📢📢 ANNOUNCEMENTS 📢📢
TICKETS AVAILABLE
🍷🧀 For those in Sheffield, the latest Wine and Cheese Event in the new Cambridge St Collective can be found here. It will be a first Wine and Cheese tutoring - available for all in the area to join.
Follow the link here to book your tickets for Thursday 18th July at 7pm:
🎙️Another great Podcast will be being released this week as part of The Northern Wine Guy Podcast Show, keep your eyes peeled for the episode with the wonderful Laura Jewell MW , another Master of Wine for the show and a superb insight into the world of wine from all view points. A full 360 appraisal of the wine industry and hearing about the latest from Wine Australia
🍷🍽️ EXCLUSIVE - For those in Sheffield and surrounding areas or visiting, keep your eyes peeled for an announcement on 'The Sheffield Table' - which will be an exclusive private chef and unique wine list opportunities coming from the new development, Leah's Yard. More to be revealed shortly!! It's a collaboration with Ian Proctor and Chris Hanson ! Very exciting !!
🍷🤔🍇Finally, if you are on social media outside of LinkedIn, take a look at Instagram and follow the account @thenorthernwineguy which will give you more updated announcements on tastings, wines tried, wines reviewed and so much more.
🌍 SOUTHERN ITALY
The main wine regions in Southern Italy of note are CAMPANIA, BASILICATA, PUGLIA, SICILY and SARDINIA.
SOURCE: Wine Folly
Southern Italy, historically, was very much the place for bulk wines. Both for the mass production of wines for primarily domestic consumption as well as wine made for blends. However, this has changed somewhat to today's make up. Yes, there are still a lot of mass volume wines but there is also some super, outstanding and premium wines too!
🌍 CAMPANIA
This region is south of Lazio and sits between the Mediterranean Sea and the Apennines. A warm, Mediterranean climate but with occasional spring frosts. It is known for 3 white varietals and 1 black predominantly.
Main Grape Varietals:
🍇 FALANGHINA - considered the work horse of a grape in the region. Saw a boom from the 1980s onwards. Apple, white peach, herbaceous/grassy and unoaked.
🍇 GRECO - heat and drought resistant, deep lemon, high alcohol, oily texture, with floral, stone fruit and smoky notes. Also unoaked in style.
🍇 FIANO - thick skinned, late ripener. Brings floral, peach, hazelnut notes that can age 8-10yrs in bottle.
🍇 AGLIANICO - black grape, early budding. Brings med+ to pronounced notes of rose, red plum, blackberry, high acidity and tannins. Mostly on the slopes between 200-600m. Top versions are aged for 3yrs with 1yr in wood.
Local Varietal:
🍇 PIEDIROSSO - is an old Campanian red varietal. Pale ruby, red plum, red cherry. Thick berries, typically added in blends to give perfume and freshness.
🌟 TNWG Tips for Campania
There is also a good amount of soil types too and here are the best DOCs to look out for to grab yourselves a top tiered wine from the region:
Limestone and Clay Soils from the hills: Fiano di Avellino DOC, Greco di Tufo DOC and Taurasi DOC (Aglianico).
Volcanic and Sandy Soils: Campi Flegrei DOC and Vesuvio DOC.
Alluvial Sediments: Sannio DO.
🌍 BASILICATA
Situated between Campania and Puglia, it is a region mostly of IGT level wine (recall this is below DOC and DOCG). It is however the place we get Aglianico del Vulture - which must be 100% Aglianico and have had a 1yr minimum time spent ageing.
Basilicata is a warm Mediterranean region with altitude upto 600m and only 550mm of rain annually. It produces red plum and blackberry, full bodied wines with high acidity, alcohol and tannin.
🌟 TNWG Tips for Basilicata
Look out for wines from Aglianico del Vulture - some really wonderful expressions at not expensive prices for those red wine lovers.
🌍 PUGLIA
It is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea in 3 directions. It is a hot Mediterranean climate where irrigation is allowed because of the lack of rain. Again, going back to previous times, it's focus was on bulk wine production - mostly from Sangiovese, Montepulciano and Trebbiano.
