Getting to grips with Pignoletto. Part 1. Welcome to Emilia-Romagna, the home of Pignoletto. Not yet well known yet, it’s undoubtedly up-and-coming. It’s time to find out why. Part 1 of this article is about Pignoletto and where the best wines are from; the Colli Bolognesi area of Emilia-Romagna. Let’s start with Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna is a vast region comprising nine …
A brilliant Winemaker Dinner in the Alto Adige
A brilliant Winemaker Dinner in the Alto Adige One of the best Winemaker Dinners that I’ve been to was earlier this year in the Alto Adige (Südtirol), where Italian and German cultures meld together. The Winemaker Dinner took place in the town of Merano, some 30 kilometres north of Bolzano in Italy at the “Ansitz Plantitscherhof”. It’s one of the 29 …
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Book Review: Where to Drink Coffee
Book Review: Where to Drink Coffee Billed as the unfiltered truth about the best brew, Where to drink Coffee is newly published. Authors Liz Clayton and Avidan Ross claim that this is the Expert’s Guide to the best coffee in the world. It’s one of Phaidon’s range of hipster books, with an eye for attractive design and heavyweight paper. Other …
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Scotch Missed. Talisker 10-year-old single malt whisky
Scotch Missed. Talisker 10-year-old single malt whisky On a summer trip to the Isle of Skye, the weather was typical. As soon as we crossed the Skye Bridge from Kyle-of-Lochalsh, the rain began. Even the SatNag was defeated. There were soaking sheets of horizontal rain and thick fog all at once. Temperatures felt not far from freezing. Couldn’t see a thing …
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The Alto Adige Wine Summit – Live At The Witch Trials
The Alto Adige Wine Summit – Live At The Witch Trials I recently attended the first Alto Adige Wine Summit, based in Bolzano, in Italy’s mountainous far north. Part of the activities included the most memorable wine event I’ve ever been to, the Wine in the Mountains tasting. It was in the Dolomites that tower over Bolzano, at over 2,000 metres. …
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Valtellina – an ode to Mountain Nebbiolo Part 1
Valtellina – an ode to Mountain Nebbiolo Part 1 This article is about how I discovered Valtellina, a special place. One to return to, again and again. The discovery A few years ago, a glass of red wine was accompanied by the dread question, “what’s this?” On the first inspection, there was a floral perfume, high acidity, cherry fruit, tar and tannin. …
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Macdonald Leeming House Hotel, Ullswater
Macdonald Leeming House Hotel, Ullswater As of July 2017, the Lake District national park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In so doing it became the 31st UK site, a “cultural landscape reflecting the combined works of nature and man”. The beauty of the landscape plus thousands of years of agriculture and industry has inspired generations of artists, poets and writers. …
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A fabulous visit to Domaine Orenga de Gaffory
A fabulous visit to Domaine Orenga de Gaffory Domaine Orenga de Gaffory covers 56 hectares in the appellation of Patrimonio in northern Corsica. This family-owned wine estate is also undergoing organic conversion. It owns many small plots in five different communes. It means they have a broad range of red, rosé and white AOC Patrimonio wines. They also make the nearby …
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Etna terroir, the Burgundy of the Mediterranean – the Lava Lout Returns, Part 2 of 2
Etna terroir, the Burgundy of the Mediterranean – the Lava Lout Returns, Part 2 of 2 The Etna Terroir Part 1 of this article described how a Sicilian volcano bestows natural gifts to create the Etna terroir. But Etna isn’t one terroir; there are many variations. Welcome to the Burgundy of the Mediterranean. Etna’s volcanic soils are free draining, and low …
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Etna, or why I’m a Lava Lout – Part 1 of 2
Etna, or why I’m a Lava Lout – Part 1 of 2 It’s how the Earth was made. At 3,343 metres (10,968 feet), Mount Etna (Mongibello) spits, snarls and smokes. All around is ash, black as death. Above us, the summit has four active craters, caked with yellow sulphur. Etna erupts almost continuously. As we climb to 3,050 metres, it’s …
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