Commendatore Lino Maga’s family have been making wine from their single cru, Barbacarlo, since 1886. The vineyard clings to a very steep slope surrounded by forest in the hills outside Broni in the Oltrepò Pavese area of Lombardia. Some 300 metres above sea level, the four hectares of vines are planted over tufo, are on…
It has been quite some time since we have had a shipment from Gianmarco and Clementine of Le Coste so we are just a little bit excited about this arrival. The pair tend around 14 hectares of land, with vineyards amongst a warren of olive groves, chestnut trees, shrubs and oaks. Sat around the volcanic Lake Bolsena…
On March 16th we will again get together with a bunch of other small importers for the second edition of the Vault Tastings. We will return to the cavernous space under the Holborn Viaduct to show new releases from the likes of Le Coste di Gradoli and Cristiano Guttarolo, some older vintages and the sort…
We are pleased to announce that Corrado Dottori of La Distesa will be joining us for the first time in London in March and to celebrate, we are hosting a couple of events at Hill & Szrok and P.Franco. The wines that Corrado makes from vineyards set in and around the hillside town of Cupramontana in…
In March, one of our favourite chefs in London, James Lowe of Lyle’s has invited one of our favourite chefs in Paris, Australian James Henry of Bones, for a two night residency here in London. Alex is teaming up with the two James’ and fellow Australian Andy Ainsworth (Terroirs) to create a special, one-off list…
The wine world can seem a little sleepy in January, so we wanted to throw a bit of a party to get everyone out of the house and back together to enjoy a little food and a few glasses. We are pretty damn excited that Marco Buratti has agreed to come and join us here in…
Last year’s Christmas tasting at Toast in East Dulwich was one of our favourite of the year and on Tuesday December 2nd we are heading back to do it all again. The format is a little like a mini wine fair, with tables set up all over the restaurant with suppliers squeezed into each and…
After leaving the guys at Cantina Giardino we drove a few hours east to Puglia to meet Cristiano Guttarolo at his vineyards outside the town of Gioia del Colle. We tried to play it cool, pretending we knew the way but got lost and ended up meeting Cristiano out the front of one of Puglia’s…
The next stop of our recent trip to Italy was to see the guys at Cantina Giardino. We arrived in Ariano Irpino just as the sun was setting and headed straight down to the cellar with Antonio to pick out a few bottles to drink over the next few days. Half an hour and a…
The first stop on our recent trip to Italy with Le Marche. We landed in Ancona on a drab, dull Friday morning and headed to the hills of Cupramontana to catch up with Corrado and Valeria at La Distesa. Corrado hasn’t always been a winemaker, he studied and worked in Milano for many years, before…