Arnaldo Caprai

Arnaldo Caprai,

Arnaldo Caprai are the leading exponent of the Sagrantino grape bringing it to its fullest and most glorious expression in the award winning, poll topping, mouth puckering, 25 Anni Sagrantino di Montefalco. Arnaldo Caprai wines are low yield, attention to detail, terroir exploiting brilliant expressions of every grape under vine, no fillers, all killers, the entire range is outstanding. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to visit the vineyards of Arnaldo Caprai, 4kms outside of Montefalco and snoop around the nerve centre of the operation as well as partaking in a tasting of their best wines. Arnaldo Caprai are world famous for their top bottling, the 25 Anni Sagrantino di Montefalco, the best wine of the vineyard and, in my opinion, the best wine currently produced in all of Umbria.

Arnaldo Caprai also produce a stunning blended wine, barely known outside Italy, called Rosso Outsider, a wine of wonderful aroma and mouth feel that really encapsulates the fabulous terroir the vineyard occupies. This area is not just about Sagrantino, the Rosso Outsider is a 50/50 Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon blend that holds a bunch of candles to your famous Super Tuscans. I am very serious when I say that the 2005 vintage I tried can be happily awarded 95 points, wonderfully smooth, and I´d wager the best blended Umbrian wine. At a price point of €30, this is the QPR wine of the vineyard. I see this wine gaining notoriety over the next 5-10 years in a major major way, so investors and serious wine enthusiasts are strongly advised to buy a case of the '04 or '05.

The vineyards occupy a stunning position and you´ll see this blog entry is loaded with images, the entire area around Montefalco is part of a wine tour trail which I didn´t have time to embark on yesterday but will definately take a week to explore. The town of Montefalco is more geared towards wine than any other Italian town I´ve visited with a really shocking state of the art piece of wine kit in the central square and a super stocked wine bar which I will write about in the next blog entry.

Arnaldo Caprai produce nine wines, a grappa and also a fine olive oil. The most impressive point of the visit for me, aside the the beautiful setting, state of the art buildings and jazzy displays is the fact that this vineyard has achieved excellence across several grape varietals. Arnaldo Caprai tend Sagrantino, Merlot, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grechetto, Ciligiolo and a really low yield but carefully tended Pinot Noir. So shocked was I to see a Pinot I agreed to buy a bottle on the spot, only later realising they came in magnum form and were not exactly price sensitive! The 2001 Pinot Noir ¨Nero Outsider¨ looks the biz but I´m running out of occasions for these mags! Arnaldo Caprai wines are quality throughout but it is the aromatic qualities that stand out the most and I can´t wait to stick my nose in this Pinot mag.

Another happy shock was the quality of their only white, the Umbrian classic, Grechetto grape finds near perfect expression in the vineyards Grecante wine. Anyone who reads the blog will know I have a teeny tiny bias for reds and am no fan of the Grechetto grape yet the Caprai version is certainly the best Grechetto I´ve tasted. Coming in at under €10 a bottle, this is another sound offering that I happily scored at 89 points.

The star of the tasting was, no doubt, the 25 Anni Sagrantino, the 2004 vintage I could smell as the assistant was pouring the sample. A tremendous nose from a foot away giving off aromas of perfectly ripe fruit, vanilla and spices. This is the best nose I´ve sniffed all year. The wine was hugely tannic and after a 10 second swill around the palate speaking became an effort, really puckering wine but the tannins were soft and enjoyable. The colour of this wine was the darkest of all the samples and I´m scoring the 2004 vintage a whopping, thigh slapping 97 points. The highest of any wine I´ve scored in 2008. €55 a bottle?! Bargain.

If you haven´t tried a Sagrantino but don´t fancy a €55 outlay then Caprai do a kinda 2nd cru, the ¨Collepiano¨ is aged slightly less and has a higher yield but is still one of the top 5 Sagrantino´s produced in the whole region. Similar to the 25 Anni, a little less potent coming in at around €30, in the best vintages has achieved a 95 point Parker rating, seriously good.

