Keep a look out for the branding above as you are going to see a whole lot more of it in the not so distant future for sure!.

Let me explain more.

Some time ago now I got chatting to Richard James. (@RathfinnyRich – twitter handle, you should follow him, he has a great sense of humour & even posts wine occasionally, ha ha, actually with very interesting wine posts!) We started chatting about the vineyard (Rathfinny) where he works and lives in East Sussex on the south coast of England.

It sounded fascinating that although the vineyard was purchased in 2010 they were yet to launch their sparkling wines. When you are starting to produce sparkling wines in the UK you definitely have to be in it for the long haul…… however ALL that changed last week.

Rathfinny spectacularly launched their sparkling wines at the extremely prestigious setting of Somerset House in London.

Before I tell you about the day though let me give you some history behind the Rathfinny Estate and story so far.

Rathfinny Estate was founded in 2010 by husband and wife, Mark and Sarah Driver. They bought a working arable farm of some 600 acres (242Hectares) which in 2012 was planted initially with 50 acres of the three great sparkling wine grapes of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier. There are now 185 acres of vines planted and another 215 acres will planted before 2021 making this England’s largest vineyard. There is also a small quantity of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris planted on the estate.

Although I’ve yet to visit the vineyard, (I will be visiting  later this year) what is strikingly clear from the Rathfinny website, literature and launch event is that Mark & Sarah are extremely serious about their wine business. Mark quit the rat race of being a hedge fund manager (bloody hard work!) in the city of London managing a $6 Billion fund and found himself a two year viticulture course which was the start of realising his dream of owning a wine estate.

The Rathfinny Estate vineyard is located within the South Downs national park. Three miles from the sea, it has chalk soil and its in south facing slopes making ideal conditions for producing some world class sparkling wines.

The brand new £5.5m purpose built winery was nominated for a RIBA award (Royal Institute of British Architects).

What is very impressive is that from day one the winery has been built to be self-sufficient both for water and energy. The winery is currently the largest in the UK.

There has been enormous investment in this venture, starting with the initial investment in the property, planting the vineyards and now with 36 full time staff.

It doesn’t stop there either, down the road in the village of Alfriston you will find the Gun Room so called because its said to be once the gun store Duke of Wellington. This  is currently Rathfinny’s Cellar Door, where you can taste wine and also buy other gifts and wine-related products, championing local goods and artists, although from June this is moving down to the main estate Tasting room.

You can eat & stay here too, built originally for seasonal workers you now can B&B in style at the Flint barns. A new restaurant too!

With this hugely impressive set up and plans to have over a million bottle production within the next decade then you need to employ top Vineyard managers and winemakers which is exactly what they have done.

Cameron Roucher, The Vineyard manager. Bio from Rathfinny Website.

Here from before there were vines, Cameron came to Rathfinny after many years growing and working at some of the most prestigious wine companies in New Zealand and Australia. His early life saw him growing up on a hill country sheep farm, but it was a passion for growing that led him to vineyards. He has subsequently only ever worked in the wine industry. With the help of his team has built the vineyard from the ground up, and knows every inch of the site. He brings experience, knowledge and essential management skills in the area of vineyard management and production to Rathfinny.

Jonathan Médard, The Winemaker. Bio from Rathfinny Website.

Hailing from Epernay in the heart of Champagne, Rathfinny’s winemaker Jonathan Médard brings a wealth of international experience to Rathfinny Estate. On receiving a degree in biochemistry and a master’s in Oenology (Université de Reims), he trained in the wineries of Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Champagne Louis Roederer, Moët & Chandon and Champagne Boizel prior to honing his expertise in California and Virginia at Newton Vineyard and Kluge Estate respectively. An alumnus of the University of California at Davis’ Wine Executive program and fluent in three languages, Jonathan was most recently Vice President of Winemaking for up and coming Central Coast California winery, Conway Family Wines. He is excited to return to his sparkling roots with Rathfinny.

So finally onto the launch event! Somerset House on the Strand in London.

The day was split into two parts, the afternoon launch of the 2 new wines at a trade/press tasting and then a Gala evening.

The most important factor….. The wines…. Are they any good?

Well if you know anything about me and my twitter feed since 2015 if I talk about a wine then I like it. I’m not trying to be a MW or top notch wine critic so if I don’t like it I don’t post it. So you don’t need to be a rocket scientist after I have written this piece to understand these wines are damn good!

First up is the Rathfinny Estate 2014 Blanc de Blancs.

Release June 2018
100% Chardonnay
36 Mths Lees aging
Dosage: 4g/l ( fruit picked as ripe and late as possible for maximum flavour)
ABV. 12.5%
Vintage notes: 2014 was moderately warm and dry growing season, little rain during flowering (June) and Veraison (September) Harvest started 19th Oct for a small crop of high quality fruit.

Note: The label on the wine, has a zagged edge to its top … actually no its the “Seven Sisters”, or as most people know them as “The white cliffs of Dover”

Pale gold in colour, persistent perlage. Apricots with a super fresh zesty feel on the nose. Zesty lemon hits the palate which quickly turns into creamy apples. Mineral notes drive right through this wine. The terroir of the chalk shining through for a dry crisp finish. Overall for a first release of their sparkling wines…. 1st Class!!

 Rathfinny Estate 2015 Rosé

Release June 2018
50% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Meunier
24 Mths Lees aging
Dosage: 2.5g/l
ABV. 12.5%
Vintage notes: Spring arrived late in 2015 after a cold winter, budburst and flowering were a week later than the 2014 vintage. Reasonable flowering from a warm summer provided a ripe yet small crop. Harvesting started 19th October. August and September was high rainfall but despite this the fruit was high quality and clean. Bearing in mind these vines were only planted in 2012 it was a brilliant result.

