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Winner Details

 Italy: Sicily & Sardinia - White

2019 GOLD: 3      SILVER: 5      BRONZE: 3      COMMENDED: 14
2018 GOLD: 3      SILVER: 3      BRONZE: 5      COMMENDED: 7

If you’re looking for interesting whites for your list in the mid-price area, this is probably one of the best places to go searching. There were a lot of really decent wines in the £8-£12 range, with southern Mediterranean sunshine contributing fruit, and maritime influences adding in a natural structure and, at times, a crunchy seashell note.

Further up the price scale the intensity, richness (and oak) increased, which wasn’t to everyone’s taste. But overall this was a well-received part of the competition. The challenge for next year is to get more of that large number of Commended wines lifted up into medal status.

FROM THE TASTING TEAMS

‘A very pleasant journey between aromatics and fresh, deep, lingering wines with varietal definition. The value for me was in the middle range, £12 to £16. We had three or four wines that delivered freshness, aromatic profile, roundness.’ Elena Serban, Hakkasan

‘Easy to drink and nicely made at the bottom end. I struggled a bit with the richness and oak at the top end.’ Charlie Young, team leader
‘Overall it was good. A recurrent theme was seaweed and seashell character. The best kept a certain freshness.’ Olivier Gasselin,
Hakkasan


‘Excellent. All very typical, frsh, light summer wines, which you’d expect. Great to see consistency from the lower end to the most expensive.’ Emanuel Pesqueira, consultant

‘Savoury character, floral, blossom, medium-bodied style, some quite crisp, others rich and creamy but not heavy. I liked the concentration and intensity without heaviness, so good with scallop, lobster, white meat like chicken.’ Heesoo Kang, Flat Three Restaurant

Award winners

Found 25 wines

Italy: South – White Sicily & Sardinia

Sella & Mosca, Monteoro, Vermentino di Gallura Superiore 2017, Sardinia, Italy

Gold medal winner

Clearly Gold-worthy for its ‘rich and ripe nose, with some pastry notes’, according to New Street Warehouse’s Tanguy Martin, while team leader Tom Forrest liked its ‘rounded palate, with some perfumed notes alongside cinnamon and ginger spice’. Fellow team leader Jan Konetzki appreciated notes of ‘peach and apricot, along with orange peel and cream, leading to a fresh palate with plenty of ripe apple and more peach, as well as a hint of toast’.

£11.75 Alivini

Santa Maria La Nave, Millesulmare, Sicilia Bianco 2015, Sicily, Italy

Gold medal winner

This Gold winner was ‘such a beauty, with chalky notes and yellow flowers, as well as yellow apples and almonds’, according to an enthusiastic Tatiana Mann of The Vine Eno Gastropub, further describing ‘a balanced palate, finishing with camomile flowers’. Tanguy Martin of New Street Warehouse, meanwhile, found ‘nuts and Indian spice notes on a bone-dry palate with exciting bitterness, giving it a real kick – an expressive, impressive wine’.

£32.22 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

Colomba Bianca, Vitese, Zibibbo 2018, Sicily, Italy

Gold medal winner

Team leader Jan Konetzki was impressed by this Gold medallist’s ‘lemon sherbet with some tropical notes too, and a hint of minerality, as well as some food-friendly bitterness’, while Olivier Gasselin of Hakkasan appreciated its ‘fine texture and lovely acidity, with bright mandarin and spiced peach notes, as well as some floral characters’. ‘Pear and stone fruit, hoppy herbal notes and some zippy lemon acidity’ rounded things off for team leader Tom Forrest.

£7.55 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

Alta Mora, Etna Bianco 2017, Sicily, Italy

Silver medal winner

‘Fresh apple aromas are followed by some real balance and elegance on the palate, with well-defined apple and pear on the finish,’ thought team leader Charlie Young, while Cliveden House’s Sean Arthur liked its ‘elderflower aromas and dry, pleasing palate’.

£12.30 Eurowines

Caruso & Minini, Caruso-Minini, Terre di Giumara, Grecanico 2018, Sicily, Italy

Silver medal winner

Cliveden House’s Sean Arthur spoke of ‘an aromatic, floral and pronounced nose, with fresh green apple and citrus on the palate’, and went on to single this wine out for its ‘very good value, exceeding its price point’.