However, they also have 3 wonderful black grapes - namely PRIMITIVO, NEGROAMARO and NERO DI TROIA.
🍇 PRIMITIVO - also known in California as Zinfandel (that's right - same grape!) is a high yielding, early budding varietal. Spring frosts and drought are a problem, it ripens unevenly but actually has slightly looser and smaller berries than Zinfandel.
Look out for wines from Primitivo di Manduria DOC - which requires a minimum of 85% Primitivo. Riserva level are 2.5 years of ageing with 9 months in oak and a minimum 14% ABV.
As well as Giola del Colle - 100% Primitivo. Riserva levels are aged for a minimum of 2yrs, minimum 14% ABV.
Both bring medium to pronounced intensity, ripe to jammy red cherry, strawberry, medium acidity, medium to medium+ tannins.
🍇 NEGROAMARO - a high yielding grape varietal, probably most famously known in the Salice Salentino DOC. The Riserva levels are aged for a min of 2yrs, with 6mths in oak. Bringing black plum, black cherry, medium to high alcohol, medium acidity and medium+ tannin structure. They also can produce roses, which are a deep pink/orange. A superb summer drink (if only the sun would shine!).
🍇 NERO DI TROIA - found in the central part of Puglia. It is a late ripening grape which needs a long growing season to fully ripen. Medium intensity, this brings red cherry, redcurrant, black pepper, fine tannins and medium+ acidity. Look out for these wines from Castel del Monte DOC!
🤯 Worth noting though, less than 10% of all wines from Puglia are elevated to PDO level, so most is mass produced and below PDO level!
🌟 TNWG Tips for Puglia
There is a lot of mass production in the region, so be careful thinking that one style you have had let's say in Primitivo corresponds to every other version of it. There are some very good expressions at good prices. Also drink it alongside a Californian Zinfandel and see if you can spot the differences!
Negroamaro - not hugely accessible in the UK but becoming more so. This offers both great reds and roses. Give them a try, especially if you see any from Salice Salentino DOC!
🌍 SICILY
The bulk of the wine from Sicily is bulk produced. The two main grape varietals for the region are: CATARRATO (white) and NERO D'AVOLA (red).
🍇 CATTARATO is a high yielding, disease resistant grape, bearing in mind it needs to be in the warm Med climate. Light intensity lemon and herbal notes, with high acidity and medium alcohol.
🍇 GRILLO - a cross of Cattarato and Moscato. This is also high yielding, full bodied white wine, with medium intensity lemon and floral notes. Medium alcohol and high acidity.
🍇INZOLIA - an early ripening grape, which can be picked early. Medium- intensity, lemon, medium bodied and acidity.
🍇MOSCATO / ZIBIBBO - heat and drought resistant. Found especially on the island of Pantelleria. Low bush vine orientated with 3 styles - dry, late harvest and passito.
🍇NERO D'AVOLA - it is a late ripening very vigorous grape. It does suffer from uneven flowering. It produces medium to deep ruby reds, red cherry, black plum notes. Medium+ to high tannin, medium to medium+ acidity.
🍇NERELLO MASCALESE - Etna based wines! It used to be a bulk wine, but not anymore. It is an early budding grape, grown at altitudes of between 400-1,000 metres. De-leafing is needed during growing season. Producing medium to pale ruby, high intensity red cherry, violet, herbal, earthy notes. High acidity, medium to high tannins, medium alcohol.
🍇CARRICANTE - it is the main grape used in Etna Biano. Grows at upto 1,000m altitude. It is a medium intensity lemon and green apple flavoured wine.
🌟 TNWG Tips for Sicily
Keep an eye out for Marco de Bartoli as a top producer of Grillo wines.
For Nero D'Avola wines especially, I definitely feel that the UK sees a lot of the lower end, bargain priced versions. However, this is often not brilliant. So my suggestion is pay even £2 more to see the better expression in the glass and bottle.