This wine is a delicate pink in the glass, vibrant perlage on the pour. The first thing that hits you is the berry fruits on the nose. On the palate its like an Eton Mess. (for those that don’t know what the hell Eton Mess is – Its smashed up strawberries, Chantilly cream and meringue. I now how to goggle the origins of this…..

Well it seems Eton Mess was first mentioned in print in 1893 and it is commonly believed to originate from Eton College and is served at the annual cricket match against the pupils of Harrow School.

The finish is long, vibrant mousse but although so fruit driven it it still dry and mineral too. GREAT WINE. Served perfectly with bite size Victoria sponges. (forgot to photo those…. ARRRGHHHH)

Interestingly when I said to Richard at the launch that I could see all the top restaurants in London and further afield serving this with afternoon tea the response was that initially the first delivery is going to the Savoy for exactly that!

Both these wines are very good indeed. Equally, both will pair with food but also delightful to drink on their own as an aperitif!

This first vintage is small, being just 5000 bottles of each of these wines…… however this estate is built for much bigger things. I can see in the future that RATHFINNY will be asked for, like people ask today for Moet and Verve.

This event was run incredibly well and I have to say that the PR company that Rathfinny are using are obviously seasoned pros!

After the afternoon tasting, my wife and I had a quick bite to eat and then on with the glad rags for the Gala evening.

We were greeted by an entrance of video screens of the estate and also (faux) vines planted all the way down the aisles. Down some steps we entered into the gala and wow it looked amazing down in the old vaulted basement rooms of Somerset House.

As product launches go and in my 25 years in business I have seen many, however not many are ever as smooth and polished as this Rathfinny launch event. I tip my hat to Sarah, Mark, everyone at the estate involved & their PR company for this “Grand” event.

Oh before I go they also have a collaboration making Gin from the wasted skins of the grapes. Oh boy its good! As any of you know me on twitter I am very partial to proper GIN. For research purposes only I tried a G&T and a Negroni. This is done in a venture with @SilentPoolGin (twitter) website https://silentpooldistillers.com/

You can also check out Rich’s blog about the “Spirit of Sussex” . http://rathfinnyestate.com/estate-news/2018/04/13/spirit-of-sussex/

Huge “Thank You” for the invite to Mark & Sarah and of course me old mate Rich who I am sure squeezed someone to get the wife and I on the guest list.

I am looking forward to huge things to come from Rathfinny!

Before I go Cam from Rathfinny has just posted interesting news from today too. http://rathfinnyestate.com/estate-news/2018/04/30/more-planting/

Salute.

Check out:

Twitter: Richard James - @rathfinnyrich
         Rathfinny Estate - @rathfinnyestate.com
         Silent Pool Gin - @silentpooldistillers
         PR - @Thisismission 

Hello again….. WOW 3 blogs in a week!

I have left the comical parts until the end to keep you all enthralled, please stick with it as don’t want to stretch to PART 4. haha

OK I’m now on a roll and they will be regular I assure you.

Well after the previous fabulous evening’s events and an early night……………. (no comment) we had to be back in the tasting room at 9:30 sharp….. OK we were on Italian time so give or take 30 mins ish.

We were told to wear warm clothing and to wear some good boots too. By the way the fog was lifting enough to see Friuli for the first time in full techno colour! We were definitely in wine country. Vines, vines and more vines.

We had already had breakfast before we left the hotel but on arrival we were greeted by great coffee……….Would you expect anything else from Italians!) and some delicious pastries too. Well we were going out on a winery tour in the cold and possibly having to do some work in the vineyards too…… so plenty of both was consumed by me.

So everyone (as predicted within 30 mins of allotted time) had arrived and it was time for a winery tour. 

Philosophy :

I mentioned in Part 2 that although Angoris is a large producer in Friuli they are far from a huge commercial bash out the wine type of business.

So what are they about then?

Martha Locatelli started to tell us about their Sustainable development program and that economic growth by itself is JUST not enough, development is real only if it improves the quality of life in a long lasting way for the future generations. For environmental sustainability it means the ability to enhance the environment as a “distinctive element” of the territory, while ensuring the protection and renewal of natural resources and heritage too.

To this end it must be always be 3 ways, these are fundamental & inseparable for development of Angoris. Now for quite a large producer 100,000’s bottles per year this is no mean feat.

• SOCIAL IMPACT
• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
• ECONOMICS

Now I know that’s all very easy to say…. however below is what they have achieved since 1997. Please take a minute to take this in. Some of you might think that this is me just rambling on about ECO this and ECO that, but really many wineries have to step up to the plate too, they cannot be just about how many bottles can they produce. It has to be about the future generations of vineyard owners too. Now this does not have to be that all wines need to be natural, Organic (many wineries follow the Organic principles but they are too close to their neighbouring vineyard that still sprays insecticide etc) or by bio dynamic principles. Sustainability is key to a successful vineyard.

Since 1997 they began a process for improving the energy saving in the winery and increasing the purchase of modern equipment for sustainable management of the vineyard and the cellar.
1997: it was possible to reduce the use of water for cleaning the cellar thanks to a winery water well.
2001: a careful process of reforestation started, which has had as result 35 hectares woods in the company property, composed of different species of trees.
2010: They bought special machinery to recover the product during the treatments in the vineyards, it helps us to avoid the waste;

2014: with the target to obtain agricultural products through a low environmental impact they have agreed to:
1) Integrated production: a system of agricultural production, which uses all the means of production and for the safeguard of agricultural productions from adversity, with the target to minimize the use of chemical substances and rationalize the agricultural fertilization, respecting the economic, ecological and toxicological principles.
2) S.Q.N.P.I.: National Quality Integrated Production System;
2015: Usage of last generation wine filtration system, which permits a total elimination of pollution by-products (flours, filters);
2015, 2016 and 2017: They receive the award Ecofriendly, founded by Verallia in collaboration with the guide Vinibuoni d’Italia. It is an award, assigned to the companies and to the consortium, that stand out for their dedication to the environment sustainability values;
2016: They now use modern machinery for mechanical removal of the grass and infestant plants in the vineyard, removing totally the chemical weeding;
2017: Now have obtained agroclimatic environmental compliance with regard
to membership of SQ.N.P.I. for the year 2016.

