tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60213302024-02-07T16:13:06.326+11:00NectarAustralian and Italian wine news blog (with some other stuff thrown in for good measure) from a wine blogger who treks between the two countries. Yes, it's a long way, but the wine is very good.Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-74651363760677787792009-06-12T18:00:00.004+10:002009-06-12T18:05:46.613+10:00Great Australian rosé: Cassegrain winesI’ve been tasting an eclectic mix of wines since I’ve been back in Australia, though I’ll save some of the impressive ones for my posts on our mini-Mudgee tour and visits in Orange.In a moment of rosé in the house, rare for us, we had to tip a bottle of 2006 Bloodwood Big Men in Tights down the sink, proving that rosés shouldn’t be kept for too long.But in its place we had a lovely Cassegrain’s Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-10203662969450223122009-05-15T19:42:00.002+10:002009-05-15T19:47:19.880+10:00Italy's native wines: Vitigno Italia celebrates indigenous grape varietiesThe Vitigno Italia event starts on Sunday in Naples, in a wine exhibition that showcases what we can describe as Italy’s “native wines”. Vitigno Italia is specifically dedicated to grape varieties from Italy, and should prove to be a fascinating event, to taste everything from Arneis to Aglianico, Zibibbo and back again.Alternatively speaking, I am a particular fan of Italy’s southern grape Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-77874006678905372222009-05-10T03:44:00.003+10:002009-05-10T03:53:11.661+10:00Restaurants in Verona: Antica Bottega dei Vini and the "Valpolicella Ripassso episode" We recently had a meal at the Antica Bottega dei Vini in Verona, set up as a restaurant, and wine and food shop in Verona’s centre. You can also find a Bottega del Vino in New York, remarkably similar in its style, though I’ve never eaten there, so that’s extent of my comments on the New York arm of the business.I had previously eaten at the Bottega dei Vini in Verona a few years ago and as the Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-8582616841851123362009-05-07T23:40:00.004+10:002009-05-07T23:50:19.903+10:00Wine making in the Valtellina: traditional nebbiolo from Bruno Leusciatti The Valtellina wine making region of Italy seems to be slowly splitting down two wine making styles: one is the traditional capturing of the nebbiolo character, and the other is making fatter, higher alcoholic wines that may appeal to new markets but that aren’t necessarily a reflection of the wine making tradition of the Valtellina.I had the pleasure recently of meeting the wine maker of one ofAlisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-27306491937147593862009-04-22T22:44:00.005+10:002009-04-23T02:01:34.336+10:00Pomerol Trotanoy 1982: a wine as old as meOr should I say as young as me...? Thanks to a former colleague, yesterday I had the great privilege of drinking a bottle of 1982 Trotanoy in La Brisa restaurant in Milan.We did a little BYO in Australian style (though I can't mention this to said colleague as nothing from the new world will ever be adopted in the old!) though on a grander scale and strolled the streets of Milan with our preciousAlisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-71512488894300545682009-04-17T19:43:00.004+10:002009-04-17T19:59:35.606+10:00Australian prosecco: Brown Brothers upsets ItaliansIn a recent post on his blog Vino al vino, Franco Ziliani writes about Australian prosecco and Italian products being 'copied' overseas. At 26 comments and counting, a furore has ensued over what the Italians perceive as another episode in their beloved enogastronomic products being imitated around the world.The more sensitive issue for Italians is not that overseas sources are copying their Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-14028435513075177342009-04-06T21:25:00.002+10:002009-04-06T21:34:05.026+10:00Wines from Slovenia: finding Pulec Wines at VinitalyThe owner of Pulec wines happens to be a very nice man, and while his stand of wines from Slovenia at Vinitaly is nothing remarkable, it is worth a detour both for the welcome from the owner and the wines themselves.Pulec wines is just across the border from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy’s renowned white wine region of excellence. In addition, Pulec wines shares the same territory of the Collio Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-79144025487541407502009-03-18T04:12:00.007+11:002009-03-18T04:42:32.360+11:00Hunter Valley wine tourism: the good and the badOn a recent holiday home to Australia with my boyfriend, we spent a couple of days in the Hunter Valley to introduce him to Australian countryside and get out of the city for a while.I haven't been to the Hunter Valley for a long time, and it was fun to see how tourism, with its added touch of the appeal and sophistication of a wine producing areas, gets