Harvest in South Africa: my journey through vineyards, starry skies, and new perspectives
I share here on Wining.it my first South African experience as a young Italian winemaker, carried out at Saronsberg Cellar… (more…)
“Albania that surprises.”
We meet Muharrem Çobo for the third time in just a few days. Speaking with Muharrem, you can sense his personality and his deep pride in bringing his product to the Italian marketa knowledgeable market, capable of appreciating his wines. (more…)
La Geria: a “lunar” vineyard between wind and volcanoes.
Of my Canarian stories, I saved the one about La Geria for last. And to think I expected it to be the most touristy of all, partly because it’s highlighted in every guidebook, and partly because the roads are filled with every type of tourist vehicle, from cars to quads. (more…)
Bodegas Reverón: Tenerife’s wine at 1,300 meters of altitude…
Yes — 1,300 meters, in the highest municipality in Spain, Vilaflor, on the island of Tenerife. That’s where I met Javier Linares, after putting the rental Aygo through some real suffering on the steep climbs and hairpin turns along the road leading to Teide, the volcano that dominates the island. (more…)
Bodegas Monje: when wine is expressed in every possible way…
We arrive from Lanzarote, and Bodegas Monje is just a stone’s throw from Tenerife North Airport. We come from full summer and, with a single 40‑minute flight, suddenly find ourselves in the middle of winter. But by now we’re used to it: when there’s a volcano in the middle, the north is winter and the south — barely 30 kilometers away — is summer. (more…)
Catalonia, a country that never stops strengthening its identity.
When Saula Giusto invited me to take part in the presentation of the wines belonging to the new denomination Vins de Finca Qualificada (VFQ) — Qualified Estate Wines — I had no doubts. This is an area of the Iberian Peninsula in constant evolution, and on more than one occasion I’ve had the chance to taste wines from these regions. (more…)
Çobo and Albanian indigenous grape varieties
I could say it was by chance, but when I found myself having to choose a place for dinner in Tirana, my eye instinctively fell on “Shandevere”, especially when I noticed the sign reading “Çobo Winery.” (more…)
L’Olivera, wine, the social approach and the urban vineyard of Barcelona.
It’s not every day that you come across, in the world of wine, words like utopia, reality, loyalty and resilience. It happened to me recently in Bologna, at the Slow Wine Fair, at the stand of the Catalan friends of “L’Olivera”. As much as I can understand and love Spanish, it took me a while to grasp their project. On the table there was a range of wines, but from the words of Pau Moragas, the person I had the pleasure of speaking with, I understood that L’Olivera is something different. (more…)
Bandol, Château de Pibarnon and Mourvèdre…
Provence. Lavender, yes—the fields of lavender in bloom. And then Van Gogh and all the Impressionists.
Then there is the art, the unmistakable Provençal style you can feel in every little village.
Fine, everything on the list and everything duly “ticked off.” But now, how about some wine? And what about Provençal rosés? Are we really going to pretend they don’t exist? (more…)
