First there were the blogs. David's Everyday Italian Wine, which in turn became David's Special Italian Wine.

Now it's time to watch the wine with the arrival of ItalyVino, which you can see right now on YouTube by clicking here; or on the Villasfor2 pages on Facebook and Twitter; and very soon, as a free podcast download from the Apple iTunes Store.

Why ItalyVino ? Two reasons.

First, to help discover the stars you'll find hidden amongst the decidedly ordinary on the wine-lists of most Italian restaurants outside Italy.

Second, to guide you towards a few more gems – many of which never make it outside Italy – to look out for in restaurants and shops during your next Italian visit.

The approach is a pretty simple and unscholarly one: good wines for both everyday drinking and for special occasions at prices that we can all afford. And at good value for money too.

I'll be releasing ItalyVino episodes once every 10 days or so. The first three will be about Abruzzo wines. After that, I'll be revisiting some wines I've already blogged – and tasting and rating many more new ones.

And if there's a wine you'd like to see featured – drop me a line. We've got our own dedicated mailbox already set-up – italyvino@gmail.com – and it'd be great to hear from you.

Cheers !

a

Funny how projects develop a life of their own.

Back in February 2008, not long after we'd first arrived in Abruzzo to start Villasfor2, I began a weekly wine blog called Everyday Italian Wine, which featured bottles you could buy – around here at least – for under €10.

One year and 50-odd bottles later, Everyday Italian Wine morphed into Special Italian Wine, raising the standards to bottles costing over €10.

Now the time's come to move on from Special Italian Wine to something brand new.

Launching next month will be Italian Wine – a regular weekly video review, which you'll be able to watch either as a Podcast or on YouTube.

We'll be letting you know about upcoming Italian Wine video reviews on Twitter and Facebook, so if you haven't already bookmarked our Villasfor2 page on these two sites – now's the time to start !

To allow as wide a range of wines as possible to be featured, the only price restriction on each bottle will be what's in my pocket when I go out wine-buying.

Right from the start, we've never accepted a free bottle or a review request from any winery.

Yes, it means we have to shop for wine carefully and look for the best value we can find, (then again – so do you), but it also means we retain our independence – and that's important.

More than anything else, it means our wine reviews remain a labour of love, rather than of financial necessity.

Standouts of the past couple of years ?

Of the reds, Monti's 2003 'Pignotto' Riserva, one of the new DOCG Montepulciano D'Abruzzo from Teramo province, was outstanding, as was Mastroberardino's terrific 'Radici' 2005 Taurasi from Campania.

Best was Fontanafredda's generic 2004 Barolo. Incredibly well-made; utterly delicious; and living proof that it's still possible to get a really first-rate bottle of Italy's greatest red wine for – just – under €20.

Of the whites, the two other jewels in Campania's DOCG crown – Fiano Di Avellino and Greco di Tufo both scored highly for excellence in both taste and value for money.

(Campania is still a well-kept Italian wine secret. Buy cheaply while you can !)

But the standout white came from just down the road from Villasfor2: Tenuta Ulisse's 'Unico' Pecorino 2008. A wine that's picked-up more international awards than Colin Firth in The Kings Speech.

I've been championing Pecorino – an ancient Abruzzo heritage grape – ever since first trying it and this bottle is the very, very best you can buy. And for a little over €10, it's sensational value.

Not surprisingly, Pecorino features in both our own Villasfor2 'house white' and our own 'house sparkler' and it's perhaps not giving too much away to let you know that these two wines – along with out own Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 'house red' – will be among the first wines we'll be featuring in our upcoming video reviews.

Watch out for the first next month !

a

You've either got to be extraordinarily stupid or extraordinarily confident to sell your wine in a yellow bottle.

When the wine inside your yellow bottle also happens to be Gavi, you're leaving yourself wide open to ending up with egg-on-face of epic proportions.

Why ? Because in common with Pinot Grigio and Frascati and Orvieto and a whole load of other Italian whites that the world's taken a shine to, Gavi at its worst can be pretty awful. And because its popularity inevitably leads to over-production and slipping standards, it's not easy to find any that's the real deal.

And although the devil inside would secretly quite like to see Villa Sparina's yellow-bottled hubris punished by tasting like like the pee sample its packaging suggests, the truth must be told.

This is a good wine.

It's made in the area of Piedmont just to the north of Genoa. More specifically, in the Comune of Gavi itself, slap-bang in the middle of the prime production area.