So enough waffle, the photographs tell the story of a wonderful morning (thats right folks, my drinking is now open 24 hours!) where glasses got smashed, favourite T-Shirts got stanined and the wines of Arnaldo Caprai got bumped to my personal Serie A of Italian producers. The facility itself is stunning and if you´re in the area you must go and visit this producer showcasing Umbrian wines at their best and the Umbrian countryside at its most beautiful.

Arnaldo Caprai Grecante Grechetto dei Colli Martani 2007 - BUY - €9

Nice straw colour with some green hues on the rim. A subtle but pleasant fruity aroma with some floral action in there too, plus a little light herb. Refreshing palate, soft and fruity. A perfect wine for a prawn/tuna salad. 89 Points

Arnaldo Caprai Montefalco Rosso 2005 - BUY - €11

A light ruby red colour with a neat super packed, sucker punch nose. Giving up all the red berries and vanilla in typical Sangiovese style, which it should, the wine is a blended 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino, 15% Merlot show stopper. Succulent, full bodied palate, good long finish, easy drinking and exceptional QPR. 91 Points

Arnaldo Caprai Rosso Outsider 2005 - BUY - €30

Sits ruby red in the glass and colour consistant on the tilt. Another stand out nose, really an occasion where words can´t describe the intensity of the aroma. Sensational nose, make a kebab out of a wet pencil, blackberries, cherries and strawberries and wear it as a mustache for a week, you´ll get close to a quick sniff of this wine. Majorly exciting for nosehounds. The palate is also knockout, still very tannic, needs time but super potent, super soft a really intense wine experience. 95 Points

Arnaldo Caprai 25 Anni Sagrantino di Montefalco 2004 - BUY - €55

The darkest shade of ruby red, deep and brooding and close to black. New bottling lurching out of the traps aromatically, nowhere near tight, this wine is drinking superbly today. The best nose I´ve sampled all year, hit by potent aromas a foot away. Acres of ripe fruit, spices and vanilla, a masterclass in Sagrantino. Tannic like you´d expect, this wine is going to slay you in 10 years time but even today soft and full tannins that stay with the fruit, balance, structure till 2024. Almost perfect. 97 Points

Am I seriously recommending all these wines? YES. Am I in Arnaldo Caprai´s pay? NO. This producer rocks the casbah, so what if I ruined my favourite Tee? visit an Italian vineyard with California blazened across your chest and you deserve no better.

I´ve recommended the 25 Anni previously so I am going to push the Rosso Outsider as the best value wine and tell you where you can buy it!

Where can I buy this wine?

Europeans - Divine Golosita - €40

Americans - Beltramos - $69

Brits - No seller as per usual. Will let you know if TCD will stock.

Question of the Day

Who is your sure fire producer?

On the Lash

On the Lash,

Yesterdays foray into the Mestre wine world was without rhyme or reason and without a real stand out wine. Myself and a friend took it upon ourselves to try out the various wine bars stumbling roughly between my red hot 35°c apartment and Piazza Ferretto, ending up, typically, at the Lupo Nero (that is WOLF, wolf, not rabbit!). The restaurant, as always, was fabulous and although we went thru a few wines earlier in the night it provided the best tasting, a sumptious Primitivo by small name producer "Peruini" and at €11 in a restaurant, I was suitably impressed. I was also incredibly drunk so my score of 88 points carries a beer goggle value!

So, Tina and I started with an abysmal Barbera d'Alba from Castello di Verduno from a very limited choice in the local enoteca "Vite Rosse". The bar had probably 100 different wines on display, but only 6 were available to order by the glass. We found this at every bar we visited and have now exhausted Mestre's limited appeal and will hike into Venice real for our next tasting. After the Barbera, which really I can't get over how bad it was, we changed bars and changed regions, trying the Ruffino basic Il Ducale. Clearly a blended wine, it wasn't without some charms, but still, gotta give it a "meh".