treated in regional NSW.I've always been Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-54835263834759925552008-12-18T04:55:00.003+11:002008-12-18T05:08:58.009+11:00Travelling with wine: sending wine to Australia, part oneI’m currently undergoing my first attempt to post wine to Australia from Italy which could prove to be a hilarious exercise in showing that the Italians, unfortunately, are really a disorganised race.I believe Italy is a country unparalleled in its rich offering of wines – it has truly everything, not always at high quality but if you go exploring, you will find some real wine gems in Italy. So Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-23911059140276713452008-12-05T08:10:00.002+11:002008-12-05T08:14:00.781+11:00Wine tasting in Italy: Conti Sertoli Salis in the ValtellinaWhile this shouldn’t be a blog about “what I did on my weekend”, when that has been wine tasting or cellar visits, then I figure I can include it. Two events I’ve been to recently have been quite different one from the other, and have certainly taught me if not about wine, then about people.A while ago I had the pleasure of a cellar visit and wine tasting in Italy, in Lombardy’s Valtellina regionAlisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-77171044224182072452008-11-19T23:01:00.004+11:002008-11-19T23:09:22.690+11:00Vermentino from AustraliaAn interesting discussion came up on our Ozwine group mailing list on the grape variety, Vermentino. I have just recently had the opportunity to try some vermentino, traditionally a variety from Liguria, Tuscany and Sardinia in Italy.I have been sampling some Sardinian wine recently, one of which is a Vermentino di Gallura DOCG from the wine coop Giogantinu. The wine has 13% alcohol and is very Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-82123737732622126052008-10-29T22:55:00.003+11:002008-10-29T23:00:45.895+11:00Wine bars in Sydney While it’s often an overused comparison to describe the city of Melbourne, it really is Australia’s version of a European city. If you’ve ever lived in a European city (not necessarily in the UK) you’ll know why the comparison is made – ordered streets and stately buildings are emblematic of a neo-classical style you’ll often find in cities like Milan or Vienna.Sydney, compared to Melbourne, is Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-72745258840629844232008-10-29T04:31:00.000+11:002008-10-29T04:32:15.475+11:00Sommelier qualifications: a touch of classOne thing I have been particularly impressed with in our sommeliers’ course is the calibre of the teachers, or lecturers. Most of them have been introduced to wine through sheer passion for the subject and many are not necessarily sommeliers by profession.While this might indicate a lack of qualification, it actually means that firstly, we get lecturers who understand our position as novices, andAlisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-47485261491670202112008-10-23T20:56:00.002+11:002008-10-23T21:00:50.999+11:00Chianti tastings: what's wrong with me?I expect it’s probably heresy to say that you don’t like Chianti, or sangiovese or Tuscan wine in general. So I’ll start this post with a couple of caveats: I haven’t tried much of this style and haven’t attended many Chianti tastings. In addition, sangiovese is not really a choice of wine I normally go for, and I haven’t had many good examples.But! at our lesson on Monday on Tuscany, I’m afraid Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-29943322221405521832008-10-15T06:01:00.007+11:002008-10-15T06:29:50.342+11:00I mentioned in a recent post that Italy's nebbiolo grape variety is...well, pure bliss. I love nebbiolo, and I'm not afraid to say it. If it's nebbiolo aged in barrique, better again. I like to chew my wines and unfortunately at my sommelier course, our nebbiolo tasting is likely over as we have already looked at both Piedmont and Lombardy, which covers the two Italian regions that produce Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-76432358265079955532008-10-10T22:04:00.004+11:002008-10-10T22:12:17.428+11:00Perfumes in wine: how to learn a wine's bouquet, descriptions and a sommelier spice noseThe advice from our first lecturer in our sommeliers course is numerous and varied but one thing she said was that you can never identify a perfume if you can’t recognise it. She gave the example of an aromatic traminer and a group of teenagers that she once had to do a lesson with on wine tasting.She had chosen traminer for the very fact that its aroma is unmistakable – it’s not called an Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-50808711278872244962008-10-10T06:45:00.004+11:002008-10-10T06:53:21.655+11:00Italian wine and grape varieties: the indigenous Nero d'AvolaOur sommeliers course is coming along like a house on fire after only two lessons, but then given the second level is all about Italian wine and Italian wine making regions, the material