Olive Oil

Almost all Tuscan vineyards are interspersed with olive groves; olives are the other big crop of the region.  Consequently, most producers make olive oil in addition to wine and there is an equal variety of styles available.  I have to be careful here since, whilst my palate is accustomed to wine, it is not used to tasting pure olive oil.  Many producers drizzle it over the local bread (which is unsalted) though one producer served it to us in a tasting glass, like wine.

Olive oil is a delicate beast and easily killed by light.  9 years ago the EU (bless ‘em) woke up to this and decreed that it could only be sold in dark green bottles or tins.  So if you keep yours at home in a clear bottle get a dark one instead.  It also picks up other flavours so keep the cork in the bottle!  In the UK we’ve only really caught on to what the Italians, Spanish et al have known for centuries – after all it wasn’t that many years ago that you could only buy olive oil in the UK at the Chemists, and only then in small bottles that lived in the medicine cupboard and not the kitchen!  My parents thought it was really only good for de-waxing your ears and getting the fluff out of your belly button…

Legally olive oil has to carry a “best before” date (rather than an expiry date) because it is a foodstuff.  This always strikes me as a bit odd for something that has been used as a preservative for centuries.  But then again, as one food broker we know pointed out, he sources salt for a UK supermarket that comes from a deposit that is hundreds of thousands of years old, and that has a “best before” date on it too… best before the next ice age presumably…

When olive oil is fresh it’s green in colour.  This is because the olives (only picked in Tuscany once the grape harvest is in) are not 100% ripe.  In time the colour will change from green to yellow.  Olive oil will begin to solidify at 4˚C and once it’s done that it will separate and will not restore itself once it warms up again.  To taste it (if tasting from a glass, like wine) you find the same flavours as with everything else: sweetness on the front, bitter at the back and salty and sour at the sides, acidity underneath.  You then swallow it and you get an extra flavour, pepper in the throat and, as a general rule, the more pepper you find when you swallow it (and you must swallow it to get the pepper-in-the-throat sensation) the fresher the oil.

There are two ways to press olive oil, cold press and hot press.  Of these a cold pressing produces the better oil because it’s easier to separate out the water element, but it’s labour intensive and correspondingly expensive.  Hot pressing (and you’ll never see it on a label – you might as well print the words “mass produced”) is the more commercial because it’s cheaper and faster, but more water remains so the oil is less fine.  Some producers (including our own Felix Gasull from Spain) opt for a low temperature (but not completely cold) pressing at night which still produces a high quality oil, but helps keep to a reasonable price too.  Prices for the finest oils can be pretty high.

Olive oil consumption is the UK is increasing, but an average Italian family of 2 adults and 1 child consumes about 50kg of olive oil each year.  An average American probably consumes the same in cheeseburgers… at least we in the UK are now starting to recognise the benefits of olive oil and the nature of its friendlier fats. 

Whilst on the subject of America, did you know that in the USA and Canada it is legally permissible to dilute olive oil with up to 20% of sunflower oil and still call it Extra Virgin?  Sneaky eh?  As indeed is the fact that you can import olive oil from (say) Spain to Italy and, as long as it’s bottled in Italy, it can be called Italian olive oil.  You could argue that this is no different to buying a Japanese car that’s been made in Sunderland, but surely labelling should be about clarity?  So, please remember that any country of origin on your olive oil refers only to where it was bottled/canned and not necessarily where the olives were grown.  That’s also pretty sneaky in my book actually come to think of it.  To get round this you need to decode the label.  Look at the label and you should find no more than 2 names on it.  These will be the grower’s name, and the producer’s name (who presses and bottles it).  They may be the same chap of course in which case you’ll only find one name. Marvellous.  But if you see 3 (or more) names you’re probably looking at a product that’s going for the cheaper end of the market and has been imported from another country and is trying to cash in on the perceived prestige of being from a different country.