The QPR wine of the night was by a producer I'd never tried (Geretto) from Friuli but I was keen to try a Cabernet Franc and the nose was Christina Aguilera Diiiiirty, vegetal, cabbage mulch, viney, herby, grass cutting diiiiirty. The flavour profile was great, smooth, not acidic, really drinkable and that nose, I was sold and the price? €1.60 a glass! I can't find it for sale anywhere on the net, but if you can, it's cheap and it's good.

So, from these scribbles on the back of an e-train ticket lets get to the reviews!

Castello di Verduno Barbera d'Alba Bricco del Cuculo 2006 - PASS - €14

Nice colour, hues were lighter than expected for a 2006 Barbera. The nose, was giving me very little of anything, not the merest hint of fruit, just a very sugary winey artificial nose that did nothing for me. The mouth feel was ok, uninteresting tannins, extremely acidic, I can't think of anything positive to say, I wouldn't use it in a cooking sauce. 73 Points

Ruffino Il Ducale Toscana 2005 - PASS - €9

Dark attractive purple colour with a nice nose, cherries, spice, meaty, the wine smelt "hot". The palate was soft, but soft like it had been sat out for 3 days (it hadn't!), nice tannins, smooth and pleasant, a hot little ending and a little vegetal too and no real hold on the finish. Started well, but lost its way on the palate. 82 Points

Casa Geretto Cabernet Franc 2006 - BUY - €6

Super dark purple in the glass, inviting. The nose was crazy, this is one stinky wine, kinda smelt off, vegetal, soil, vines, even some sweaty gym socks action. This carried through to a point on the palate which was soft, super smooth and easy to drink, non acidic, pleasant and fantastic QPR. 85 Points

I can't review the Peruini Primitivo 05 which I drank along with the meal can only score it 88 points and tell you to look out for it. The Casa Geretto I can't find for sale and the other two, well, I'm not recommending anyone buy them so once again we're left without a "Where can I buy this wine".

Question of the Day

What is the most bizarre nose you've ever gotten from a wine?

Pinot Nero

Pinot Nero,

Pinot Nero, for those who don't know or couldn't guess is the Italian term for the Pinot Noir grape. Pinot Noir was the wine of choice for many, coming off the back of Sideways the wine became more popular and consequently, more expensive. In Italy, Pinot Nero has a fairly chequered reputation and is really only grown in the North, so the Alto Adige and here in the Veneto, Friuli Venezia region.

So what can Italian Pinot Nero bring to the table? Well, it is not particularly well marketed or reviewed, no real Parker or WineSpectator information available but Italian Pinot Noir is infact, reputedly, pretty good and getting better. There's even a very famous Pinot Nero out of Tuscany, with Ruffino (yes, Ruffino... am I sure there's only Pinot in there?... oh... oh... lawsuit) producing the excellent Nero al Tondo. Yet the critics also bypass this offering so I am sans scores! So, *deep sigh* I'll have to buy a bottle and review for Wine90.

Pinot Nero wines, at their best, can be incredibly long lasting and typically, in Italian terroir the grape is particularly tricky to cultivate and so excellence in an Italian Pinot Nero is really a super achievement. Today I have bought 5 Pinot Nero wines to try and will add the reviews to the bottom of this blog entry as soon as they've arrived! I have no experience of Italian Pinot Nero but apparently, and we shall soon see, the flavour profile is closely linked to the Burgundian Pinot Noirs (light, fruity, subtle).

Pinot Nero produces not only long lasting award winning reds, but can also produce whites and even sparkling wines. Produced mainly in the North and with Ruffino bringing in Tuscany I have gone for a cross section of years, producers, regions, colours and price points.

So which wines are up for review?

