Friulano – Friuli’s Favourite, Collio DOC

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Italy, Organic, Sustainability

Friulano

Friulano – Friuli’s Favourite, Collio DOC Of all the many authorised grape varieties in the Collio DOC, only Tocai Friulano is grown by all, accounting for a relatively large 15% of the vineyard area. Some of the most outstanding examples of varietal Friulano wines are from the hillsides of the Collio DOC, and it’s usually an essential contributor to the …

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Nautilus – aged underwater by Ktima Foivos

Paul Howard Articles, Biodynamic, Blog, Greece, Organic, Sustainability

Foivos Nautilus

Nautilus – aged underwater by Ktima Foivos This year, there have been many requests for more Greek wine reviews. Perhaps their time to break cover has finally (and rightly) come. So here’s a Greek white wine called Nautilus, made on the beautiful island of Kefalonia by Ktima Foivos. The grape varieties in this blend are organic and biodynamic, native to …

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Atma White – a Sketch for Summer

Paul Howard Articles, Biodynamic, Blog, Greece, Sustainability

Atma White

Atma White – a Sketch for Summer Thymiopoulos make Atma White in Náoussa, Greece. Their wine growing is biodynamic and sustainable, and one of its red Xinomavro wines features on these pages. Hence you can read about this here. Their Atma White is a remarkable dry white wine with bags of personality, and the brand name Atma means “soul” in …

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Christmas 2021 – a dozen delights

Paul Howard Articles, Biodynamic, Blog, Champagne, England and Wales, Food, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Organic, Spain, Sparkling Wine, Sustainability

Happy Christmas 2021

Christmas 2021 – a dozen delights Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to you all! Thanks for reading, supporting and encouraging me during this incredibly challenging year. Here’s my present to you all – the pick of the wines for Christmas 2021, together with a Christmas Card. This year there are a dozen delights. All come highly recommended for …

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Nas-cëtta, Part 2 – twelve Novello producers and their wines

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Italy, Organic, Recipes, Sustainability, Wine Tasting

Nas-cëtta

Nas-cëtta, Part 2 – twelve Novello producers and their wines Nascetta, Part 1, looked at the rediscovery of Nas-cëtta. Local producers rescued this semi-aromatic white grape variety, which survived only in Novello in Piemonte. In 2010, the Langhe DOC exclusively authorised the production of white wine in Novello using only 100% Nascetta grapes, creating a dedicated subzone called Langhe Nas-cëtta del Comune …

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Nascetta, Part 1 – Welcome to Novello

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Italy, Sustainability

Nascetta grape variety

Nascetta, Part 1 – Welcome to Novello Nascetta is a once-obscure white grape variety from Novello, a tiny hill-top village in Barolo. Once nearly extinct, Novello wineries rediscovered it and revealed its potential for exciting white wines. Now, in this prestigious area famous for red wine, Nascetta is garnering a reputation as “the White Barolo”. That’s some turnaround! There are …

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Le Fornaci – an exciting Lugana white wine from Tommasi

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Italy, Sustainability, Travel, Wine Business

Tommasi Le Fornaci Lugana DOC

Le Fornaci – an exciting Lugana white wine from Tommasi Le Fornaci is an ongoing wine project by the Tommasi family. It’s in the Lugana DOC on the southern tip of Lake Garda. Gradually, this project has come to fruition, and the latest 2020 release is a beauty. (Update – so is 2021). Here’s why. Tommasi Tommasi is arguably so …

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Le Feu, Savoie’s greatest wine – for Dominique Belluard

Paul Howard Articles, Biodynamic, Blog, France, Sustainability

label-domaine-belluard 2

Le Feu, Savoie’s greatest wine – for Dominique Belluard This article is about Savoie’s most excellent white wine, Le Feu, made at Domaine Belluard. It’s written as a small memorial tribute to Dominique Belluard, pioneering owner of the Domaine. He tragically took his own life, age 55. Dominique Belluard farmed this small biodynamic estate at Ayse. It’s in the heart …

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The Knot of Love and Custoza DOC wines, Part 2

Paul Howard Articles, Blog, Food, Italy, Organic, Sustainability

Big skies in Custoza

The Knot of Love and Custoza DOC wines, Part 2 Part 1 of this article looked at Custoza DOC and the reasons influencing the taste and quality of its dry white wines. Now Part 2 puts that to the test with six representative Custoza DOC wines presented by the Consorzio. An interactive map below shows the locations of the featured producers, while …

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Derthona – Solving a Cult Wine Puzzle

Paul Howard Articles, Blockchain, Blog, Italy, Sustainability

Derthona Timorasso, Vigneti Massa

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 about 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 something …

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