Italian Classic Wines

Villa Sylvia Pinot Grigio
This dry white wine is pale straw-yellow in colour. The clean, intense aroma and dry flavour with pleasant golden apple aftertaste make this Pinot Grigio a wine of great character and versatility.
12% alc.

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Price: £4.99

Villa Sylvia Merlot
A smooth and velvety red wine with ripe plum and red berry fruit. A versatile, medium bodied Merlot with soft tannins.
12% alc.

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Price: £4.99

Vita Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio 2005
A clean fresh dry white wine from the Veneto region of Italy. An unusual combination of these two favourite grape varieties that gives lots of green, appley flavours with touches of citrus. A great quaffing wine for summer, either on its own or with your salads.

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Price: £5.20

Vita Merlot/Cabernet 2005
A great, all year round wine from the Veneto area of Italy around Verona. It has lots of berry fruit flavours which increase while on the palate. A good value wine for everyday drinking either on its own or with your pizza and pasta dishes.

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Price: £5.20

San Marco Frascati Superiore 2005
One of Italy's most famous whites. A blend of Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes gives the signature crisp dry taste to this good value Frascati Superiore.

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Price: £5.79

Botter Valpolicella 2005
A good example of the famous Veronese wine.This example is a dry lightish cherry red in colour wine that belies the depth of the flavour that hits the taste buds and lingers on the palate.

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Price: £5.40

Botter Casa Vinicola Chianti DOCG 2005
Italy's most famous red wine, Chianti is the classic wine of Tuscany and is made predominantly from the Sangiovese grape. This example has dried fruit, raspberry and black cherry along with that classic rustic feel that is so redolent of the warm Tuscan hills.

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Price: £6.75

Trentino DOC Cabernet Sauvignon 2002
Dark colour with good bouquet. Packed with soft juicy fruit and with a subtle oak framework. Pleasant tannins on the palate giving big mouth-filling finish.

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Price: £6.60

Trentino DOC Sauvignon 2005/6
The colour is a pale green with a golden hue. Wonderful bouquet which just comes at you from the glass, pure gooseberry, very heady. Creamy, weighty palate showing good balance of fruit and acidity. Great finish.

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Price: £6.60

Trentino DOC Pinot Grigio 2005/6
Good colour extract with a distinct vinous bouquet. Palate has good intensity of fruit, which is rich and tight. It has a silky, warm quality and fills the mouth. Finish is both satisfying and long.

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Price: £6.60

La Vigna Chianti 2003
A classic medium weight red wine from the Sangiovese and Canaiolo grapes. It has refined floral and red berry fruits aromas typical of this wine. There is a fullish flavour with elegant tannins and a lasting and finely balanced taste on the palate.

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Price: £6.45

Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico DOC 2002
Recioto is so called because the grapes come from the ears, the recie (from orecchie), those at the outermost of each cluster that receive the maximum sunshine. These berries are hand picked, then dried on mats (sometimes for up to three months) before pressing into musts that can make either sweet (Recioto) or, when the sugar is all converted during fermentation to alcohol, the dry Recioto Amarone, which can be one of Italy’s most distinguished wines.

The Begali is definitely one of the very best! Deeply coloured purple, almost black in intensity, with a strong velvety sweet nose. Raisins and honey come through on the bouquet in addition to the fabulous earthy undertones. This richness and smoothness follows on the palate to linger for a long, long time. Delicious! Full of character this Amarone goes with any rich meal, strong cheese or even the occasional dessert. It also benefits from being allowed to breathe sometimes, if you can resist, a day will show this wine to its best.

Richard Bampfield MW:
Deep colour, showing development. Rich, porty aromas, oozing with spice, cherry, damson and liquorice. Rich, full bodied, superbly balanced and showing deft new oak. Carries the alcohol with ease.

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Price: £27.70

Valpolicella Classico DOC 2003
Valpolicella is produced from the same mix of grapes as Bardolino; Corvina [the most important, between 55 to 70 percent]; Rondinella [25 to 30%] and Molinara [up to 15%] but with more colour, depth, sturdiness and flavour. Classico comes from the heart of this region in North East Italy and always makes the best wines - this is no exception.