Ruffino Nero del Tondo 1990 - €40 - Tuscany Red
Bruno Giacosa Extra Brut Pinot Nero 2004 - €18.50 - Piemonte Sparkling White
Le Due Terre Pinot Nero 2005 - €27 - Friuli Venezia Red
Hoffstatter Pinot Nero Meczan Riserva - €19.50 - Alto Adige Red
Les Cretes Pinot Nero 2006 - €11 - Valle d'Aosta Red

I might know the names but having never tasted any of these wines it should be easy to be free from red eyed judging! I had to throw in a Bruno, I know, I know... but, BUT, the most interesting to me is the Les Cretes, Valle d'Aosta Pinot... I hope for good things especially at 11 euros.

So, no reviews, no questions of the day, no nothing! Tonight I head to my funky local wine bar so will have some more reviews to add. Tomorrow I'm away on my toes on the 4 o'clock train to Florence and then the 8 o'clock train to Perugia and making my way down to the Arnaldo Caprai vineyards for a Saturday morning appointment with Italy's most accomplished Sagrantino di Montefalco producer. It's a tough life guys, tough life. Ciao Ciao

Oh, and look out for the reviews of the wines to appear below on this blog post.

HERE!

Sagrantino di Montefalco

Sagrantino di Montefalco,

Sagrantino di Montefalco, without doubt the best kept red wine secret of Italy is about to be well and truly exposed. I am so excited about this wine for a multitude of reasons! Sagrantino di Montefalco comes from the Sagrantino grape grown around the hills of a town called Montefalco, a town that I could literally tee off and hit with a golf ball from the back terrace of my home in Umbria. I'd heard of Sagrantino di Montefalco, I've tried it but I had no idea just how good Sagrantino di Montefalco could be. We even sell a decent Sagrantino di Montefalco, there's a bottle sat on my mantelpiece (yes, not laid down, naughty) but only yesterday did I get my first taste of REAL Sagrantino di Montefalco, this was by what many consider to be the best producer of the wine, Arnaldo Caprai.


My past opinion of this wine was limited to, "sure this is the best red in Umbria, but really, that's not hard". I'd been served this wines a few times in some trattorias in Todi and Perugia but they must have been giving me the worst examples possible. Well, I have to take all that back and stand completely corrected because this is a serious red wine, a serious serious red wine that you absolutely need to try.

The Sagrantino di Montefalco (Arnaldo Caprai Sagrantino di Montefalco 25 Anni 2001) I sampled yesterday was easily in the same league as the best Brunellos and Barolos and at a third of the price. We're talking sheer quality, really aromatic, tannic, spicy, plummy wines, really dry and in need of aging. In case I am not the only one living in ignorance of Sagrantino di Montefalco, let me share with you a few facts! Oh, and the town is just round the corner from Bastardo, I didn't just add that photo for comedy value alone *ahem*

The stand out characteristic of Sagrantino di Montefalco is the exceptional dryness you get, the grapes for this wine are dried in passito style and made from 100% Sagrantino grapes. This has been a DOCG wine since 1991. There are around 30 producers of this wine with the best examples of this wine selling for around €50-60 a bottle (these are 95-97 point wines so exceptional QPR). There are only about 300 acres of this grape currently planted so it's a wine that can be a little hard to find, an exclusive wine. The wine itself is very very tannic and drying and benefits hugely from aging, can be aged up to 40 years from the best vintages. 2000 and 2001 were great vintages for the grape but the 2004 is the latest release and is gathering lots of support as an outstanding vintage.

Arnaldo Caprai is generally agreed to be the best producer of Sagrantino di Montefalco but Paolo Bea and Colpetrone also produce excellent wines. Next weekend I will be making a trip to the Arnaldo Caprai vineyards and picking up some Sagrantino di Montefalco as well as sampling their other wines, I'm very excited about this, partly because this is the standout vineyard in Umbria and partly because I can roll out of bed and stroll there.

