Early morning centre of San Gimignano and the moon

Sunshine and mist

Today we enjoyed a magnificent drive from San Jimignano to the Ligurian sea through sunny Tuscan country made even more interesting by some thin shrouds of mist and white smoke rising vertically towards the sky. San Gimignano was particularly beautiful in the clear early morning light.

Our first visit was to Grattamarco, which was apparently the third of the new wave of wineries to be established in the Bolgheri region. It was founded in 1985 by Giorgio Meletti Cavallari who sold the business in 2007 and is now involved in a winery on Elba.

Unfortunately the recent wines that we tasted were not impressive, particularly bearing in mind the high prices charged. The 2008 Vermentino, 50% vinified in stainless steel was priced at 19€ and the reds went up to 45€. My preferred red was the 2008 Bolgheri – 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 20% Sangiovese – an easy drinking red but not at 15-16€ when it is really worth no more than 7€. The top wine, Grattamarco (70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20-25% Merlot depending on the vintage with the rest made up by Sangiovese) costs a remarkable 45€!

Lunch@l'Ristorante l'Orizzonte
We had a simple but excellent lunch at L’Orrizonte where a number of small producers in Bolgheri presented their wines and in one case, Fornacelle, lovely new pressed olive oil. Indeed visiting Tuscany in late November I’m reminded how delicious newly pressed olive oil can be – needing only tasty fresh or toasted bread for a real treat. Unfortunately as far as I know it is difficult to get freshly pressed olive oil in the UK.

(more to add)

The group of producers with the owner of the restaurant (l'Orizzonte)

Ristorante l'Orizzonte Osteria toscana tra Bolgheri e Castagneto Carducci

località Crocino - collina di Segalari - 57022 Castagneto Carducci (Livorno) - Toscana - Italia

tel. 0565 763796
info@ristorantelorizzonte.it

Rubbia al Colle
Our last visit of the day was to one of the new wine cathedrals – Rubbia al Colle, on the outskirts of Suvereto.

This is another ambitious investment in the Val di Cornia and from the mound that covers the underground winery you can see Petra, another in the ambitious winery genre. In contrast to the Petra winery, which can be seen for many miles, Rubbia is well hidden. A hill was removed, the winery built and then covered with a metre of earth, so it is only apparent is you are close to it.

Rubbia is an investment by a cotton magnate from Milan - an interesting diversification that began in 1999 with the setting up of Archipelago Muratori. There now four estates:Villa Crespia, Francicorta in Lombardy, Oppida Aminea in Sannio Beneventano in Campania, Giardini Arimei in Isola d'Ischia as well as Rubbia.   


The winery alone cost some 7 million euros before it was equipped and then there is the planting of some 100 hectares of vines. I guess not much change, if any, out of some 25 million euros. I find it difficult not to be cynical when faced with a modern day wine cathedral whether it is Rubbia or Petra here in the Val di Cornia, new palatial bodegas in Rioja or any that worship the god of wine.

At the entrance to the Rubbia winery there are two mats – one outside and one inside – to wipe your feet. This is a spotless showpiece and there is an ecclesiastical feel as you enter the vast barrel and fermentation area. Organised religion in Western Europe may be in decline but wine worship grows ever stronger.

Given the current economic outlook and the world glut of wine it will surely be difficult for Rubbia to break even let alone start to repay the original investment.

Terracotta barrel at Rubbia al Colle (above and below)

Front of terracotta barrel

The sign for Archipelago Muratori

The entrance to the winery church

This new cathedral is already attracting wine pilgrims from over Europe....

(to be continued)

At the end of last year there was much discussion over the future of the annual Salon des Vins de Loire, which was established back in 1987. In these straightened times some, although not all, of the négociants want to cut the budget for the Salon so that it becomes bi-annual rather than every year. We need the Salon every year is the reaction from many producers, who find the fair an indispensable meeting place for the various cavistes, wholesalers and restaurateurs from the home market as well as their importers. It is clear if the Salon became bi-annual, then some producers would be asking why are we paying to fund Interloire?

