The Wines of Conegliano Valdobbiadene (Pt.2) This Part 2 features the Wines of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG. Part 1 of this article told the story of this DOCG and why the Prosecco from here is Superiore. Now it’s time to see if the wines to live up to that billing. Winemaking The DOCG regulations allow the sparkling Superiore to …
Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG (Pt.1)
Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG (Pt.1) As nearly everyone knows, Prosecco is an Italian success story that’s now an international phenomenon. Total production of all Prosecco is vast and still growing. Most of it comes from the colossal DOC, some 24,000 hectares of vines in Italy’s north-east, namely in the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions. The DOC is now making …
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Christmas 2020 – A Dozen Festive Wines!
Christmas 2020 – A Dozen Festive Wines! Happy Christmas to you all, thanks for reading, supporting and encouraging, especially during this challenging year. Here’s the pick of the wines for Chrismas 2020, together with a Christmas Card. This year there are a delightful Baker’s dozen wines recommended for the festive season, all with UK availability. Also, they are sustainable, taste …
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Amaro Montenegro – and a Favourite Quarantini
Amaro Montenegro – and a Favourite Quarantini Suppose Stanislao Cobianchi had followed his father’s wishes and become a Priest. In that case, we might never have had Amaro Montenegro, and the wonderful world of drinks would have been all the poorer. Fortunately for lovers of speciality drinks and cocktails, he preferred instead to go and explore the world. On his …
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Moratti – Creating the Champagne of the South?
Moratti – Creating the Champagne of the South? I recently took part in a 1-1 online wine tasting with Gian Matteo Baldi, the CEO of Castello di Cigognola. The Castello’s Metodo Classico sparkling wine project is from the Oltrepò Pavese area of Lombardy, south of Milan. We tasted four brilliant DOCG sparkling wines; all made from Pinot Noir under the …
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Specialists: Online Italian Wine in the UK
Specialists: Online Italian Wine in the UK Readers often ask for recommendations for UK-based online Italian wine specialists. As we are currently in the tightening grip of the Covid-19 pandemic and the festive wine buying season is fast approaching, buying wine online is particularly appealing. With that background in mind, here are three online Italian specialists to try, each one …
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Francone – Comparing Two Big Italian Red Classics
Francone – Comparing Two Big Italian Red Classics “The best way to arrive in Neive is to skirt the magnificent rows of Nebbiolo lining the road that leaves Alba and passes through Tre Stelle, then Barbaresco.” So wrote the founder of Slow Food, Carlo Petrini, in 1999. He went on to say, “Towards the end of summer, there is a stupendous array of …
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Derthona – Solving a Cult Wine Puzzle
Derthona – Solving a Cult Wine Puzzle This unprepossessing bottle of white wine hides away a genuinely remarkable story worth telling. It has an attractive label, yet that gives away little as to the contents, where it’s from, or just how good it is. In the UK, Italian rare-grape geeks are most likely to recognise it. In Italy, it’s become …
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Peter Zemmer Riesling and Pinot Noir
Peter Zemmer Riesling and Pinot Noir A recent Wine Alchemy article introduced Weingut Peter Zemmer, from the Alto Adige (Südtirol) region of Italy. It featured his “cru” Pinot Grigio Riserva called Giatl. Rather than reprise that piece here, suffice to say that the Peter Zemmer operation is a family-owned winery in the south of the region, at Cortina ssdv. As is typical …
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Litorale Vermentino – Val Delle Rose, Famiglia Cecchi
Litorale Vermentino – Val Delle Rose, Famiglia Cecchi I recently joined a great online wine tasting presented by Andrea Cecchi. His family wine roots date back to 1893, and they bought their first property in the sixties, which was Villa Cerna in Castellina, Tuscany. However, Cecchi’s enterprise has grown significantly. They now have three other Tuscan estates (another in Chianti …
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