In 2013 a photovoltaic system of 1800 m² and 200 kw has been installed on the roof, this helps us to avoid the emission in the atmosphere of several hundreds tons of carbon dioxide every year.

The Winery Tour:

Well we walk into the winery and they are old school and also state of the art when it comes to machinery.

We then had a masterclass from Alessandro Dal Zovo, the winemaker at Angoris on the 1648 Brut Spumate.

Then we tried the 1648 with No dosage (no added sugar), it’s delicious, so fresh with huge green apple fruit and vibrant acidity. I know its not to everyone’s taste to have a wine with no dosage but I always love to try it. When you taste wine with no additional sugar added it truly shows the quality of the wine making. Often, sugar is used to mask faults that a wine may have but when tasting NO DOSAGE you can truly have only brilliant wine. What it also shows is the confidence in Alessandro’s ability as a wine maker to produce a superb product. You would not offer a NO DOSAGE product to all of your distributors at a grand event if it was not superb wine. The 1648 is normally 7mg/l of added sugar so its still pretty dry.

Off out into the vineyards:

Villa Locatelli is a total of 630 hectares  – vineyards, woods and arable land
85 hectares of  vineyards in Collio, Colli Orientali and Izonzo regions of Friuli
50 % wines sold in Italy – 50 % wines exported to 35 Countries in 5 Continents     

We then moved onto the Pinot Gris vineyard behind the winery to witness the demonstration of some a state-of-the-art machinery which eliminates the grass/weeds etc. on the sub-rows of the vineyards. This equipment allows Angoris to join the system of National Quality of Integrated Production, without the use of pesticides. Its’ incredible to watch this equipment at work. As the sensors touch the vines it carefully goes around them as to not damage them, but gets everything else in between!

From the 2 pictures above you can see how these old vines are developing. What is really interesting is how much stone there is in the soil. These were ancient flood plains hence so many small stones.

After the Pinot Gris vineyard we all got onto a coach and travelled through Cormons onto the small town of Rocca Bernarda. We then meandered, for a couple of miles, up a small winding road. (poor coach driver, would have been hard enough in a car!! although didn’t seem to phase him one bit)

These terraces are pretty steep but that’s not the challenging part to this land. Its only a few feet below the surface that is all rock.

The walk from the road though the vineyard with the mountains in light fog ahead of us was truly magical. It was fresh day, it had rained through the night and into the early hours of the morning and the fog was finally clearing! What is interesting is that although it had rained quite a lot, it was not really wet under foot. It had all drained down through the soil and into the rock below. I’m hoping that the vines roots grabbed some on its way past!

This vineyard is in the eastern hills from the Angoris winery and we are now looking out over Friuli to the forests of Slovenia which are only about 6 miles away.

We kept walking until we reached a sign saying that we had reached the rows of Tocai Friulano vines which were planted 65 years ago.

I was then given these (see below) …… Disguised in a wine box, could have done with a glass of wine about now, when we all opened our boxes to find Secateurs & gloves. We were to have a pruning masterclass.

Note to self at this point… PAY ATTENTION TO Alessandro or I am going to destroy a 65 year old vine! 

Its a good job that I had a clear head and didn’t spend until the early hours in the hotel bar with some other distributors after the gala event the night before………….. PHEW!

So Alessandro showed us on a few vines. 

3 things to concentrate on….

1. Take away all last years branches that are not needed
2. Decide which branches left and right that you are going to use for this years growth
3. However, when doing 2. you have to be thinking about the next buds for the following years

So its my turn…….. Drum roll please….. getting prepared……

Safety first glasses and gloves!

So after our masterclass I think I pretty much knew what I was doing.

So the easy bit was getting rid of the branches growing in the wrong direction. What I mean by that is that they are growing towards you and away from you. These are no good as you want them to travel left and right on the trellis and not everywhere. OK these were eliminated…. all going to plan so far. So all the old stuff out the way I have to decide on this years left & right branch and the year afters buds too.

Well I thought I would talk through with Alessandro exactly my plan…. his response VA BENE! (it’s all good in Italian) not really surprised because I was obviously a natural he then said cut away! I am joking slightly here over an extremely, even most, important job in the vineyard… (by the way I wasn’t joking that I was a natural pruner extraordinaire!)

After my little bit was done Alessandro said …. great job you are a natural pruner, you have the job, Obviously I was super pleased with the praise until he said only 85 Hectares to prune…. this job takes 25 people full time (subject to weather) 4 MONTHS!!! GULP! Wow that really is an extraordinary amount of work all done very carefully by hand, you cant take your eye off the ball as you may be OK this year but you were not looking for next years BUDS!

When everyone had had a go pruning (not up to my standards obviously) they said time for a snack, so back up the vineyard towards where we had left the coach… I say that because it had now disappeared. 

Well we were now greeted by a feast of sausages, lardo / bread and mulled wine to warm us up.

So delicious and just what we needed as it was January after all….

I then noticed that the coach had come back into view… phew didn’t want to walk all the way back. In true Italian style (as we had just eaten) it’s now time to get on the coach as we are going for more tastings and lunch.

