| Italy - mostly Piedmont | ||||||
| Our recent trip to Piedmont was highly successful. The new wines from Nada Giuseppe and Fabrizio Battaglino were, as expected, wines we wanted to buy by the car load (there was little room for air in the car coming back!) but we also visited Filippo Broccardo whose 2012s are extremely drinkable and, new to us, Andrea Bosco of Bosco Agostino. | ||||||
| Fabrizio BATTAGLINO | ||||||
| Following his trip to the UK last year, there was an understandable surge of interest in Fabrizio's wines and some vintages are now sold out or have just a few bottles remaining. Fortunately, the next vintage to come along is 2013 which is fabulous (we already have some stocks of the 2013 Nebbiolo d'Alba which has been very well received). However, for Fabrizio, 2012 was also a great year, so much so that he decided to make a Roero Riserva which is a richer, fuller wine than the fruit-driven 2012, one for ageing. | ||||||
| Wine | Case size | £/case IB | Equivalent per bottle DP | List price per bottle | ||
| 2013 Nebbiolo d'Alba 'Colla' | 6x75cl | £60 | £14.52 | £16.50 | ||
| 2013 Roero 'Sergentin' | 6x75cl | £60 | £14.52 | £16.50 | ||
| 2012 Roero Riserva 'Sergentin' | 6x75cl | £66 | £15.72 | £17.50 | ||
| BOSCO Agostino | ||||||
| Bosco Agostino in La Morra who showed us a stunning Barbera d'Alba and three Nebbiolos, one a declassified Barolo from the two sites the family have vines in: Neirane in Verduno where the sandy soil produces fragrant, elegant Barolo and La Serra, south of La Morra where the limestone and clay soils are responsible for richer, more structured wines. The quality is consistently high throughout the range but the contrast between the wines is stark. | ||||||
| Wine | Case size | £/case IB | Equivalent per bottle DP | List price per bottle | ||
| 2013 Barbera d'Alba 'Volupta' | 6x75cl | £66 | £15.72 | £17.50 | ||
| 2013 Langhe Nebbiolo 'Rurem' | 6x75cl | £66 | £15.72 | £17.50 | ||
| 2011 Barolo 'Neirane' | 6x75cl | £108 | £24.12 | £27.50 | ||
| 2011 Barolo 'La Serra' | 6x75cl | £126 | £27.72 | £31.50 | ||
| Filippo BROCCARDO | ||||||
| We tasted just three wines with Filippo and Federica but enjoyed them all very much. The 2014 Langhe Nebbiolo is rich, rounded and warm and, with food, the tannins melt away (Filippo offered a particularly good salami!). There are now two Barolo wines: the 2012 'I Tre Pais' is forward and drinkable already whereas the more structured 'Bricco San Pietro' is more richly fruited and, perhaps, even more enjoyable even at this early stage. | ||||||
| Wine | Case size | £/case IB | Equivalent per bottle DP | List price per bottle | ||
| 2014 Langhe Nebbiolo | 6x75cl | £48 | £12.12 | £13.80 | ||
| 2012 Barolo 'I Tre Pais' | 6x75cl | £93 | £21.12 | £24.00 | ||
| 2012 Barolo 'Bricco San Pietro' | 6x75cl | £108 | £24.12 | £27.50 | ||
| NADA Giuseppe | ||||||
| An estate that seems never to put a foot wrong. Enrico Nada has just released a delightful 2012 Barbaresco which can be enjoyed immediately (or squirelled away a few years) and a superb 2010 Riserva (which does need to be forgotten about for a couple of years or so). This year also sees the first release of Enrico's prized Riesling - it's fantastic but be warned, he made only 720 bottles in total! | ||||||
| Wine | Case size | £/case IB | Equivalent per bottle DP | List price per bottle | ||
| 2014 Langhe Riesling | 6x75cl | £66 | £15.72 | £17.50 | ||
| 2015 Langhe Nebbiolo | 6x75cl | £48 | £12.12 | £13.80 | ||
| 2012 Barbaresco 'Casot' | 6x75cl | £78 | £18.12 | £20.00 | ||
| 2010 Barbaresco Riserva 'Casot' | 6x75cl | £96 | £21.72 | £24.00 | ||
| From Tuscany… | ||||||
| Poggio al Gello | ||||||
| In addition to some excellent Montecucco Rosso and Riserva (move over Montalcino!), Giorgio and Alda have preserved some ancient varieties which, without their efforts, would be all but extinct. We have already enjoyed a bottle or two of the 2012 Pugnitello and the aptly named Foliotondo (round leaf) in their 2014 'Agellus'. The estate's white wine is rather good too and their olive oil is very special! | ||||||
| Wine | Case size | £/case IB | Equivalent per bottle DP | List price per bottle | ||
| 2012 Pugnitello del Piaggione | 6x75cl | £66 | £15.72 | £17.50 | ||
| 2014 Foliotondo 'Agellus' | 6x75cl | £69 | £16.32 | £18.50 | ||
| 2015 Bianco - Vermentino | 6x75cl | £48 | £12.12 | £13.50 | ||
| 6x75cl | £96 | £21.72 | £24.00 | |||
| Olive oil | ||||||
| In much of Italy, Olive oil is used not just for coooking or as a salad dressing ingredient but in place of butter to go with bread. In this truly naked form, the flavour of the oil is paramount and personal tastes come to the fore so it is important to choose the right oil (as it is really for use in cooking or with salads). The blended 'Keya' is the softer and fruitier of the two, very user-friendly whereas the monovarietal 'Tara' is more peppery and more suited to connoisseurs. | ||||||
| TARA (Monovarietal: Frantoio) | 6x50cl | £57 | £9.50 | N/A | ||
| KEYA (Blend: Leccino, Frantoio Moraiolo) | 6x50cl | £48 | £8.00 | N/A | ||
Some irreverent answers given by Domaine des Anges ' owner, Gay McGuinness to questions asked by a South African publication: (A) Your full address ? postal address: Domaine des Anges, 84570 Mormoiron, France; physical address: Domaine des Anges, Quartier ND des Anges, 84570 Mormoiron, France (B) History of the winery. Domaine des Anges is a beautiful, small, hillside estate in the Ventoux in the Southern Rhone region of France. It looks out across a large valley towards Mont Ventoux – the Giant of Provence – with spectacular views on all sides. The estate covers 40 hectares and is overlooked by the chapel of Notre Dame des Anges and a 12 th century Moorish tower, living together happily in the sunshine of timeless, historic, rural France. The total area of the vineyard is 18 ha. There have been vineyards here since Roman times. We do not know the name of the original owner, but it is believed that he was stabbed to death by a group of Rom...
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