A practical guide to the flavour, ripeness, fermentation and equipment involved in making a bold homemade red wine with fresh Primitivo grapes. Primitivo is a good choice when you want a homemade red wine with generous fruit, colour and body. It is often associated...
A beginner-friendly guide to choosing, ordering and preparing fresh Italian Moscato grapes, with clear advice on sweetness, timing and home winemaking equipment. Some home winemakers choose a grape by colour or by the style of wine they want to make. Others know what...
How Shiraz grapes compare with other Italian varieties, what each choice brings to the bottle, and the equipment a home winemaker actually needs. Ask two families how they make wine at home and you may hear two different methods, two different recipes and two firm...
I’ve spent a career on the cold-chain front lines moving from the packing houses in the Peloponnese to the 4AM chaos of London’s wholesale markets. I’ve seen plenty of “sweet” melons arrive as mush because they couldn’t handle the 2,500-mile...
I’ve noticed a real change in what makers and drinkers want lately. The era of heavy, high alcohol “fruit bombs” is finally losing its grip. Instead, I’m seeing a massive spike in demand for Italian grape varietals that allow makers to produce wines meant...
The era of the “oak bomb” is ending. Londoners are hunting for ‘linear’ wines. Bottles with actual nerve, high total acidity, and crisp minerality. This shift has pushed Italian Trebbiano for summer London drinkers right to the centre of the...