So now we arrive at a restaurant, Its owned by Angoris and almost before I got through the door a glass of wine was thrust into my hand by one of the waitresses… Don’t mind if I do! Oh boy it was delicious, an Angoris Pinot Blanc and just what I needed after my endurance in the vineyard.

We then proceeded to try another 6 wines from Angoris and a delicious Buffet lunch. Loved the food…. OK the wines too haha.

So when we were finishing, I got to see the real Angoris, Martha showed what she and the company are really about.  

Martha called in every member of the Angoris staff one by one that had been in involved in Passagio to huge rousing applause for them all. You knew it was with heart felt joy for each and every member of staff, that had made the Passagio dal Angoris a wonderful success and that all attendees had had an amazing time.

It’s not just a company it’s a family, staff included!

I will never forget my couple of days at Angoris… Actually I can’t wait to go back.

Salute Angoris molto gentile grazie e lei,

It’s been my absolute delight and pleasure.

Hello again

In January I was extremely fortunate to be invited to Passagio di Angoris, which was to be held at Villa Locatelli just outside of Cormons in Fruili, north eastern Italy. 

So at the end of January I get myself on a plane to Venice Marco Polo airport, where I was meeting up with Jane & Chris Salt from Hay wines who import Angoris into the UK.  My plane landed late, in thick fog, in fact it was the first time I had been on a plane that had to be landed on autopilot as visibility was……… well actually there was no visibility. In fact the first time I knew we were close to the ground was when the wheels had touched down, to the great shock of most of the plane. 

Finally after both of our planes delays we met up and picked up the hire car. Setting off through the fog easterly to our hotel. So after about 90 minutes we arrive at the hotel and so far we had seen absolutely nothing of the Friuli region as we only had about 100m visibilty on the highway! So we quickly dropped off the bags and got our glad rags on for the gala event in at Villa Locatelli.

We arrived at the entrance gates to Villa Locatelli and proceeded along a stunning tree lined driveway which was beautifully lit with torches all the way down to the Villa, making this a very grand entrance indeed. We were definitely in for a very special evening. After our driver had dropped us off we were led to the tasting room for nibbles and a few delicious glasses of 1648 Sparkling wine.

This Brut sparkling wine is made from 100% Chardonnay in the classic method. The grapes are hand harvested, destemmed and then cooled in the winery, they then undergo a cold soak maceration directly in the press. After pressing, the wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks & left to rest on the lees 6 months. What is interesting about these tanks is they are horizontal tanks and not vertical tanks, this gives the wine more contact with the lees.

The wine is then bottled and it’s rested in for a further 30 months. Finally the sparkling wine is then placed in the pupitres for 3 months prior to disgorging.

The 1648 Brut (named after the founding of the vineyard) is truly delicious. Straw yellow in colour, very floral with toasty bread notes on the nose. On the palate its a joy, persistent perlage makes the wine soft, but so fresh and dry (7g/l). The finish is creamy but with a mineral tone too. Delightful!

When everyone had arrived (fog!) we then moved to the villa for a fabulous presentation about the Angoris 2017 harvest.

2014 HARVEST – Tenuta di Angoris

The winter in Friuli Venezia Giulia was mild with low rainfall. After these early weather conditions, the temperatures were then above the normal average by the end of March, which lead to an early sprouting of the vines about 15 days before the year on average.

At the end of April, a mass of cold air reached the vineyards, lowering the temperature below zero in the night of April 21st. The shoots then slowed down their growth, due to the low temperatures of the days following the freeze. Luckily the losses were not too bad and thankfully not like many areas of Italy and France who suffered devastation of these early shoots by this frost around the 21st which has caused, in some areas, a huge reduction in the final grape crop.

Summer was then marked by heat but also key to a successful vintage was they also had enough rain which then supported a normal course of ripening for the grapes. These were excellent climatic conditions for the vines to obtain a perfectly healthy grapes.

So how will the wines vintage 2017 be from Angoris in Friuli?

For sure they are going to have top quality white wines, as some of the finest Friuli vintages, and the red wines will be smooth, scented & elegant, with lower alcohol degree.

The evening in the Villa had only just got started and we were in for a real treat of amazing foods and wines. Culminating with a launch of a new wine later in the evening.

Amazing lighting in the villa had been set up and the whole room was constantly changing colours. IT WAS THE LIGHTS WE HADN’T STARTED ON THE MAIN WINES YET!!

An absolutely delicious meal & wines followed….. The 3 wines to the left of the below picture have won 3 Bicchieri from Gambero Rosso.

Then we were introduced to the new wine. A new Pinot Nero DOC Friuli Isonzo.

 “ALBERTINA”

So called as a dedication to Martha Locatelli’s (who is the owner of Tenuta di Angoris)  paternal grandmother.

Martha firstly discusses with us that Pinot Noir was once made in the winery in the 1970’s and how they are now developing wines again from the past. She also tells us that her grandmother, was a decisive person who (like her grandfather Giulio) was a great part of her childhood. Martha describes this Pinot Nero “Albertina” is just like her grandmother: “Elegant, determined, enveloping and comforting” and oh boy she is not wrong!

A great wine & my hat off to the winemaker Alessandro Dal Zovo, who features a lot in part 3 and who also trusted me with secateurs too on 65 year old vines….. UNDER CAREFUL SUPERVISION & GUIDANCE  I hasten to add.

This Pinot Noir is very impressive indeed, although not quite ready for market it still needed a few more months developing in the bottle.

“ALBERTINA”  is being launched officially at Vinitaly 2018. I will fully review this wine once launched after Vinitaly.