Our Felix Gasull olive oil is Spanish and comes from Reus which is near Tarragona, just down the coast from Barcelona.  It’s Extra Virgin (the highest quality grade characterised by not more than 0.8% acidity) and made from “Arbequina” olives. The olives are hand-harvested and transported to their mill to be milled at a low temperature during the night. The hand-harvesting is important since it enables more effective removal of the leaves which can adversely affect the flavour of the final oil if too many left in.  The result is a single varietal oil of low acidity, with a slightly fruity taste and almond, fennel, nuts and anise notes.  It’s great for salads, dipping, frying, roasting, anything in fact as it’s a good all-rounder.  Yours for only £7.95 a litre.  Order now here.

Prices correct as at 2nd December 2016 

Fattoria di Fugnano, San Gimignano, Tuscany

Up a steep, winding track to the west of the hilltop town of San Gimignano sits the Fattoria di Fugnano.  The estate was originally bought by the current owner’s grandfather who fell in love with the area and wanted a property here.  Back in those days Fugnano made acceptable bulk wine, but on the passing of her grandfather, and given her parent’s desire to sell up, Laura decided to leave her studies at university and take over the estate.  Her first vintage was 2002 and she has never looked back since!

Laura checking the grapes on their way to the crusher.

Today Fugnano has land of 200 hectares which are a mix of vineyards (26ha) olive groves and woodland.  The vines are mostly Sangiovese (red) and Vernaccia (white) though there is a sprinkling of other varieties including Merlot and Syrah.  The whole area is now a protected UNESCO site with considerable restrictions enforced on buildings and renovations.  The undulating hills provide various different microclimates all of which require separate management. Most vineyards sit at 350m above sea level. Wild boar inhabit the adjoining woodland and the vines are historically trained quite high out of their reach though nowadays the vines also have the protection of a small electric fence!

2011 has been a very hot year and the grapes ripened early.  Merlot and Syrah were the first to be picked, followed by the Vernaccia.  The younger, earlier-ripening, Sangiovese followed and finally the older Sangiovese grapes were picked.

The 2010 Vernaccia di San Gimignano is pale straw in colour and has a distinctive aromatic and slightly herbaceous nose.  It receives a long, slow fermentation which is followed by a short time in French oak to make the most of its flavour.  It is dry, gentle and subtle in the mouth.  I have to be honest and admit that Vernaccia tends to be a variety that I have struggled to like, producing what can be rather unremarkable dry white, but Fugnano’s is more concentrated and has a pleasantly “sappy” feel to it and a crisp, dry finish.  Its main problem is not in the quality of the wine, but rather in the wealth of competition that exists at its £10+ a bottle price level.



The towers of San Gimignano dominate the view from Fattoria di Fugnano

The 2008 Vernaccia di San Gimignano Riserva is darker in colour suggesting a higher degree of concentration and perhaps more oak.  The nose is a combination of herbs with a slightly resin-like edge.  It has more about it than the straight Vernaccia and, very briefly, my mind skipped to white Rioja.  The trouble is that as a variety Vernaccia seems to promise so much with its looks and nose which perhaps leaves one expecting more from the palate in return.  Fugnano have made a good job of these though.

The DOCG for red wines here is Chianti Colli Senesi and the 2009 Chianti Colli Senesi from Fattoria di Fugnano is garnet red in colour with a fresh cherry nose.  It is a blend of Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Trebbiano and Malvasia (very much the traditional Chianti blend though Chianti Classico does not permit the use of white varieties any longer).  In the mouth this is fresh and juicy without the game & leather notes so often associated with Sangiovese.  It is immediately approachable and has a ripe cherry character which makes it very drinkable!  At less that a tenner it’s cracking stuff.

Also tasted though not available in the UK:

2006 Toscana Rosso “Donna Gina”

Made from 100% Sangiovese this has a long maceration and is then aged in oak for 8 months.  Its colour is a clean ruby garnet red and there is a textbook Sangiovese nose with notes of violet.  In the mouth there are hints of ripe cherry and barely noticeable oak.