Arnaldo Caprai Sagrantino di Montefalco 25 Anni 2001 - BUY - €55
Dark, thick, brooding and inviting in the glass the aromas are hitting me before I even take a sniff. Huge, intense nose of plums, jam, coffee, fruit comes through so strongly here it really is exceptionally jammy, a real plum jam hit. On the palate the wine was so drying but the fruit in the mid palate carries it through but it's clear we could do with some extra aging here. The mouth feel is soft and caressing, not acidic with a lovely 30 second + finish. A fantastic surprise, delicious, great structure, an exceptional wine tasting experience. 96 Points

You can pay €200 for a 96 Point Gaja Barolo or a Casa di Neri Brunello, if you have a celebration that calls for a great bottle without the price tag, say your 2nd child's graduation or a 15 year wedding anniversary, and you don't want to splash the cash,this is the wine to buy! Top marks. Go get it. Now. Leave the blog, don't look at the question of the day.

Where can I buy this wine?

Europeans - Italian Wine Selection - €55

Americans - The Wine Connection - $89 !ON SALE!

Brits - Fine and Rare - £52

Question of the Day

What are you doing here? I told you, go buy the wine.

Morellino di Scansano

Last night I had dual reasons to celebrate. Firstly, Manchester United won a Championships League final they had no right winning beating the loathsome, silver-spooned Chelsea and secondly, I got my first taste of an excellent Morellino di Scansano at a sneaky wine bar that has been hiding from me not 50 steps from my apartment in Mestre. Before the big game, myself and a few work colleagues headed down to this enoteca for drinks and "cichetti" (the Venetian dialect word for tapas) and, as per what passes for fun with my techie colleagues, I was handed a glass of red and challenged to name it. To their pleasure and my shame, I was wrong, but I wasn't far off! as it had the nose and taste of a young clean Chianti Classico but was none other than the neighbouring DOCG 85% Sangiovese wine Morellino di Scansano.

Morellino di Scansano is usually cheaper than its famous neighbour and you can pick up the very best bottles from the top producers at bargain prices. So for those of you who don't know much about Morellino di Scansano, here is the QT!

Morellino di Scansano is a DOCG wine made from 85% Sangiovese grapes and any other non aromatic black grape. Commonly the wine is labelled as coming from the "Morellino" grape, but this is simply a dialect word for the common Tuscan Sangiovese grape. Grown in the Maremma around the hills of Scansano, the wine has been produced for several hundred years and was very popular in the 1800's but fell out of fashion and was surpassed by both Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino. The Maremma area is now famous for the blended ITG Super Tuscan wines and so Morellino di Scansano is still heavily overshadowed. These facts combine to make Morellino di Scansano a very affordable wine. The wine is released very young and doesn't really keep for ageing, it's a wine to drink within 5 years and in the very best vintages can be an excellent tre bicchiere option.

There are 4 or 5 excellent producers, most famously Fattoria Le Pupille who produce roughly 300,000 bottles a year and their most basic expression of the wine sells for around €8. If you want to try the top bottling (Morellino di Scansano Poggio Valente) expect to fork out roughly €25, for a 92-93 point wine, that's pretty good QPR, so look out for it.

Fattoria Mantellassi are a larger outfit producing roughly 700,000 Morellino di Scansano wines per year as well as many other excellent ITG wines that are worth a look (especially the Italian/Spainish blended Querciolaia). Mantellassi's best expression of Morellino di Scansano is their Riserva bottling (Morellino di Scansano Le Sentinelle Riserva) which is a little cheaper at €20 and is the wine I got to sample while John Terry skied his cup winning penalty *ha!