Only 100% Cortese grapes are used, with the juice spending just a few short weeks in stainless steel tanks before being bottled.

The result is fresh and zingy. There's quite a distinctive scent – not unpleasantly so – of pear-drops in the glass. There's citrus on the tongue, with a finish that's long and dry. A kind of flinty, quartzite quality that's rather nice and grown-up.

Punchy too. That rarity – a white wine that'll hold its own with a lot of meat dishes. We partnered this with a wonderful osso bucco and it worked a treat. Just delicious.

In addition to this wine, Villa Sparina also produce a Gavi from much older vines that's given a a few months in the barrel and a further year in the bottle before release – which I'm not entirely sure is a great idea – and a couple of Cortese sparklers too.

And in addition to their vineyards, Villa Sparina also run L'Ostelliere – an enviably-lovely old hotel set in rolling vine-clad hills – and the adjoining La Gallina restaurant, which has a gorgeous terrace for open-air summer eating.

This is a canny piece of marketing: drink the wine; stay in the vineyard; eat the food. It's such a natural progression, I'm surprised more prestige wineries don't do this.

Then again, I'm surprised anyone puts their wine in yellow bottles…

At A Glance…

• This month's 'Special Italian Wine': Gavi
• Vintage: 2009
• Designation: DOCG
• Grape 100% Cortese
• Strength: 13%
• Closure: Cork
• Producer: Villa Sparina
• Website: www.villasparina.it
• This bottle cost: €11.60

After a two year run, next month's 'Special Italian Wine' will be the last. I'll be looking back at the bottles I've enjoyed during the series – and telling you about my new Italian wine venture !

a

In 2003, Montepulciano D'Abruzzo made in just one relatively small area of Teramo province was awarded DOCG status – the highest accolade an Italian wine can achieve – elevating it to the level of such global Italian wine superstars as Chianti and Barolo.

That's when the trouble started.
This promotion – thoroughly deserved incidentally – gave rise to the unfortunate implication that Montepulciano D'Abruzzo from the new Colline Teramane DOCG area was the best of its type you could buy and that any MD'A from outside this area simply wasn't quite as good.

Not true. And the cause of an almighty collective snit from all the MD'A producers who weren't one of the favored few inside the newly-favoured DOCG area.

And that's given rise to a curious anomaly. You can pick up a superlatively good Montepulciano D'Abruzzo DOCG for around €20. And an equally fine non-DOCG MD'A for more than twice that price. Go figure.

This wine is most definitely streets removed from the 'pick the grapes; crush them; stick the juice in steel tanks for a few months; bottle it; sell it' philosophy that produces the consistently enjoyable wine that those of us living in Abruzzo are lucky enough to drink every day.

In contrast, here's a wine of astonishing depth, illustrating the extraordinary versatility of the Montepulciano grape – and the extraordinary skills too of the Monti cantina.

The colour isn't the cheery ruby red of 'everyday' MD'A, but a deep and brooding dark purple.

Don't look for upfront fruit, but instead be beguiled by the richness of damson and prune, heavily overlaid with strong scents of liquorice and hints of black treacle. And spice in the background too: nutmeg and clove.

The finish is long and dry; just a hint of tannin still there. Powerful too. 14.5%, so drink this with respect.

No further embellishments needed. This is a wine of remarkable finesse and excellence.

In general, 'Pignotto' receives a year in oak and a further six months in bottle before release. But this is a 'Riserva', the best of the best, with two years more aging – in practice around 18 months in the barrel and the rest in the bottle.

The wait's worth it.

The year 2003 was the first in which Colline Teramane received its DOCG status. If this debut DOCG bottle truly represents the heights to which Montepulciano D'Abruzzo can aspire, the fact that it more than hold its own with all bar the very, very finest Barolo and Chianti – and at a fraction of their prices – I can only say "Complimenti !"

This is a wine made to accompany Abruzzo's famed cinghiale – wild boar – or venison; or indeed any well-flavoured red meat dish. But please open this a good hour before drinking and please decant it. Enjoy !

At A Glance…

• This month's 'Special Italian Wine': Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, Colline Teramane  'Pignotto' Riserva
• Vintage: 2003
• Designation:DOCG
• Grape: 100% Montepulciano D'Abruzzo
• Strength: 14.5%
• Closure: Cork
• Producer: Antonio & Elio Monti
• Website: www.vinimonti.it 
• This bottle cost: €22

Next Month…
If you like Italian white wine, you'll love Gavi. Trouble is, it's almost too popular and finding a genuinely good bottle isn't easy. But we'll be trying the real deal, a perfect DOCG offering from the Comune of Gavi itself. A great way to start 2011 !

a

Usually you get it right. Sometimes you get it wrong.

