Looking Into Wine

Pignolo is promising red grape variety native to the friuli region of northeast Italy, probably first cultivated in the hills of Rosazzo in the colli orientali. Pignolo is a very shy bearer and it was generally ignored by local growers who preferred other, more productive grape varieties until, like schioppettino, it was given a new lease of life by a EU decree of 1978 authorizing its use in the province of Udine. Total plantings of Pignolo Nero were only 93 ha/230 acres according to the 2010 vine census.
Pignolo is native of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, in the northeaster corner of Italy
With Ben Little, we talk about the story of Friulan wines and how Pignolo fits or not in what is Friuli wines in the popular minds.
First comes the history of Pignolo in the context of the history of its native region, Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy’s upper right-hand corner. A really interesting explanation of how Pignolo, wine, and the region evolved. Then the history shifts a bit to author Ben Little’s personal experience with Pignolo, which started only a few years ago (2016) but developed quickly and soon involved many others. There is much of a technical nature to learn through Little’s first person reports.
Ben Little recently release a whopping 492 pages long ode to Pignolo Book called – Pignolo, Cultivating the invisible.
In our conversation we talked about Pignolo, the history and the wider geopolitical influences of this deeply dark red skinned variety. We talked about how it can create some of the most soulful wines produced in Italy and much more

If you wuold like to learn more about the book and pignolo here are some links
https://shop.themorningclaret.com/collections/books/products/pignolo-cultivating-the-invisible-by-ben-little
https://www.wine-searcher.com/grape-1524-pignolo
https://www.thenativegrapes.com

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Loved by wine critics but a stranger to broad commercial appeal, Riesling is a light-skinned, aromatic grape of German origin which is also responsible for some of Germany's greatest, and longest-lived, wines. Riesling is made in a range of styles but generally produces crystalline, aromatic white wines with notes of citrus, wax and lanolin, with a light to medium body and plenty of fresh acidity.
Although widely associated with the wines of the Mosel and Alsace, Riesling is planted all over the world and has established itself in the likes of Washington and Australia's Clare Valley.
Riesling has also been stereotyped as just a sweet grape, used only to make sticky wines. But while botrytized Rieslings are among the finest sweet wines in the world, the majority of global Riesling wines are either dry or off-dry.
Young dry Rieslings tend to be very light in colour, sometimes pushing into light gold hints, depending on the region and winemaking. Sweeter styles tend to be considerably more yellow/golden in hue.
With today guest we discuss the conundrum that is Riesling, Dr John Haeger is the author of the book Riesling Rediscovered - Bold, Bright, and dry.
Riesling come is many shapes and forms and each markets has is own preference to the style that is preferred, this makes it difficult to understand. With DR Haeger we speak about the key markets of Riesling and what is preferred and the regions that grow Riesling.
We than discuss the factors that come to play to the early showing of petrol in the development of the wine
And I question whether the German must weight is still relevant on a warming climate.
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About the book
https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520275454/riesling-rediscovered

About the author
https://wineeducationcouncil.org/teachers/john-w-haeger/

more about riesling
https://www.wine-searcher.com/grape-407-riesling

Please consider Subscribing and to leave a review Mattia

Chablis has been one of the hardest wine regions to learn for me while studying for the WSET Diploma, in the blind tasting is my Achilles heel I never get it right!
Well following my ideas of covering regions and topics that I found fascinating and hard while studying, this episode was bound to happen!

Chablis is the name of a town and an appellation that lies in the valley of the River Serein in the northern-most part of Burgundy.

110 kilometres northwest of Dijon, it has a slightly cooler climate than the Côte d’Or. It is well-known for wines made with the Chardonnay variety.

In this episode, we speak to Rosemary George MW author of the book The Wines of Chablis. Chablis has experienced major swings in its popularity. In the early nineteenth century, it enjoyed a boom due to its relative proximity to Paris. Plantings in Chablis shrank under the challenges of phylloxera and powdery mildew in the nineteenth century and above all the building of the Paris-Lyons-Marseille railway in the middle of the nineteenth century.

