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A Taste of Tuscany: First of the 2020 Extra Virgin Olive Oils

Nov 24, 2020

A Taste of Tuscany: First of the 2020 Extra Virgin Olive Oils

Normally the Conti Contini Bonacossi family get through about 70 litres of their own organic extra virgin olive oil a year, but this year is different. Beatrice Contini Bonacossi says it’ll be nearer 100 litres because they’ve all been lunching at home. Lucky them: the oil in question is Capezzana, an estate north-west of Florence that, in addition to producing beautiful Carmignano wine, has been making olive oil since Etruscan and Roman times. No wonder they know a thing or

Sipping Siepi with the Best of 'Em

Oct 28, 2020

Sipping Siepi with the Best of 'Em

Gnocchi with girolles, chanterelles and black truffle paired with the 2011 vintage of Castello di Fonterutoli's super-Tuscan Siepi, at a dinner hosted by Giovanni Mazzei at The Petersham restaurant in London The text of this article was first published in The World of Fine Wine issue 64 The first person I met at the Siepi winemaker dinner at The Petersham restaurant in London’s Covent Garden was an engagingly conversational Jermyn Street shirtmaker. He didn’t say whether he c

A Sneak Preview of the 2017 Vintage of One of the World's Great Sweet Wines

Sep 16, 2020

A Sneak Preview of the 2017 Vintage of One of the World's Great Sweet Wines

Excelling again: the just released 2017 vintage of Vin de Constance, still in the traditional asymmetrical 50cl bottle, but now with a straighter neck so that it can be sealed with top quality cork It's not only one of the great sweet wines, Klein Constantia Vin de Constance is one of the world's most original and historic wines, so the release of a new vintage is always an occasion, although not so much of an occasion as the rare ten-vintage vertical tasting, spanning 1987 t

A Story of Redemption: Castello Banfi in Montalcino

Jul 14, 2020

A Story of Redemption: Castello Banfi in Montalcino

The imposing medieval Castello Poggio alle Mura with just below (on the right of the picture) part of the luxury Castello Banfi Il Borgo hotel When John Mariani bought the Poggio alle Mura estate just south of Montalcino in 1978, it had had only two previous owners, the Sicilian family living in Venezuela that he bought it from and a Sienese family. In itself, it’s not necessarily remarkable, but the Castello dates from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, so it was a big c

Wine from the Edge: New Zealand and Oregon Pinot Noir

Jul 2, 2020

Wine from the Edge: New Zealand and Oregon Pinot Noir

Ready for the off – sample bottles of New Zealand and Oregon Pinot Noir lined up in order for the tasting This tasting, which replaced what was going to be a full-day event in London, was described as a deep dive into Pinot Noir from around the 45th parallels. I’d say it was more of a brief but brilliant plunge: a one-hour 20-minute Zoom tasting of six wines presented by Bree Boskov, an Australian Master of Wine who lives in Oregon and is education manager for the Oregon Wine

The New Order at Luce: New Wine, Winemaker and Winery and a Retrospective Tasting

Apr 7, 2020

The New Order at Luce: New Wine, Winemaker and Winery and a Retrospective Tasting

Looking across the Luce vineyards to Frescobaldi's Tenuta di Castelgiocondo in southwest Montalcino in the November sunshine The text of this article was first published in The World of Fine Wine issue 63 There must have been no shortage of potential candidates for Lamberto Frescobaldi to choose from for the newly created post of technical director and oenologist at the new, all-singing, all-dancing, no-expense-spared Tenuta Luce winery in Montalcino. It was surely a red-hot

A Rioja legend in its own lifetime: Roda's 30th anniversary tasting

Aug 13, 2019

A Rioja legend in its own lifetime: Roda's 30th anniversary tasting

Clams and Galician blond breed beef (Rubia gallega) at Asador Etxebarri, where everything is grilled over wood fires, using different woods. Roda owner and founder Mario Rotllant isn't afraid to serve his red wines with fish and seafood. Or, for that matter, with desserts The text of this article was first published in The World of Fine Wine issue 60 Three decades is both a long time and a short time in the life of a wine producer starting from scratch and aiming for the star

4 top Italian reds – from Tuscany, Trentino and Lombardy

Mar 1, 2019

4 top Italian reds – from Tuscany, Trentino and Lombardy

Tasting notes on another four impressive Italian recent releases, following on from my Caiarossa blog The four wines – San Leonardo from Trentino, Conte Vistarino Pinot Nero Bertone (awaiting its proper label) from Lombardy and the two Tuscans, Poggio Valente from the Maremma and Le Serre dell'Ornellaia from Bolgheri San Leonardo 2013, Vigneti delle Dolomiti, Trentino San Leonardo is the flagship wine of the eponymous tenuta (estate) in Trentino and is one of Italy’s iconic r

Caiarossa – fusing complexity with approachability in Tuscany

Feb 15, 2019

Caiarossa – fusing complexity with approachability in Tuscany

The past six months have been particularly rich in tastings of top Tuscan wines. Two of them, Luce and Siepi, I’ve written about in forthcoming articles for The World of Fine Wine. Others I’ll be covering in a blogpost soon, but today it's Caiarossa The estate's flagship wine I’m starting with Caiarossa because I don’t get to taste the wines as often as some other top Tuscan estates and, when I do, I’m always struck by the way the reds fuse complexity and seriousness of purpo