This was a wine that aroused my curiosity because its Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend is so very unItalian.

One sip was enough to realize that this is an Italian wine for people who don't really like Italian wine, but feel uneasy about ordering a bottle of something Chilean to go with the lasagna.

Or aimed perhaps at those holidaying – or even living – in Italy who hanker wistfully after something unobtainably French.

It's competently-made; tastes OK without being outstanding; (and at €10+ is hideously over-priced.)

But why bother ?

If, by producing a CabSauv/Merlot blend; giving it a year's-worth of barrel aging; and sticking it into a claret-shaped bottle, the producers – the Veneto-based Zonin – have tried to produce a replica Bordeaux wine, they've failed dismally.

There's none of Merlot's wonderful soft, plummy quality; nor the rich cassis and scents of leather and cedar-wood you'll find in a decent CaubSauv.

This is actually more like a robust Burgundy. Except it doesn't taste of Pinot Noir.

It confuses me – and I suspect this confusion can be traced back to the reasoning process that decided this wine would be a good idea in the first place; and then to the poor wine-maker charged with the responsibility of making it all happen.

Let's be clear. This isn't a bad wine. If you're happy to stump-up the price, it'll drink perfectly well with robust red meat and cheese.

I have to be honest and say there's not much in the way of fruit of any description wafting out of the glass – some hints of liquorice and black treacle if anything – but the finish hangs in there.

Still quite tannic for its age too – a sign that the CabSauv presence hasn't quite settled down yet.

If you honestly can't face another bottle of Italian red – and I concede that if you've been drinking nothing but for about 150-odd years, that might be a problem – then by all means give this a try.

Otherwise, regard it for what it is. An amiable curiosity but one that is ultimately utterly pointless.

At A Glance…

• This month's 'Special Italian Wine': Berengario.
• Vintage: 2005
• Designation: IGT
• Grape: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon; 40% Merlot
• Strength: 13.5%
• Closure: Cork:
• Producer: Zonin
• Website: www.zonin.it
• This bottle cost: €10.48

ps. In case you're wondering, 'Berengario' was the first feudal king of Italy. Now you know…

Next Month:
Montepulciano D'Abruzzo achieved Italian wine's top DOCG status in 2003, but this promotion was only awarded to a small part of the wine's huge production area. As a result, it's really only been in 2010 that these new DOCG wines have emerged out onto the wider market in sufficient quantity to offer genuine variety and choice. So to round off the year, we sample one of the new Abruzzo 'super-reds' and discover whether they really are a cut above the rest: wines to pick out for drinking at home – and in your Abruzzo holiday villa for two !

a

Not – judging by the appreciative way in which it was usually quaffed – was there too much wrong with the complimentary bottle of red or white wine that's awaited each of our guests on their arrival.

But since we arrived in Abruzzo and launched Villasfor2, we've discovered local wineries making wine we think you'll enjoy at least as much as our 'house originals' – and hopefully more.

Our new 'house red' and 'house white' both come from Cantina Colle Moro, which is based in the village of Guastameroli, just the other side of Lanciano.

The red is a Montepulciano D'Abruzzo (what else ?) and the white is a Pecorino, an Abruzzo heritage variety brought back from the brink of extinction in the mid-1990s.

Both come from vineyards in the Moro Valley between Guastameroli and Orsogna, an area of extraordinary tranquillity and beauty – especially in spring when the crab apples planted in the vineyards as a pollination aid are in full blossom.

The Moro Valley has its own unique microclimate and produces some outstanding wine.

You'll find both these wines drink well on their own and with food. The red is made from 100% Montpulciano grapes, producing a wine of a rich garnet colour, and a taste redolent of sweet Victoria plums and redcurrants, with a surprisingly long finish. The strength is 12.5% and at the moment, we're drinking the 2009 vintage.

We'll continue to provide the youngest vintage available because this is a particular style of Montepulciano D'Abruzzo made to drink young and, unlike its heavier, older cousins, this Montepulciano is a red wine that readily lends itself to being chilled in the fridge for summer drinking.

That's how the locals like it: try it ! (On the other hand, don't necessarily try another local way of drinking Montepulciano in summer, which is mixed  half-and-half with lemonade. This produces a kind of fizzy 'wineade'. First taste makes you want to pour it behind a bush. Second taste makes you think, "Hang on…this isn't so bad." Third taste makes you think, "Yes it is.")