2006 Toscana Rosso “Legami”

A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 20% Sangiovese.  This is much denser and darker with a mint-and-eucalyptus edge to the nose.  In the mouth it’s quite firm and rich but with obvious ripe hedgerow fruit and a dash of vanilla oak.  The tannins are well integrated but this could do with another year or so in bottle.

We can obtain the following wines from Fugnano should you be interested – please contact us for details:

2010 Vernaccia di San Gimignano  £10.75

2009 Chianti Colli Senesi  £9.75

Vintages and prices correct as at 13^th October 2011 

Azienda Agricola Verbena, Montalcino, Tuscany

Luca Nannetti and his wife Elena own Azienda Agricola Verbena which sits just over halfway up the south side of the hill of Montalcino in the south of Tuscany.  The Verbena farmstead’s lands extend to a total of 23 hectares along the Via Traversa dei Monti at about 400m above sea level and comprise a mixture of vineyards, olive groves and woodland offering complete biodiversity.  From their 10 hectares of vineyards Luca and Elena make about 50,000 bottles of wine each year.

Their grapes are all Sangiovese Grosso (there are about 14 different clones of Sangiovese but Grosso is the one planted around Montalcino) and the Rosso di Montalcino and Brunello di Montalcino made here are therefore single varietal wines.  There are some who would change this; moves by some of the larger producers in the region to allow other grape varities to be used were recently defeated in a growers’ vote – much to the relief of smaller producers like Verbena – and thus the particular identity of Brunello is secure, at least for the time being!  “To allow the use of other varieties” explains Luca, “would remove the unique character of Brunello.  You might as well call us Chianti di Montalcino if other grapes were permitted!”

Everywhere at Verbena there is evidence of an almost obsessive attention to detail; the cellars are bright and modern, the casks aligned in serried ranks like an army on parade, as are the vines in the vineyards.  The harvest was brought in less than a week before our visit and beneath most vines lay bunches of discarded grapes, not considered of sufficient quality to allow even as far as the crusher.  Even after the green harvesting in July and August where maturing bunches are removed to concentrate each vine’s efforts into those that remain, not all of the remaining bunches make the final grade.

In some vintages several leaves are removed from each vine to allow the sun to reach the grapes and encourage air circulation to keep the threat of damp-induced problems away, but 2011 looked like being a warm year so these leaves were left in place to afford a decree of protection to the fruit.  This can be something of a gamble from vintage to vintage since the decision whether or not to manage the vine canopy in this way really needs to be taken before a grower knows just how hot the summer will be!  2011 was very hot though; grapes ripened quickly and the harvest was almost a month earlier than normal.  The fruit was no doubt glad of the extra shade!

Luca and Elena make up to 4 different red wines each year:  Their mainstay is Brunello di Montalcino, but cuvees that are considered good enough may become Brunello di Montalcino Riserva which requires longer in both cask and bottle before release – the wine needs to be considered good enough to take this extra age though – particularly in cask since Verbena’s Brunello di Montalcino Riserva only sees new oak.  Verbena own about 220 barriques (225 litre casks) of French oak which each receive a light toasting when new.  Each barrique is retained for 5 years with Verbena replacing one fifth of their stock of casks annually.  This represents a considerable annual investment.

The ageing process for Brunello di Montalcino and Brunello di Montalcino Riserva wines means that they are ready to drink when they are released.  The current vintage of Riserva available in the UK is the 2004 of which only 4,500 bottles were produced.  Wine for more immediate drinking will become Rosso di Montalcino and the wine from Verbena’s younger vines will be released simply as Sangiovese or Rosso di Toscana, the latter of which may be made with the addition of other varieties.

