When was the last time someone told you they love vermouth? I’ve just spent 4 days tasting vermouth and when I tell people this I get odd looks and grimaces. There’s a vague idea that it is old-fashioned, too sweet, not trendy, and besides, what exactly do you do with it or like about it? […]
Archives for November 2017
For the love of goats and sheep
Wine and cheese are classic buddies, and pairings from the mountains anywhere are among my favourites. I live in the Swiss Alps, at 1,100 metres, with a small herd of beautiful Val d’Hérens cows next door; in spring and fall they eat down the pastures that surround my garden, and in early winter I listen […]
Architecture and wine: Italy’s Carapace succeeds
Final article in a 4-part series Wine-alive inside a living sculpture, a photo montage The Carapace, a winery designed by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro for the Ferrari estate Tenuta Castelbuono near Montefalco, is a rarity, for it is everything an architectural masterpiece and working winery should be (see my article on Medium). The Lunelli family, […]
Sagrantino’s technical tamers
Third in a 4-part series How to make great wine despite astringent tannins If a wine has strong tannins, you cellar it until it becomes drinkable, right? That’s one step, but there is quite a lot more to getting a good wine from grapes with very strong tannins. Sicily’s Nero d’Avola is the grape I’ve […]
Best of Sagrantino
part 2 of 3 articles on Montefalco’s Sagrantino wines Montefalco’s top wines: my picks A note about prices: the Montefalco Rossos, which are blends, vary from about €10 to 15 (cellar prices), sometimes higher for reserves, and in Europe you can expect to pay anywhere from €18 to 40 for Sagrantino wines, with higher prices […]