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  • Published

    10 February 2022

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    2017 Barolo vintage – c’est très jolie!

    • 10 February 2022 /

    2017 Langhe vintage: after a relatively mild winter, I recall a warm sunny March, & atypical 23 degree days accelerating the vegetative growth, followed by spring rain, & then on April 14th frost that damaged Barolo’s lower vyds & localised hail in Barbaresco (San Cristoforo). But it was the constant 30 degree days & drought caused......

  • Published

    21 July 2021

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    Monte Etna – let the Lava flow…

    • 21 July 2021 /

    Twenty years on from those initial tremors, when a group of trail-blazing producers – Messrs. Cornelissen, Franchetti, Graci, de Grazia, Foti/Benanti – recolonised the abandoned lava terraces & started making a (new) case for vini dell’Etna, it was time to return with my colleague Chloe, plus four DBGitalia amici produttori (Manuel Marinacci, Martina Fiorino of......

  • Published

    15 February 2021

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    Vintage 2016 in Piedmont – very promising indeed…

    • 15 February 2021 /

    In the Roero & Langhe in particular, the winter season was cold but not particularly snowy; in March, while Burgundy was burnt by frost, the Roero & Langhe enjoyed cold temperatures & dry days; April remained chilly & dry (compared to the warmer & damper April 2015); this continued into May, with temperatures mirroring the......

  • Published

    28 May 2020

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    Vintage 2019 reports from across Italia!

    • 28 May 2020 /

    From North to South, here are some brief reports from our amici produttori (& Me!): Thomas Niedermayr, Alto Adige From the stunning, light-filled Dolomitic terraces overlooking San Michele Appiano, Thomas reflects on a smaller than usual crop, the harvest of which started on 20 Aug with the PIWI grape Solaris & finished on 1st October......

  • Published

    10 March 2020

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    Nebbiolo & a Snapshot of Piedmont’s Patchwork of ‘Terreno’

    • 10 March 2020 /

    On our last trip to Piedmont it was fascinating to taste so many different expressions of Nebbiolo, especially from the re-emerging and captivating region of Alto Piemonte, as well as from the Roero, and the Langhe itself. Carema First, we visited Chiussuma, in Carema. Ok technically it is not in the official ‘Alto Piemonte’ appellation,......