My Achilles Heel

by Garry Clark

 I have an Achilles heel when it comes to wine. I not ashamed to admit it, but I just cant seem to get to grips with Italy. Ive tried, a bit, to get to know it, to love their wines, but with few exceptions it just isn’t happening. I get confused – take Montepulciano as an example. It is a grape grown quite widely in Abruzzo. It is also a village in Tuscany that is famous for its Nobile wines made from Sangiovese. It also doesn’t help when you have regions like Tuscany where the “law” says you must make wines from Sangiovese, but  most of the tuscan reds are made with Cabernet and Merlot. So I need a strategy to get to grips with it. Ive just bought Nicholas Belfrages Finest Wines of Tuscany, and will start to read that. Im trying to track a copy of Burton Andersons Wine Atlas of Italy, but cant find one under £200. Steve DeLong has a wine map of Italy coming out soon, which if its anything like his map of Spain, will be an immense help. But I think to truly immerse myself in the wines of Italy, Im going to have to visit the country, get out there and see for myself. So now all I have to do is persuade the wife that it would make a good family holiday next year!!