We tasted the 2008 Brunello di Montalcino from cask.  This is a youthful deep cherry red colour with a wonderfully pure nose of ripe fruit, mellow oak and slight leathery notes.  In the mouth the tannins are ripe but chewy, with the gentle oak adding concentration and depth.  The finish is long and rich and, although this wine needs more time, it should be super.

The 2009 Brunello di Montalcino (tasted from cask) is a different beast altogether.  It is more closed on the nose and less giving on the palate with a slightly hotter flavour; perhaps something of a problem child as the result of a hotter summer.  Elsewhere in Tuscany it rained in September before the grapes were picked which enabled winemakers to keep alcohol levels in check, but the rain did not fall in Montalcino.  This is still a good Brunello, but has a very different character to the 2008.  It will be interesting to see how it has developed once it is released.  The more approachable 2009 Rosso di Montalcino (now in bottle and available) has a gamey nose with authentic Sangiovese notes of violet with just a hint of chocolate and eucalyptus.  Again the fruit is wonderfully pure and accessible yet there is still good structure and length.  Drinking well now.

The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino (tasted from cask) is enormous.  It has bags of fruit on the nose with gentle hints of chocolate and is already strangely attractive in its youth.  The tannins are ripe and round.  Time in cask will temper and mellow its exuberance.  This should be a wonderful wine.  The 2010 Rosso di Toscana is very fresh, clean, easy and direct.  The nose is almost sweet but the fruit is pure.  This has 15% of Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot included.

The current vintage of Brunello di Montalcino available in the UK is the 2006.  Some thought this still too young but I felt is drinking beautifully now.  Such things are, of course, subjective, but it has an earthy note which balances well with the ripe fruit (which had a slight raisin note to it) and makes it delicious now - balanced and rich.  The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva still has a few months of its bottle age to go but it too is utterly delicious.  It’s full, rounded and again shows Verbena’s characteristic well-judged use of oak with concentrated fruit.  Further time in bottle will help.  The current Riserva available is the 2004  which shows marked age through orange hints in the colour and its full, gamey nose. There is a real perfume here with depth and penetration.  The palate is fully developed and amazingly together.  Perfect for drinking now.

The 2007 Brunello di Montalcino still has 3 months to go until release and seemed to me to be much gamier than the 2006.  Leather again on the nose with mellow fruit and ripe, round tannins in the mouth and well-integrated oak.  The hint of chocolate is there again too.  A lovely wine.

Verbena (like the majority of Tuscan producers) also produce an olive oil, a Vin Santo and a Grappa, though these are not available in the UK. The Olive Oil is clean and grassy, fresh and light.  The Vin Santo is made from Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes, picked and then air dried and crushed several months after the vintage.  The wine is left in cask for 5 years.  It has a nose of concentrated raisins with a hint of toffee and vanilla.  The palate is clean, fresh and nutty with a fresh bite of acidity.  Verbena’s Grappa di Brunello (42% abv) is crystal clear with a clean penetrating nose.  The palate is delicate and elegant with no bitter edge and a ripe grape finish.  Clean and pure.

We can obtain the following wines from Verbena should you be interested – please contact us for details:

2009 Sangiovese Toscana  £10.95

2009 Rosso di Montalcino  £16.75

2006 Brunello diMontalcino  £31.00

2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva  £41.50

Vintages and prices correct as at 6^th October 2011 

 Luca and Elena Nannetti

Luca in his vineyard.

Note the discarded bunches of grapes on the ground.

Who is allowed to tell us how much to drink?

The latest edition of Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade Review – the weekly wine trade publication – contains details of their “Responsibility OK” campaign urging companies in the drinks trade to sign up to seven alcohol responsibility pledges.  It’s a trade led campaign aimed at nudging everyone towards a healthier approach to alcohol consumption in an attempt to deflect government threats to legislate to the same effect.

