You often find that in any group of people, you get a character or two that are loud, jolly, boisterous or simply just a bit crackers. The next table at SITT that I went to was manned by a group of chaps who were all of these things, and from the stories they told us about the producers they represent, most of them are crazy too!
For the Love of Wine is a company that has a superb Italian selection, but also has a few oddities and, apparently, the biggest selection of Swiss wines. Here is what I thought.
2009 Cantina Cerquetta Trebbiano (Lazio, Italy)
Light, minerally and floral. A lemon pith and guava flavour. Very tasty. (7/10 £7.50)
2009 Enzo Mecella Verdicchio di Matelica (Marches, Italy)
A hint of baked banana on the nose with some cream. A little bit of pencil creaping through, but a good clean finish. (6/10 £9.00)
2009 Vini Pregati Celli Albana di Romagna I Croppi (Emilia Romagna, Italy)
Sweet notes, some honey and a little pak choi! The palate is darker, citrussy with an element of burnt lemon skin. I like this a lot. (8/10 £9.80)
2009 Cantine Farro Falangina Camp Flegrei (Campania, Italy)
Rich notes and very loral. Light grapefruit and a citrus ht. Really fresh and tasty. (7/10 £11.50)
Volg Weinkellereien Muller Thurgau Chasselas Swisswine (Switzerland)
A bit like dried peach skin and some honeysuckle on the nose. The palate is lean, minerally with a strange imbalance and flabby at the end. (4/10 £11.00)
2009 Rene Favre & fils Fendant Chamoson (Valais, Switzerland)
Banana and lemon with lots of flint. The palate has an insane oily texture, and with a spirity alcohol. Very strange. (5/10 £15.00)
2010 Tierra Alta Sauvignon Blanc (Chile)
A lot of grassy, savoury elements. The palate is light, lots of lemon, lots of grapefruit. High acid n the finish. (6/10 £7.50)
2009 Domaine de la Feuillarde Macon Prisse Blanc (Burgundy, France)
Gentle, fresh but with a nice pineapple and some decent oaky flavours. Very balanced. (7/10 £12.25)
2009 Domaine Mont-Beauvais Pouilly Fume (Loire, France)
Very aromatic, some flowers in a field with a bit of flint. Elderflower on the palate. Lovely. (7/10 £17.00)
2008 Weingut Studert-Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett (Mosel, Germany)
A bit of plasticine, then citrus erupts on the palate. Lemon juice and sugar on a pancake fried in bacon fat. High acid throughout. (5/10 £14.00)
2009 Torrent Bay Wines Sauvignon Blanc (Nelson, New Zealand)
Clean aroma, lots of gentle chillies, vegetal notes too. Very French in style, clean and tasty. (8/10, £10.50)
Cantina Beato Barolomeo Silvola Rosato Spumante (Veneto, Itay)
Fresh raspberries with sweet sugar. Rhubarb and custard on the palate - just with bubbles. (7/10 £11.00)
2009 Cantina Sampietrana Tacco Barocco Rosato (Puglia, Italy)
Vegetal, lots of herby notes and a dirty palate - like drinking clay. (2/10 £9.00)
2008 VOLG Wienkellereien Goldbeere Oeil de Pedrix (Eastern Switzerland)
A lot of veggies, strawberry leaves and then a meaty element. Not keen. (4/10 £14.00)
2009 Cantine Volpi Barbera (Piedmont, Italy)
A simple fruit driven nose. Light, dried fruit and a cherry flavour with spice. Very drinkable. (8/10 £6.75)
2006 Cantina Sampetrana Squinzano Riserva (Puglia, Italy)
Clean, bright, some sweet fruit and a little dried fruit. The palate is lovely, lots of cherry and dried dates. (8/10 £9.75)
2008 Cantine Barbera Nero di Avola (Sicily, Italy)
Very juicy, very floral too. A lovely light, clean wine with dried fruit and some firm tannin. A peasant wine, with liquorice flavours on the finish. (8/10 £12.25)
2006 Casa Emma Chianti Classico (Tuscany, Italy)
Very lush, rich, dark and concentrated. It is tasty with herby rustic notes. (8/10 £14.00)
2004 Olivastri Tommaso Montepulciano d'Abruzzo La Carrata (Abruzzo, Italy)
Oooh. Very dark, liquorice, rich sweet fruit and very complex. Dark and leathery, with dried herbs. Really tasty. (9/10 £16.75)
2007 Cantini Lenotti Massimo (Veneto, Italy)
Rich dried fruit with lots of honey and dates. A good, tarry mouthful with nice spice on the back end. (7/10 £21.25)
2006 Marziano Abbona Barolo Terlo Ravera (Piedmont, Italy)
Rich and dark with violets. A really dark, tarry palate with cherry and lots of power. (8.5/10, £39.00)
VOLG Winkellereien Pinot Noir Gamay Swissred (Switzerland)
Orangey, lots of raspberries and some cherry. It is clean, fresh and with an apple and toffee flavour. OK. (5/10 £11.00)
2009 Tierra Alta Carmenere (Chile)
Baking meat, sweet and sour aroma. Clean and with lots of veggies on the palate with dried fruit. (7/10 £7.50)
2005 Chateau Vieux Bonneau (Montagne St Emilion, Bordeaux, France)
Big, rich, stewed meat and a little bramble and cassis compote. There is lovely balance, veggie notes with dark elements. (8/10 £15.50)
2009 Torrent Bay Wines Pinot Noir (Nelson, New Zealand)
Sweet fresh berries, a little boot polish too. Clean, fresh with cherry stone flavours - not at all like you would expect from a Kiwi Pinot Noir. (7/10 £12.25)
2007 Bodegas Santiago Ijalba Vina Hermosa Crianza (Rioja, Spain)
Lots of vanilla, lots of ripe dried fruit. An abundance of dried fruit, oak and some spice. (7.5/10 £13.25)
2008 Vina Aliga Tempranillo (Navarra, Spain)
Sweet fruit, a lot of pepper and red apple. Pomegranate and cranberry on the palate, with a touch of spice. (7.5/10 £9.25)
2009 Cantine Volpi Moscato (Piedmont, Italy)
Fresh, clean, sparkly, semi sweet, wonderfully zingy, fresh and with peach nectar flavours. Fantastic and fun! (8/10 £8.50)
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