£7.45 Bibendum

Siddùra, Spèra, Vermentino di Gallura 2018, Sardinia, Italy

Silver medal winner

Olivier Gasselin of Hakkasan encountered a complex nose of ‘seashell and seaweed, with some floral notes too’, going on to describe ‘a ripe, fruity palate with yellow plums and fresh grapes, with some precise acidity’.

£11.50 Mondial Wine

Argiolas, Is Argiolas, Vermentino di Sardegna 2017, Sardinia, Italy

Silver medal winner

Terry Kandylis of 67 Pall Mall appreciated this wine’s ‘expressive palate, with juicy peach and apricot that lingers, with a touch of salinity, too’, while team leader Charlie Young found additional notes of ‘spice, and a dollop of honey on a ripe, rich palate’.

£13.20 Eurowines

Argiolas, Iselis, Nasco di Cagliari 2017, Sardinia, Italy

Silver medal winner

‘A well-made wine, with peach and apricot notes, and an oily texture,’ said team leader Laurent Richet MS, while The Glasshouse’s Adam Michocki described it as ‘rounded and aromatic, with a creamy, mineral texture and a long finish’.

£13.15 Eurowines

Santadi, Villa Solais, Vermentino di Sardegna 2017, Sardinia, Italy

Bronze medal winner

‘A good value wine,’ said Flat Three Restaurant’s Heesoo Kang, describing ‘lovely pear, blossom and grassy notes, with a hint of nuttiness and a savouriness, too, with a refreshing, long finish’.

£8.45 Enotria&Coe

Tasca d'Almerita, Vigna San Francesco, Chardonnay 2016, Sicily, Italy

Bronze medal winner

‘A complex wine, with a spiciness, like white pepper, and wild flowers too,’ thought consultant Emanuel Pesqueira, while Flat Three Restaurant’s Heesoo Kang identified a ‘creamy, buttery note, along with some citrus and melon’, finding it ‘full-bodied but not heavy’.

£29.80 Berkmann Wine Cellars

Colomba Bianca, Vitese, Grillo 2018, Sicily, Italy

Bronze medal winner

‘Vibrant and aromatic, with peach, apricot and lemon juice, as well as some golden apple notes, and a savoury, mineral note, too,’ thought team leader Laurent Richet MS.

£7.71 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

Planeta, La Segreta, Bianco 2017, Sicily, Italy

Commended medal winner

£8.30 Enotria&Coe

Cusumano, Tenuta Ficuzza, Jalè 2016, Sicily, Italy

Commended medal winner

£16.60 Eurowines

Nicosia, Fondo Filara, Etna Bianco 2017, Sicily, Italy

Commended medal winner

£11.75 Boutinot

Tasca d'Almerita, Nozze d'Oro 2016, Sicily, Italy

Commended medal winner

Donnafugata, SurSur, Grillo 2018, Sicily, Italy

Commended medal winner

£11.70 Liberty Wines

Rapitalà, Chardonnay, Grand Cru 2016, Sicily, Italy

Commended medal winner

£19.30 Matthew Clark

Siddùra, Maìa, Vermentino di Gallura Superiore 2016, Sardinia, Italy

Commended medal winner

£18.60 Mondial Wine

Alessandro di Camporeale, Vigna di Mandranova, Grillo 2017, Sicily, Italy

Commended medal winner

£11.85 Alivini

Cantina del Vermentino, Funtanaliras, Vermentino di Gallura 2017, Sardinia, Italy

Commended medal winner

£12.65 Bibendum

Fondo Antico, Grillo Parlante 2017, Sicily, Italy

Commended medal winner

£10.02 Bibendum

Torre Mora, Scalunera, Etna Bianco 2017, Sicily, Italy

Commended medal winner

£14.75 Matthew Clark

Agripunica, Samas 2017, Sardinia, Italy

Commended medal winner

£14.00 Armit

Poderi Parpinello, Sessantaquattro, Vermentino 2018, Sardinia, Italy

Commended medal winner

Feudo Arancio, Grillo 2018, Sicily, Italy

Commended medal winner