Blind Tasting Cabernet Franc at Tenuta Sette Cieli, Tuscany
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- Published: 09 May 2022 09 May 2022
We have ascended the 400 metres to Tenuta Sette Cieli, located in the hills behind Castagneto Carducci, in Pian delle Vigne in Monteverdi Marittimo, for an opportunity to examine the potential of Cabernet Franc grown here in this corner of Tuscany in a comparative blind tasting with examples from the Loire, Napa, and Bordeaux.
Sustainable wineries & the winds of change blowing across VinItaly
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- Published: 02 May 2022 02 May 2022
The first impression of Verona under the weight of the VinItaly wine expo is not dissimilar to the scene in the original ‘Italian Job’ movie with cars gridlocked around a central square, one guy perched on the edge of his sunroof reading the paper with his foot pressed down on the horn. The city was pulsating with the influx.
Saint Péray by Vidal Fleury 2020
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- Published: 24 March 2022 24 March 2022
Saint-Péray is a small area in the Rhone Valley and not so well known. Vidal Fleury is one of the oldest houses in the Côtes-du-Rhône and so when they turn their attention to this small AOC we are right to be intrigued.
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Ventoux AOC - Is this high altitude Rhone appellation having it's day in the sun?
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- Published: 14 March 2022 14 March 2022
A few years ago in London, I met James King from Chateau Unang in the Ventoux AOC in the Rhone. This is an area of the Rhone that is currently enjoying an ascending reputation due to a warming climate, better ripening while maintaining acidity.
Recently at VinExpo, Paris, I met with James's wife, Joanna King, who then introduced me to Frederic Chaudiére, President of the Ventoux Appellation. In this short interview with Frederic, we discuss the climate imprint so far and also the efforts that are now underway to join global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
Discord in Odesa; pruning at Shabo goes on!
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- Published: 08 March 2022 08 March 2022
Last week a picture was posted on Twitter of vines in Shabo, a large estate that lies to the west of Odesa on southern Ukraine’s Black Sea coastline. The image seemed benign at face value but the reality, of course, is that the city of Odesa has been bracing itself for attack by Russian forces.
Riccardo Pasqua: In search of new taste in a changing climate & bullish on Italy’s brand
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- Published: 03 March 2022 03 March 2022
This interview with Pasqua Wines CEO, Riccardo Pasqua, was recorded in Verona during VinItaly Special Edition, last October in 2021.
During the wine show, Pasqua collaborated with an art collective to put on a large-scale installation, demonstrating that wine can express itself as a collaborator in the arts as easily as it can in a tasting note.
Hérosé 2021 - Cellier des Princes
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- Published: 22 February 2022 22 February 2022
A real beauty of a modern rosé from the Cellier des Princes, a cooperative of 150 winegrowers in Chateauneif-du-Pape.
Strawberry pink colour - in a bottle with elegant floral design and an attractive 12.5% in alcohol making it very drinkable.
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Discord in Odesa; pruning at Shabo goes on!
Last week a picture was posted on Twitter of vines in Shabo, a large estate that lies to the west of Odesa on southern Ukraine’s Black Sea coastline. The image seemed benign at face value but the reality, of course, is that the city of Odesa has been bracing itself for attack by Russian forces.
An aperitif by the coliseum
As COVID-19 conspires with the grimmest of winds and rain to force a societal retreat behind our own front doors, the word ennui springs to mind. The muddle of displeasure is pierced when Natalia hands me a large bulbous glass of a liquid I do not recognise.
Artichoke pasta and very fine Pigato
Britain’s lamentable exit
On the eve of Britain’s official departure from the EU, my partner and I decided to explore a small town on the Italian Riviera where thewintry cold doesn’t feel so much like cold war bite.
I had warned my significant other that I would be having an inverse departure party, a release of the sanity valve if you like!
Soave: volcanic wines with elegance and longevity
Sitting inside the ancient castle walls inside the town of Soave, a short drive from Verona in northern Italy, the unique slightly almond aroma of the indigenous grape, Garganega, rises gently from my glass. The castle sprawls up the side of an extinct volcano that gives the region its variant soil structures that mark out the better quality of Soave wines.
An American In Paris; Tanisha Townsend (@GirlMeetsGlass) discusses podcasts, Paris wine bars, & what she's drinking at the moment
Tanisha Townsend decided to move to Paris 4 years ago after regularly passing through the city en route to the world’s most famous vineyards. In fact, it was about 2 years ago at the Printemps de Champagne Bouzy Rouge tasting in Reims that I saw (who we shall now refer to as) GirlMeetsGlass chirpily speaking to her web followers on Snapchat.
Wine tasting in Galicia: The pilgrims search for Albarino
The cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, the final resting place of Saint James, rises out of the landscape, infested with antiquity. The rambling steep streets give way to shafts of dramatic light, emblazoned chapels, and tightly packed tapas bars, dusty, as old novels pressed together in antiquarian bookshops.