The seven pledges are:

1. No to drinking while pregnant and the associated drive towards clearer health warnings and unit content on wine labels.
2. Awareness of alcohol units in the on-trade.
3. Awareness of alcohol units, calories and other information in the off-trade.
4. Tackling under age sales.
5. Support for Drinkaware and their “Why Let The Good Times Go Bad?” campaign.
6. A pledge on advertising and marketing alcohol responsibly (eg. no adverts within 100m of schools)
7. Community actions to tackle alcohol harms.

These pledges are all sensible enough and we will happily do our bit to support the Harpers campaign.  Indeed, our constant recommendation has always been “don’t drink more, drink better” – it’s why we exist. Actually it keeps everybody happy because your alcohol consumption doesn’t increase (and may even reduce) and you get to drink better wines which are more enjoyable and memorable than the cheap dross churned out by the big boys.  However, how much you drink is a matter for consideration between your GP and your conscience; it is certainly not our place to begin to moralise on the personal drinking habits of our customers.  Were we to attempt this they would, quite rightly, tell us to get knotted!

As for the pledges themselves, I’m not sure what we can do about the first one.  Wines arrive with the suppliers’ chosen wording already on the labels so it’s not an area where we have any influence. Legislation is probably the only way to create a uniform approach here.

Pledges 2 and 3 request more information on alcoholic units and calorific content, much of which is already available but in any case the maths are easy enough.  Just multiply the alcoholic content (as a percentage) by the volume in centilitres to get the number of units of alcohol.  Thus a 75cl bottle of wine at 14.5% abv contains 10.875 units (75 x 14.5%).  You do not need to be Einstein to understand this – it’s primary school maths.

Pledge No.4 is a legal requirement placed on all who sell alcohol.  It is not clear why one needs to pledge to do this when not to do it would be breaking the law.

The rest of the pledges all make sense.  The Drinkaware campaign mentioned contains some great advice on how to drink sensibly and ensure you have a great night out (eat first, look after your mates, make sure you can get home ok – that sort of thing) but none of this is rocket science.  It also seems to assume that everyone tends to go out when they drink. As for No.6, what responsible company would advertise booze close to a school anyway?  Someone must have done for this to have been mentioned I suppose.  I wonder who it was?  None of this seems particularly relevant to Wines of Interest customers though, who simply enjoy a bottle of wine at home, usually with a meal.  Like they do on the continent.  In company, and where the town centres are much less likely to be littered with drunk leggy females who have lost their underwear (and self-respect) as the result of drinking lurid blue booze on an empty stomach.

We at Wines of Interest are blessed with customers who are some of the nicest and most sensible people we know.  They are intelligent, discerning and considerate.  It is difficult to believe that any of them go out and regularly get plastered; they drink wine because it’s a civilised thing to do and they enjoy it, alcohol just happens to be part of the deal.  Where campaigns and pledges (and dare I suggest subsequent legislation) need to be directed is towards those who drink specifically to get drunk, and the producers of the drinks that achieve this, and those who sell them.  We at Wines of Interest fully accept that as a retailer of wines we can be a small part of the solution, but we would respectfully suggest that businesses like us, and our customers, are not the problem.

I have contacted the Department of Health to offer support, and sign up, but so have many large producers and retailers, including those who supply the toxic products that some elements of our society choose as their preferred method of achieving inebriation. But it strikes me that this is the easy bit.  Many of the larger corporate signatories are still offering “half price” deals and multibuys in their stores.  Talk always has been cheap, and while they continue to fill their aisles with booze promoted at stupid prices it’s hard to see their sincerity as anything more than veneer.

If the intoxicated nature of much of our society is ever to be addressed something much more radical is needed.  The government can try all they like to “nudge” us all towards a healthier lifestyle, but the harsh reality is that it’s the sources of cheap booze that need nudging first and only some will respond.  Those who do not respond will be the ones who most need to of course, both corporately and individually.

