Soave Classico 2007. DOC. Tommasi Viticoltori

You know Soave. Of course you do. Insipid, uninspiring, uninteresting and if you think I’m going to pay €10 for a bottle you have to be crazy. Well…yes, yes, yes - and think again.

Soave’s one of those trademark Italian wines like Chianti, Barolo and Pinot Grigio that has such a vast and insatiable worldwide market that you have to pick your way incredibly carefully through the dross before you can find the jewels. But when you do - and here you most certainly do - the search is all the more worthwhile.

(Click on the main headline title above for more - with pictures)

Rosso di Montalcino ‘La Magia’ DOC 2006. Schwarz.

When it comes to special Italian wine, there’s nothing much more special in terms of either quality or price-tag as Tuscany’s rightly-famed Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. You’ll need to start thinking in terms of €30 for what passes as an ‘average’ bottle: triple that for a bottle from a great year produced by a top winery. But you can get a taste of what all the fuss is about for a fraction of those stratospheric sums.

(Find out more about this delicious red wine by clicking on the main headline title above)

Sounds familiar ?

The conversation goes something like this…

- Where are you going for your holidays this year ?

- We thought we’d try Abruzzo in Italy.

- Abruzzo holidays ? Are you kidding ? The whole place is an earthquake zone !

(Actually…it’s not. But we would say that…wouldn’t we ? For the full picture - click on the main headline title above )