The Morning Claret

Simon J Woolf & Friends on Wild and Wonderful Wines

italy

Giulio Armani (Denavolo) pours a glass. Photo (C) Simon J Woolf
9 minute read

Orange couture – a Denavolo vertical

The story of an incredible and unexpected lunch which took in a complete summary of Guilio Armani’s Denavolo wines.
Originally published as “Dina is served” in Noble Rot issue 29.

Valentina Passalacqua insta shot
27 minute read

Valentina Passalacqua – an inconvenient truth?

The arrest of Valentina Passalacqua’s father, on charges of using illegal labour gangs (caporalato) has shocked the natural wine world – who were previously in love with Valentina and her wines. Simon J Woolf investigates and sets out the background and the context for this challenging affair.

Casè labels
3 minute read

Cosi Casè – a capricious Malvasia di Candia

Every week, Simon selects an orange wine (a white wine made with extended skin contact) that grabbed his attention. View the whole series here. When I first discovered the macerated monolith that is La Stoppa’s Ageno, I made the assumption that it was Read more

Vodopivec Vitovska 2014
4 minute read

Vodopivec, a perfect expression of Vitovska

“The first problem for wine producers is not oedium, it’s ego”, states Paolo Vodopivec disarmingly. He concludes “I don’t want my ego in my wines”. Simon discoves what this means, and why Vodopivec hates being associated with the orange wine scene.

Paola Riccio from Alepa
7 minute read

Italy’s new wave of natural wine fairs

If like me you have a deep-seated passion for all things amber-hued, and consecrated to the Great Mother of Unholy Macerations, you surely know of the major natural wine fairs in Italy and you may have been a more or Read more

Skerlj Vitovska
4 minute read

Matej Skerlj shows the elegance of Vitovska

The wonderful skin macerated Vitovska from Skerlj isn’t just a great wine, it’s also a demonstration of how different this region is from its Friuli-Venezia-Giulia neighbours.