What is required is a sniper’s rifle approach and not a blunderbuss.  It needs to be aimed at supermarkets, high street outlets and off-licences who stock the bottom end of the market dross that only sells because it’s alcoholic, and silly “happy hour” type promotions in the on-trade.  We also need to address the misperception that you cannot have a good time unless you’re plastered.  Slapping all of us with one-size-fits-all pledges and/or legislation would not be fair and those who always have been sensible about their drinking and responsible suppliers will, collectively, fight back.

Finally, having read all this, does it not strike you as a bit strange that, as a business trading to (hopefully) make a profit and support two young families, we are being urged to encourage our customers to buy less by the obsession of the anti-alcohol lobbies?  I’m sure our accountant and bank manager would regard this as a uniquely absurd position.  Acquaintances who occasionally visit certain well-known “fast food” outlets report that they are always being encouraged to buy more of their deep fried cardboard and left over bits of cow in the form of “supersize” deals – an obvious attempt to get the customer to spend (and eat) more.  The secret here of course is that how much the customer buys and consumes is their business and not for anyone else (especially the government) to dictate.  By all means educate, but leave us free to choose.  After all, there is a world of difference between being told you’re drinking too much by your GP, and being told the same by your MP.

Gold Medal? So What!

Walking through town today I passed a pub advertising “Award Winning Wines” and I wondered whether anyone has ever looked at this and thought “Award winning eh?  I’ll pop in for a glass!”

I suppose some see a certain reassurance from a medal on a bottle, but (remember the Emperor who placed such trust in the opinions of others that his new clothes showed him to be a fool?) placing exclusive trust in wine awards can be misguided.  Why are we so frequently unprepared to make our own minds up?

In 1980 the Olympic Games were held in Moscow.  The previous year Soviet troops had marched into Afghanistan and the United States decided they didn’t want to play, along with Japan, West Germany, China, the Philippines, Argentina and Canada.  The UK supported the boycott but said its athletes could compete if they so wished.  Allan Wells competed won the men’s 100m fast running thingy.  He has a gold medal to show for his efforts but I’ve often wondered whether he would have won had the Yanks turned up?  This is purely hypothetical of course; on the day he was the fastest man in the world and nobody can dispute that.

Wine competitions are different in that so much is subjective but, like Allan Wells, wines can only compete against the other entrants and there are thousands of wine producers who don’t go anywhere near the competitions for very good reasons.  One producer’s response was to say “I already sell all the wine I make and I have a loyal following.  Why would I want to enter a competition?  If my wines do well I increase demand yet I cannot make any more wine.  All I will do is annoy my existing customers. It’s a waste of time and money for me.”

Other producers believe (correctly) that they make wines of such individuality that they would probably not be understood by the competition judges.  Is this why mass-produced “commercial” wines win so many awards? They certainly seem to dominate the entries, they do not tend to create strong opinions one way or the other, which means that hardly anyone actively dislikes them and they would welcome any increase in demand because it’s easy enough to let the tap on the end of the production pipe run off a few more thousand cases.

I was once asked if I would be interested to join the judges of a major wine competition but it transpired that I was required to attend a course to make sure that I came to the same conclusions that the other judges did.  I thought this would be unwise for someone who had been in the trade as long as I had when what they really wanted was more of a blank canvas to “clone”.  I thought my Mother-in-Law would be a good choice.

One skill that we should all develop is the ability to differentiate between that which we like (or dislike) and that which is good (or poor).  I recall having a major disagreement with a trade customer once who simply could not grasp this difference, pronouncing one of our wines as “disgusting” (which is certainly wasn’t) instead of recognising that she just didn’t like it (not the same thing at all).  This concept applies to many things in life as well; theatre, music, writing, food, even people.  The pub that this lady ran eventually went out of business, so it wasn’t just that I didn’t like her…

I have a lot of time for people with opinions of their own.  This is largely because they have obviously thought about something deeply enough to formulate an opinion.  I can disagree with them if I so wish, but at least the way is clear.  It should be the same with wine but so frequently drinkers end up with characterless alcoholic fruit juice because that is what the producer (and frequently competition judges) find least inoffensive.  It’s so much better to have wines with strong personalities that force you one way or another towards either total admiration or a preference for something else.  Only with wines like this will drinking them be truly memorable.  After all, what fun is there in you constantly drinking hooch that someone else says is good without knowing why?