is so rich it’s hard to get beyond just touching on each region.The first lesson this week was a review of how to taste wine – the descriptions you can give, serious measurements of wine quality etc. The Italian Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-78518846804619753772008-10-08T07:47:00.004+11:002008-10-08T07:52:04.714+11:00Wine courses in Italy: becoming a sommelier and wine tasting Italy's regionsAutumn is going to be a very busy season for me, full of wine tasting events, not to mention the second level of my sommelier course.I completed the first level of the Italian Sommeliers’ Association course in 2007, which requires more effort than most wine tasting courses in Italy you’re likely to come across. The first is about wine tasting techniques – examining the look, smell and taste of Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-21801751321462605732008-10-06T05:16:00.002+11:002008-10-06T05:19:38.052+11:00Wine industry innovation: international exchanges in the wine sectorIn Decanter’s September issue, Margaret Rand takes a look at the kind of exchanges that take place between the new world and old world of the wine industry.I had a discussion with someone today, the nature of which made me question whether this constant dichotomy between new and old is helpful, but as it still exists and the wine industry is likely to continue down this split line, I’ll probably Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-18788363059451820732008-10-01T06:06:00.002+10:002008-10-01T06:13:10.548+10:00Wine industry innovation: how does Australia fare?One of the best publications I’ve seen in a while is Fast Thinking, which appears to have emerged recently in the wake of the Rudd Government’s innovation review this year.I read the Autumn 2008 issue which covers a wide variety of topics from environmental practices and water conservation, to what makes a good CEO.The most interesting article in this issue for me was “Dumbest Country in the Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-88365100601324157852008-09-25T06:23:00.005+10:002008-10-01T06:13:44.514+10:00Wine industry innovation: Italy after BrunelloDe Vinis, the official publication of the Italian Sommeliers Association (Associazione italiana di sommelier – AIS), recently featured an interview with Luca Zaia, Italy’s new agricultural minister.That Italy has a new government will come as no surprise to any of us; it is also a more right wing government and Zaia comes from the Northern League party – considered one of Italy’s most right wing Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-77270408539419792512008-09-22T05:03:00.003+10:002008-09-22T05:09:02.826+10:00Wine list pricing and BYO - what can the consumer expect?After discovering this new Italian wine variety, “Gavi”, I thought I’d track it down in the supermarket to have a second tasting and perhaps record my tasting notes.While there were a couple of options from different producers to choose from, I was looking for “Terre da Vino” Gavi as that what we’d drunk in the restaurant. I found it at an excellent price of five euros.In fact, the price was so Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-22080680050822760202008-09-19T06:08:00.005+10:002008-09-19T23:04:23.007+10:00International distributors of Australian wineI have unfortunately discovered that my conundrum of how to find a good distributor Australian wine in Italy, with a respectable range is an ongoing one.To give you an example, I’ll refer to some brief research I did yesterday on prices of Penfolds Bin 707, from the 90’s vintages. An email came through from British wine merchant Seckfords with some lots of 1993, 1994 and 1997 (I believe I recall)Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-35163854090611679352008-09-17T00:32:00.002+10:002008-09-17T00:36:21.090+10:00Italian wine varieties: Gavi from PiedmontI had a couple of friends stay with me over the last few days who, not only having bought me a nice bottle of merlot, introduced me to a new Italian wine that I never knew existed. And all this for a moment of Aussie humour.My mate Gavin, in an excursion to the local supermarket, came across a wine called “Gavi” but decided not to buy it. On going out for dinner that evening, lo’ and behold! the Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021330.post-86129530742720473192008-09-12T01:12:00.002+10:002008-09-12T01:16:34.506+10:00Burning the taste buds of a bragging colleagueDon’t you just hate it when you have a know-it-all colleague who’s stubbornness means you’ll never ‘win’…?I was having a nice conversation today with our VIP work experience student (that’s how I like to call him – he’s the son of the sponsor of a Very Important Group in the world of wine), who was asking me about the best wine I’ve ever tasted.Hard question, but I’ll come to that another time. Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15695242058186054837noreply@blogger.com0