Back in February, I spent a handful of days in the charmingly-imposing Italian town of Montefalco, as the U.S. media guest attending the anteprima showing of Sagrantino’s somewhat-troubled 2014 vintage. Generally, the way that these things work is that we press-types get to sit around in beautiful locales tasting (and pontificating upon) the latest –…
Category: on the road
My Name Is *Still* Nizza (Drinking Monferrato’s Older Top Reds With MyNameIsBarbera.com)
Hey, remember when I waxed all dime-store-poetic about the longevity and power of Barbera reds from the relatively-new, tippy-top-of-the-Asti-area-quality-pyramid region of Nizza? Well, I do. Anyway, if you’re curious how the highest-end Piedmonte Barbera wines fare when they have upwards of a decade of aging under their labels, check out the latest video in my…
Pert, Plus (Perticaia Recent – And Not-So-Recent! – Releases)
The name Perticaia is familiar to lovers of big Italian reds, but its meaning – “plow” in the local dialect – likely isn’t as well-known. It is, however, an apt description of how Azienda Agraria Perticaia has forced its way through to the top of the critical food chain when it comes to Montefalco Sagrantino…
High Tension Wires, Low Tension Views (Mas de l’Abundancia Montsant Recent Releases)
Jesús del Rio Mateu, proprietor of the Masroig-area Mas de l’Abundància – doesn’t just have an enviable name; he’s also got an enviably amazing vineyard view, enviably old vines, and sits enviably close to one of Spain’s critical-darling DOs, Priorat. He also has an enviably-close relationship to a good importer, Folio Wine Partners, owned by the…