A dazzling Penfolds Grange and much more: tasting the 2018 Collection

Nov 1, 2018

A dazzling Penfolds Grange and much more: tasting the 2018 Collection

The launch of Penfolds’ 2014 Grange last month marked the release of the 64th consecutive vintage. I haven't tasted the first, the experimental 1951, but I have tasted its successor, 1952, which likewise wasn't released commercially, and I have twice tasted the first commercial release, the extremely rare 1953 Grange Hermitage (as Grange was called at the time): first in 2003, along with the next 49 vintages of Grange, at the fifth Rewards of Patience tasting in Adelaide; and

Château Lafon-Rochet 2006-2016: coming full circle

Oct 5, 2018

Château Lafon-Rochet 2006-2016: coming full circle

Ten years after returning to Saint-Estèphe to take the helm at the family's fourth-growth estate, Basile Tesseron showed the results at a tasting in London and then showed some vintages from his father's, grandfather's and pre-Tesseron eras over dinner Bottles at the ten-year retrospective tasting hosted by Basile Tesseron (right) at Berry Bros & Rudd Bordeaux classed growths vary their blends according to the vintage. Of course they do. Over time they may shift the emphasis

La Conseillante: freshness, clarity and grace 1982–2011

Jan 12, 2018

La Conseillante: freshness, clarity and grace 1982–2011

The text of this article originally appeared in The World of Fine Wine, issue 53 A seated tasting of nine vintages of La Conseillante from 2010 back to 1982, presented by director-winemaker Jean-Michel Laporte at Bonhams, London in March 2015, showed among other things how consistent a performer this Pomerol estate is. The impression was reinforced nine months later at a tasting of six of the same vintages, together with the 2011. The second tasting, held before and during di

Antinori Guado al Tasso 1998–2011 and Matarrochio 2007–2011

Dec 12, 2017

Antinori Guado al Tasso 1998–2011 and Matarrochio 2007–2011

This article originally appeared in The World of Fine Wine, issue 51 A tasting billed as a UK first is tempting by any standard, but when presented by Renzo Cotarella it is doubly so. Cotarella – he hardly needs an introduction – is CEO and chief winemaker of Antinori, a youthful 60-year-old who has been with the company since 1979 and says he has no understudy but a team of 40 technicians. “I think what will be very difficult in future will be a single winemaker and a single

Age shall not wither them: 150-year-old Aglianico vines and a vertical tasting

Sep 18, 2017

Age shall not wither them: 150-year-old Aglianico vines and a vertical tasting

Antonio Capaldi, president of Feudi di San Gregorio (left) with agronomist and CEO Pierpaolo Sirch; I wasn't the only one to photograph the 17-vintage line-up (right) I was in Campania recently for a vertical and horizontal tasting of Aglianico, “the Barolo of the south”, but no less fascinating than the tasting were some of the vines I encountered. The wines were from the Capaldo family’s Feudi di San Gregorio estate and the tasting was held in the winery designed for them b

Growers' Champagne Month: top picks

Jun 13, 2017

Growers' Champagne Month: top picks

In homage to Growers’ Champagne Month (June, in case you didn’t know), I’ve listed below some of the top names and am highlighting two that are new to me this year. The first is Champagne Guy Charlemagne, winemaker-owners from father to son since 1892, based in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. The second is Champagne Labruyère in Verzenay, which is not only new to me but new to the world. A quick word on growers’ Champagne. The term simply means a Champagne that is produced by the person/

Weird and wonderful grape varieties

May 9, 2017

Weird and wonderful grape varieties

“Some of the wines are available in the UK; others are so rare it is unlikely that you will be able to find much literature on them,” said the email from an MW. I’d have gone a long way and spent hours in a cold, damp cellar to taste the wines made from these grape varieties, but I didn’t have to. They were going to be served at a six-course dinner in the private dining room of Gordon Ramsay’s Savoy Grill. It was not an invitation to turn down. So I didn’t. Nor did the Presid

Ten Years On: tasting top Bordeaux 2007

Apr 12, 2017

Ten Years On: tasting top Bordeaux 2007

Fruitless it may be, but I couldn’t help speculating recently how the 2007 Bordeaux red wines would have turned out if this vintage had come a year later or if the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 and ensuing global financial crisis had come a year earlier. The prompt was a ‘Bordeaux 10 Years On’ tasting that fine wine merchant Bordeaux Index generously puts on in London every year. The wines are high-end, largely classed growths up to and including the first growths and t

Penfolds Grange and Special Bins: a unique vertical tasting in Paris

Apr 19, 2016

Penfolds Grange and Special Bins: a unique vertical tasting in Paris

Hosted by the Australian Ambassador to France at "an intimate dinner", it was billed as "the first ever monumental vertical tasting of Penfolds Grange and Special Bins". I was one of the ambassador's guests This article was published in Decanter magazine in late 2011 The last time I tasted 1953 Grange – I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to be able to say that – it was outshone by the 1953 Grange Cabernet Sauvignon. That was September 2003, in Australia, at the fifth Penfo

Iconic, historic... it must be Penfolds Grange and a Rewards of Patience tasting

Apr 5, 2016

Iconic, historic... it must be Penfolds Grange and a Rewards of Patience tasting

Penfolds' fifth Rewards of Patience was a remarkable, unrepeatable tasting over four days in September 2003. It included the complete set of 50 vintages of Grange. I was one of five wine writers invited to taste This is the article I wrote for Decanter magazine, published in June 2004: Few French wine producers could put on a tasting of 50 consecutive vintages. Who in Bordeaux would willingly show tasters their 1974, 1977 and 1984? And who in Burgundy would wish to show 1965,