James Bercovici - The Big Red Wine Company

It's a while since I had this and now it's on the bin end list so this could be my last bottle of Serradenari 's 2006 Barbera d'Alba. With home-made pizza, it was just right - some nice cherry fruit, not so much that it overwhelms the food and enough acidity to cut through it well. Simple and understated, this is no blockbuster, just a decent, everyday wine. In other words, perfect for a Tuesday night pizza!

The March issue of Decanter has just landed (I will never understand why the March issue has to arrive on 1st February - don't bother trying to explain it to me; I will simply glaze over) with an, as always, excellent article by JLL, this time all about Rasteau, one of my favourite villages (in terms of the wines, at least). Rasteau's promotion to cru  status in 2010 did not surprise me (unlike the promotion of Beaumes-de-Venise a few years earlier) as the wines have become increasingly good in recent years. The chances of this were always good, given that, after Chateauneuf-du-Pape it is the hottest commune  in the valley. More important is the rise of a number of high quality estates within the AOC. I have been working with Robert Charavin, the president of the syndicate and owner of Domaine des Coteaux des Travers , since I started BRW. In the old days, Robert made rustic, classic wines but in recent years, he has taken greater advantage of the position of his vine...