Thankfully, nobody's yet suggested mixing Pecorino with lemonade. Or anything else. It's a lovely wine that I've likened before to Viognier, thanks to its succulent hints of yellow peaches, apricots and almonds.

Colle Moro's version is about as good as it gets – made with 100% locally-grown Pecorino grapes. It's just right for summer sipping on its own under a sun umbrella; it drinks extremely well with light summer food; and again, we'll be offering the youngest – and freshest – available vintage.

Neither of these is a wine you'll find on a supermarket shelf. On the other hand, you will find them at Villasfor2, because once you've finished your bottle of either Montepulciano or Pecorino, you can buy another bottle or two from us.

And you can also buy the third in our house wine trilogy – an a delicious sparkling Pecorino; introduced by Cantina Colle Moro only in Spring 2010; and by far and away the best Italian sparkling wine I've ever tasted.

It's a wine of incredible class and depth that for me lifts it way above its only possible rival – a Prosecco Cartizze: allegedly the 'best' Prosecco you can find. (Though in actuality, any good bottle of Prosecco from the Valdobbiadene-Conegliano area of the Veneto will probably be better and definitely cheaper than a Cartizze. But that's another story…)

Just as well this is such a good wine, because the closure method is…eccentric.

You'll see what I mean when you open one.

Next Month:
A beguiling Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blend from vineyards near the town of Acquileia in the region of Friuli – just about as far north-east as you can go in Italy before you cross into Slovenia. CabSauv and Merlot ? Very non-Italian – and very Bordeaux. But a triumph ? Or a disaster ? A wine to mix with lemonade like an Abruzzese ? Or one you'll love trying on your Abruzzo villa vacation ?

a

Right now, the most interesting and innovative Italian white wines are being made in the Alto Adige region in the country's far north-east.

Foremost among the producers is the St Michael co-op of around 300 growers centered around the town of Appiano – or Eppan – a little to the south of Bolzano.

St Michael is a winery garlanded with superlatives:
– Italy's 'Winery of the Year' in 2000
– judged to be one of Italian wine's most influential producers
– the winemaker, Hans Terzer, is a former 'Italian Winemaker of the Year'
– and he's also been named as one of the top-10 winemakers in the world

So anything less than a pretty exceptional bottle from this winery would be disappointing. Don't worry.

Riesling's one of the world's greatest wine grapes. It's also perhaps the most underrated and certainly – in a great ocean of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc – the most underpriced.

The world's unqualified best comes from Germany and – in the UK at any rate – you can pick up a bottle of eye-popping quality for around the same price as a couple of pints of beer.

This bottle may not quite aspire to the piercing clarity and depth of one of its German counterparts, but it's still a very, very fine bottle of wine.

The instant impression on opening is the trademark petrol-whiff of a good riesling. Not quite as marked as some I've come across, but still unmistakable.

The colour's the palest of pale greeny-golds; the taste is soft and luscious. Pure peachy fruit, with an incredibly long finish, becoming dryer and more minerally.

The only missing factor is the complexity that age brings to a good riesling – and that's hardly surprising bearing in mind this bottle is from the 2009 vintage.

The best German riesling has huge aging potential. I suspect this bottle is produced specifically to drink young – or at least youngish. Certainly within a couple of years to appreciate that fresh fruit vibrancy to the full.

I'd hesitate to suggest too elaborate a meal to accompany this wine – a plain, grilled Dover sole would be as good as anything – but to be honest, this is a wine you'll enjoy drinking just on its own.

At A Glance…

• This month's special Italian wine: Montiggl Riesling
• Vintage: 2009
• Designation: DOC
• Grape: 100% Riesling
• Closure: Cork
• Producer: St Michael
• Website: www.stmichael.it
• This bottle cost: €10.20

Next Month…
It's time to introduce the new Villasfor2 'house red' and 'house white'. These are special Italian wines we know you're going to enjoy on your Abruzzo villa vacation !

a

Sagrantino di Montefalco 'Duca Odoardo'. DOCG. 2005. Terre de la Custodia

How do you pour a bottle of wine ? Grab it by the neck and slosh it into the glass, onto the table, and over anyone who happens to be sitting nearby ?

Seize it firmly around the middle; tilt your glass and gently trickle in a thimbleful ?

