many people notice that the wire cage holding the cork firmly onto a bottle of sparkling wine can contain minor works of art? Usually, we’re in a hurry to open a bottle of fizz and often discard the wire cage before we take a closer look at it. This contraption …
QuerceRosa – a brand new Tuscan Rosato by Castello di Querceto
QuerceRosa – a brand new Tuscan Rosato by Castello di Querceto Regular readers will be familiar with Castello di Querceto, an historic winery and founder member of the Chianti Classico DOCG, based near Greve-in-Chianti. Their wines have appeared previously on these pages; in 2025 with their Chianti Classico Annata and Riserva wines and in 2022 with their two Chianti Classico …
UGA at Kellerei Kurtatsch – and why these matter
UGA at Kellerei Kurtatsch – and why these matter Kellerei Kurtatsch has previously featured on these pages, albeit briefly. That was in a feature about Ushas, their wonderful sweet wine made from Rosenmuskateller. This time, the coverage goes deeper, focusing on the new Kellerei Kurtatsch UGAs, explaining why these matter and how to recognise them. Then we’ll meet five of …
Eat Amatriciana for Amatrice
Eat Amatriciana for Amatrice First Published on this website 25 August 2016 – TEN YEARS AGO By now, many of us will have seen the devastation caused by the earthquake in Central Italy this week. The epicentre was close to the town of Amatrice. It’s famous for the Amatriciana pasta sauce central to Roman cuisine. To add insult to injury, Amatrice …
Wine Wit and Wisdom – A Brief Interlude
Wine Wit and Wisdom – A Brief Interlude Here in the UK, it’s the height of silly season, the annual summer period where the mass media turn to frivolous stories, or even more frivolous than usual, perhaps. The usual reason offered got his is because Parliament isn’t sitting and neither are the Law Courts – both sources of daily news. …
Piper Hole Dairy Goat Farm – Organic Goat Cheese
Piper Hole Dairy Goat Farm – Organic Goat Cheese It was shortly after moving to Cumbria when I first came across Piper Hole Dairy Goat Farm. That was in a book published in 2022, written by Amy Bateman, called Forty Farms. This award-winning book has since become a best-seller and the subject of a number of exhibitions in the UK. …
Port-ologist: Crafting Port Wine Cocktails – Book Review
Port-ologist: Crafting Port Wine Cocktails – Book Review The Port-ologist is the pen name of Dutch writer and Port-lover Ruud Scholten. He is also the founder of a website which covers Port in depth, called PRTwine.com. On February 26th this year he published a book (in English) called Crafting Port Wine Cocktails1. This book demonstrates how Port, one of the …
A Stella Supernova
A Stella Supernova Regular readers of these pages will know of my fascination with Italy’s Collio DOC. In particular, Tenuta Stella, a winery near Dolegna del Collio, has become a personal favourite. I first discovered their wines when visiting the Collio in 2023, with two previous articles written about some of their wines. You can find the first one here, …
Ottavianello by Vallone in Puglia
Ottavianello by Vallone in Puglia Ottavianello is true rarity. A red grape variety mostly grown in the super-obscure Ostuni DOC, on the Salento peninsula of Puglia. DNA profiling shows it’s the French Cinsault 1, widely grown in Provence and Languedoc. There’s no doubt though that it’s gone native since arriving in Puglia in the nineteenth century. It’s a distinct biotype. …