To an extent I can understand the position of some of the largest négociants. Take Castel, for example, now the largest of the Loire négoce and based in Bordeaux. What benefit does it get from paying for a large stand at the fair? The clients it needs to see are small in number, although undeniably important and influential. Probably only six or seven from the UK: the supermarkets and the remaining national wine merchants, although shrunken in number since the demise of Threshers.

Castel's stand@the Salon 2010

So will there be a Salon next year? I certainly hope so as I've been every year since 1990 and have already reserved my room at the Hotel du Mail in the centre of Angers. The 2010 catalogue rather ambiguously asks people not to forget the 25th edition of the Salon 'Debut Février 2010' and promising a 'nouvelle formule: un salon encore plus adapté aux besoin de la profession'. But, gentlemen, unless I'm seriously mistaken, we are now right at the end of February 2010.

I spoke to Bénoît Roumet, director of the Bureau du Centre Loire, yesterday and he was adamant that there would be a Salon in 2011, although the date hasn't yet been fixed and there will be a meeting to discuss what changes if any will be made. There is no date yet for this meeting.

It will be interesting to see what changes they make. If it is to survive the Loire Salon needs to be held every year. Were it to become bi-annual I'm sure it would soon disappear. The Salon remains a generally well run and friendly event. Although it would look more professional if all the exhibitors arrived on time. Even on the Monday – first morning of the fair – many of the stands are habitually empty with exhibitors drifting in leisurely as the clock moves towards 9.30.

An empty stand@the Salon

I know there is a Gallic charm to everything starting half an hour late but that can be lost on foreign visitors who may have travelled over from America and who have a busy programme and find that they have to kick their heels.

Salon des Vins de Loire Wine Bloggers' Trophy
I'd definitely make changes here. Having been a trophy winner in 2009 I was invited to be one of the judges. We had some 20 shortlisted blogs to judge across the four categories and given around two weeks for the task. Not easy to do when some blogs have hundreds of postings to look at. Unfortunately the organisers were obviously determined to shortlist seven blogs in each category, irrespective of quality but there were a few very poor blogs on the shortlist.

It would make the judging much easier if bloggers had to enter the competition and to pick out five or six postings to be judged on.

When the results came out I was amazed to see that the best overall blog was one that hadn't won any of the four categories and had only been shortlisted in one category – some blogs had been shortlisted in two. When I queried the result with the organisers I was told that the marks had been averaged out so as not to disadvantage blogs that were only shortlisted in one category!

I'm all for equality but this is egalité gone mad! The winner of the best blog, which was a very good one, was shortlisted in the best writer category won by Hervé Lalau, who was shortlisted in two categories. Had Hervé only been shortlisted in one category, it is clear that he would have won both best writer award and the overall prize. How bizarre!


Not just one language

Much more important than tidying up the bizarre rules is the need to make the wine bloggers trophy more international. This year only blogs partly or wholly in French were considered. Although there are some very good French wine blogs, French is not the language of the blogosphere. If the organisers want real credibility for this bloggers trophy it needs to be opened up to at least one other language – probably English. The vote on the internet for the best shortlisted blog attracted a total of just 1604 votes. Had the competition been more international my guess is there would have been more votes cast. It may well be that Aurelia Fillon's promising* Bu sur le web would again have topped a more international poll and would have given her win greater force and resonance.


* Aurelia has a real screen presence in the same way that Gary V does. Having started only in December 2009 she has already built up a considerable presence. To really built her following I think she soon needs to build in greater variety into her videos, which are becoming formulaic – look how Gary V varies his show. I'm sure Aurelia has the personality and drive to succeed.

Report here in Ouest-France (4th February 2010) on the organic wine stand at this year's Salon des Vins de Loire.