THE INSIDE TRACK - The Wine Society

The Society’s guide toHow to Buy…ItalyBaffled by barbera, nonplussed bynebbiolo and confounded by corvina?The Society’s guide to How to Buy …Italy by Italophile Nicolas Belfrage MWis here to help.Fine Wine Over £10Barolo - Seductive 2007s2007 is a lovely vintage for Barolo, producing seductive, radiant and perfumed wineswith much more immediate appeal than the great classic wines of 2006, which stilldemand keeping. For once the tannin in the nebbiolo grape, which provides structure,was fully rounded.ExplainingItalian wineWhen we think of Italian wine two wordsspring to mind: diversity and confusion.Diversity comes from thousands of yearsof tradition: a vine-land that stretchesfrom the latitude of Burgundy in thenorth to that of Tunisia in the south,from under 10 to more than 1,000 metresabove sea-level; and from a plethora ofgrape varieties the like of which the restof the world together cannot match.The confusion comes from… the diversity.How is it possible to make sense of allthose grapes, places, DOC and IGT names,not to mention vineyards and brands,most of which, to the average non-Italianspeaker,are so difficult to pronounce?The answer, you may be disappointed tolearn, is that it isn’t possible. Not entirely.What this article sets out to do, therefore,is not to reduce all to brilliant claritybut to make as much sense of Italianwine as we can in a limited space byreference to the most important factorof all: the wine in the bottle.Read Nicolas’s full guide atthewinesociety.com/explore† Ciabot Berton Barolo, Roggeri,2007A brother-and-sister team makingsatisfying full-bodied Barolos at a sensibleprice. The single-vineyard Roggeri isparticularly good. 2013 to 2025. 14.5%ref IB-IT15341 £23 bottle £276 dozen† Poderi Colla Barolo, Dardi Le † Mascarello, Barolo Monprivato,Rose, Bussia, 20072007The great Beppe Colla thought that the Mauro Mascarello’s highly sought-afterfirst-growth Bussia vineyard made the first-growth monopoly has exceptionalbest balanced Barolos of all. Younger length of flavour and individuality andbrother Tino certainly knows how to keeping power. Now to 2025. 14.5%bring out the best from it. Fine and Three bottles only per member.long. Now to 2020. 14.5%ref IB-IT15921 £59 bottle £177 per threeref IB-IT15381 £29 bottle £348 dozen† Boglietti, Barolo Fossati, 2007Voluptuous, rich-flavoured Barolo withbags of ripe fruit in the best modernstyle. As welcoming as its charmingwinemaker. Now to 2017. 14.5%ref IB-IT14571 £40 bottle £480 dozenNEW Mascarello, Barolo SantoStefano, 2007Absolutely delicious this year, a wine ofgreat complexity, perfume, body andnatural ‘fat’. A great success. Now to 2020.14.5%ref IB-IT15911 £54 bottle £648 dozenFREE UKname-the-day deliveryFor all orders of at least12 bottles or £75For Tuscans under £10 and good-valuealternatives see pages 3, 5 and 6.To order thewinesociety.com/italy ☎ 01438 740222 smartphone app9