Dessert wine. Golden yellow hues, bright wild flowers and almond blossom scents, clean but with honey and almonds. Picolit is the grape, left to dry for 2 weeks on the vine in late October followed by 25 days appassimento in small wooden crates before gentle pressing into stainless steel for the beginning of fermentation which is finished in French Oak followed by 9 months in barrel. It is not unctuous, so enjoy with fresh fruit or baked fruit with cream.

Ab-Fab-a-dab-fab. Sometimes you just get a bit giddy when new wines come in and you’ve so wanted to have them on your list. Friuliis the region of North Eastern Italy that borders on Slovenia and heads on out towards Croatia. It is home to the most scintillating mono-varietal wines in all of Italy. And if we exaggerate, well we exaggerate, if we contradict ourselves, we contradict ourselves, to misquote Walt Whitman. Lovely wines, they are not cheap because serious consideration is given to viticulture, yields and wine making. Which may be true of all our wineries, no, it is true, but there is a simplicity and focus here at Il Roncal. Nice folks too, and they have an agriturismo if you fancy but what is good is the blend of International Varieties and local indigenous grapes. Have a stab at them all, they are delicious. Excuse the details on stainless steel and oak and stuff, what it shows is a winery determined to the right thing by their grapes. Most are harvested late to give them a rounded richness that sings to you. Honestly.