The 3 V's of The North

Mamete Prevostini Valtellina Superiore Riserva

After a meticulous selection in the vineyard with harvesting as late as November and a 30 month ageing in barrels and a further 12 months minimum in bottle, this 100% Nebbiolo delights us! It has a shiny, highly polished garnet-red colour. The bouquet has wonderful scents combining undercurrents of raspberry jam and roses. Dry and warm, persistent and polished flavour, with a lingering flavour of fresh fruit and a combination of wild berries on the finish. Its aroma is exquisite and fruity, but simultaneously intense and strong with persistent elegance. 

Enrico Gatti Franciacorta Nature Millesimo (Vintage)

A small family run jewel winery, right in the heart of one of Italy’s best kept secrets; Franciacorta (Italy’s tiny “Champagne” area!! 

This vintage Franciacorta comes from Chardonnay and Pinot noir grapes cultivated in hillslope vineyards around the winery. Part of the must ferments in French oak casks and then matures sue lie; the remaining part ferments in steel tanks.

The wine matures sur lie for a minimum of 48 months!

Clean, dry, and richly-flavoured, with the cask-matured wine imparting a judicious roundedness. Overall a multi-layered, rich wine with impressive depth.

Arpepe Grumello Buon Consiglio

In the Via del Buon Consiglio 4, where Sondrio meets Montagna in Valtellina, at the foot of the Grumello, the vines seem to swallow up the underground cellar. Here the Nebbiolo from the Alps goes back into the womb of the mountain that generated it. At 370 metres above sea level, the vineyard extends towards the city, over the Ca’ Bianca district, where the terraces have dry-stone walls in excess of 7 metres.
This beautiful example coming from 100% Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo) grapes is a perfumed red, exuding aromas and flavours of crushed red fruits such as raspberry and pureed strawberry, exotic spice and graphite, dried marjoram and thyme. It's finely knit, with silky tannins and mouthwatering, citrus peel acidity. A graceful version with a lasting, mineral-laced finish. 

Speri Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico “Sant’Urbano” 

Amarone is the king of Veronese wines, not to mention Italian wines. It combines power and softness, evolving to Port-like lusciousness over three decades or more, showing grandeur and depth. It starts off like Valpolicella, but select bunches of the perfect grapes are lengthily dried on traditional arele racks in special fruit drying lofts after harvest, to achieve greater concentration.
Speri Amarone is made from Corvina, Rondinella, and Corvinone, grown in the estate’s most prestigious cru, a single hillside vineyard called Sant’Urbano. This vineyard features calcareous-cretaceous soil of volcanic origin that retains humidity, protecting it from drought. The whole vineyard extends 19 hectares.
The grapes are hand-picked and then resorted to find only the best bunches in late September. They then dry for about 100-120 days under ideal conditions in terms of temperature, humidity and ventilation. They lose about 40% of their initial weight, enhancing concentration and sugar levels. In mid-January, the grapes are soft-pressed and de-stemmed. This is followed by about thirty-six days of maceration on the skins with periodic pumping over and délestage. The wine completes fermentation in large oak barrels and then ages twenty-four months in oak, eighteen months in Slavonian oak barrels and twelve months in bottle.
Very deep and intense bouquet with spicy, aromatic and jammy notes combining power and finesse; a prelude to a palate that is rich, sensuous, highly structured and complex, lingering on and on. Especially cellar-worthy.