When in Umbria …. I first tried Bramito…

Wine is all about moments. What I have loved about trying and collecting wine over the years is either drinking a particular wine in a special place or on a memorable occasion, then tracking it down, picking up a few bottles and tucking them away in the Wine Shed for a later date. A lot of the wines I have selected fall into this category and always invoke those memories when having a glass or two, even years later.

I believe that Italy delivers excellent value wines from a number of different areas. Many people find Italian wines hard to choose when compared to other countries, so hopefully I’ve done the choosing for you and selected some of my favourite producers from around this country so renowned for it’s food and wine.

Piedmont in North West Italy is famous for stunning Barolo and Barbaresco wines from hilltop vineyards surrounding Alba. These wines are generally a little pricier than other Italian reds but really do offer incredible flavour profiles. They can be drunk young with plenty of air, but also benefit from a bit of time in the bottle too. Langhe Nebbiolo is a good entry level introduction to this region with some fantastic, full flavoured value wines made from this very unique grape. Gavi is a little more well known white wine made from the Cortese grape which also comes from Piedmont.

Tuscany will feature heavily on our wine list with medium to full-bodied Sangiovese wines being a firm favourite, as well as the more Bordeaux influenced wines of the Bolgheri which is famous for Italy’s most famous tipples such as Sassicaia and Ornellaia.

Quite a few of our Italian whites will come from the Alto Adige, which I think is a fantastic region in North East Italy heading into the Alpine region before the Austrian border. The wines from here are generally fresh and fruit-driven with good blends of Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. We will also have some Pinot Grigio wines from this region, such as Cesconi’s delicious offering which I think is as good an example of this grape as you are likely to find. No thin and boring Pinot Grigio found here! We also have a couple of delicious wines from over the border in Austria - a Pinot Noir and a Grüner Veltliner.

French wines will come from well-trodden paths such as Bordeaux, Côtes du Rhône, Southern France (Languedoc-Roussillon etc), Burgundy and Beaujolais. These wines will be constantly updated as we change our stock.

Spanish Wine will mainly consist of the ever popular Albariño wines from the Rias Baxas area of Galicia and we will be adding in some tried and tested wines from Rueda, Rioja and Ribera del Duero in the coming weeks.