A wonderful throwback to ‘old fashioned’ Valpolicella this wine has a good rich depth of brown-red colour with a first class bouquet full of fruit. Hints of cherries, almonds and with a touch of sweetness tease your sense of smell. The palate is positive and direct with all of the above showing well coupled with a medium bodied texture.This wine belies the oft held belief that Valpolicella can only make ‘lightweight’ wine.

Richard Bampfield MW:

Warm, savoury, mildly tarry aromas, hints of black cherries. Lively soft fruit on the palate, cherry tones to the fore. Easy drinking but with enough grip to give good length.

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Price: £8.15

Dorigati Trentino Pinot Grigio DOC 2005
Good extract with superb clarity of colour. A distinct vinous bouquet with rich aromas; very pleasing, with a palate that has great intensity of fruit but is dry, rich and tight. It has a silky quality and is a very elegant wine that exhibits intensity on the palate. Finish is both satisfying and long.

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Price: £10.85

Giacomo Fenocchio Barolo Bussia DOCG 2003
This is one of Italy's classic red wines from a first rate producer. It is a big, powerful wine that will really benefit from at least a day in a decanter before drinking. It has a pale, brick red colour with great 'legs' that indicates some age. The nose is ripe, still with a sweetness of fruit, hint of spices, strawberries backed with almonds: delicate and fine. The palate is lovely and fleshy with the dry leathery texture associated with Nebbiolo. It has the classic meaty, mushroomy characters with a hint of oak and a long finish. This wine still needs time to develop fully and is a great example of Barolo.

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Price: £24.25

Chianti Classico 1999
A brilliant ruby colour with an intense bouquet. Very smooth, cool and silky on palate. Superb structure and harmonious balance of fruit and tannins spreading richly throughout the palate leading to a long, satisfying finish. A very elegant and accomplished wine.

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Price: £13.70

La Lastra Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2003
In addition to its fine Chianti, Siena also produces this fine DOCG wine from the Vernaccia grape, another indigenous variety. Siena's countryside can be starkly barren in winter but come spring it's vineyards and olive groves transform into a verdant paradise.

This wine has a pale golden colour with good long 'legs'. A citrus-lemony, cinnamon-like spiciness perfumes the bouquet. There are also hints of clove and almond. The palate is dry, full-bodied with the nuttiness showing alongside a cidery-like texture. It has good acidity and a clean fresh finish. Excellent value for money.

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Price: £9.50

La Lastra Chianti Colli Senesi 2003
This is an amazing wine, one wine maker (who was making a similar wine) on trying this wine could not believe the power and concentration emanating from the glass. The answer, of course, lies in very low yields that Nadia Betti expects (typically 50/60% of permitted levels) and an almost fanatical desire to make mind-blowing wines. Youthful colour, sweet subtle citric bouquet. Really big on intake, masses of sweet fruit, almost jammy in taste and texture, tannins giving good balance. The concentration of this wine fills the mouth. Lovely long finish. Brilliant!

Richard Bampfield MW:

Aromas somewhat closed, but palate is starting to emerge, with ripe, mouth filling fruit and a lovely supple texture. Beginning to drink well, has the structure still to improve.

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Price: £9.00

Michelle Satta Cavaliere 2000
RRP £23.00 - £25.00
£59.50 in Cecconis Restaurant in London

The Michele Satta Cavaliere is a modern classic. 100% Sangiovese, it exudes heavenly aromas of figs, dates, cinnamon, chocolate, tobacco and leather. Just when you think you've got it worked out, you take another sniff and another incredible nuance reveals itself - the whole way from the first glass to the last.

It is extraordinarily approachable and voluptuous, dancing in the glass and filling your senses like many Chiantis would never be able to do - unmistakeably Italian, this is astonishingly good wine, even at the top price.

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Price: £12.25

Conte Zandotti Frascati Superiore 2005
One of the top producers of this classic wine from Lazio. Soft, nutty aromas, fresh and appealing. Dry and refreshing, with a pronounced minerally character expressing itself. Soft fruit on the palate with well balanced acidity leads to a lingering finish.

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Price: £8.45

Smithfield Wine Shop | Classic Collection | Italian Classic Wines