Sicilian Wines, My Delightful Dozen. Baroque ‘n’ Roll, Part 2. Here are wines that I consider to be outstanding examples of Sicilian wines from all over the island. I’ve deliberately restricted the choice to only one wine per producer. I’ve also chosen different grape varieties and styles wherever possible. Hence it shows off the Island’s enormous diversity. Sometimes that’s made …
Nero Oro Nero d’Avola Appassimento, DOC Sicilia, 2017
Nero Oro Nero d’Avola Appassimento, DOC Sicilia, 2017 Nero Oro comes from the Feudo di Santa Tresa estate in Sicily in collaboration with a company called The Wine People. It’s intriguing in several ways, not just because of the taste. Firstly, it’s 100% Nero d’Avola, a grape indigenous to Sicily and one of its best varieties. Since the 1990s, it …
Le Mortelle, a rising star in the Maremma
Le Mortelle, a rising star in the Maremma Le Mortelle is one of Antinori’s more recent ventures, a new organic wine estate created in Tuscany’s coastal Maremma. Here’s a progress report on this rising star. The Antinori family has been in the wine business for over six hundred years, documenting this back to 1385, across 26 generations. Has anyone done …
Wine of the Year 2017 – Gini Salvarenza
Wine of the Year 2017 – Gini Salvarenza – Soave’s Montrachet My Wine of the Year (WOTY) 2017 is Gini Salvarenza, Vecchie Vigne, Soave Classico, DOC 2014 13.5% Fanfare, please! Introducing Gini The Gini family have been winegrowers at Monteforte d’Alpone in Soave since 1600. These days, brothers Sandro and Claudio Gini run their 55-hectare estate. They own some of the …
Book Review: Wine Revolution by Jane Anson
Book Review: Wine Revolution by Jane Anson Wine Revolution by Jane Anson contains “The World’s Best Organic, Biodynamic and Natural wines”. When I started to focus on this subject a decade and more ago, such wines were dismissed by conventional wisdom. According to this, they employed daft doctrines. Furthermore, they were only from a handful of winegrowers that had lost …
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 …
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 in …
Une Table Corse – authentic eating in Corsica
Une Table Corse – authentic eating in Corsica Une Table Corse is a restaurant perhaps like no other. In an ancient and isolated farmhouse, Pauline Julliard, its owner, provides one of the island’s most fabled dining experiences. You’ll eat authentic Corsican cuisine in small converted dining rooms. Pauline learned all the recipes from her mother and grandmother. She is now …
Losing My Extra-Virginity in Corsica: Oltremonti Olive Oil
Losing My Extra-Virginity in Corsica: Oltremonti Olive Oil I love Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, (or EVOO for short). However, I knew little about making it and less about how to taste it. Losing my Extra-Virginity was overdue. Hence I visited Domaine Oltremonti recently. Oltremonti is near Bastia, in northern Corsica, between the wild high Maquis and the coast. The Domaine has 35 …
Campo alle Comete, Stupore. UK Exclusive!
Campo alle Comete, Stupore. UK Exclusive! The wines of the Bolgheri region, down on the Tuscan coast, excite me in a way few others can. Bolgheri has become a magnet for wine investment, and many famous Italian wine producers have expanded into the area. Bolgheri is primarily Bordeaux-blend land, where the Reds achieve a rare intensity and Sangiovese plays only …