I ask because this bottle of Sagrantino di Montefalco has got a generous thumb-shaped indention low down underneath the label and a similar, finger-size groove on its reverse, which makes the insouciant palm-underneath-the-bottle transfer of wine to glass perfected by sommeliers worldwide an absolute doddle.

You can decide for yourself whether this is all irredeemably precious, or an actually quite clever piece of wine bottle design.

A talking point then before we've even pulled the cork !

This Sagrantino di Montefalco is a dry, red DOCG wine from Umbria made from the Sagrantino grape.

Oddly, there's no necessity for the wine to be produced in – or even near – the original production area in the comune of Montefalco. As long as it comes from Umbria and is made of 100% Sagrantino grapes – that's good enough.

It's very tannic; very long-lived and actually rather good.

Don't confuse it with a sweet passito wine of exactly the same name (and also with DOCG status) also made in Umbria from semi-dried Sagrantino grapes

This particular bottle comes from the well-regarded Terre de la Custodia winery near Perugia under the Duca Odoardo brand-name.

It gets between a year and 15 months in wood and then sits waiting patiently before it's released 30 months after the vintage.

The makers confidently assert it'll last well in bottle for 15 years and more and with the tannins in evidence here, you wouldn't disagree.

A word of reassurance in case all this talk of tannins makes you nervous. There are tannins that make your mouth feel as though it's been coated in finely-powdered sawdust; then there are tannins that just dry and concentrate the fruit flavours into a delicious long finish.

Luckily, we're dealing with the latter here.

The colour is a deep garnet. In the glass you get wafts of violets and bramble fruit. Very classy. A sip reveals black cherries and mulberries which then linger a long, long time.

This 2005 vintage is hardly yet hitting its stride and as it will just go on improving. By the time it's run the course recommended by its makers – and provided you haven't succumbed to temptation and opened it – it will be a very special bottle indeed.

Not for drinking on its own. Roast red meats, game and strong cheeses are suggested. Or you could make a proper Welsh Rarebit – and I mean a proper Welsh Rarebit, not just slapping a slice of processed cheddar onto a piece of pre-sliced bread and sticking it under the grill – which would accompany a glass or two of this excellent wine to perfection.

At A Glance…

• This month's "Special Italian Wine": Sagrantino di Montefalco 'Duca Odoardo'
• Vintage: 2005
• Designation: DOCG
• Grape: 100% Sagrantino
• Strength: 13.5%
• Closure: Cork
• Producer: Terre de la Custodia
• Website: www.terredelacustodia.it
• This bottle cost: €16.29

Next Month…
The region of Alto Adige in north-east Italy is producing an increasingly interesting and impressive range of white varietals. We sample a Riesling from one of the area's best producers. It's a wine you're going to enjoy trying at home – and in your Abruzzo holiday villa !

a

Pecorino Frizzante, Terre di Chieti IGT. NV. Cantina Colle Moro
Rose Veneto Frizzante 'Duca della Rocca' IGT. NV. Colombara

Let's once and for all debunk the dictum that when it comes to 'special' wine, the higher the price, the better the quality.

This month we have a bottle of one of the best summer wines you're ever going to find at a scandalously low €1.45; and a bottle of the best Italian sparkling wine I've ever tasted, at a princely €4.

We discovered the sparkler on the last weekend in May, when wineries across Abruzzo open their doors and invite you in to have a look round; sample their wines; and enjoy a few nibbles.

At the Cantina Colle Moro in nearby Frisa, we were offered a taste of a wine introduced only this year, a sparkling Pecorino.

Now, as we've mentioned here before, the Pecorino grape is an old Abruzzo heritage variety, rescued from the brink of extinction in the mid-90's.

Happily, we're right in the middle of its production area and the still white has not only become a firm personal favorite, but has also replaced Trebbiano as our 'house white' that you'll find waiting for you on your arrival for a Villasfor2 holiday.

But a sparkling variety ? Using the 'Charmat Method' – in which a natural sparkle to the wine is developed in a tank, rather than, (as with champagne), in a bottle – Cantina Colle Moro have with brilliant success transformed their pretty good still Pecorino into an absolutely outstanding fizzer.

Unlike Prosecco, which at its best from the Vadobbiadene – Conegliano area of the Veneto is a wine of lightness and delicacy, Colle Moro's Pecorino Frizzante is rich and full-bodied, not a million miles away in taste from a Pinot Noir-laden champagne.

There are other similarities. A yeastiness on the nose of fresh-baked brioche and a long, dry, tingly and almost spicy finish.

