Italian heavyweights

In Notes from the IMW AGM I outlined the structure of the Istituto del Vino Italiano di Qualità – Grandi Marchi, Italy's six-year-old group of 17 top producers. They were in London earlier this month to present some of their wines at a tasting to celebrate their new sponsorship of the Institute of Masters of Wine.

I must say that I really, really enjoyed this tasting. In the UK (in stark contrast to the US and German-speaking countries) we don't see nearly enough of Italy's best wines, however hard the likes of the UK importers who take a particular interest...