Italy: South - White
2017 Gold: 2 Silver: 4 Bronze: 1 Commended: 5
2016 Gold: 1 Silver: 2 Bronze: 3 Commended: 4
We’ve made the decision this year to separate the results of southern mainland Italy from those of Sicily and Sardinia, and it’s rather shown up who’s doing good things with white. And it’s not the ankle, heel and foot of the country, on this evidence. There was not a lot of good stuff here (the majority, though not all, of the tasting teams were underwhelmed) and the pricing was often wildly optimistic.
So well done to the medal winners – and here’s hoping your peers learn from your success.
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘Not a lot of these wines had character. It was like the producers had decided “well let’s just make a refreshing wine because it’s hot”.’ Jade Koch, team leader
‘I thought this flight was very light, nothing special.’ Rustem Mingaleev, Bovey Castle
‘My house white is a Puglian Fiano.’ Charles Pashby-Taylor, Dabbous
‘I have a lot of Southern Italian wines on my list – but no Pinot Grigio! I work a lot with orange wines and skin-contact wines and for me that’s where the interest is coming from with Italy at the moment.’ Laure Patry, Jason Atherton Group
‘The best in this line-up were too pricey. Customers are looking for easy-drinking white wines with Italy – they’re looking for Pinot Grigio. Wine connoisseurs will look for particular Italian producers though.’ Jose Luis Hernandez, Hakkasan Hanway Place
‘These Southern Italian wines are really food friendly wines – that freshness would really cut through any oiliness.’ Annette Scarfe MW, team leader