Saint who? Elisabetta Fagiuoli is the legendary force of nature behind the Montenidoli vineyard, overlooking the truncated towers of San Gimignano, south west of Florence. To quote the great – and late – Italian gastronome and wine critic, Luigi Veronelli, ‘Elisabetta is the living metaphor...
You may have heard of the term Terroir, pronounced tear-wah. It is the term used to describe the combination of climate, soil type and the terrain where vines are grown. The importance of location as sign of quality goes back as far as the ancient...
Vinho Verde does not mean ‘green’ wine. The word ‘Verde’ refers to it being a very young wine and the fact that it is bottled and on the market between three and six months after harvesting. It comes from Portugal’s largest wine region in the very...
In the summer, and especially on this cloudy collection of islands on the edge of Europe, sun and blue skies are a rarity. When it happens though there’re few places we’d rather be. How many of us say that we’d staycation if only we could...
A standard wine bottle contains 750ml of wine, which equates to six 125ml glasses of wine, the type that typically - and throughout history - have been found in simple Italian restaurants or osterie. But while the origin of this wine bottle sizing – introduced...
Ahhhh, Toscana, bella, bella, bella! The Tuscan hills, a gentle rolling landscape, a white gravel track winding through the vines. Off in a corner a rustic pantiled farmhouse with driveway dotted by needle-like, black cypresses. The sun dipping at the golden hour of...
We’ve all heard of Riesling (pronounced ‘reece-ling’) but what do we really know about this commonly grown variety of grape? It is up there with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc as one of the three cornerstones of so many great white wines. Riesling is grown extensively in...
It’s easy to get stuck in a rut. If variety truly is the spice of life then why do we always order the same dish in the Indian restaurant on a Friday night? Could it be that we are all working so hard and making...
It wasn’t all that long ago that, if you ordered a glass of white wine in a pub you’d be asked whether you wanted dry or medium. This was when gin and tonic was served in dumpy little wine glasses with a single cube...
Meet Manu, OAK N4’s gregarious and super friendly manager. He hails from Macerata in Le Marche, just inland from Ancona on Italy’s Adriatic coast. He left for the United States at the tender age of 19 to train as a commercial airline pilot but somehow...
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