As Rosemary says Chablis region is not going through a revolution but an evolution.
The rural depopulation after World War I and the devastating frost of 1945 reduced Chablis to a low point of just 500 ha. In more recent decades, demand has led to the land under the vine growing back to 5,500ha.

The cool, northerly location means vineyards are susceptible to spring frosts. Which is the last 3 years have more than ever affected the vineyards reducing the production level.
Chablis is a fascinating region that hides many unique challenges which are going to be explored in the episode. Remember to follow the podcast to know when new episodes are going to be released.

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If you would like to learn more about chablis here is the link of the book to Rosemary:
https://www.infideas.com/books/wines-chablis/

Other useful websites:
https://www.chablis-wines.com/
https://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-chablis
https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/chablis-wine-guide/

The final episode on English wines is out now!
We went to Kent to Visit Simpsons!

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/wines-of-kent-with-simpson-wine-estate-english-wine/id1525851408?i=1000557684410

Kent is a county in southeast England and one of the leading areas for wine production in the UK. A range of still wines is made, predominantly whites from cool-climate German-developed crossings such as Ortega and Bacchus. However, as is the case for other parts of southern England, the county's traditional method of sparkling wines made from the Champagne grape varieties can often reach very high levels of quality.

Simpson's Wine Estate is owned and run by husband and wife team Charles and Ruth Simpson. The Simpsons already own and run vineyards in France, they are now producing some top quality wines on the North Downs in Kent and have won numerous awards including a Platinum at the Decanter World Wine Awards for their Roman Road Chardonnay.

Simpsons' Wine Estate is located in one of the sunniest corners of the British Isles, and they have further safeguarded their vines against extremes in climate by selecting sloping vineyards that face almost due south, ensuring heat accumulation during the day, and excellent cold air drainage at night. The maritime influence is also crucial to the success of their vines: they are less than eight miles from the coast on three sides, which helps insulate the fruit against intense variations in temperature.

In December 2015, Champagne Taittinger announced it was buying a vineyard in Kent and would produce an English sparkling wine.

There are around 50 vineyards. Kent is known colloquially as the Garden of England.
The green-sand forms a thin strip around the Weald, a diamond-shaped area between the chalk ridges of the North and South Downs. Around two dozen Kent vineyards are situated within this area.

Remember to hit the follow the podcast and as always if you have found listening to this podcast valuable, leave a review!

https://simpsonswine.com/

We would love you hear from you! Reach us on:
Twitter Mattia Scarpazza

Sussex is classified as having a maritime climate and is one of the sunniest and warmest areas in England. Rainfall per annum is typically in the 650 to 850 range (25.5 to 33.5 inches). Projections regarding climate change have prompted optimistic suggestions that Sussex and neighboring areas may in a couple of decades supplant the ever-warming Champagne region as the world center of sparkling wine. Nevertheless, the climate throughout the south of England, remains marginal for still wine production, especially for red grape varieties.

With the Wiston Head Winemaker Dermot Sugrue, we explore the sunny Sussex and we took much attention to the use of Oak in Sparkling wine production, both in aging and vinification.

As you can see below England has some serious vintage variation, which implicates the quality and quantity of wines produced each season. At Wiston, Dermot has been working on a solera system in the tank for the liquor of tirage which give much character to the Sparkle.

2008 – 24 tons
2009 – 90 tons
2010 – 150 tons
2011 – 60 tons
2012 – 11 tons (darkest, wettest and coldest summer since 1912)
2013 – 186 tons
2014 – 330 tons!
That’s England for you!

At the heart of the Wiston Estate story is the Goring family, led by Pip and Harry, who planted their first grapes in 2006 in the South Downs.

With years of hard graft and challenges, the real deal clincher was the appointment of Dermot Sugrue as Head Winemaker, following a stint at Nyetimber. Dermot has since laid the foundations for much of modern English winemaking’s advancement. The Wiston winery, Dermot, and their clients have almost certainly won more medals, more trophies, and more acclaim than any other winery in England.

