Two great vintages for this superb estate. The 1998 Riserva is in fact the single vineyard Intistieti. This is very deep, dark and brooding. It is fabulous and multi-layered with complex aromas of dark fruits, black berries, chocolate. The palate is deep, intense and very mineral. There is remarkable character to this wine with a texture that is quite stunning. A brilliant and very focused wine in need of serveral years bottle age. The 1999 Brunello is the “normale” (the Intistieti will follow most likely next year) and comes from another great vintage for this area of Tuscany. This shows a bright yet deep blood red colour with intensely, spicy, mineral fruit. Again there is great complexity and a wonderful expression of terroir. The balance of power, density of ripe, rich fruit, concentration and finesse is quite remarkable. Real iron fist in velvet glove yet with fantastic purity and aristocratic tannins. Should ideally be cellared for several years. A very great wine. Both of these wines to be shipped in April 2004.

The Campedelli brothers have brought this estate a long way since deciding to put time, money and hard work into making quality Valpolicella and other, single grape-variety wines. Following a recommendation from the famous and highly regarded Romano Dal Forno, who said that the Campedelli’s had the good fortune to own the very best vineyards within the DOC, we went to taste the results. The Valpolicella is an authentic, old fashioned wine, and the '99 is particularly pleasing, with aromas of wild-cherries that follow through into the palate, and a lively finish. It is a good example of the skills brought to the Marion wines by the consultant oenologue Celestino Gasparini, who is highly respected in the Veneto region. The Cabernet Sauvignon wines are also of interest, and we were particularly impressed by a round, pure-fruited, sensual '96. The Teroldego (in barrel for 3.5 years) is a remarkable wine from this normally “sauvage” grape variety. The long-ageing has tamed this wine to produce a very fine, silky, opulent yet intensely complex wine. There are black fruits, mocha, toasty oak in perfect harmony. A unique and captivating wine. Judging by the immaculate cellar conditions and continuous investment in good quality oak barrels, quality can only improve, and as the vines age - they were largely replanted 12 years ago - we expect to be buying more from Stefano and his brother. For now, we feel that the excellent Valpolicella; Teroldego; Cabernet Sauvignon and the remarkably complex sweet, stunning, white passito wine is a good place to start! All wines are bottled unfiltered.

Fabrizio Niccolaini has 5 small vineyard sites covering just 5 hectares in total, growing Sangiovese, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Vermentino, and Sauvignon Blanc. We came across him earlier this year at an organic wine fair in Paris, at which the quality of his wines stood head and shoulders above the other Italian examples, with one notable, but ever-elusive exception. His vines vary in age - some as old as 100 years - and grow on largely clay and sand soil, with some decomposed volcanic rock, at quite high altitudes. His Sangiovese vines are at 450m, which he uses to make his favourite wine, Poggio a Venti. The wines are intense and fascinating, with amazing complexity and class.

2000 Ariento, (Vermentino) is a truly marvellous dry white wine, grown from 30 year old vines and raised in Chestnut "botti". The bouquet is complex, herby, and slightly nutty, and the palate has layers of fruit and spice. It is long, fresh and complex with a deliciously dry, nutty finish. This is more fruit-driven and tropical at the moment. Its peachy, slightly peppery nose precedes the creamy, slightly sweet, yet tightly mineral palate. It is young, but shows great potential. The 1999 Terziere, (Grenache - called locally Alicante) is a big, ripe, plummy bouquet, followed by a rich and pure palate and a lively finish. Classy, complex and very fine indeed. The 1998 Poggio a Venti, (Sangiovese) is a stunning, Rhone-like expression of Sangiovese, with dense, spicy texture and noble, tightly knit tannins. A fine, sensual wine. Available late 2004. The 1999 La Fonte di Petrarsa, (60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot) has an explosive, highly complex and beautifully balanced wine, with wonderful acidity. Ripe blackcurrants and well integrated wood-spice on the nose, followed by an intense and pure fruited palate. Very long.

A top producer who is unknown in the UK as he has never been imported here. Accomasso, who is very highly regarded in Italy by the famous wine writer Luigi Veronelli, makes wines of great concentration, depth and power. He has just released this 1997 from old vines farmed organically resulting in wine from very low yields. This wine is in the “baroque” style of Giacomo Conterno (that other great individualist) but with its own style and character. It comes from great terroir near the village of La Morra and shows great purity, depth, finesse and complexity. This is one of the great 1997 Barolo wines. The palate is dense, ripe, rich with stunning multi-layered fruit, thoroughly ripe tannins and great length. A powerful wine of great complexity, class and character with superb balancing acidity (which many 1997 wines from this area lack). This needs at least 4/5 years ageing at the minimum if not much longer and will cellar well after that. The 1998 is more forward and shows similar characteristics but with more approachability. It is full of bright, cherry-like fruit and exquisitely ripe tannins. Could be drunk now (if decanted in advance) but will improve with keeping. A superb wine.

One of the world's greatest estates and a fantastic expression of Nebbiolo at its best. The 1999 Cascina Francia (from a great vintage) is all ripe, red fruits with superb ripe tannins and an intense liqueur like texture. A wonderful expression of this great terroir and a wine full of personality. This needs time.

