Italy: North-East – Trentino, Alto Adige & Friuli Venezia Giulia
2015: Gold 2 Silver 2 Bronze 5 Commended 1
2014: Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 2 Commended 3
It’s tempting to pigeon-hole European regions by grape variety. But these north-eastern valleys defy any such handy classification. From Cabernet to Pinot Noir and local varieties such as Teroldego and Lagrein, this was a chocolate-box assortment of styles of which Forrest Gump would have been proud. The only unifying factor? That our tasters loved pretty much all of them, praising their character, their uniqueness and their food-friendliness – for once not a euphemism for ‘ragingly over-structured’. An exciting range of wines throughout the medals.
From the Tasting Teams
‘This was a very exciting flight with a lot of stylistic differences, from lightish reds to much bigger, richer styles. They were all food wines, but not in a negative way. You could still drink them on their own, which isn’t always the case with “food wines”.’ Ram Chhetri, Bread Street Kitchen
‘They were clearly Italian, with good acidity, but not out of balance.’ Chris Wood, Chelsea Vintners
‘If you are looking to give someone an interesting alternative to Burgundy or even something mainstream, these wines can be great.’ Giancarlo Cuccuru, The Gilbert Scott
‘Here I’m looking for originality. There are amazing Bordeaux-style wines from this area, then indigenous varieties like Teroldego, and some really drinkable Pinot Noir, so a real mix, with interesting wines for the list.’ Alessandro Marchesan, Zuma