Trying to meet up with mates that you know through wine can be tough, especially when they’re as busy as my mate Peter. He’s got tastings or trips on pretty consistently these days, so the only chance I had to catch up with him was to follow him down to an Italian wine tasting do put on by the fine people at Enotria & Coe, one of the biggest importers of top Italian wine in the UK. I walked in and they introduced their “Tre Bicchieri” range to me. “Very nice” I said, not knowing what the heck that meant…I got there in the end!
Something About A Red Prawn?!
Gambero Rosso is arguably Italy’s leading wine and drinks magazine. Each year for the past thirty years they taste their way through thousands of wines from around Italy and hand out ranking points in the shape of glasses. Good wines get one glass, great wines get two, and the best get three glasses: tre bicchieri! It’s a yearly run rating system, and Enotria have nearly 20 of the Tre Bicchieri on their list. And poor little old me got to try them all 🙂
Italian Bubbles Are Just Ace!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for a red. The lesser known Gaglioppo blend from Librandi was a superstar, as was the more traditional Montepulciano from Umani Ronchi. But it’s the bubbles that had us all talking. The 3 Glasses Prosecco from Ruggeri was different gravy than the stuff you get in corner shops in the UK. Most because the tastes were bigger, lasted longer, and the acidity was balanced. By that I mean you didn’t want to rip the roof of your mouth off after the second glass.
Old School Come Back
Regular readers of this blog know that I’m always on the look out for Lambrusco. I don’t mean the pink, sickly sweet shit that got pumped out in the 80s, I’m talking the real deal stuff from Emilia Romagna, the land of parmesan and balsamic. Vibrant cherry and tart raspberry flavours, it goes some to say that of the 20 odd wine journalists in the room, the Lambrusco was finished off first out of any of the bottles present.
The one we got to try was by Chiarli, and it’ll be in a few independents and restaurants soon, RRP’ing for about £15 a bottle. Go get yourself a bottle of that, a block of cheese, and go nuts with a bonafide Italian superstar!
Cheers
