Mosnel Franciacorta Brut – their landmark 44th Edition

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Climate Emergency, Italy, Lombardia, Organic, Sparkling Wine, Sustainability, Wine Business

Mosnel Villa and vineyards

Mosnel Franciacorta Brut – their landmark 44th Edition In 2016, it was an honour to be one of the guests at Mosnel’s 180th birthday celebrations. While there, a unique tasting of their flagship Franciacorta Extra Brut, called EBB, was special. You can read all about Mosnel and that superb sparkling wine here. A return to Mosnel via these pages was …

Share this Post

Tenuta Liliana – a new Cabernet Sauvignon from Puglia

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Climate Emergency, Italy, Organic, Puglia, Regenerative, Sustainability, Wine Business

Tenuta Liliana Winery

Tenuta Liliana – a new Cabernet Sauvignon from Puglia Puglia is best known for big red wines, principally from native grape varieties such as Primitivo and Negroamaro. Almost inevitably, Puglia also has representation from the international brigade, typified by Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Often, it’s easy to dismiss international varieties because of their ubiquity. However, there are exceptions to the …

Share this Post

Poggio Valente by Fattoria Le Pupille

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Italy, Organic, Sustainability, Toscana

Elisabetta Geppetti, Le Pupille

Poggio Valente by Fattoria Le Pupille Poggio Valente is one of those rare wines where just one glass made me want to visit Fattoria Le Pupille to find out more. So, some years ago I did, and I’ve followed its development from afar ever since. Given this, I can’t quite understand how I’ve not previously written about it. That’s especially …

Share this Post

Kotsifali, an old red grape variety from Lyrarakis in Crete

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Greece, Organic, Sustainability

Kotsifali

Kotsifali, an old red grape variety from Lyrarakis in Crete Crete is by far the largest Greek Island, measuring roughly 260 km from west to east and 60 km north to south. It has no shortage of ancient native white and red grape varieties. One of those reds is the subject of this article, known as Kotsifali. Like the other …

Share this Post

Verdeca – Time for a Renaissance

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Italy, Organic, Puglia, Sustainability

Trullo house at Martina Franca, Puglia

Verdeca – Time for a Renaissance Once upon a time, Verdeca was widely planted in Puglia, its homeland. If Puglia is the boot of Italy, then we are far down at its heel. Verdeca is an autochthonous white grape variety that grows mainly in the central provinces of Bari and Taranto but also further south in Brindisi and Lecce1. Unfortunately, …

Share this Post

Cadgal and Moscato d’Asti DOCG

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Italy, Organic, Piemonte, Sparkling Wine

Cadgal

Cadgal and Moscato d’Asti DOCG Moscato d’Asti DOCG covers a vast area of some 10,000 ha in Piemonte, spreading across the historic regions of Langhe, Monferrato and Roero. It produces and sells about 36 million bottles yearly, 90% of which are exports. That’s a lot of wine, yet it remains less well-known in the UK, dwarfed by the ubiquitous Prosecco1. …

Share this Post

Rossese Bianco from Josetta Saffirio is WOTY 2024

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Italy, Organic, Piemonte, Sustainability

Josetta Saffirio Rossese Bianco

Rossese Bianco from Josetta Saffirio is WOTY 2024 Wine Alchemy’s Wine of the Year (WOTY) 2024 goes to Sara Vezza in Piemonte, Italy. This is for the rare white wine Josetta Saffirio, Rossese Bianco, Langhe DOC, 2022. As is usual, the Wine Alchemy WOTY is inspirational. Exceptional taste is a given. But, in addition, the winning wine must be genuinely …

Share this Post

Greatest Hits – A Case for Christmas 2024

Paul HowardAlto Adige/Südtirol, Articles, Biodynamic, Blog, Calabria, England and Wales, Italy, Lebanon, Lombardia, Molise, Organic, Piemonte, Sardegna, Spain, Sparkling Wine, Sustainability, Toscana, Veneto

Greatest Hits - Happy Christmas 2024

Greatest Hits – A Case for Christmas 2024 This year, I’m ringing the changes for the Case for Christmas 2024 article. This time, it’s a Greatest Hits package. This features a dozen wines selected from all my previous annual Christmas wine recommendations. They are twelve wines that stand the test of time and fully deserve highlighting again. Such a listicle …

Share this Post

Two More Bright Stars From Tenuta Stella

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, Organic, Sustainability

Tenuta Stella

Two More Bright Stars From Tenuta Stella I wrote an article on Tenuta Stella in the Collio Gorizia in June 2024. This featured their excellent Malvasia Istriana wine. You can read about that here. I also promised a further article about two other wines from this excellent organic winery at that time. These are equally bright stars, namely their Friulano …

Share this Post

Tenuta Stella – a Bright Star in the Collio Heavens

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, Organic, Sustainability

Tenuta Stella

Tenuta Stella – a Bright Star in the Collio Heavens Tenuta Stella is a young, certified organic Italian winery. It’s in the far northeast of Italy, in the crescent-shaped Collio DOC at Dolegna. Dolegna is one of the five unofficial subzones in the Collio DOC, being closest to the Alps and featuring some of the highest elevations. It also has …

Share this Post