Chatting about wine writing, journalism, criticism and the media landscape
I have a chat with Matthew Horkey of Exotic Wine Travel about how I see things developing in the wine media landscape over the next few years. »
Video - Discussing the Cru wines of Soave (part one)
I was delighted to be joined by Matteo Inama of the famous Inama estate, Giula Franchetto of Cantina Franchetto, Danish importer Ole Udsen, Chiara Coffolle of Az.Ag. Coffolle, and Chiara Mattiello of the Consorzio. We talk about terroir of these new geographical units and talk about how some of »
Video - Grape Focus - Discussing Susumaniello
I'm with Ole Udsen, Romina Leopardi of Tenuta Rubino, Alfredo Falvo of Masseria Li Veli and Massimiliano Apollonio of Vini Apollonio to discuss the old but increasingly fashionable Susumaniello grape found in Puglia. You can read more about Susumaniello here. »
Travel - Concorso di Vermentino (Sardinia)
In February 2020 I flew in to Caglairi for a few days in order to judge at the relatively new Concorso di Vermentino, a competition designed to showcase Sardinia's top expressions of the Vermentino grape, a variety blessed with massive potential for fine, mineral rich white wines. You can listen »
Column - Pantelleria: Sweet Wines of the Black Pearl
You can also read this article on Vinorandum, where it won the Millesima Blog Award for Wine Reporter. Pantelleria is one of the most interesting terroirs in Italy. Known as the black pearl of the Mediterranean, this secluded Sicilian island is entirely volcanic, formed through a series of eruptions that »
Column - Timeless Gavi
You can also read this article on vinorandum.com > here --- The Gavi denomination knocks out around six million bottles a year. The bulk of this output is undertaken by large bottlers, many of them focussed on interests elsewhere in Piedmont - Asti in particular. This approach has done »
Travel - A few days in Salento with #NegroamaroStories
Guagnano is one of the key winemaking villages of Salento. More specificially it's home to some of the best vineyards in Puglia's classic DOC of Salice Salentino. Here, bush vines of Negroamaro planted up to a century ago provide premium quality grapes capable of making stunning wines. It's just.....only »
(Journal) Visiting Romina Tacchino
The Dolcetto grape has two capitals - Ovada and Dogliani. The small village of Castelleto d'Orba is a stone's throw from Ovada, and here, the Tacchino family cultivate the variety in order to create a wine capable of ageing. You can see my profile of Azienda Agricola Tacchino on Vinorandum »
Travel - A snapshot of Liguria
I spent a few days seeing Liguria for the first time. Starting off in La Spezia and heading west along the coast, virtually as far as San Remo, I was able to get a feel for the terrain that characterises appellations such as Cinque Terre DOC, Ormeasco di Pornassio DOC »
Travel - On the road in Hungary with HungarianWines.eu
Here are a few notes from my recent four day study tour to Hungary, courtesy of HungarianWines.eu, the PR and marketing arm of the brilliant Ágnes Németh and Tamás Dobos. The format was a whistle-stop tour of Hungary by bus that incorporated the awards ceremony of the Hungarian Wine »
Column - Old Soave - the gift that keeps on giving
You can also read this article on vinorandum.com > here --- Something has happened to Soave in the last decade. It seems to have gone from being one of the most uninspiring names in wine to one of the most spectacularly under valued whites around. The secret, it seems, »