Now those of you who know my daily postings on twitter will see that I drink very little Pinot Noir, why?? hmmmm, that’s a tough one when I ask myself this question today. I guess its because years ago I just drank so many ordinary ones that were not that great so started to avoid! I only really enjoyed great Burgundy PN and that’s ……. expensive! However I have had some amazing ones in the past 12 months from all over the world and I am now converted back to Pinot Noir. I know you are all out there saying what an idiot!!! I second the IDIOT motion if that’s any help!

Albertina is simply delicious and I know will be a big hit for the Angoris. Production of this Pinot Noir will be quite low numbers.

Until this release all the estate Pinot Noir, was used in sparkling wines on the estate since the 1970’s 

Now at the end of Part 2 of the Angoris blog I just want to thank Martha and the team for an amazing evening and for what the next day was about to offer too.

But before I GO………….

What is so clear from my first few hours at Angoris, was that although they are one of the larger producer’s in Friuli, their philosophy towards the land, vineyards & wines were so far from a large corporate company and very refreshing to see.

In part 3, I will be going into far more detail about Angoris and their mission to make wonderful wines, the environmental issues and how they let me loose with secateurs in the vineyard. 

Ciao until Part 3.

Hi all,

Firstly apologies to all as it’s been ages since my last blog!

Wine is not my business (unfortunately) but it is my great love & passion, however I own a business which I have had for 25yrs & I have been flat out busy. Don’t get me wrong I’m glad to be busy because it allows me travel, eat & drink fabulous wines too, however it does unfortunately restrict my spare blog writing time.

So once again “Sorry” but I’m now making the time, in 2018 from March, for regular Pietrovini blog time👍🍷🍷

A couple of months ago I was asked to go to a vertical wine tasting, I was so looking forward to this one. Why? Simple really it was 2 grape varieties I know well but had never had the opportunity to explore their ageing potential.

Note: Vertical Tasting (for those of you that don’t know) = Tasting the same wine from different vintages to see how they develop and also how the weather can change the wine dramatically.

The two grapes are Friulano & Refosco both from Friuli North eastern Italy and both produced by Tenuta di Angoris.

Brief History of the Estate: (Part 3 will have more details from when I visited a few weeks ago for the Passagio di Angoris event & they even let me loose in the vineyard with some secateurs!)

In 1648 Locatelli Locatelli was given 300 fields in an area of Cormòns known as “Langoris” by then Emperor Ferdinand III for his service as a General in the 30 Years War. At this time this area of Friuli was part of the Hapsburg Empire. I have to say a very generous gift indeed!!

Original Land document 1648

The 17^th Century Villa Locatelli is the home of the Tenuta di Angoris

We started the evening with a Collio Bianco Riserva 2015 

This was an interesting start to the evening. This wine has since won 3 Bicchieri from Gambero Rosso which is very high praise indeed.

The grape varieties are 60% Friulano, 30% Sauvignon Blanc & 10% Malvasia Istriana.

A delicious wine for sure! It’s aromatic with sage, thyme & green herbs. On the palate its dry yet rich with green apples and tropical fruits. Wonderful mineral notes too, although the Malvasia Istriana is only 10% it shines through to make this wine so rounded and an absolute delight to drink. No wonder it won 3 Bicchieri

Friulano DOC Tasting: 

The Friulano grape was once known as Tocai and you will see this on the 2005 bottle below. The Italians were made to change the name of the grape by a European court ruling taken out by the Hungarians to protect their grape Tokaji (pronouced Tock-eye).

Even though not spelt the same and there is no genetic connection between these varieties they still had to change it.

So we start with the 2016 & 2012 Friulano

The 2016 was only released a couple of months earlier from the tasting in Sept 17′ (sorry should have done this before but been on WORK catchup!) The grapes are harvested by hand planted on (Guyot system) vines which were planted in the 1950’s. The yield per vine is low but there are many vines planted per hectare.

2016 was initially wet early in the vintage but improved to low 30c’s temps but cooling off at night. Pale straw yellow in colour, with pears, melon, herbs and a touch of spice on the palate. On the finish a very light buttery feel.

2012 was a super hot vintage with yields much lower and the grapes ripened earlier. This gives the wine more fruit and less acidity. Pear fruit with a slight almond nuttiness. Creamy mineral finish. Quite different from 2016 but equally delicious.

2011 next. This was a cool and rainy vintage initially but saved by a warmer spell before harvest which produced a good crop here. The 11′ is more herby and slightly more acidic. I liked this wine a lot as it was so fresh with slightly lower alcohol too.

2005 was our final vintage to taste. This proves with no doubt that Friulano can definitely age well. This was a cool vintage.

Much darker yellow in colour now with its ageing, the fruit still shines, a new richness has evolved, and the finish is long and rounded.

Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso DOC Tasting:

There are at least 9 different Refosco grapes but dal Peduncolo is by far the best…. This is what Angoris tell me and its delicious!

This wine is made with the cold maceration process with malolactic fermentation.

This wine is super dark garnet in colour almost black. Blackberry, cherry & tobacco on the nose. This wine is crisp, dry, noticeably acidic and quite strong tannin’s. I love it.

2015 is the 1st vintage to try. 2015 is definitely going to be a good vintage for wines from Italy. It was a pretty hot vintage so the reds are super ripe fruit which shines through. When tasting this wine you get black fruits then pepper & spice, although fairly strong on tannins it still has bold fresh fruit. There is a mineral note running through the finish due to the limestone clay that the vines are planted in.

2014 this differs because of the weather. A cold and rainy vintage. However this has made the wine more herbaceous, spicey and noticeably more acidic. Having said that very enjoyable.

