Massimo Penna - The Scarlet Pimpernel of Piemonte

About thirty years ago, I attended an Italian wine dinner in Sydney. At the time, I thought I knew a fair bit about wine – and being of Barossan background, was undoubtedly biased. And I knew that I didn’t like the Italian wines served at the dinner. My memory of them was of being poorly made, with many oxidised and not attractive on the nose or in the mouth. I didn’t know what brettanomyces was back then but upon reflection, I must have been tasting that as well.
When my good friends in the Barossa, Dan and Tarnya, mentioned that a new Asian restaurant had opened in Tanunda it didn’t really raise any expectaions for me. I must admit my vision was of bain marie’s, sweet and sour pork and BYO. How wrong could I be!
The new Asian restaurant was fermentAsian and over the last 5 years it has become one of the great dining experiences in the free world. Period.
As humans we have a fascination with rating with numbers. Think university entrance scores, movies, holidays, restaurants and cars. Now, even service providers want you to rate them so that they can work towards a favourable Net Promoter Score (whatever that is). Internet apps make this ratings frenzy as easy as thumbing a button.
And so it is with wine.
It is really hard to write about Will Berliner, the life force behind Cloudburst in the Margaret River. So such much has already been written about this intriguing man. Wine writers the world over have been fascinated by the philosophy of a wine newcomer who has forged a very individual path and created some extraordinary wines.
Il Palagio Estate is a gorgeous villa that sits just outside Panzano in Chianti, a town located directly between Florence and Siena in the Conca D’Oro (Golden Valley) of Tuscany.
It is always exciting when new wine arrives.
Given the delay factor between when I order from Italy and when the physical wine arrives, it is easy for me to forget that there is some exciting new stuff coming in.
What exactly is Chianti Classico? How did it become what it is today? How does a wine become a Chianti Classico? How can you recognise the taste, mouthfeel, colour and aroma of this prestigious wine?
Getting to VinItaly in Verona is my own version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
I left home about 1.00pm for a 3.50pm flight....I hate lines and I love getting value out of my Qantas Club Membership.
The flight to Dubai is pretty good....if you think that 14 hours upright in a steel tube that somehow gets off the ground weighing 580 tonnes (thanks for pointing that out captain), 10kms above terra firma with 400 assorted friends, staring at the back of your chair is fun. I don't mind flying, but there are times during that 14 long hours where I question the absurdity of the whole thing.
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