Tag: Old World

Do do the Douro – the most beautiful place on earth

I had a pedicure especially. I mean, I needed to show the grapes respect. The invitation to get knee deep in grape juice, skins, pips and to slide, march and waltz (to the local beat) at Quinta do Vesuvio is after all, a huge honour. If you have never been to the Douro, then make […]

Roll up! roll up!…and meet our new star estate from the Roero: Cornarea!

If you, like me, have a wee problem rolling your ‘r’s then exploring the Roero region just north of Alba can prove to be a tongue-twisting experience. Some would say – with a perfect roll if they’re oh-so lucky – that the Roero is best left to growing (exquisite) apricots. Compared to the orderly, monocultural […]

Alto Adige…time to scale those peaks!

Wine is a product of its environment, and if one had to choose a region to show just that then the Alto Adige, on Italy’s northern border with Austria, would be a prime example. It’s also one of the reasons why I love what I do: drawing on geology, climate, history, oenology, politics, people and markets […]

Piedmont vintage 2010 update – the news from the coal face…

Rest assured I’m not about to tell you how the Piemontese wines of 2010 taste before they’ve been made…although, and call me ‘nebbiolonuts’, has anyone else noticed the similarity between vintages over the past four decades, eg. ’09/’99/’89/’79 etc..? Only ’81,’82, ’91 and ’04 appear to buck the trend radically…