Fattoria Mantellassi Morellino di Scansano Le Sentinelle Riserva 2004 - BUY - €20

Really intense, glinting ruby red colour with some garnet reflections on the sides of the glass. The nose was chocolate coffee with cherries, crushed berries and plums and hints of vanilla and licorice, reminded me a great Chianti. The mouth feel was almost perfect, chocolatey once more with a dry crisp note on the end, the finish was clean, a little short but the wine was dessert like and very enjoyable. I'm drinking this at a perfect age, so drink today. 90 Points

NOTE: I could not find the Mantellassi outside of the European mainland so for the US and UK readers I've sourced the top bottling 2004 of the Fattoria Le Pupille Morellino di Scansano.

Where can I buy this wine?

Europeans - Enoteca Lombardi - €19 (Fattoria Mantellassi)

Americans - Wine Library - $32 (Fattoria Le Pupille)

Brits - Laithwaites - £22 (Fattoria Le Pupille)

Question of the Day

Morellino di Scansano will forever remind me of the 2008 Champions League final and the worlds most undeserving win. What special moments in your life are forever connected to which wines? (Yes, you actually have to think about this one!)

Borgogno Barolo

Borgogno Barolo has been enjoyed in these parts since production began in 1761 making Borgogno one of the oldest winemakers in the region. Giacomo Borgogno e Figli, to give the company its full name, is a traditional style Barolo producer who were exceptionally trendy and revered in the 50's and 60's and their bottles, with or without the wine inside, are traded as artistic pieces here in Italy and even in the USA. Borgogno, despite real pressure from the new breed of Barolo producers have never veered from their traditional, Barolo crafting, routes although the new generation at the company, Cesare & Giorgio Borgogno, are taking the company forward in huge leaps and bringing the company back to the forefront of Barolo production with some exceptional recent vintages.

Borgogno is slap bang in the heart of Barolo land with vineyards in Cannubi, Liste, Rue, Fossati and San Pietro. Here the company are famous for keeping and releasing many older vintages from their huge cellars. Borgogno is the most traditional of all producers and perhaps the one the Italians themselves are most proud of.

With this huge legacy to protect the new Borgogno wines are surpisingly fairly priced and actually pretty high quality. The traditional Barolo style is perhaps most obvious in Borgogno wines (even more so than Cavallotto) and the attention to detail in vinification is extreme. The main focus here is obviously Barolo and the company does not produce many different wines but in a good vintage you can pick up a very nice Barbaresco and acceptable Barberas, Langhes and Dolcettos.

Borgogno wine comes entwined with a beautiful history and a sense of bourgeois wonderment and if you were in such a mind, you could pretend to yourself that you are some notable noble of Italian parentage as you sip and contemplate over your ruby nectar. I like to gaze lovingly in the distance but am then sad to awake and find I have clearly fallen on harder times. *slaps self* Away from the whimsy, I've had the chance to try a couple of Borgogno Liste Barolos and here are my musings! (Tasting date - May 2008)

Giacomo Borgogno Barolo Liste 1997 - BUY - €100
A very attractive dark ruby red with huge powerful aromas of traditional Nebbiolo at its finest. Black Cherries, crushed forest fruits, a clear mineral element, a little soil like. The wine itself is huge, full bodied on the palate, very deep and hung on a complex structure. Super smooth and silky and an achievement within a wonderful vintage. I am lucky enough to be drinking this at a perfect age. Phenomenal. 96 Points

Giacomo Borgogno Barolo Liste 2001 - PASS - €60
Another dark ruby red effort that looks fantastic in the glass. This wine is a little hot and a little bigger than the 1997, a real fruit bomb lovers treat, dark fruits a plenty with cherries, plums and spices coming thru in spades on the nose. The palate is a little simpler than the 1997, rounded and packing more of a punch, nice length to the finish and a very pleasant taste and mouth feel but less finesse than I like from a Barolo. Needs a few more years. Not all that for the vintage. 92 Points

Where can I buy this wine?
The Liste cru only produces very small amounts of wine and it is seldom imported to the states, so I'm afraid unless you have some very very good friends, you might have trouble getting hold of this wine. Try wine auction website, Winebid. I also found a bottle of the '98 at a good price of $80 at Wine Access (94 point WS).

