As a Francophile and French part time resident I make no apologies that the majority of my wine drinking is based on French wines. My time with Jeff Coutelou clearly bolsters this with his wines making up a good portion of the bottles I have in all shapes and sizes. However, I do try to expand my experience and visits to Sicily and Spain, as well as tastings with winemakers from around the world, encourage me to discover wines and grapes from outside the Hexagon.

March, as you can see from the photo saw a focus on Portugal and Italy. The latter was purely coincidental, I hadn’t realised how many Italian wines I had opened. Portugal was much more by design. A few years ago I was delighted to be able to support the excellent wine writer Simon Woolf with his Kickstarter project for his Amber Wine book. He is a really good writer and enthusiast, the book a delight. His new project with Ryan Opaz is about Portugal and I mentioned to Simon that on my visit there a couple of years ago it was difficult to find many organic or natural wines. Simon gave me a list of producers and I was able to order some wines from Bar Douro in London. Their new Kickstarter project has been a huge success so I am eager to read the book.

Italian reds first. I’m a big fan of Sicilian wines since my visit in 2013 and Arianna Occhipinti‘s wines are amongst the best. Her SP68 red and white are widely available and well worth buying. Nero D’Avola and Frappato grapes in the red version, fragrant aromas and lovely soft cherry and red fruits, Frappato so often adds roundness and sweet fruit. The Nebbiolo was disappointing. I remember having a Langhe Nebbiolo in Valvona and Crolla in Edinburgh many years ago and really liking. I have tried a few since and never found one so good. It is Burgundy pinot like in so many ways and finding the good ones seems to be just as difficult. The Valpolicella Ripasso was better without exciting me. The grapes are dried before being made into wine and this was sour cherry and classic Italian red flavours. Good but I wasn’t convinced. Much better was the Bera Le Varrane 2017. Barbera grapes from 50 year old vines in Piedmont made naturally and aged for two years on lees produce a rich, fruit packed wine with soft tannins. Lovely wine, I will certainly seek out more.

On to Portugal. Filipa Pato was one of the names Simon provided and this Dinamico 2018 red was good. 100% Baga grapes from the Bairrada region the name may reflect the biodynamic winemaking. It was certainly full of life, fresh and fruity with a nice solid structure I should maybe have kept it a while longer but it was enjoyable now. The Folias de Baco Uivo Renegado 2019 was even better. Natural wine made from a field blend of up to 25 different grape varieties. I love field blends especially when they have a mix of red and white grapes. Often looking like a dark rosé they often produce soft, very drinkable wines with good acidity. Well, this one certainly does. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I love the grapes being names I know not at all such as Viosinho and Gouveio. To me this is a true USP for Portugal as the wine world regularly seeks out the different . Lovely.

Best of the reds though was from Battliu de Sort in the Costers del Segre region. I had heard good things about the producer based in the same region as one of my favourite producers, Casa Pardet. Pinot Noir from vines high in the mountains. The result is fresh, light but fruity Pinot, as good as many much more expensive Burgundy wines. Confirmation that Alsace, Germany and now Spain are going to be the bulk of my Pinot purchases. This Nero de Sort 2018 was delicious.

Herdade do Rocim ‘Fresh from Amphora’ 2019 is made from organic grapes fermented in clay pots for two months. Fresh and very drinkable, I didn’t find the texture I was expecting from skin contact wine. it was certainly clean and zingy. One of the things I love about Portuguese and Italian wines is the treasure trove of grape varieties, often unique. This was from Perrum, Rabo de Ovelha and Mantuedo. No, me neither. The next Portuguese white was Aphros Loureiro 2018. Loureiro is the grape produced here through biodynamics with low sulphites. Pleasant enough, clean and fresh without exciting me too much. Back to Filipa Pato this time FP Branco 2018. Bical and Arinto grapes, this is also produced biodynamically but was more yellow coloured and fuller, rounder than the Aphros with more mouthfeel. Very nice.

Sicily again and a winery I like a lot in Ciello, Baglio Catarrato Antico 2019. An orange wine, subtly done. I saw this described as an introduction to orange wines and I understand that description, the skin contact evident but not powerful. Very fruity, very enjoyable.

I tasted two Chenin Blancs together, a classic Anjou version, Chateau Pierre Bise 2018 and South African Testalonga’s Stay Brave 2019. The Anjou was conventional, clean and had the classic Loire Chenin flavours of dry, appley fruit with a hint of sweetness on the finish. Pleasant enough. Testalonga’s was drier, with more spice and fruit. I have praised Testalonga many times, another success here and the one I would buy again for sure.

On the subject of classic French dry white wines with a hint of sweetness, another of my favourite regions in Jurancon. I loved this, Lapeyre Evidencia 2018, a blend of Gros and Petit Manseng and Courbu all aged in large oak vats. Fresh, full of peach and apple and a slight sweet tang but clean and refreshing. A definite one to buy again, very well made and delicious. Indeed, this would have been my wine of the month but for….

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OK, I am biased. But Jeff Coutelou’s Macabeu 2017 is amazing. The Macabeu ( also known as Macabeo and Viura in Spain where it is widely grown) is from Peilhan vineyard. Jeff was so pleased with the 2017 grapes that he put them into a second hand barrel and left it there for two years. We tasted it in 2019 (the photo top left shows Jeff taking a sample from the barrel) and it was really singing, round and full, the barrel adding creaminess and the merest hint of wood which filled out the wine. I am not a great fan of oak but when it is subtle there is no doubt that it does boost a wine, concentrating its flavours. Spice, fruit. freshness. The flavours lingering long. One of the best wines I have tasted from Jeff’s and I have been very fortunate to drink many great wines there.