My Little Corner of Tuscany

Wine and travel expert Julien Yung Mameaux on the joys of Italy's most fashionable wines

A New Identity

Since borrowing inspiration from Southwestern France, Super Tuscan wines have emancipated themselves and established their own identity in a short period of time. One may argue that they take the best of both worlds - Bordeaux and Tuscany. Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, in Mouton-Rothschild fashion, granted the artist Michelangelo Pistoletto the right to design exclusive bottles for their 25th anniversary – the 2009 vintage. When I tasted the Ornellaia 2009 (97 points by Robert Parker Jr.) at the property, my palate was stimulated by delicate notes of spices, leather and tannins balanced with sumptuous red berries flavours, as crafted by winemaker Axel Heinz. Despite a trend in limiting oak maturation, Super Tuscans have a long ageing potential, for fruits ripen in ideal conditions with Mediterranean air under the Tuscan sun.

There, in pure Italian style, wine is art. The beautiful Ca’Marcanda estate of the Gaja family, otherwise famous for transcending Barbaresco into one of Italy’s noblest wines, is a little heaven where wood and steel artworks blend perfectly with the various rooms of the winery, itself concealed behind a flowery garden. It's delicious, dark colored and very precise Ca’Marcanda wine with blackcurrant and mint flavours is a personal favorite. And it is best enjoyed over an al fresco lunch in the medieval hamlet of Bolgheri, hidden behind a gate at the very end of the Cypress Avenue. There it is, full of harmony, my little corner of Tuscany.

Taste the finest Italian wines in Italy with Julien Yung Mameaux over an exceptional golf and wine holiday. Contact Julien, in charge of The Experience Company (www.TheExCo.com) at +852 2179 3307 or Contact@TheExCo.com. A special treat is reserved for HKGolfer readers.

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