Cavallotto Barolo

Cavallotto Barolo,

Cavallotto Barolo is HOT at the moment. Never reaching the Gaja, Giacosa, Voerzio prices but scooping 90-95 points with Parker et al what we have here is fabulous value for your euro Barolo. Cavallotto Barolo reaches its finest expression with the Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe, the Riserva bottling that typically sells for around €60 a bottle. Cavalotto releases their Riserva Barolos later than other producers sparking great anticipation. This week I picked up a 6 pack of Cavallotto's flagship riserva 2001's for €180 on Italian Ebay, as these wines are fairly common on their home soil.

Thanks in part to a glowing review by Antonio Galloni (the young critic at the Parker fold) interest has steadily grown in the States, where it's becoming more and more common to find Cavallotto Barolo in the better Italian restaurants in New York. Those with a spare $600 can try the fabulous 1978 Cavallotto Barolo Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe or the '79 bottling in New Yorks' fantastic Babbo restaurant. As the 2001 is generally agreed to be the best Barolo ever produced by Cavallotto (both the standard bottling and the riserva), I shouldn't bother!

Cavallotto was once a premier league Barolo brand, in the 1970's the company could be considered one of the best in the Piedmont producing the best quality Barolo's and was part of the force that really brought the wine to forefront of the international wine worlds attention. While the Gmen, Clerico and others brought huge improvements over the last 20 years Cavalotto stood still and the company got left behind not scooping the accolades of their rivals. With the 5 stellar vintages of '96 thru 2001Cavallotto managed to turn it around and theirs are some of the most sought after wines of this most recent golden period of Barolo, mostly because of the great QPR trade-off.

The Cavallotto vineyard in Castiglione Falletto is as beautiful and timeless as any in the Piedmont and is a favourite for those on the Barolo trail. Cavallotto produces 11 primary wines over 23 hectares of finely cultivated vineyards. Most famously Barolo, but also noteworthy are the fine Langhe, Barbera and Dolcettos as well a Pinot Nero and a pretty fine Chardonnay. For scale of production, variety and natural beauty I would highly recommend a visit.

Having never tried the Langhe bottling I'm unable to comment but I have here some notes on the recent Dolcetto, Barbera and of course the signature Barolo. All of these wines represent fantastic value for money, I can't recommend Cavallotto highly enough as a luxury wine at a bargain price.

Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe 2001 - BUY - €60

Dark and intriguing in the glass, not showing much change in tonality at the edge of the glass, the wine looks fantastic and young. On the nose the wine has a far more generous expression than expected with a great spicy, smokey quality as well as a dried fruit mix, some plummy action, crushed cherries there too. The wine was a brute force on the palate, a real knock out expression but wonderfully structured and complex, the tannins were very soft and the aftertaste long and supple. This wine is a charming mix of flavours, power and subtlety that evolves intriguingly with every hour. An absolute pleasure and a wine to be contemplated. 96 Points

Cavallotto Dolcetto d'Alba Vigna Scot 2006 - BUY - €10

A large, fruity, fun Dolcetto, rather simple but a smooth and satisfying every day drinking wine, a little tannic, good vintage, good value, nice and fresh, don't bother cellaring, get it open, get it drunk. 86 Points

Cavallotto Barbera d'Alba Vigna del Cucolo 2003 - BUY - €15

Dark rich ruby red, the 2003 vintage for Barbera was pretty fantastic, mid bodied and clean on the finish without the harsh abrasive nature of Barbera this is a solid choice for a mid priced option. Sweet and fruity on the nose, with a distinct mineral quality, some plums and licorice too. Fresh, fruity and juicey, very pleasing. 89 Points

Where can I buy this wine? (Cavallotto Barolo)

Europeans - R2M - €52

Americans - Rye and Brook - $67 - !ON SALE AT THE TIME OF WRITING! TAKE ADVANTAGE!