We reckon every wine in our shop is good, but we would not guarantee that everyone will like them all.  But that’s the fun of it!

Contains Sulphites...?

We’ve had a few enquiries about the wording on wine labels that reads “contains sulphites” which does tend to look scary as if somehow wine has suddenly had some sinister additive included suddenly.  In fact, it’s just one of many tools used by winemakers, and it’s a labelling rule that tells only half the story.

Currently only a few things have to be declared on the label on a bottle of wine sold in the UK.  Regulations stipulate that information such as the size of the bottle, the alcoholic content, the bottler’s details, country of origin and type of wine must be there, as must the stipulation of the presence of Sulphur Dioxide if it exceeds 10mg per litre (10 parts per million).

A quick chemistry lesson then, if you will indulge me for a moment… The word “Sulphites” most likely refers to Sodium Metabisulphite or Potassium Metabisulphite which are the most common means of getting a bit of Sulphur Dioxide gas into wine.  Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) is an important part of winemaking, but will be controlled by the winemaker as one part of the complex process of winemaking.  Some SO2 will almost certainly remain in the finished wine which would otherwise be unstable.  The trick is to use as little as possible of course.

So, bottles of wine making no declaration on the presence of Sulphites contain less than 10mg/litre but you would be wrong to assume that they contain none at all.  Equally, those carrying the Sulphite wording will contain at least that level, but it is currently impossible to determine whether it’s 11mg/litre or 40, or more. Sulphites and Sulfites are the same thing of course, but I make no apology for using the correct spelling here despite the fact that the next generation are having the ugly transatlantic “Sulfites” and “Sulfur” forced upon them at school.

So why are Sulphites necessary?  What does SO2 actually do?  Well, it really does two jobs; firstly, it knocks out stuff like bacteria that would otherwise mess up the winemaking - it also ensures that any remaining yeast cells don’t suddenly wake up once the fermentation has finished and begin an unwanted secondary fermentation.  A secondary fermentation may be desirable though – as in Champagne.  Secondly, SO2 acts as an anti-oxidant, essentially keeping oxygen at bay and keeping the wine fresh – unless oxidation is a desired part of the winemaking process of course – as in some Sherries.

Some wine producers tend to create a vacuum in their bottles before bottling which removed 90% of the Oxygen which would otherwise be present.  This means that they need to use less SO2 to shut out the oxygen.  Some producers do it twice – so that’s 90% of the oxygen excluded, followed by 90% of the 10% that remained after the first go.  This costs money of course, and is unlikely to have been done to wines on the 3 for £10 shelf!

Buying Organic wine isn’t much help either I’m afraid.  This is because the statement on the label of “wine made from organically grown grapes” is fine, as far as it goes, but that only covers the grape growing, not the winemaking, and most wines made from organically grown grapes still say “contains sulphites” on the back label.  The issue, of course, is how much!  There’s no doubt that more accurate labelling would help consumers make a more informed choice, but until that time arrives buying from a respected merchant, who in turn buys from smaller, caring producers would be a good start if you need to keep the Sulphite levels down. 

It would not be unreasonable to suggest that the wines sold (and therefore made) on a massive scale, with price as the main consideration, are more likely to be subjected to a commercial mass production process where Sulphite levels are less likely to try and be lowered, there’s no incentive to do this of course whilst the current labelling requirements remain, and what the supermarkets want is a product that will remain stable however long it’s on their shelves – they don’t care whether you’re allergic to some of the contents.

