Home Winners > Winners 2019 > ITALY: North-East - Red (including Trentino, Alto Adige & Friuli Venezia Giulia)

Winner Details

 Italy: North-East – Trentino, Alto Adige & Friuli Venezia Giulia - Red

2019 GOLD: 2      SILVER: 5      BRONZE: 3      COMMENDED: 4
2018 GOLD: 0      SILVER: 5      BRONZE: 6      COMMENDED: 5

Those same hills that give the whites their wonderful brisk freshness can be problematic for reds. The rosso side of the Trentino/Alto Adige/Friuli region has never outpointed its bianco sister, and it didn’t manage it this year either. Overall medal haul was about par for the course, with the step-up to two Golds a return to normality after last year’s nul points for the Gold List.

Mezzacorona deserves a special mention, its Gold, two Silvers and a Bronze adding to a couple of white medals to give it a typically impressive haul once again. That it pulls in the medals year after year is impressive enough; that it does it exclusively under £10 is remarkable.

FROM THE TASTING TEAMS

‘At the entry level these were good value for money – the types of wine people are looking for nowadays, where for £20 they can have a fantastic bottle at any time of the day, and in any season.’ Immacolata Cannavo, Hakkasan Mayfair

‘The light wines here were very approachable for food because of their high acidity. The richer, more spicy examples would be more difficult to match.’ Julien Sahut, Sexy Fish

‘These were quite split, between something that expressed the climate and, at the higher end, wines with a lot more oak and extraction that didn’t really suit the region. There are some pretty, floral reds from Italy that you can pair with food, but when you whack some oak on them they lose their sense of place.’ Jade Koch, team leader

 

Award winners

Found 14 wines

Italy: North-East - Trentino, Alto Adige & Friuli Venezia Giulia – Red

Mezzacorona, Castel Firmian, Merlot 2017, Trentino, Italy

Gold medal winner

Judges were impressed by this great-value Gold’s ‘maraschino cherries and baked plum notes, with a grippy, chalky texture and smooth tannins’, began The Glasshouse’s Adam Michocki, while Immacolata Cannavo of Hakkasan Mayfair spoke highly of its ‘bright red fruit flavours of cherry and strawberry’, before describing it as ‘quite earthy, but with light, supple tannins’. ‘A very fresh wine, with black pepper spice and herbal, rosemary notes,’ added Flat Three Restaurant’s Heesoo Kang.

£7.40 Berkmann Wine Cellars

Colterenzio, Pinot Nero 2017, Alto Adige, Italy

Gold medal winner

Chalking up another Gold for Colterenzio, this Pinot Nero drew praise from judges for its ‘delicate nose of wild strawberry and raspberry, with sweet cinnamon spice, some woody herbs and generous fruit’, said Flat Three Restaurant’s Heesoo Kang, who found that its ‘silky texture and delicate tannins support good concentration, fruit intensity and length’. A similarly impressed Gabriele Galuppo of Theo Randall at the InterContinental found it ‘fruit driven, with hints of violet and rose, with a well-defined, elegant palate’.

£11.47 Enotria&Coe

Bastianich, Vespa Rosso 2013, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Silver medal winner

Filip Viorel of Benares Restaurant & Bar noted: ‘A light and fruity nose, with a palate dominated by black fruits; complex notes of smoke and leather with lots to think of… the more time you spend with this one, the more you start to love it!’

£23.63 Bibendum

Fantinel, La Roncaia, Fusco 2014, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Silver medal winner

Filip Viorel of Benares Restaurant & Bar noted: ‘Black fruits with minerals on the nose, followed by dark, plummy soft fruit flavours. A sweet balsamic note comes through on the finish, along with a touch of cinnamon.’ ‘Tar, violet and rose, really quite perfumed,’ added Hakkasan Mayfair’s Immacolata Cannavo.

£19.93 Matthew Clark

Cavit, Bottega Vinai, Pinot Nero 2016, Trentino, Italy

Silver medal winner

‘Very pale colour,’ remarked Julien Sahut of Sexy Fish, ‘with bright, floral and red cherry aromatics. There is a hint of a green note but the finish is long, with lots of red berry fruit and a pleasing, spiced twist.’

£9.05 Boutinot

Mezzacorona, Castel Firmian, Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, Trentino, Italy

Silver medal winner

‘A nose of floral red fruit; medium bodied with nice texture. Easy drinking. Sour cherry notes are balanced with a good acidity and gentle tannins,’ said 67 Pall Mall’s Antonio Federico Moccia.

£7.69 Berkmann Wine Cellars

Mezzacorona, Castel Firmian, Teroldego Rotaliano Riserva 2014, Trentino, Italy

Silver medal winner

Cliveden House’s Sean Arthur was impressed: ‘A smooth and velvety wine showing dense blackcurrant, chocolate and an aromatic spiced note. Excellent value for money.’ ‘Wild berries and violets,’ added 28-50 Wine Workshop & Kitchen’s Melania Battiston, ‘with a lovely herbal note.’

£9.22 Berkmann Wine Cellars

Moschioni, Schioppettino, Colli Orientali del Friuli 2011, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Bronze medal winner

‘Expressive and decadent,’ said Alonso Abed of Hide Above, adding: ‘Powdered chocolate and cacao reach out to the nose. Rich notes of plum and red cherry jam fill the palate.’ ‘Bitter chocolate and soy,’ mused Sonal Clare of Purnell’s Restaurant.

£36.75 Eurowines

Fantinel, Tenuta Sant Helena, Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso 2013, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Bronze medal winner

Melania Battiston of 28-50 Wine Workshop & Kitchen noted: ‘The wine has a herbaceous character with notes of bay leaf and sage, as well as a green bell pepper note. The fruit, however, is all tart strawberries and raspberries, giving great acidity, soft tannins and a long finish.’

£12.92 Matthew Clark

Mezzacorona, Castel Firmian, Teroldego Rotaliano 2017, Trentino, Italy

Bronze medal winner

With its ‘smoky, blackcurrant nose with hints of eucalyptus and lick of oak’, team leader Jade Koch certainly thought this wine had its place: ‘Perhaps a bit brash but could be good in a pub by the glass.’

£8.16 Berkmann Wine Cellars

Moschioni, Rosso Celtico, Colli Orientali del Friuli 2011, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Commended medal winner

£22.15 Eurowines

Moschioni, Rosso Real, Colli Orientali del Friuli 2011, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Commended medal winner

£23.30 Eurowines

Alois Lageder, Krafuss, Pinot Noir 2015, Alto Adige, Italy

Commended medal winner

£31.46 Bibendum

Fantinel, La Roncaia, Refosco 2013, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Commended medal winner

£20.84 Matthew Clark