2009…..  Wow ok this is why you do vertical tastings, this wine is a totally different animal, has more spice than a 1990’s girl band (SPICE GIRLS YOU MUPPETS)

It was a hot vintage and this shows with massive fruit, spice on the palate, although now its ageing nicely with the tannins more balanced with acidity.

2006. This was a hot vintage in Italy and has provided some great wines from across all areas of the country. Ripe cherry flavours much less spicey and the tannins are still going like a steam train. I just needed some fatty lamb chops and i would have been in heaven!

Finally 2003

Well this is a great wine! Its balance is incredible, fruit abounds, so rounded and tannins a soft delight! I actually didn’t write many notes on this except loads of expletives of how delicious this wine is!

Congratulations Angoris for top quality wine making!!

Part 2 (out within days! I PROMISE!) Is about my Angoris adventures in Friuli.

I would like to give a huge thank you to HAY WINES for the invite to this incredible tasting evening & to Frantiska from Angoris bringing these wonderful wines. Their details below:

https://haywines.co.uk/

Hay Wines is a family owned & independent wine merchants based in the medieval market town of Ledbury, Herefordshire. United Kingdom. With over 1,200 wines, whiskies, spirits, liqueurs, beers, ciders and perries, supplying wholesale solutions to restaurants, pubs, hotels, wine bars & also to you and me via the shop or online.

Hay wines have an extensive range of organic, biodynamic, natural, vegan, low sulfite wines. The Italian wines directly imported under the watchful eye of Michele Longari their in-house Italian Sommelier.

http://www.angoris.com/en/

Tenuta di Angoris

Loc. Angoris, 7
34071 Cormons (GO)
Italy

Tel.: 0039 0481 60923   Fax: 0039 0481 60925

E-mail: info@angoris.it

This actually needs a sub heading too:

Independent Wine Merchants Vs The Supermarkets & ONLINE sales what’s the difference?

Now this is purely my own opinion and not sponsored or paid for in any way shape or form. Its about me and my experiences.

In fact I was just in the middle of writing something completely different, but then today is a bank holiday in the UK and the sun is shining, so after getting home about 3:30pm the sun is beaming, (its 26c WOW!) decided to sit in the garden with a bottle of vino and do some writing.

I woke early this morning and spent 2 hours rearranging my wines racks, Barolo, Super Tuscans, Brunello, Bordeaux …. even USA and of course my normal everyday wines. I am telling you this as I put a couple of bottles in the fridge (extra bottles I hasten to add as I usually like at least a dozen whites, a token rosé (actually this summer drank some great Rosé and have started a new Brosé Bromance!) oh of course some Fizz too)

So this morning I put this bottle in the fridge

This wine is South African, Vondeling 2015 “Babiana” a little “off piste” for me. It is made up of 60% Chenin Blanc, 18% Grenache Blanc, 16% Viognier & 6% Chardonnay and I would never have bought this in a million years unless…… Under advice from one of my independent wine merchants who said this is an absolute must for you! Do you know what… OF COURSE they were right – why because they know their product! I mean they REALLY KNOW their products. This is an absolute delight!

Simple tasting notes…. Its blooming marvelous wine, pears, peaches, honey notes, tropical fruit…. then its spicey notes, a slight hit of white hit pepper mid palate. Although oaked it is wonderfully integrated then a super dry finish. £13.50, €14.85 or $17.50. You could easily have spent 2 or 3 times this price and not had such a well made and delicious wine.

My point is simple….ADVICE ADVICE ADVICE

All you have to do is ask! Don’t walk in to an independent wine merchant and when they ask you if you need any help…… respond with… I’m a wino I know wine I’m ok thanks! I used to do this all the time…… I knew what I wanted, well I thought I did.  Because we never will know all of the worlds wine delights. Trust me I’m 45 years old an I have tasted very few of the worlds wines. By very few I mean 1000’s! and that’s my point… The wine world is enormous…. these guys know their hidden gems.

Don’t feel intimidated, know your budget, stick to it! The world is full of fabulous wines and these guys have them at the price you want to spend.

LEAVE YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND ASK….

SO WHAT DO I ASK???

SIMPLE… REALLY SIMPLE….

QUESTION TO MERCHANT:-

WHAT DO YOU HAVE (AT THIS PRICE RANGE… BE SPECIFIC ) SOMETHING THAT IS REALLY FABULOUS. Oh and by the way I generally like wines like this….. and tell them.

Now I’m not asking you to spend fortunes either, just checked out some of my local wine merchants and on average they have more than 80 bottles each under £10, €11 or $13 and start from £6, €6.60 or $7.75!

Now I know you can go to supermarkets and buy great wines too. I did at the weekend, especially when they hold promotions like 25% off any 6 wines! I know they have lots of promotions all the time to entice you in. However you will not find a gem like the Vondeling or indeed a super Gamay Noir 2015 “Jean” I bought this week for £9.99! €10.99 or $12.85 from another independent.

This is a super drinking summer red from Jeon Loron. You can drink slightly chilled (or not.. I didn’t) Its French, Its from Beaujolais! Yes BEAUJOLIAS but not like the Nouveaux we have all tasted its a fresh & bright its blackberry, blueberry delight yet with mineral undertones. Again wouldn’t have given this a glance ………unless I had been asked taste this…. What do you think? Easy SELL! WRAP IT! Tasting different wines is always your best way of expanding your wine knowledge. Although having said this you will not be able to taste everything these guys are selling. We cannot expect them to have every bottle open that they sell.

So I also love the big guys in the market place, that also can offer some great value too. But generally I use these guys for the special bottles. There are plenty and google, wherever you are in the world will be your friend. I believe there are 700 independent wine merchants in the UK alone. Whenever I visit a new town or city I always check out the indies!!

