Monthly Archives: July 2010

As keen golfers we are often asked whether we can play in Italy as it is not renowned as a golf destination compared to Spain and Portugal.  Edoardo & Francesco Mollinari had to learn somewhere. In Piemonte there are some very good courses close to our house but they are in the countryside and not surrounded by bars and apartments and clubs. They usually have a nice restaurant in situ, sometimes accommodation and tend not to be too busy during the week. Our favourite is I Girasoli whose President (Luciano) is a retired surgeon and committed to ensuring the course is eco-friendly.

With no significant rain for over 2 months, watering the garden has become a chore and with chickens to be chased the evening routine can take almost 2 hours. One possible solution is to install an automatic watering system so having sought advice from a couple of mates last week we set off to buy the bits. We had looked up local official Claber stockists on the internet and punched the address into TomTom. Non c’è! (more…)

A last minute arranged visit to Cascina Saria at the weekend for 2 Norwegian visitors confirmed just what good value their wines are. I love their tasting room overlooking Coazzolo and Castagnole delle Lanze and the reception accorded to us by Maura and her father Giovanni & Mama Maria was as warm as ever. Not to mention Marco who’s growl is worse than his bite. Maura’s enthusiasm unfortunately speeds up her Italian but it’s a great yardstick (I suppose that should be metrestick) to measure my linguistic progress: verdict-some way to go!

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Since the 80’s I have generally avoided the Bordeaux “en primeur” campaign.  In fact since moving here I have only really drunk claret from the dwindling stock that I purchased for modest prices years ago. I agree with Robert Parker who tweeted recently that the Bordelais were ‘stupid and arrogant’ in their pricing policy. More stupid are the people who buy Chateau Lafite Rothschild and their ilk at £1,000 per bottle! The general wine buying public must despair at the number of column inches devoted to the campaign.  (more…)

Last night we dined with some friends at Le Torri in Castiglione Falleto (one of the 11 villages that make up Barolo). As we ate our dinner enjoying some Cavalotto Langhe Nebbiolo we noticed that one of the brothers who make the wine, Alfio, was sitting at an adjacent table.

Unfortunately the terrace, which overlooks their vineyard had a booking of 20 so we were “relegated” to the courtyard with its view of the castle up the hill. (more…)

Italian wines to the fore- particularly Piemonte

Despite the weaker £ versus the €, recent figures released by the UK government show that imports of Italian wines in 2008/2009 increased by 28% and captured 17.4% of the market to move closer to the top spot held by Australia (20.7%). In value terms Italy already holds the number one slot. The biggest increases were in everyday reds and rosés (+87%) and sparklers (+79%) while at the top end Piemonte continues to consolidate its leading position in Italy. (more…)