I’m allergic to cats.  And horses.  My eyes itch and puff up and my asthma kicks in as well just to make sure I’ve got the message.  I have never known why, or to which precise bits of them I have an allergy, so I tend to keep out of their way whenever possible.  I have worked out that Siamese cats are usually OK though.  Mostly.  But not consistently enough to give me any confidence.  I found this out by trial and error over time, and with the help of many Piriton tablets.  Not sure whether this works with SO2 allergy though.

It seems the only way that those with an allergy to SO2 can discover which wines they can drink until levels are clearly expressed and we can really see who the bad guys are.  Maybe one day cats and horses will come with allergy labels too?

Postscript...
Further discussions with Italian winemaker Claudio Lenotti have revealed that the legal maximum for sulphites in wine are 200 mg/litre for white wine and 150 mg/litre for red wine.  Claudio goes to great lengths to exclude unwanted oxygen at every stage of the winemaking process, from fermentation to bottling.  These mainly involves rigorous hygene, tight monitoring methods and the use of Nitrogen throught the process.  The bottom line here is that processes exist to enable winemakers to manage with lower sulphite levels, but they all cost money so this is as much a commercial decision and a heath or aesthetic one.  For more details on this visit the following page of Lenotti's website. http://www.lenotti.it/en/dettaglio_tecnologia.asp
It's worth re-stating though that wines made to a price point are more likely to have higher sufphite levels simply because it's the easiest, and cheapest, way to deal with the problem of unwanted oxygen.  If you have an allergy to sulphites we'd be interested to know how you get on with a bottle of Lenotti's Colli dei Tigli (white) or Rosso Passo (red) since these are winemakers who know, understand, and have taken steps to address the problem of sulphite levels,and do all they can to keep them to a minimum.

When Prosecco is not Prosecco

First there was Sparkling Saumur, then there was Cava.  Blanquette de Limoux was in there somewhere as well, but the fashionable non-Champagne sparkler of the moment seems to be Prosecco.  Clean, refreshing fizz from Northern Italy, in either “spumante” (fully sparkling) or frizzante (semi-sparkling) and made from the Prosecco grape.  Simple eh? Except it isn’t.  Oh, it’s still fashionable alright, and it’s still fizzy, and it’s still made from the same grape variety, it’s just that some of it isn’t Prosecco anymore despite being precisely the same wine.

Prosecco, it seems, has been such a success that rather than run with its current popularity, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture took something of an alternative view.  It seems that somebody, somewhere, woke up one morning and decided that Prosecco was not the name of the grape variety, but was in fact the area of defined production; like Champagne.  They also decided that Prosecco can only make white white and can be made only from the grape formerly known as Prosecco (though they have since had a change of mind and up to 15% of other local varieties are permitted).  The grape formerly know as Prosecco has been renamed Glera.  I have no idea whether the Gypsy Lane East Residents Association in Norwich (until recently the top google result for “Glera”) are planning a legal challenge to this, but I do hope so…

The redefined area for Prosecco and the traditional area of Conegliano Valdobbiadene have now both been granted DOCG status with an outer area classified as DOC.  There is, however, a glaring omission from the decisions of the Italian beureaucrats because in specifying that Prosecco is now a region and not a grape, no-one thought to invent a name for what used to be called Pink Prosecco or Prosecco Rosato.  Our supplier has settled on the name Silvola which, as far as I can tell, is a village in southern Finland.

The Silvola on our list is what used to be pink Prosecco, it’s a blend of 85% Prosecco (sorry, Glera) and 15% Marzemino (which sounds like it ought to be a small pouched squirrel from Madagascar, but sadly isn’t).  It’s still delicious, and it still has a white brother which can still call itself Prosecco.

So, just to make sure that’s all entirely clear; Prosecco is now a region and not a grape, but it’s still a fizzy wine either way, though only white.  Glera is the name of the grape that used to be called Prosecco (unless you live in a particular area of Norwich) Silvola is what used to be called pink Prosecco (unless you live in southern Finland).  No doubt you can think of your own name for the Italian beureaucrats that thought all this through so well before changing anything.