Cremona, song of a great (small) city

Someone recently and memorably wrote that if the world came to an end, things would continue in Italy much as they always have. With the last days of Berlusconi looking increasingly like something from Gibbon, it was extraordinary to spend even a short time in Cremona and experience life which in some ways may have not changed so much since the Duomo was built in the 13th century or the Amati, Stradivari, Guarneri and Bergonzi interacted with one another in friendly rivalry and collaboration. This is still a town of Luthiers by the way.

Starting with unchecked entrance to the traffic-free Centro Storico in order to get near our hotel, we parked illegally if discretely around the corner, remaining there unmolested for the duration of our stay. If this wasn't proof of a higher civilization, the enthusiasm with which the lady who owned our hotel, the Locanda Torriani (together with her chef-husband) specially opened a bottle of Bonarda just to provide us with a glass which was otherwise not listed as available in this way immediately demonstrated a generosity of spirit increasingly rare in our ever more regulated world.

After our delicious lunch (the hotel is really a restaurant with rooms - always proof of good priorities), we took a stroll to the Teatro Ponchielli where we were to see 'Rigoletto', another glory of Italian culture. Without time to stop we clocked an incredible variety of wines at a small stand including a locally grown Marsanne of all things, a choice of Ortrugos, Barbera, Gutturnio and more Bonarda which we love.

After the matinee performance we made our way back to the hotel and found the market still in full swing with all kinds of local specialities on offer. Where else might you find a market open at 6.00pm?

That evening, unable to get into our restaurant of choice, we settled on what looked like an expensive clip joint. This turned out to be nothing of the kind and in spite of an over-ornate decor, chilly atmosphere and barely another inhabitant, we ate extremely well and were enchanted to find an excellent if slightly bowdlerised Ortrugo. Even the complimentary glass of Prosecco was unusually fine, the whole experience humanised by charming and efficient service.

The next morning, we saw all kinds of local cheese and pasta specialities in the windows of the many gastronomie to be found in this great small city.

The brand of tinned Tuna offered in one was 'Vaticano' no less.

In a large supermarket there were shelves of more Bonarda than you could shake a stick at

and even a selection of Gutturnio.

An amused Isaiah Berlin wrote about seeing two priests walking arm in arm across a piazza eating ice-creams in a similar town shortly after the war. The same spirit still exists. Long may it last!

Two more Vino Sfuso shops in Venice

Nave d'Oro, Canareggio.

As already noted the Nave d'Oro Vino Sfuso shops are quite widespread in Venice although they seem to be owned by different members of the same family and others. This one is a particularly nice one advertising Torbolino (the new partially-fermented sweet red wine) and exceptionally Frizzante wines.
Vini Sfusi, Calle della Chiesa, Campo Santa Margherita

This is a hard-core place with a good selection but business-like service. We particularly liked the shopfitting.

We took some Prosecco Spento (still Prosecco),Incrocio Manzoni bianco and Incrocio Manzoni Rosso and if memory serves a Cabernet Franc back to the ranch. Strangely enough the two Incrocio Manzonis were the best. It might be worth recalling that there are several crossings but the white is normally derived from Riesling and Pinot Bianco. The red was most probably Prosecco and Cabernet Sauvignon but there is another which is Barbera x Cabernet Franc. Interesting how some crossings are beginning to make interesting wines; we think of Mueller Thurgau, Kerner, Dornfelder, Huxelrebe, Scheurebe etc.

In this little survey, we were told that the majority of Veneziani take home Raboso for red and Verduzzo for their white vino sfuso. Isn't that amazing?

Slotovino's 2011 harvest, October 19th.

The Grapes


Having made our first drinkable wine in 2010 and done quite a bit of planting in the vineyard we decided to make grape juice this year.

The Sorting Table

A small quantity of 2010 grape juice had gone down very well with the teetotalers and younger members of Slotovino so there it was - Sloto-juice.

Our Fouloir-Egrappoir

It has to be said that Triomphe d'Alsace makes a much better juice than wine just as American native and hybrids such as do Concord, Skuppernong and so forth.

Our basket Press

Given that we had no plans to add preservatives or even pasteurise the juice, we only made a small quantity. You can see the perfect weather and conditions a week later than usual. Just as we finished the weather closed in. Luck was on our side as the birds hadn't yet turned out in force.

The Plug

What we have been drinking

Slotovino has not posted for 2 1/2 months but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. Apologies to our regular reader!

Disappointed by the Cesari Grignolino we bought at some expense at Harrods, we tried the version by Montalbera sourced from Premier Vintners. That was more like it although still not for nothing at £14.49. We liked this enough to think about repeating the experience.