Absolutely vice-free and absolutely delicious.

The only thing that made me blink was the crown cap closure – rather like a bottle of Coke. But I guess it's a logical extension to the screw cap. Regard it as a conversation piece rather than a deal-breaker.

And if that's good, wait till you taste the rose frizzante sold under the Duca della Rocca brand.

From the Colombara co-op based in the small town of Cazzano just to the west of Venice, this is a mongrel of an IGT wine containing heaven-knows-what varieties which, due to the angelic skills of a blender, have been transformed into the ultimate summer gulper.

There's not even the tiniest hint of the mean, thin, sharpness you might expect from a wine this cheap. Nor of an excess dosage of sugar to mask its deficiencies.

Instead, there's a riot of strawberries, raspberries, cherries and redcurrants, beautifully dry and silky, cascading into your glass in a fun, frothy, pink cascade that's utterly beguiling. And at only 10.5%, it won't leave you feeling sandbagged on even the most scorching summer's day.  

€1.45 ? Yes, €1.45. Silly, isn't it ?

Both this month's recommendations can happily be drunk on their own, or with any light summer food. Both are extraordinarily good and I recommend them to you.

At A Glance…

• This month's 'Special Italian Wines': Pecorino Frizzante, Terre di Chieti & 'Duca della Roca' Rose Veneto
• Vintage: Both NV
• Designation: Both IGT
• Grape: Pecorino is 100% Pecorino; Rose Veneto blend is not stated
• Strength: Pecorino – 12%; Rose Veneto – 10.5%
• Closures: Pecorino – Crown cap; Rose Veneto – Cork
• Producers: Pecorino – Cantina Colle Moro; Rose Veneto – Colombara
• Website: www.collemoro.it
• These bottles cost: Pecorino – €4; Veneto Rose – €1.45 

Next Month…
From Umbria, we sample Sagrantino di Montefalco, a much-praised DOCG red from one of the region's best producers. It's a wine you'll enjoy drinking at home – and in your Abruzzo villa for two !

a

Colomba Platino 2007

This is one of those ultra-delicious Italian white wines that can only be drunk when it's at least 90˚ in the shade. And preferably eating outside.

And also preferably eating – or rather extended snacking – on vast plates of prosciutto and salami; artichoke hearts; ricotta made just hours ago and cut with fresh herbs and garlic; good bread; with salsicce and little lamb cutlets sizzling away contentedly over charcoal and a big bowl of fresh figs, cherries, white peaches and those little golden coscia pears.

Which is all very fine when someone else is preparing this idyllic feast. Less appealing when it's you.

That classic old Italian summer standby Tonno e Fagioli, which I've now proved you can assemble from start to first forkful during halftime in a World Cup football match, was an entirely satisfactory alternative.

And the wine. Outside high summer, it just wouldn't taste the same.

A pleasant lemony tang rises from the glass. The colour, appropriately, is of sun-bleached hay. The taste is citrus with undertones of melon and green fruit and there's a lovely long finish, dry and quite sherbet-like, which cleanses and refreshes the palate on a scorchingly hot day – but in cooler climes, might seem just a little on the sharp side.

Colomba Platino is a brand-name Sicilian white from the much-respected Duca di Salaparuta winery, which has holdings all over the island.

This comes from vineyards on the south coast of the island around the towns of Cattolica and Ribera in the province of Agrigento.

It's made from 100% Insolia grapes and though this particular bottle is from the 2007 vintage, I'd suspect younger would be better, even though this certainly hasn't suffered from hanging around in the couple of years since it was released.

It's true that if you limit your choice of Italian wine to DOC/DOCG examples, you might reckon a few centesimi shy of €10 is stiffish to pay for an IGT wine. But ignore the ratings and just ask yourself if you like it. And if the answer's yes, a case should see you through the next few hot weeks rather nicely.

At A Glance…

• This  month's 'Special Italian Wine': Colomba Platino
• Vintage: 2007
• Designation: IGT
• Grape: 100% Insolia
• Strength: 12.5%
• Closure: Cork
• Producer: Duca di Salaparuta
• This bottle cost €9.13

Next Month…
Not that I'm given to sweeping statements or anything, but I'll be featuring the best Italian sparkling wine I've ever drunk. Period. And a pink, fizzy, thirst-quenching, summer gulper from the Veneto. Both fantastic – and fantastic value – wines that you'll certainly enjoy drinking in your Abruzzo villa for two !

a