Brits - R2M - €52

Question of the Day

Where is the craziest place you have drunk wine?

Venice Wine

Venice Wine

Apologies for the long gap, my internet connection is limited to a green flashing box provided by Vodafone Italia who will cut my access if I dare to download anything longer than the mondo convenienza jingle. Internet access in Italy is still a long way behind the deals you get in the US and UK but, this is a wine website and not a forum for the flailing fortunes of Italian telecoms. So, FYI, did you know... I have moved to Venice, well, to Mestre, but Venice sounds better. In these past two weeks it's sure to say that the wine scene here is very different to that of Rome. Venice wine is an important deal and they're sticking fiercely with what they know, that being Amarone and Valpolicella. The whites up here are definitely on another strata, trading filthy Frascati for some beautiful Soave's and Pinot Grigios is one of the highlights of Venice Wine.

Venice Wine does run the gambit. The local supermarket stocks an abysmal selection of wines and I have walked up and down Corso del Popolo searching for an Enoteca but without luck. Underneath my apartment block is a wine bar, and it's terrible. The area certainly grows some fabulous wines, and in the very best restaurants you can find them but it seems the Venetians, for the most part, just won't let go of their Spritz. This can't be the whole story, there are some famous wine bars in Padova, so I'm going to ride the rails out of my Mestre Vino hell and hope the town is no more than an aberration in the Veneto, and then I'll move house!

However, I can recommend a fabulous little wine bar at Marco Polo airport giving a small but select group of great little reds and whites accompanied by some fine cheeses, just the ticket to kill some time. You will have no trouble spotting it, it's the only wine bar there.

So, it's been 6 weeks, and I have drunk some wine and in accordance with my contract, I have to tell you all about it now. So let's do that thing. I've been on a Chianti Classico bender for a while now and I think I found the best Chianti Classico ever made in the Castello di Ama 2004 effort, pricey, but nicey. 2004 was a great vintage and so all the wines are from that year.

Castello di Ama Chianti Classico Bellavista 2004 - BUY - €100
Ripe, fruity, berries and cherry explosion. This is a killer offering, dark ruby red in the glass, inviting with a nose you're not going to tire of. Fantastic development, a really interesting wine that gets top marks at all stages of the tasting. Structure and class running throughout and a thick chocolate topped cappuccino note in the midpalate, it's something of a desert treat as much as a wine. Long finish and as clean as a whistle. Sumptuous, possibly the best Chianti Classico around, 2004 fantastic vintage. Am I really going to give a Chianti Classico... 94 Points

Nozzole Chianti Classico La Forra Riserva 2004 - BUY - €10
Really full bodied and leathery wine, making its way from dark red to an inky purple in the glass, good rounded tannins and a clean finish make for a satisfying Chianti. Would have expected a little better but still, for the price, its a nice effort. Wasn't giving much up on the nose so leave it a couple more years, what I did get, after a sound swirling was a meaty, raspberry tone. 90 Points

Fontodi Chianti Classico 2004 - BUY - €12
Really dark in the glass, this Chianti was made to be drunk young quickly giving up beautiful cherry notes, the wine is mid bodied and opulent, no aggression here, finely weighted tannins, and a fruity mid finish. It's not half bad for the price and is a typical Fontodi Classico that got a leg up from a beaut of a vintage. 90 Points

Riecine Chianti Classico 2004 - PASS - €22
There will be people who love this. It's powerful, tight and robust, chewy tannins, full bodied, it's a really big big effort. In my opinion, it's overpowering and not particularly tasty or interesting on the nose. Could be it is a stonking wine that needs time. To drink now? Rather dull. 87 Points

Where can I buy this Wine? (The Castello di Ama)
Europeans - Enoteca San Domenico - €100
Americans - Cabrini Wines - $170
Brits - Wine Direct - £106

Question of the Day
What was the last bottle of wine you bought?