From the other side of Northern Italy, we have enjoyed a Malvasia Istriana from Primosic. It is remarkable how flexible the Malvasia grape is. We had in common with most, regarded this grape as rather ordinary but versions such as this declare its genius and are by no means rare. Here, from the aolian island of Salina is a version of Malvasia we also enjoyed very much at a very posh London restaurant where it was ranked among the least expensive wines

Highbury Vintners, an additional adornment for North London

Highbury Vintners has often shown up on Winesearcher so we eventually made the time to go where many others have trod and were delighted to find a worthy contender for our Best Winemerchant award for 2012. There are 8 months left to find a better one but that will be difficult.

Tom Hemmingway and Gillian Sweeney have already won a bushel of awards and the reason is not hard to find. We bought the following online in an attempt to source interesting everyday wine;

Turckheim Pinot Noir 2007

Lard des Choix VdP de lArdeche Rouge 2008

Ogereau Anjou Rouge 2008

Alpha Zeta C Corvina 2009/10

Nieto Reserve Bonardo 2008

Domaine d Escausses Gaillac Rouge Cuvee des Drilles 2010

Senorio de Sarria Vinedo No.7 Graciano 2005

Domaine Cros Marcillac Lo Sang del Pais 2010

Ktima Alpha Axia 2006

Gerovassiliou Malagousia 2009

Keith Tulloch Semillon 2010

Alpha Zeta G Garganega 2010

There are many more wines in the shop than appear on the website. Indeed, if they have a weak spot, Highbury Vintners' website would be it but who doesn't have website problems? On our visit we found plenty more interesting wines. Where else in London might you come across a Chambourcin/Cabernet Franc blend from Ontario?

This turned out to be rather delicious by the way.

We will return to Highbury Vintners soon. Meanwhile just try to visit and not leave with a mixed case!

2011 Edinburgh Wine Festival

There is no Edinburgh Wine Festival, official or fringe as yet but that doesn't stop Slotovino creating one out of the many interesting manifestations of wine in this city. It is the darndest thing that in this respect Edinburgh has everything whereas its larger neighbour Glasgow has practically nothing. According to Adam, owner of The Fine Wine Company of Edinburgh/Portobello and Edinburgh/Musselburgh it was ever thus. He conceded that Glasgow's interests are more spiritual (geddit?).

Adam's main business these days is internet sales. He ships cases of wine all over the country. The shop was host to a delivery just about to go out. Interestingly, he has identified the hot spot for his sales as the home counties to the north of London, around Watford. Fascinating. With over 3,250 wines on his list there had to be something for everyone. The shop carries a much smaller selection of course but we left with an Argentinian Bonarda/Sangiovese which sounded a good idea and which we had not seen or heard of before, an Austrian 'Landswein' from Gamay apparently - Landswein (country wine) is another rarity, perhaps unprecedented in the UK and a Nero di Troia by Tufarello (Puglia).


Of these so far, the Heinrich Landswein was the sandout. Even at £11.95 this is a wonderful bargain. Only 12.5% it packs a generous Gamay flavour superior to much New World Gamay.


The Fine Wine Company have other interesting wines such as St. Pourcain Pinot Noir, the A, C, G etc. collection from the Veneto which we admire so much (A for Amarone, C for Corvina, G for Garganega etc), and much else. The website is arrangesd extremely well so you can browse by grape, price, country, colour and so on. Only the Abv figures are missing.

No visit to what we will now call the Edinburgh Wine Festival is complete without a trip to Leith Walk and Valvona and Crolla - winner of yet more prizes. For some reason they do not figure on Winesearcher; a huge omission. Perhaps they don't want to participate? In any case they have some of our favourite rarities including Italian Bonarda and Gutturnio as well as so much besides.

Paying our respects to Villeneuve Fine Wines, we learned of another company in town called Hendersons. This is an offshoot of the well known restaurant of the same name in the centre of Edinburgh, but the wine shop is in the charming region of Edinburgh/Morningside, butt of many affectionate jokes:

A Morningside lawyer has some business in Glasgow so walking down Sauchihall Street there he is accosted by the archytipal Glaswegian drunk. Staggering up to him with a bag of chips in one hand and a cigarette in the other he says to the Morningside gent "Hey, Jimmie, giss' a light." Morningside gent: "Sorry my good man I'm afraid I don't smoke, but tell me, how did you know my name was James?"


OK, Hendersons in Morningside is not at all well behaved at least as far as our interests are concerned. By that, we mean they have a quite remarkable amount of interesting wines from the rarest of grape varieties. These include one which doesn't yet have a name.

It is a crossing between Melon de Bougogne and Chardonnay, grown in the Maconnais and rather delicious.

