In late June I was contacted by the woman responsible for promoting the sparkling wines of Trentino, known as TrentoDoc. (For some admirably thorough background to this wine, see Walter on Trento – Italy's overlooked fizz.) She asked, 'Do you think it will be possible to send you some samples?'
I said I'd certainly be interested but, mindful of the amount of time, preparation and post-tasting organisation required when tasting fizz (chilling, opening the bottles, preserving open bottles), I suggested that she send the samples to our Languedoc address. I reckoned that during our long summer stay there, I...