Now I could have spouted off loads of names here about who is who and who is supplying what wines… but actually it’s not my point. My point is to expand your wine  horizons, drink something within your budget you have never heard of. Even from a country that you didn’t even know made wine..

The key to this is that you don’t think that the wine merchant is too stuffy,

1. You are the customer
2. You know the kind of wines you like
3. Definitely know your budget. Seriously stick to it.
4. Overall you need to say you LOVE GREAT WINE!! I’m not Joking… really I’m not. These independent wine merchants are also very passionate about wine. They LOVE GREAT WINE TOO. Would you believe it they actually want to share it!

Would be great to hear what world wide experiences that you have with the local independent wine merchants,

If you love wine, dedicate some time, visit these guys and expand your world of wine

Salute AMICI!!!!!

Hello again!

A couple of months ago I was contacted by Dacotah Renneau of Comunque Media & Public Relations via twitter introducing me to Villa Sandi and invited me to come and see them at the London Wine Fair and also at the Decanter sparkling wine event. Now I have written recently about the Decanter Sparkling event in a couple of blogs but felt that Villa Sandi needed its own blog.

Below is the Palladium style mansion of the Villa Sandi which dates back to 1622, which is now the company offices…. definitely better than most peoples workplace for sure.

The building is adorned with the beautiful statues of the Venetian (late Baroque) Sculptor Orazio Marinali (1643–1720). When I googled Orazio, for some background, not only did he live to the ripe old age of 77 pretty sure quite rare in the 1600’s but he has some amazing works all across the Veneto region.

Devoted to wine culture for many generations, the Moretti Polegato family, owner of the Villa, have fostered this ancient tradition by making Villa Sandi the headquarters of the winery.

At the London Wine Fair I finally met up with Dacotah (who has a great big bubbly  personality and enormous passion for wine) who then introduced me to Silvana Graziotini, the export sales manager for Europe for Villa Sandi who is very knowledgeable and passionate about Villa Sandi. I was actually under the misconception that they were just a sparkling wine producer……. WRONG!!!!! ………actually my wife says I’m wrong all the bloody time so its no great surprise. Apparently men think we know more than we do! Jury is out on that one…….. I digress.

The wines Villa Santi make:

• 4 Premium still wines with Merlot, Cabernet, Raboso &  Incrocio Manzoni grape varieties. The last 2 grape varieties were new to me**
• 4 Further still wines: Rose with Pinot Blanc/Pinot Nero; Sauvignon; Chardonnay & a Merlot too
• 5 Semi-Sparkling (FRIZZANTE) wines. 3 Prosecco’s with Glera grapes, 1 Chardonnay & a Rosato with Pinot Bianco/Pinot Nero
• 5 Grappa
• 8 Prosecco with Glera 100%
• 7 non Prosecco Traditional method sparkling wines called Opere. 6 white with Chardonnay /Pinot Nero & a Rosato with Pinot Nero

N.B. ** Well I had to go to look up these last 2 grape varieties. Rabosco is an old Veneto Variety and more interesting is Incrocio Manzoni “2.15” for its correct name which is a cross between Prosecco & Cabernet Sauvignon. Funny story about this as Luigi Manzoni obtained this grape by crossing Prosecco & Sauvignon Blanc…. however he took pollen from Cabernet Sauvignon instead and ended up with a red grape and not a white one! You may have noticed that I just said “Prosecco” grape variety. Before you tell me its GLERA you buffoon! actually the grape is called Prosecco and misleadingly has been renamed Glera for commercially protective reasons. Now who the hell knew that! Thank you to Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding & José Vouillamoz and their EPIC encyclopedic book of Wine Grapes.

So I tried many of these wonderful wines and was overall very impressed. Especially the Prosecco’s. Dacotah said she would send me some samples to review, which arrived a few weeks ago. This gave me an idea. I have some friends that are quite snobby about prosecco and would always go for Champagne in bars and restaurants if they wanted some Fizz. TIME FOR A MASTER CLASS.

So I came up with a cunning plan, this was invite 6 friends round for a Fizz tasting evening. Wasn’t hard to sort as when my friends hear me  say I am doing a home wine tasting, they know they are usually in for some great food and more importantly great wines. My wife made up some fabulous platters of charcuterie, cheese, fish, Mediterranean vegetables, all stuff that could be grazed upon to accompany the evening.

So as they started to arrive, they all came in Taxis…. no surprise there as it was wine at Pete’s house I started to make up some Spritz’s (Aperol, Campari or Select) . Now I had reasoning behind this as I wanted to use a cheap supermarket bog standard Prosecco in them.

So all had arrived, chit chat done, we finally sat in the dining room, table full of food and quite a lot of empty glasses waiting for their fills of the evening, also which my friends were not used to were sheets of paper and a pens.

• Name
• Colour
• Nose/Smell
• Palate/Taste
• Finish
• Marks out of 5

“So everyone its only 6 simple questions, put as much or as little as you like. Its not a test and should be interesting for everyone”. 

I decided to start with the extreme budget supermarket prosecco left over from the arrival Spritz’s…… should have seen their faces… an absolute picture. This is your bench mark we haven’t started… this is what you think of Prosecco…. Its time for an education in the goodies that Valdobbiadene has to offer.

Just in case you did not know: Prosecco has 3 main types – DRY (the sweetest! between 17-32g/l), EXTRA DRY (middle of the road 12-17g/l) and Brut (less than 12g/l) which will always be the driest unless they are actually Zero Dosage 

Wine 1.