The venue, Wiston House, is the centerpiece of the Wiston Estate – a true family affair that has been in the Goring family since 1743. Coincidentally, 1743 was also the year that Moët et Chandon was founded. Who would have thought back then that anyone would plant a vineyard in the heart of the Sussex countryside in 2006?

The determination of Pip and her husband Harry, and the next generation of Kirsty and Richard, has been an inspirational and ethical driving force for the business. Read Hannah’s article Wiston Estate, A Family History, for a closer look into the Goring family story.


Some other useful links on the topic
https://www.wistonestate.com/?msclkid=53679b75b04e11ecbbcbc6201fcc7de5
www.winegb.co.uk
www.winegb.co.uk/home-visitors/classic-method/

https://www.jancisrobinson.com/ocw/detail/england


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Twitter Mattia Scarpazza
Mail [email protected]

The third episode of the English mini-series on English wines explores Cornwall with Sam Lindo of Camel Valley Estate.
https://www.camelvalley.com/?msclkid=b4bf09daa60a11eca885d38a7ebd41e9

A brief history ex-RAF pilot Bob Lindo and his wife Annie planted their first eight thousand vines in 1989, they never dreamed of the phenomenal success they would achieve within 2 decades. They had bought their farm in the heart of the Cornish countryside several years earlier.

The second generation, Sam Lindo is now in charge of winemaking and continues to grow and develop the reputation of Camel Valley and our guests today.

With him, we discussed what is like growing vines in Cornwall Camel Valley Wines and the. We have paid particular attention to their still wines made from Bacchus the UK call for Sauvignon Blanc, with the First Single-Estate appellation Granted in the UK for a Bacchus.

With an excess of 1500 hours of sunshine each year, Cornwall is one of the sunniest areas within the UK, but as Sam explains only a few pockets of land can actually be planted with vines.

English wine is growing in popularity and is increasingly recognised as a premium wine-producing region, with more than 450 wineries and around 3.15m bottles produced a year.
The most popular grapes varieties grown in English vineyards are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Bacchus, as well as Pinot Meunier and Ortega.

Whilst vineyards are found across the whole of England, the climate of the South and South-East makes it a particularly popular region for growing vines, especially in Hampshire, Sussex and Kent and Cornwall.

The wine industry of Great Britain is now attracting considerable investment and boasts many wineries with state-of-the-art facilities.

The nature of the wine business in the UK varies. Some vineyards have bypassed the challenge to produce their own wines and concentrate on growing grapes to sell on to other, mainly larger concerns. Some owners have leased their vineyards to other wine producers, thus reducing the overall number of players in the market.

2003 was a turning point year for English wines with the warmest year to date and amazing crops, for many producers it was the year that they decided to step uo their operations.

Rember to hit the follow the podcast and as always if you have found listening to this podcast valuable, leave a review!

We would love you hear from you! Reach us on:
Instagram lookingintowine
Twitter Mattia Scarpazza
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In the second episode of the English Mini-series, we explore Hampshire and the English viticulture with Nick Crombie, head Viticulturalist of Hambledon Vineyards.

Hambledon Vineyard is England's oldest commercial vineyard which was planted by Major General Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones in 1952. In the present day, current owner Ian Kellett has a meticulous, scientific approach to wine production and has researched his vineyards to understand their micro and macroclimate.

The wines are made solely Using Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir, The Champagne varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier are particularly successful alongside sparkling wines carbonated through bottle fermentation in the méthode traditionnelle.

With me today is Vineyard Manager of Hambledon vineyard Nick Cran-Crombie, who talks to us about Viticulture at Hambledon and the Hampshire vineyards and the projects that are going on at Hambledon Vineyards.

Interestingly Vineyards of Hampshire was the first regional English wine group to be formed, starting in 2015 with the primary aim of creating a strong, place-specific identity for the wines that almost all come from the spectacularly deep chalk soils of the county. They decided that by working collaboratively on events and creating a support network, they would have a far greater impact and a far greater chance of putting Hampshire on the map. 

