Colour or perhaps color if you prefer. Often examined but, what are people looking for? To be honest I’m not sure what some people are looking for. But I do hope they find it. Colour is an odd thing in wines because it should make up only a cursory part as we can no longer [...]
Two nights ago a good friend dropped around with a bottle of Vin Alto Chardonnay 1999. He assured me that the cellaring had been less than adequate. To me these are always interesting and fun wines; wines that have been aged too long in the conventional sense and are produced from varieties and or regions [...]
I’ve had a great trip through France and Italy but it is nice to be home even if the weather isn’t particularly pleasant at present here in Auckland. Now it’s just a matter of getting over this jet lag.
New Zealand Winegrowers, the official body for New Zealand wine producers has released figures for the 2008 harvest. Harvest was big- and larger than expected. There were capacity issues in Marlborough at harvest as a result. Harvest totalled 285,000 tons nationally, up 39% on the 2007 vintage. However the bulk of the growth was driven [...]
I arrived back in Singapore yesterday for a couple of meetings. Heading Back to New Zealand tomorrow.
Crossing over the border into Trentino, I drove to the Pojeri &Sandri winery located in Faedo, just north of Trento. Elisa Sandri showed me around the “tardis†like winery which is dug into the hillside. Faedo is set on a beautiful hillside that faces South West. Founded in the 1970’s the winery is now extremely [...]
Second to last day in Italy and we are at Lake Como. If your looking for somewhere to stay in this area try Massimo at Mas Viaggi, he has a great knowledge of what is available and can book you rooms. Tourist information was little help in that regard. He also does regional wine tours. [...]
A big thank you to Jeff Chilcott from the Marchesi Di Gresy in Barbaresco for the introductions, tastings, recommendations, dinners and all his help. Thanks Jeff
Following my visit to Hofstatter I was lucky enough to secure a visit to Kellerie Tramin. Not only a visit, but we were also hosted by Italian Winemaker of the Year 2004, Willi Sturtz. A tour of the vineyards showed some interesting developments, where the traditional vineyard structure of the area known as the pergola [...]
I would just like to make people aware that the lack of special German font characters in the following post is deliberate. The reason has to do with the database on which these posts are stored and me not wanting to upgrade it for fear of deleting everything. Tramin, sounds familiar doesn’t it? Merely add [...]
What an awful drive. We left the Valtellina as the rain began to fall via the Passo Aprica. The kindly local road maintence people had set up a diversion that forced us up yet another one way track chocked with two way traffic. I’m starting to see why grappa is so popular here. Eventually we [...]
As we left the Valtellina we visited the cellars of Triacca. A beautiful winery set amongst the vines on a hillside above the town of Villa di Tirano. Next stop Alto Adige.
On Monday afternoon we visited Fay near the town of Caselli. Elena took us on a vertigo inducing tour of their family vineyards as she expertly piloted her car along the narrow tracks that suffice for two-way roads in theses parts. All the while narrating the history of the estate. I don’t know that I [...]
The bunkered Cantina of Pelizzatti Perego is quite fantastic. Cut from the cliff it is cavernous, spacious and modern. Look at that slope. Above the winery, the vines climb skyward on small terraces at a very rapid rate. There is no room for mechanisation on these slopes even spraying is a manual operation. The work [...]
First thing on Monday I was off to Balgera again for a quick run through some barrel samples of Sfortzato. Sfortzato, aside from being difficult to pronounce (for me at least) is a little like Amarone in that it is made from grapes that once ripe are held in special rooms to dry. The drying [...]
In the past I have explained what a vertical tasting is but this particular type was new to me. Cheese. We visited the restaurant Ribunta. After a preparatory two courses we were served a cheese vertical. Mostly the regional “Bittoâ€. A cow’s milk cheese produced only in the summer months when the cows stretch their [...]
Just a quick mention of a really cool restaurant in, or just outside the town of Barbaresco that is worth visiting. It’s called Rabaya and is number 12mon the road “Via Della Stazione†just outside the town itself. Great food and a great view of the vineyards from the outdoor deck is fantastic if the [...]
Yes those are grapevines up there. No mechanical harvesting here.
The Valtellina valley runs east from the northern most point of lake Como. The valley its self is quite spectacular. Either side of a flat valley floor, perhaps 2 kilometers at its widest, mountains rise steeply to their snow capped summits. The grandeur is quite breath taking. By the time we reach Sondrio we are [...]