A friend that likes whine but still doesn't understand what his palate is, asked me to help him shop. I feel like we did a good job (we are based in Italy)

The Barolo 2021:
By chatting with producers they say that this vintage is on par with 2016, some say even better.
Most Barolos were very enjoyable out of the gate. And even the 30€ ones were great.

Timorasso:
Incredible wines all great from the bottom end to the single vineyards. Incredible consistency and developing tertiary aromas even after a few years. My GOAT for this year.

Alta Langa sparkling:
Great potential and great consistency among producers. All very good, edging great for aged examples. The vibe was creaminess and power.

Friuli and White blends:
1 in 4 producers have a white blend as they are hard to market but what I had was very good and very affordable. Great value region.
The wines are complex and layered. Some are too oaky but that's fine.

Campania whites:
Quality is inconsistent and most of the Fiano tasted the same. Selected yeast ruins the party IMO. I found only 2 good producers for whites.

Vinitaly report:
Managed to check out about half of what I had planned, but that's life.

Oltrepó Pavese: quality is consistent and value is great.
If you want a mineral driven sparkling here you find it.
Also some lovely surprises.
Lots of "very good" but few greats.

I'll be attending Vinitaly 2025 on Sunday, I have a schedule of what I want to try.
But if someone is curious about a producers, grape variety, region. I can gladly report back my thoughts.

2/2

Wine Fair season is back.
This one focused on North East Italy. These are the standouts in the ~70 wines I tasted. 1/2

I might be ~5 years too late.
It smells of fresh mushrooms, dried roses and dried cranberries. But leaning more on the tertiary.
Some VA but non overbearing and after some time to open up, a pretty distinct blueberry jam aroma.
Still good acidity and lots of soft tannin, great length.

Last night's bottles.
Fuoripista is one of the best representation of Pinot grigio (forgot to take a picture of the bottle).
Champagne was good but not great.
Zanchi is a powerful barrel fermented trebbiano which is very unique (delicious).
Not an Amarone guy but I can't deny the amazing quality.

Starting to get more into natural wines, I personally love the level of exploration some producers are doing.

This is a good example. A bit short on the finish, but great texture and aroma. Plus it's just looks pretty.

Finally some good red burgundy for the price, I guess you just need to go to the south.
This had pretty fruit, earthy minerality, and good structure.
Also fermented with native yeast and unfiltered, bought it for 30€.
Worth it.

This is becoming my whole identity

Last night dinner with my somm association. Plus the Riesling I brought. Good stuff.

The number of times I had champagne without the proper glass keeps rising.

In a world where the only way to find affordable old wine is auction sites. Go for Riesling, great with age and resilient.
Can't wait to pop these ones open.

Since I see there isn't much wine content on this site yet. I'll start posting some.