Skerk | Tags | The Morning Claret

5 minute read

Master of the Carso: Sandi Skerk – Ograde 2012

Sandi Skerk must have one of the most idyllically sited vineyards in Friuli, if not the world. Grassed terraces curve gently around the contours of the Carso hills, and lead your eye out towards the Adriatic coast. I’m profoundly happy to be standing by his albarello-pruned Vitovska vines, almost four years to the day after a previous eye-opening visit in 2011. Sandi is of course the same as ever – gentle, rather shy, yet somehow dogmatic and politely forceful when he needs to be.

Giorgio Clai and other winemakers in the Ploder Rosenberg cellars

7 minute read

Seven reasons why I love orange wines

I’m drawn to outsiders – people who dare to be different, who stand out proudly from the crowd. That makes orange wines – and the winemakers who produce them – an easy sell. This is a style that can shock, Read more

Molto passione vino

This week, my favourite mild-mannered winemaking genius Sandi Skerk was in London, at a stellar tasting organised by Italian specialist importer Passione Vino. I’d previously tasted many of the Skerk wines at the vineyard as barrel samples, so it was great to Read more

9 minute read

Rock the Carso (Friuli Part 1)

Friuli-Venezia Giulia is Italy’s most North-Easterly region. Like many European border areas, Friuli has a composite identity made up of Italian, Slovenian and Teutonic cultures. Those borders, which can seem so trivial now (on our visit, we drifted into Slovenia Read more