Italian Wines

Italy’s wine industry is one of the oldest around. Wines have been produced for over four thousand years and the Greeks called Italy ‘Oenotria’ or ‘Land of Wine’. Virtually all the country makes wine and Italy battles with France and Spain for the title of being the world’s largest wine producer and exporter. Lots of European Union money has been invested and the U.K.’s appetite for pasta, pizza and the wines to go with them keeps growing.

So many regions, so many grape varieties and so very many growers can make it difficult to choose. This is why we have made our selection for you very carefully indeed.

Download The Italian Wine Portfolio

CANTINA
No, not a canteen of food – more one of silver! An Italian wine Cantina is a growers’ Co-operative and we have included wines in this Italian selection from two award winners- Cantina Due Palma in Southern Italy and Cantina Di Soave which includes the well-known names of Pinot Grigio, Valpolicella and Amarone. The danger with a co-operative is that it becomes a bad committee – asked to design a horse and ending up with a mule. The benefits of a good co-operative, and these are two of the best, are that modern production facilities can be financed, stricter quality control procedures applied and innovative changes introduced.

Outstanding wines produced include Brindisi Rosso from Due Palma and Di Soave’s Ripasso Valpolicella along with their Amarone Rocca Sveva which was very recently highlighted by Decanter magazine as ‘delicious’.

LAKE GARDA
For a long time, Lake Garda would mean very little to a British wine drinker other than it being a beautiful holiday destination. However it can truthfully be said that this area has profited more than the rest of Italy from modern wine developments.

Try the white Lugana Tenuta Maioli from the Southern end of the lake. Still relatively rare, still produced from hand selected grapes and a ‘class act’ through and through. Negresco Classico is another new wine; a red aged in oak which has won gold medals.

Finally we have introduced the Terre al Lago wines (the name meaning Lakeland). Their Pinot Noir and Merlot are examples of the introduction of ‘foreign’ grape varieties but their Pinot Grigio is very much more traditional. They are also a part of the Cantine di Soave’s products and show the difference made by quality winemaking.

For more details contact:

	Sales Director	01924 373328	07801 922478
	Sales Director - Pub Groups	01924 373328	07801 922480
David Robertson	Wine Development Manager	01924 373328	07813 662863
	Wine Key Account Manager	01924 373328	07837 193677
Peter Skuse	Pricing and Sourcing Manager	01924 373328	07801 922461
	Wine Administrator	01924 373328	07842 126966