With NICK CRAN-CROMBIE head Viticulturalist of Hambledon Vineyard, undertook qualifications at the Royal Horticultural Society alongside landscape gardening before joining the Hambledon Vineyard

Some other useful links on the topic
www.winegb.co.uk
www.vineyardsofhampshire.co.uk
www.Hambledonvineyard.co.uk
https://magazine.winerist.com/england/hambledon-wines-englands-oldest-vineyard
https://www.jancisrobinson.com/ocw/detail/england

Reach us on
Instagram lookingintowine
Twitter Mattia Scarpazza
Mail [email protected]

Great Britain is a premium wine-producing region, with around 650 vineyards in England and Wales covering some 2,750 hectares and producing sparkling and still wines.
English and Welsh's wines have won many prestigious awards recently and Stephen Skelton is one of the leading authorities on the wines of the UK who has been working in those vineyards for over 30 years!
The wines of Great Britain is a comprehensive survey of the history of UK wines, as well as of the current state of the wine industry and its future prospects.
The wines of Great Britain then takes us on a tour of contemporary viticulture and winemaking, examining trends in plantings and vineyard layout, varieties, rootstocks and clones, vineyard sizes, modern wineries and styles of wine.
We start off by discussing how has the English wine scene has changed since Stephen planted his first vineyards in the 70s, what are the risks of planting vineyards in England.

Why was 2003 a turning point for the English Wines and since then the belief that England could be making world-class wines?

Lastly Chalk or Not Chalk? odes it actually matters? Why

You have listened to The Looking into wine Podcast with Stephen Skelton Master of wine,
The next episode will be with Vineyard Manager @ Hambledon Vineyard discussing viticulture in at Hambledon the oldest commercial winery in the UK in Hampshire.
If you enjoyed this episode please consider subscribing and leave a review!

English wine is growing in popularity and is increasingly recognised as a premium wine-producing region,
The most popular grapes varieties grown in English vineyards are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Bacchus, as well as Pinot Meunier, Syval Blanc and Ortega.

According to WineGB, some 3,500ha of vineyards are now rooted in UK soils, with 690ha added in 2019 and the number is growing year by year.
One of the two principal reasons for this astonishing turnaround has been the switch in English wine production from still to sparkling wines, The second reason for the turnaround, and for the fact that viticulture is now one of the most buoyant and fast-expanding segments of UK agriculture in general, is climate change
If the UK now grow satisfactory Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for sparkling wine purposes, it’s because summer days increasingly cross the 29°C or 30°C thresholds because summer nights are warmer, because mean July temperatures across southern Britain now routinely approach 18°C rather than struggling to crest 15°C.
Whilst vineyards are found across the whole of England, the climate of the South and South-East makes it a particularly popular region for growing vines, especially in Hampshire, Sussex and Kent.

Over the next 5 weeks, we will explore the world of English wines – The pilot episode where we explore the history and evolution of English wine is with Author Stephen Skelton MW.
Every episode we talk to a producer from a region in the UK, Cornwall, Hampshire, Sussex and Kent

Be sure the check all the other episodes!

We are starting the second part of season two by speaking about something that I wish was available while I was doing my advanced studies in Capstone California.

California Wine Institute is offering VIP Access to level the one: ttps://tinyurl.com/CWIUKVIP
Leave a comment or review to let us know if you enjoy it!

Capstone California is the new website, developed by California Wines under the auspices of Wine Institute, is an up-to-date information resource on California wine with contributions from many of the state’s 4,200 wineries along with an outside team of top industry professionals, educators, and authors.

Taking into consideration the amount of information available on California Wines, I appreciated the one-stop find all approach.

I spoke to Evan Goldstein MS the man behind the formulation of this project to get some insights and while I had him we explored some of the histories of California.

https://capstonecalifornia.com/ Capstone also offer Four Levels of California Wine Certification once again for Looking Into Wine listeners, the Wine Institute is offering VIP Access to level 1 follow the link here: https://tinyurl.com/CWIUKVIP

Remember to Subscribe and to leave a review!

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