The flavor of red fruit in wine of Campanie

I first contributed to Decanter back in November 1988; the hundreds of columns and articles I’ve written since constitute a journey of discovery. I squirm, though, if I’m described as a ‘wine expert’. Whatever wine knowledge we acquire quickly cools, congeals and crusts over, like custard or gravy, as the years pass. The wine world expands at a clip. Every vintage rewrites history. It’s the chance to share discoveries – not just about wines, but about people, places and the act of drinking itsel ...

Severe drought in northern Italy has led to the country’s government declaring a state of emergency in several regions, including Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto. Funds of €36.5m (£31m) would be made available to these regions for drought relief, the government said. Agriculture body Coldiretti said last week that the Po river, which flows across northern Italy to the Adriatic Sea, was almost unrecognisable. Drought in the Po Valley threatened around 30% of n ...

The W/O (standing for ‘without’) Frappato 2020 – an organic Sicilian red – is packaged in a bottle made with ‘wild’ glass (the name bottle manufacturer Estal has given to its 100% recycled glass). The launch, which forms part of the company’s pledge to become Net Zero and halve its carbon footprint by 2030, marked a ‘UK first for wine’, according to the online wine merchant. It follows a recent audit commissioned from EcoAct – a specialist company advising on sustainability, which sh ...