Torres Neive

Barbaresco a Tavola got off to a cracking start last Friday with 20 Barbareschi 2009. We had also chosen well in La Torre del Monastero as the meal was excellent, particularly the tagliatelle with a sauce featuring our local butchers’ sausage (Cordero Figli, Neive) and  a main course of braised duck breast with pears. I am glad we are already booked in there again this Friday as I suspect they will be booked out.

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Castello di Barolo

Barolo is a minefield with so many producers that I take every opportunity to taste whenever I can. For  the past 3 weeks, every Friday, there have been tasting dinners held at various Barolo restaurants with the wines of 10 different producers each evening. Sounds fantastic, and the restaurants were, but among 30 wines I struggled  to find more than a handful that I truly enjoyed. (more…)

PieroBusso & his magnetic glasses

Franco Minuto, Moccagatta

Ornella Pasquale opens bubbles

Barbaresco, and of course our neighbours seem to be hitting the headlines this month and about time too. The publicity will undoubtedly help wine tourism in Piemonte, too often overlooked except by the “cognoscenti”.  In Decanter magazine this month, Piero Busso- Stan Stunet 2008, Pasquale Pelissero- Bricco San Giuliano 2008 are both “Highly recommended” 4*wines . Moccagatta- Basarin 2008, Barbaresco 2008, Bric Balin 2008 and Pasquale Pelissero Bricco San Giuliano 2008 are all scored 90+ and are top wines in Wine Spectator. I have visited these cantinas recently and been impressed by not just their Barbareschi but the overall quality and diversity of their range. (more…)

Enzo at Herstmonceux

Tasting at Herstmonceux Castle

Hurray, this month’s Decanter magazine has it’s first Barbaresco panel tasting since 1999(?!) and the quote “I think Burgundy lovers should look at young Nebbiolo; the wines have a similar quality to them” caught my eye having just spent a few days in the UK. Good advice but don’t expect to find them in the supermarkets or simple off-licences. A lot are not available in the UK and a quick tour of the local Tescos, Sainsburys, M&S and Waitrose yielded pitifully few albeit from decent, but high volume producers. Last week’s dinner/tasting at Herstmonceux Castle with Piemonte-wines.com will help as their pricing is very competitive and they have a special section of their website devoted to it. (more…)

Langhe in winter

We’re still waiting but hopefully we will soon be living in a Unesco World Heritage Site. The one and only  nomination of  2011 put forward to  Paris Unesco Commission by the Italian Government in the 150^th  anniversary of  Italian Unity. “Piedmont Wine Landscape of Langhe-Roero-Monferrato”

Dario Stroppiana

Alberto Voerzio

I have been looking for the wine of small local producers to showcase at the Herstmonceux dinner and it is difficult as there are so many to choose from. I have already decided that the excellent wines of Franco Rocca (“Albesani” Barbaresco 2007 and “Bricco Stepone” Barbera d’Alba Superiore 2008), Sciorio (“Beneficio” Barbera d’Asti 2009 and “Furmjia” Monferrato Rosso 2008 ) and Manera (Barbaresco 2008 and Favorita 2010) should feature, but I also wanted some wines from Barolo. With the help of our friends from www.theitalianwinetours.com I turned my attention there. They had a couple of suggestions so last week we visited Dario Stroppiana, whose wines I had earmarked from La Morra tastings, and Alberto Voerzio a relatively new, young and passionate producer. It was not a difficult decision to include their wines. (more…)

Il Nostro Gavi, Giustiniana

Clemens looking girly

I knew I liked Gavi but I didn’t realise just how much until I visited Tenuta La Giustiniana last weekend with my mate Clemens who has a wine business, (MonVino), exporting principally to Germany. He had received some enquiries from Stuttgart and Berlin for quality Gavi and had arranged the appointment. It was cold and miserable and just starting to snow when we arrived and Alessandra took pity on him and found a nice blue girly umbrella. But I digress…. (more…)

Herstmonceux Castle

In conjunction with Herstmonceux Castle I have arranged a wine-tasting and typical Piemontese dinner in this historic setting. The wine-tasting will include Barolos and Barbarescos (dubbed the King and Queen of wines), made by several of my passionate and dedicated neighbours and I can promise you that they are exceptional and not found in your local supermarkets. The price is £49.50 inclusive of dinner, wines and VAT and is strictly limited to 50 places.

For reservations and further information please contact the Conference office at the Castle on  01323 834479  or by email at conf@bisc.queensu.ac.uk

I look forward to seeing you there.

Great to see these awards for one of my favourite neighbours!

Wine Advocate Antonio Galloni,

“This is a stunning set of wines from the Sottimano family. The 2008 Barbareschi are among the wines of the vintage and are not to be missed. The transparency and sheer class of these wines is first-rate.”

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Adolescent Amo & Mocha

Having had a Summer with little or no rain the weather in the past week made up for it. After the tragedies in Liguria last week we now have our fingers crossed that the rain of the past couple of days is absorbed locally although Her Outdoors had to make several detours to get home from shopping on the other side of the Tanaro. The principal bridge we use to cross it was closed and necessitated a 30 minute detour via Asti where the floodwater was also threatening the road. The weather has had little impact on our excursions although our adolescent puppy has been another matter. (more…)