Definitive Italian Tasting
2008 Blanc de Morgex Vini Estremi, Cave du Vin Blanc – apple-cheeked Heidi of a wine alpine slivers of glacial wine needling the taste buds.16
2009 Petite Arvine, Les Cretes – flowers (clover & meadow-blossom), lovely ripe citrus and a dry, pleasingly persistent stony quality 16.5
2009 Valle Isarco Kerner, Cantina Valle Isarco – Think Riesling meets Traminer. A typically tropically, a bonanza of pineapple, grapefruit and melon with nice peppery rasp. Sumptuous rather than subtle but a right crowd-pleaser.17
2008 Costadila Prosecco sur lie – Reductive nose – we decanted it. Very cloudy with chunky sediment. Bone dry, shaving of apple skin, dusting of chalk and thrillingly pure. Prosecco just like da mamma used to make it. 17
2006 Dario Princic Ribolla Gialla – Amber wine with some controlled oxidation and mucho work on the lees. Dried fruits (apricots), resin, nutcream warm and mouth-coating tannins rounded off by enchanting middle eastern spices 17.5
2007 Zidarich Carso Vitovska – A toned down version of the above with flowers, dried fruits (apples and plums) and pepper. One for the local fish soup 16
2007 Zidarich Carso Teran – beautiful purple colour, vibrant red fruits, cool and fresh 17.5
2007 Ariento Massa Vecchia – Yet more skin contact creates a deep golden yellow (wine) with almost layered aromas and a palate where initial pear and lime segue into garrigue notes of wild herbs and spice. The ensemble is completed by a delicious veneer of sweet chestnut 17.5+
2007 Montevertine Rosso – This wine is as harmonious as a self-conducting orchestra. Mid red colour, eloquent nose of sanguine red fruits, perfumed fruit flavours in the mouth revealing summer cherries, beautifully velvet texture finished by delicious acidity 19
2007 Pergole le Torte – Bolder and richer than the Montevertine with concentrated cassis and blackberry fruits. Needs time and a decanter 17.5
2009 Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Matthias Barzaghi – whistle-clean, pure nut crunch, utterly refreshing oyster-shell-licking style of wine 17
2006 Ageno, La Stoppa - Malvasia blend on the skins is a golden autumn’s day in itself. Cognac-coloured, grape blossom and spiced peach aromas, profound texture in the mouth, incredibly drinkable 18
2005 Dinavolo – cut from the same cloth. The smell of fermenting apples, ginger and spice all the way with the reassuring grapiness in the background 17
1997 Marche Bianco –extraordinary Riesling-like nose of pear, angelica and a hint of petrol. Intense and long in the mouth 18.5
2007 Fiano Don Chisciotte, Il Tufiello – Looks like a bellini in the glass, smells like a cider press working overtone, but in the mouth is a joyous mixture of fruits and minerals bathed in the freshness of cool-climate terroir 18
2005 Etna Bianco Pietramarina, Benanti– Etna’s cool, wet microclimate enables the Benanti estate to make dry wines with maximum minerality. Pale yellow with greenish glints intense aromas of flowers, apple, pear, lemon, orange peel and other citrus fruit, all recurring on a palate where succulent texture, almost salty acidity and concentrated fruit are impeccably balanced towards a slightly bitter-spicy finish. 17.5
Marco de Bartoli Vecchio Samperi – Oloroso-style winep with bells and whistles. A traditional dry Marsala (pure Grillo), mahogany-hued, gorgeous aromas of chesnuts and brazil notes, dried oranges, energetic acidity that drives the wine across the palate with the greatest of ease and a richness that leaves you tasting it for several minutes afterwards/ 19+
2008 Cerasuolo di Vittoria Pithos COS – fermented in large clay amphorae. It is a beautiful wine with a delightful nose of sweet violets and a whisper of spiced cherries. The wine is very smooth, almost silky and the bright berry flavours cascade over the tongue to their lip-smacking conclusion. The nose has a haunting perfume combining red fruits of great purity with fine minerally, spicy, earthy notes that frame the fruit quite precisely. Think of the aromatic profile of a great red Burgundy, warmed up a notch or two by the sun. It’s the sort of nose you can keep returning to, and each time you attend you get something different. The palate is medium bodied and savoury, with an elegant earthiness 18
Munjebel Bianco, Frank Cornelissen C’est lava. This blend of Carricante, Grecanico and Coda di Volpe is ash-pecially unusual, although today it had shed some of its ur-funkiness in favour of some very attractive, smoky fruit.17.5