ITALY: South Whites | Sommelier Wine Awards Winners 2018

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Winner Details

Italy: South - White

2018 Gold 1 Silver 4 Bronze 3 Commended 4
2017 Gold 2 Silver 4 Bronze 1 Commended 5

If you stand and stare into a hole in the ground for long enough, after a while people will join you to look, assuming that there’s something interesting in there. After five minutes you can walk away, leaving half a dozen victims gazing at nothing.

That was a bit like this part of the competition. Our tasters wanted to find lots of interesting, characterful white wines and sniffed and spat for all they were worth. But in the end, this was essentially a hole full of nothing. Easy-drinking and reasonably fresh, yes. Interesting and compelling, not so much.

FROM THE TASTING TEAMS

‘The highest rated wines had some minerality and quality. They were well made.’ Matthieu Longuère MS, Le Cordon Bleu London

‘In the lower price range, they were quite nondescript. From around £10 they were well made, food-friendly wines with good texture.’ Daria Ershova, Ten Green Bottles

‘A lot of winemaking, not a lot that spoke with a Southern Italian accent. Very consistent, but not exciting.’ Simon Woods, team leader

‘A little boring. Not much varietal character, a lot of winemaking, very little regionality, even though the wines were quite consistent. Usually a category I love.’ Olivier Gasselin, Hakkasan

‘A very enjoyable and consistent flight. There’s some value and enjoyability in these wines. A new wave of easy-drinking styles of wine.’ Christopher Parker, Lime Wood Hotel

Award winners

Found 12 wines

Italy: South – White

Masseria Li Veli, Askos, Verdeca, Salento 2017, Puglia, Italy

Puglia took the Gold here, with Hakkasan’s Olivier Gasselin enjoying its ‘ripe and juicy, pear-like fruit with liquorice hints, juicy, mineral and leafy palate that’s intense with fine texture, oiliness and minerality’, while Lime Wood Hotel’s Christopher Parker picked up ‘ripe apricots with gala melon notes, and a wild heather floral touch with ground white pepper’. For Diana Rollan of More than Wines Academy, ‘intense citrus and grassy notes, with good spice, balance, texture and weight’ made this ‘perfect for green curry’.

£14.06 Bibendum

Bisceglia, Terra di Vulcano, Falanghina, Benevento 2016, Basilicata, Italy

‘Fresh and vibrant with a slightly green herbal edge, bright and juicy with lemon and fennel notes,’ began team leader Simon Woods, with Hakkasan’s Olivier Gasselin finding ‘peppery, vegetal, floral and grapefruit notes, refreshing acidity and mineral’.

£8.60 Bibendum

Villa Matilde, Falerno del Massico, Bianco 2016, Campania, Italy

In a more unusual, aromatic style, this showed ‘peach, citrus and blossom aromas’, said Le Cordon Bleu London’s Matthieu Longuère MS, along with ‘pink grapefruit, really juicy-pithy fruit and a very long finish’. ‘Quince and a hint of Turkish jelly and spice, intriguing on the palate,’ added team leader Angela Reddin.

£13.20 Eurowines

A Mano, Bianco 2017, Puglia, Italy

‘Perfect for summer,’ began The Don’s Carlos Ferreira, enjoying its ‘apple and citrus nose and fresh palate’, while team leader Angela Reddin picked up on its ‘slight spritz, nectarine and melon, lemon sherbet character’, finding it ‘nicely ripe and fresh’.

£8.50 Liberty Wines

Vesevo, Greco di Tufo 2017, Campania, Italy

Full of fruit, with Daria Ershova of Ten Green Bottles picking up ‘pear drops, orange blossom and lime on the palate, with some apple and pear notes’, and team leader Angela Reddin finding it ‘lifted and vibrant, with vanilla and cooked yellow fruits with a touch of spice, nicely fat with a complex finish’.

£11.35 Liberty Wines

I Pàstini, Rampone, Minutolo, Valle d'Itria 2016, Puglia, Italy

There were ‘Mediterranean aromas, oregano herb notes on a complex and intense nose’, said Gabriele Galuppo of Theo Randall at the InterContinental, followed by ‘a dry palate with moderate acidity and more herbal flavours’. ‘Stony, yeasty and vegetal, zingy with a bitter touch,’ added Hakkasan’s Olivier Gasselin.

£11.60 Winetraders

Statti, Greco 2017, Calabria, Italy

Lime Wood Hotel’s Christopher Parker liked this wine’s ‘oily texture, baked gooseberry tart, touch of dried thyme and sandstone minerals’, while for Hakkasan’s Olivier Gasselin it was ‘quite perfumed, with banana skin and ripe tropical notes’.

£11.20 Eurowines

Cavalier Pepe, Refiano, Fiano di Avellino 2016, Campania, Italy

‘Melon and blood orange with a hint of grapefruit on a good, rich, fruity nose,’ said team leader Angela Reddin, noting a ‘generous palate with a slightly bitter finish making it a good food wine’.

£10.30 Mondial Wine, Gerrard Seel