The elusive Guiseppe Rinaldi has finally given us an allocation of his great wines! These are traditional in style, much like Giacomo Conterno’s wines. They are raised in large oak barrels (botti) and do not see much new oak. These are wines of great personality, purity and natural concentration. The fruit all comes from old vines in superbly situated vineyards. The Dolcetto comes from the same terroir as the Cannubi and show a similar cherry-like character. The fruit is rich, ripe and intense with hints of chocolate, cassis and spice. A fresh, structured Dolcetto yet immensely drinkable. The Barbera is fresh, spicy, dense and has lovely, complex fruit and mouth filling texture. Can be drunk now but will also keep. The two Barolo wines are very special and from a great Piemonte vintage. The Cannubi is deep with cherry-liqueur like intensity. The ripe tannins are beautifully knit with the rich fruit. Very long and fine. The Brunate-le Coste is a blend of fruit from these two vineyards (80% Brunate and 20% le Coste) and the fruit is vinified seperately and then blended. This is more backward and tannic with an imposing structure. It is deep, dark and shows intensely spicy, ripe, dense fruit with great concentration, complexity and class. This also needs time.

Every once in a while one comes across an estate which is quite unique and making wines of such individuality that it is very hard to find comparisons. We knew the wines of this estate from previous vintages of the early and mid 1990’s but had found these to be too oaky, especially their main production which were the white wines (Gravner was one of the first to use new oak barriques in this region). Having forgotten about Gravner we were re-introduced to his wines while having dinner with Gianfranco Soldera (of Casse Basse) last year in Montalcino. He decanted and served the Breg Bianco 1998 which to us was of remarkable quality and individuality and poles away from the oaky wines we already knew from Gravner. Soldera, who is a close friend of Josko Gravner, explained that Gravner had changed greatly his wine making methods from his earlier days when he used new barriques. We agreed that this wine indeed was remarkable and decided we should go and visit the estate which we did in September 2003. We had, by then, heard –and read - many things which suggested that Gravner had indeed radically changed his ways. Some were even suggesting he had become slightly mad! In vino veritas was our thinking.

The visit to Gravner was quite remarkable. The vineyards and winery is high up above Gorizia in a locality called Oslavia very close to the Solvenian border. Gravner grows all the classic Friuli grapes but whereas in the past he vinified and bottled a number of them seperately he now only produces two white wines and one red, a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend (and sometimes also a special selection of the red which is primarily Merlot). Gravner is not totally happy with the reds and tasting them we found them to be not that special. They were good but not the level of the unique white wines. We do not know yet exactly why this is the case but for Gravner the red wines are “works in progress”.

The white wines on the other hand are quite amazing. The Breg is a field blend of Sauvignon Blanc; Riesling Italico; Chardonnay; Pinot Grigio. These are picked and vinified seperately and then blended. Then there is the Ribolla Gialla which is vinifed and bottled seperately. This is an amazing local grape variety and Gravner has very old vines (up to 80 years old) of Ribolla. He is a firm believer in the potential of this grape variety and thus prefers to keep it separate. The terroir here is unique and a number of vineyards are terraced. Gravner works organically and goes for maximum ripeness and concentration in the vineyards. The crops are very low and vines planted up to 10,000 per hectare. This gives the fruit a wonderful concentration and expression of terroir. The vinification is very unique. Gravner has studied and reverted to using ancient Roman texts for inspiration to fulfil his very unique vision of what his wines should express. Hence the use of giant clay amphorae which are specially made and transported for him from Georgia (the former state of the USSR). Georgia is the only country which still has the giant ovens to make these amphorae as the history of wine-making here is also very ancient!

To summarise, Gravner de-stems all the grapes and then presses them gently in a very old manual vertical press and then ferments the wine with all the grape skins etc in these amphorae. The alcoholic fermentation and the malolactic fermentation (if it happens) occurs in these amphorae which are buried in a separate cellar under earth (except for the top openings of the amphorae which allow wine to be put in and removed out of these vessels). Around Easter time (8 months later) the wine will have become clear and is transferred to large old oak barrels (botti). The wines then rest in these barrels for two years with minimal interference and minimum racking and are bottled without filtration.

The wines all have a very deep bright, gold colour which is a result of skin contact and fermentation with the skins. The 1998 wines are from a cooler vintage and the Breg has a sublime, very deep, complex and unique nose of honey, hay, cream which carries onto the palate. There is immense natural concentration in the wine with superb balancing acidity. This wine becomes more and more mineral as you drink it (as is the case with all these wines). The Ribolla 1998 is more earthy but equally fine and complex. The texture is remarkable with interminable length. The 1999 wines are from a hotter vintage and have greater richness. They have extra-ordinary concentration of honeyed, creamy, multi-dimensional fruit and fantastic depth and length. All these wines should be served not too cold and benefit with decanting. They will also age well. A quite remarkable range of wines.

1. Prices are in £ per dozen bottles carriage paid to in bond delivered to Edinburgh.
2. Duty and VAT charges are due at prevailing rates when wine has been shipped and cleared from bonded warehouse. Onward delivery charges to customers’ addresses will be charged at cost.
3. Wines are offered subject to availability and prices are subject to alteration.
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