Italy - South & Islands

Southern Italy is traditionally included with Sicily and Sardinia (latterly referred to as ‘The Islands’) when writing about this prolific wine-growing area, because they share – amongst other things - the same latitude. In recent years this area has been talked about as the future of the Italian wine industry, with a large number of indigenous grapes at its disposal, yet with some notable exceptions, it in general still fails to capture the imagination of the discerning British wine consumer, with overproduction of ‘ordinary plonk’ blighting its image. By the nature of its climate southern Italy traditionally produced rich red wines with strong flavours and excessive alcohol levels, of which there are still many of these in circulation. However I feel that the wines we have selected from this fascinating region show that finesse, elegance and power can be harmonised and that the true expression of their indigenous grapes can be achieved if the quality of winemaking is sufficient – in my view the producers whose wines we have selected certainly fulfil that criteria!

	Agricola Punica Barrua 2003 Bin No. BARRUA03 Price: £28.75 The grapes for this fascinating wine are sourced from two distinctive vineyard sites at Barrua and Narcao. Barrua supplies mostly the Cabernet and Merlot grapes from old bush vines, whilst Narcao is planted mostly with Carignano. The vines are planted in a dense concentration, limiting the yield of each individual plant and increasing the concentration of flavour in the ripe bunches which are all harvested by hand. The whole bunches are destemmed ..
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	Agricola Punica Barrua 2003 - Magnum Bin No. BARRUA03M Price: £60.00 The grapes for this fascinating wine are sourced from two distinctive vineyard sites at Barrua and Narcao. Barrua supplies mostly the Cabernet and Merlot grapes from old bush vines, whilst Narcao is planted mostly with Carignano. The vines are planted in a dense concentration, limiting the yield of each individual plant and increasing the concentration of flavour in the ripe bunches which are all harvested by hand. The whole bunches are destemmed ..
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	Planeta Chardonnay 2004 Bin No. PLANCHAR04 Price: £17.50 The grapes for the Planeta chardonnay were harvested during the first half of August, the individual parcels were selected for their ripeness and various levels of acidity and sugar in order to facilitate a complex wine. After de-stemming and crushing, the juice was left overnight to settle whilst being chilled and cold macerated for 8-12 hours. It was then innoculated with pure yeast strains and transferred to 225 litre oak barrels (one half of ..
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	Planeta Cometa 2004 Bin No. PLANCOM04 Price: £17.50 Made from 100% Fiano and indigenous local white grape variety this wine is an excellent partner for full flavoured starters, fresh goats cheese or rich seafood. The grapes for the wine are crushed and de-stemmed and the juice is then clarified through settling overnight. It is then fermented in stainless steel tanks, where it is kept on its lees for five months before light fining and bottling. The final wine is deep straw yellow in colour with ..
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	Planeta Merlot 2003 Bin No. PLANMER03 Price: £17.50 Harvested during the last few weeks of August, the grapes are destemmed and crushed before spending 14 days macerating on the skins in 150hl stainless steel fermenters at 28 degrees C. After racking, the wine spends 12 months in 225 litre Allier oak barrels. The Planeta Merlot is intense red in colour with a strong ruby hue. On the nose the wine displays complex mineral notes alongside red berries, plums and bilberry. On the palate it is elegant ..
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	Planeta Syrah 2003 Bin No. PLANSYR03 Price: £17.50 The grapes for this wine were harvested from Planeta's Dispensa and Gurra vineyards. Once at the winery the grapes are de-stemmed and crushed, followed by the process of extraction on skins with 12 days of maceration. After racking the wine is matured in 225 litre French Allier oak barrels for 12 months. The final wine is ruby red to deep purple in colour. Intense and persistent on the nose with notes of black-cherry and blackberry; chocolate, ..
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	Santadi Latinia 2003 - 37.5cl Bin No. SANTLAT03 Price: £16.50 This is a late harvest wine produced from the indigenous Nasco grape variety which are all picked by hand. An intense amber colour wine, with a delicate bouquet of flowers and honeyed fruit tones, rounded off with a slight touch of oak. The wine is rich and mouth-filling with a fresh clean finish. This is one of my favourite dessert wines – lovely stuff! ..
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	Santadi Terre Brune 2001 Bin No. SANTADIBRU Price: £27.00 The grapes for this fabulous wine are hand-picked from old bush trained vines grown upon the sandy soils of the Sulcis region. Yields are as little as 1.5kg per vine, creating great concentration of flavour in the grapes. The final wine - a blend of 95% Carignano and 5% Bovaleddu - is aged in new French barriques for between 16 and 18 months and there is light fining before bottling but no filtration. The wine is then aged for at least a further ..
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	Santadi Terre Brune 2002 Bin No. SANTTB02 Price: £27.00 Santadi’s Terre Brune is sourced from old vines that are bush trained in the traditional manner in argillaceous and sandy soils in the Sulcis region. This reduces yields to as little as 1.5kg per vine; in turn creating super concentrated grapes. Harvest is by hand from late September into October. Vinification is in stainless steel vats with skin maceration, at around to 25° - 28°C, with frequent pumping over to extract maximum colour and flavour ..
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