Nerello Mascalese - if you haven't heard or tried wines from the Etna region - it is a MUST! Some really top red wines that work for your money too.
🤯 In 2021, Sicily had 720,000 hectalitres of wine bottled from over 25,000 ha of vines. This is a growth of nearly 600% since 2013! 27% of the wineries are also organic.
🌍 SARDINIA
The island of Sardinia has two important grape varietals to know about: CANNONAU (which is Grenache Noir) and CARIGNANO (Carignan). They do have though Vermentino (Rolle in France) and local varietals like Monica too.
🍇CANNONAU - creates Riserva wines which are 2yrs of ageing with 6mths in oak. They do make dry and sweet fortifieds from the varietal.
🍇VERMENTINO - is a white which is early budding and mid ripening. It produces medium intensity lemon and acacia flavours. Light to medium bodied with medium alcohol and medium+ acidity.
🍇CARIGNANO - heat and drought resistant. It is bush vine grown with 3-4 months in neutral/inert vessels. There are Superiore and Riserva levels for these wines too for increased ageing.
In Sardinia, 2/3 of the wine produced is in a PDO and unlike the booming Sicily, Sardinian wines have seen exports largely flat for close to a decade.
🗞️ LATEST DRINKS INDUSTRY ARTICLES 🗞️
TOP ARTICLE OF THE WEEK:
I am a big fan of articles like this because it isn't just the winemaker who creates the end product. There are so many more moving parts and hands involved in a winery and on the vineyard. So it was great to see an article like this put out this week. Have a read if you have an interest in all aspects of wine production.
OTHER ARTICLES THAT CAUGHT MY EYE THIS WEEK:
📈 MARKETS IN BRIEF 📉
On the week (as at 11th July 15:00LDN) changes:
EQUITIES: ⬇️ FTSE 100 down 0.4%; ⬆️ DAX up 0.3%; ⬆️ S&P 500 up 1.7%; ⬆️ Nikkei 225 up 3.3%; ⬆️ Dow Jones up 1%;
COMMODITIES: ⬇️ Brent Oil down 2.5% ; ⬇️ Crude Oil down 2% ; ⬆️ Gold up 1.93%; ⬆️ Silver up 3.5%; ⬇️ Copper down 0.9%
BONDS (in yield terms): ⬇️ UK 2yrs lower 0.1165%; ⬇️ UK 10yrs lower 0.1115%; ⬇️ German 10yrs lower 0.1035%, ⬇️ US 2yrs lower 0.203%; ⬆️ US 10yrs lower 0.198%;
The big news in markets this week was the release of the US CPI, falling 0.1% on a monthly basis instead of the expected 0.1% increase forecast. It was also down to 3% annually from an expected 3.1%. This is the latest piece of data to suggest that pressure maybe being placed later on this year on the US FED to cut interest rates. The difficulty of course with the timing being the US Presidential elections upcoming. This pushed USTs lower and took up the bulk of the weekly move lower that you see above.
The UK will follow suit with their inflation print which will give us a view on the likelihood of an August move in rates. The wage intensive sectors will be in the eyes of the BOE personnel especially when assessing interest rate levels. The new UK government will no doubt also be ideally looking for the BOE's help in reducing rates which arguably would help with keeping a lid on their budget when rebuilding the UK.
In fine wine, the Liv-Ex Fine Wine 100 index, which is the industry's leading benchmark, fell 0.4% in June (recalling that May saw a decline of 0.6%). As per Liv-ex.com, Bordeaux led the weekly trade followed up by Burgundy and Champagne. Dom Perignon 2015 was released this week too which saw renewed demand for the sector, which is something to keep one eye on. Chateau Latour, Petrus and Lafite Rothschild the three names with most volume this week too.
That is all this week, do continue to let me know feedback and what you thought of the information given, as well as any new wines you have tried, tasted or want me to review too!
Until next time - cheers! 🍷🍷
Andy a.k.a. The Northern Wine Guy
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