This was only the start. Next came an Australian Sparkling White from the producer Irvine made from 100% Petit Meslier, one of the more obscure Champagne grapes never seen in purezza as far as we know and rarely in any Champagne blend. The result here was certainly interesting if "dusty" in the word of The Prof. There followed two further fascinating bottles. An Italian white called Pantastico,

apparently the ancient name cited by Pliny for a variety now known as Cachhione and grown in Nettuno, Costa dei Cesari (Lazio) and a red from Wales, "Glyndwr", believed from Regent and Rondo. Our final bottle from here was a field blend of 23 different varieties no less from Domaine La Tour Boisee, Minervois, called 'Plantation 1905'. The back label, for once, bears reproduction in full.

Ce vin est issu de la plus vieille vigne de la commune, qui est composee de 23 cepages, dont certains directement issus du 19e siecle. Cette vigne est la propriete des familles Cambon et Grauby, vielles familles du village.
Cette vigne patrimoine du Languedoc, est un veritable monument historique que nous saurons entretenir comme il se doit.
Les greffons que nous serons suceptibles de prelever a l'avenir pourront favoriser une renaissance de certains cepages oublies qui sont encore aujourd'hui, des cepages recommandes pour des vins reputes de notre region.

So nice to have a rest from the reams the French like to write about Terroir.

Our guide on our hurried visit to Hendersons was Doug - surely one of the quickest on the uptake we have ever encountered when asked to suggest some rare grape varieties. Henderson's motto is 'Independent Wines for Independent Minds'. Doug lamented that most punters are reluctant to stray from well worn paths but at least he gives them the opportunity.

This was a great festival and like the actual International and Fringe Festival, we couldn't include everything, so who knows what Tony Crolla has been up to at Enoteca Divino discovered last year or Raeburn Fine Wines, the supplyer of the more pukka set in Edinburgh?

Los vinedas de Ronda

While in the area we thought we would have a look at the vineyards of Ronda, having enjoyed some of the wines made in this new frontier region and remembering what a lovely place Ronda is to visit.

Assuming vineyards would be visible on all sides when approaching the perfectly preserved small town on its vertiginous crag, our first disillusionment came thanks to the new road which actually descends into a plain strewn with light industry and social housing.

No vineyards to be seen anywhere and just the back end of Ronda of which we had been previously blissfully unaware.

Ploughing through the town (much larger than suspected) we finally came on the Centro Ciudad and missed any Bodegas and the local branch of the Museo del Vino we somehow expected would be on hand, soon finding ourselves going out the other side. Still optimistic, we pressed on through nothing but olive groves on side roads and the small road signposted 'Algeciras'. Time was against us by now so we stopped at a 'Mirador' and surveyed the horizon without success. There was a small patch of lighter green near the ring road from which we had come so we drove towards tha,t again without success.

So finally we had to ask at a roadside bar. The caballero looked mystified but then suggested we took the road for Sevilla and turn off after a few Km. towards Ronda Vieja.

And so it was that we finally found our Vinedas de Ronda, discretely tucked away, almost apologetically among the olive groves and various other farming enterprises.

Decidedly vine-growing in Ronda is still in its infancy.

Our favourite producer, Schatz was the first property we came upon.

It was so much smaller than we imagined and there was no sign of life, let alone a Cellar Door shop or a Reception Area. Herr Schatz is a Swabian who set up here some years ago and brought Lemberger vines with him, hence his popularity in our pages. He must have been looking for somewhere pretty wild and isolated; the contrast with German wine villages where the vineyards are part of the town couldn't be more stark. Huge birds (Buzzards?) wheeled overhead and masses of other rather exotic tiny ones seemed to spring up on our approach. They can't be a pest in the vineyard because we didn't see any netting.
The vineyard itself is immaculately kept and large solar panels lead one to believe the Ecological tag must be serious. There was one other vineyard signposted at the Ronda Vieja turn-off: Dona Feliza 'Chinchilla'. Finding this was no easy matter as we careered down the wrong road clearly signposted as far as we were concerned but not intended by whoever planted the sign. Never mind - we happened by some small plots planted with vines - hardly enough to make more than boutique or even garage quantities.


Retracing our route through this beautiful and very Spanish counryside, we drove through what we fancied might have been a valley of Cork Trees

(identifying trees is not one of Slotovino's greatest accomplishments) and finally reached Chinchilla,

only once again to find the place deserted and firmly barred to visitors.

There must be other areas under vine around if not in Ronda. We are sure the Museo del Vino arranges guided visits. Our little disorganised trip was valuable however in putting the wines in context and understanding the tiny scale of wine production in this beautiful and wild part of Andalucia. Where else might you find fields with Donkeys or families of black hogs, Buzzards or Eagles circling overhead on your way to a European vineyard?