Villa Sandi – Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG Cuvée Oris

• Res Sugar : 22g/l
• Grape : 100% Glera
• Alcohol : 11.5%
• Production Method : Charmat
• NON VINTAGE

Very pale yellow in colour with persistent perlage, on the nose its quite restrained, with hints of apple, citrus and melon. On the palate its soft with a slight sweetness to it with fleshy apples, pears & floral notes leading to a lingering soft finish. This wine was enjoyed by all and everyone started to get very surprised by prosecco.

For everyone this was a fabulous aperitif or to be enjoyed with canapés.

How many Prosecco are there in this fizz test & are they really that different? I was asked, “another 3” I replied to blank stares….. Trust me they are all completely different!

Wine 2.

• Res Sugar : 12g/l
• Grape : 100% Glera
• Alcohol : 11%
• Production Method : Charmat
• 2016 Vintage

Firstly if you are travelling in the Valdobbiadene region to try prosecco you must visit Asolo. I went there last year and its a beautiful town. Great shopping for the ladies, a few very good enoteca for all. I bought a few interesting bottles of wine there.

This looks the same everyone said, which it does with its very pale yellow colour. But when everyone smelled the wine the response was … oh this is quite different! Now I had everyone’s attention that Prosecco is far from a one trick Pony.

So on the nose this wine is much more fruity then the Oris, on the palate its noticeably more dry (actually half g/l in sugar). Again there are fresh apples but more crisp green apples, grapefruit type citrus and an overall fresher drier experience. The finish is much shorter, clean and dry.

Wine 3.

• Res Sugar : 11g/l
• Grape : 100% Glera
• Alcohol : 11%
• Production Method : Charmat
• 2016 Vintage

This wine is pale almost silvery zinc like in colour, bubbles galore here! On the nose its rock hard green apples, melon and wild flowers. On the Palate its softer, super fresh fruit with more tropical notes with a super creamy dry finish, although this feels slightly sweeter than the Asolo even though the residual sugar is the same. again everyone thought this wine was lovely. Now everyone was looking forward to the next 2 wines, even though they had no idea what they were!

Wine 4.

• Res Sugar : 11g/l
• Grape : 100% Glera
• Alcohol : 11.5%
• Production Method : Charmat
• 2016 Vintage

Cartizze is the top of the Prosecco tree!

A note here from Villa Sandi about this vineyard: Production area: Cartizze is a small hilly area with 106 hectares of vineyard lying between the districts of Santo Stefano and S. Pietro di Barbozza in the municipality of Valdobbiadene. Within such area lies ‘La Rivetta’ vineyard owned by Villa Sandi. A true cru that is the result of a perfect combination between a gentle microclimate and a very old land with calcareous sandstones and clays.

As soon as I brought this bottle to the table, my friends thought this was going to be different. Its a great heavy bottle of a very different shape to all the others in the range. Talking of bottles everyone thought that the standard bottles looked amazing as they have a picture of the Villa cast into the glass. This is truly the flagship Prosecco from Villa Sandi.

In the glass the Cartizze is very pale almost platinum in colour with slight yellow hues, it has tiny fine perlage that’s extremely vigorous too. On the nose it really shines through with an abundance tropical citrus, soft golden apples and wild flowers. On the palate this is where everyone could not agree as its complex and so many flavours burst into the mouth. As the wine hits the tongue it foams up as the perlage is so soft and fine. Palate notes from all are, Apples, Pears, Pineapples, Melon (cantaloupe! Thanks John for specifics), white peaches and honey. Even with all these flavours bursting through this is so fresh and dry. The finish is a silky smooth delight leaving you with lots of complex flavours and frankly for everyone at the table WANTING MORE!

Wine 5.

• Res Sugar : 10g/l
• Grape : 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir
• Alcohol : 12%
• Production Method : Traditional 
• Non Vintage

Notes from Villa Sandi:

The new appellation Serenissima DOC is for Traditional Method Sparkling Wines produced in the area called “Pedemontana”, that covers specific hilly parts throughout the Veneto region. It was created in 2011 and the very first bottle to be produced and released is Opere Serenissima by Villa Sandi officially presented at Vinitaly 2015. The name chosen for the new wine-appellation is a tribute to the glorious past of Venice in the centuries between 16th and 18th, when Venice was an important commercial and cultural center, a lively city also known as “Serenissima”.

This vineyard is located on the Villa Sandi estate in Crocetta del Montello near Treviso.

This wine is obviously nothing like the prosecco’s tasted above as its made with Chardonnay and Pinot Nero. One of the first things noticed by my evenings guests was the wow factor of this clear bottle. As the glorious golden wine shines through the clear glass, the black, white and gold labelling with black foils making quite a statement.

So on to the wine itself!

In the glass the wine is pale straw with a silvery hue in colour. On the nose this wine is aromatic fruits with a toasty note bustling through. On the palate the fruit is citrus with apples, but then immediately when the bubbles break in your mouth turns to vanilla, almonds and toasted brioche. It almost has a toffee like character too but not sweet in any way. The finish is clean and fresh, yet its full of flavour and stays with you for a long time. This wine has spent 24 months on the lees and an absolute delight to drink now but I am sure will even improve further with some bottle age.

By the end of the tasting, everyone said they were blown away by the diversity of what they thought was just “Prosecco” and how different they can be. Also they all said they will always make sure they trade up Prosecco in the future.

Also what was interesting was I then said ok now instead of a taste you get a full glass now of any of what we have tried….. 4! different wines were chosen which is a testament to the quality of all these wines and the diversity that they offer.

Big thank you for bottle samples to Flavio Geretto from Villa Sandi & Dacotah Renneau @Comunque10 (twitter) of Comunque Media & Public Relations. And of course to the Villa Sandi wine makers for making these great wines too!

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