blog posts
The Winesleuth and Riccardo
Denise Medrano, aka the winesleuth, just published her latest review. The story also describe her recent trip to Veneto and visit to our vinery!
At the recent 2011 Taste of London wine awards, Riccardo Prosecco was awarded the Taste of Summer wine award. It was a tough competition, over 80 wines were blind tasted one early Wednesday morning and after much discussion and to-ing and fro-ing, Riccardo Prosecco won the day. Riccardo was up against some tough competitors but at the end of the day we decided it would indeed be the wine that was most emblematic of the Taste of Summer.
As I recall, I found them to be quite substantial wines, not just your run of the mill, slightly sweet, fizzy white wines. These were proseccos with a backbone, wines that were not just for aperitivo-quaffing but could also be enjoyed with a meal.I liked the wines but never really ran across them again and filed the name away. That is until this past April when I found myself on a holiday in the Veneto region. The Veneto is just a hop,skip, and a jump away from the prosecco producing region of Treviso so I hopped on a train and an hour and a half later, I was at the foot of steep hills of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG, chatting with Roberto Fornasier, the son of one of the brothers who own Riccardo Prosecco…… /….. One of the most important things that Riccardo stresses is that they know where all their grapes come from, something that is not always true in the prosecco growing region. Riccardo have a traceability certification which means they know where all their grapes come from, the farmers, the land, what’s used on the vines, etc.
Read full review here
Pics are courtesy of thewinesleuth
Ms Gourmet Chick at Taste of London
We are always very happy to receive and publish Riccardo’s friends reviews: here is Ms Gourmet Chick’s note on Taste of London 2011.
Sadly Taste of London was a total wash out. Even though I attended on the one day which it did not actually bucket down rain the ground underfoot was reminiscent of the sort of mud bath you experience at Glastonbury. Wellies were very much the order of the day. … /… Besides trying new food and restaurants I also couldn’t resist a few old favourites. Bocca di Lupo’s shaved radish and celeraic salad (£3) is legendary for good reason. The salad featured a generous amount of earthy truffle and refreshing pops of sweet pomegranate. It was a bargain price for exactly the same dish which you pay £12 for at the restaurant itself. … /…I also searched out the Prosecco Riccardo stand for a prosecco I discovered at a supper club last year and which I was pleased to hear had won the taste of summer wine award at Taste of London. A glass (£5) was just as good as I remembered.
Read more here
“I’d much rather drink a good Prosecco that a bad champagne”
This is a Taste of London review by Helen Hill (aka: glamgirlgonegourmet):
Then we hit the wine jackpot – Prosecco tasting. Prosecco has a bit of a reputation as a poor man’s champagne, but it’s totally different and I’d much rather drink a good Prosecco that a bad champagne. We had seven sip tastings, five ‘normal’ Prosecco and two rose Prosecco (apparently illegal in Italy!) and then a glass of our favourite. Trying to remember which was our favourite at the end was a little taxing, but we really liked the DOC, even though the Prosecco Riccardo DOCG won the Taste of Summer Wine at the Festival’s food awards this year. Here are the UK seller (in the fetching yellow jumper – very knowledgeable) and the son of the producer (Italian, totally fed up with the British weather) with said award.
Read more and follow Helen here
“A superb, crowd pleasing bubbly” by The Wine Tipster
This is The Wine Tipster‘s latest review for Taste of London 2011:
On Wednesday night at the VIP Taste of London Secret Garden party we announced the winners of the inaugural Best in Taste Wine Awards sponsored by Blue Tomato magazine.
This competition was open to all the wine exhibitors and producers at Taste of London. We decided on three fun wine categories for the awards: Taste of Summer Wine, Foodies Wine and Indulgence Wine. I enlisted the help of Mickey Narea, sommelier at Launceston Place, Denise Medrano, The Wine Sleuth, and Roberto Della Pietra, sommelier at Gauthier Soho for the judging.
In order to taste the 80 wines entered, we set aside three hours for our blind tasting – this is the correct way to judge wines by covering up the labels. Each of the wines were then marked out of 20. We agreed on a shortlist of three wines per category. Our Foodies Wine Award shortlist revealed diversity, with Pizzato Concentus 2005 – a Brazilian red made from Cabernet Sauvignon Tannat and Merlot – gaining a place (Stand: Go Brazil); whilst a silky, smooth red from Portugal namedZimbro Douro 2006 made it to the Taste of Summer Wine Award shortlist. The Reserva Malbec 2008, Norton Argentina (Stand: Berkmann Wines) was a contender for the Indulgence Wine Award.
The trophy winners were:
Taste of Summer Wine Award - Prosecco Riccardo DOCG, Italy. Stand: Harmonicande Vintners. A superb, crowd pleasing bubbly.
Foodies Wine Award - Gran Feudo Edición Chardonnay 2008, Bodegas Chivite, Spain. Stand: Chivite. Classy, well structured, perfect for a foodie match.
Indulgence Wine Award - Felsina Vin Santo 2001, Italy. Stand:Design Wine. Delicate, exotic with balanced sweetness.
Make sure you taste all the winning wines at the show – they can be found in the Taste Wine Wine Village, except for the Reserva Malbec from Norton, which is featured on the Berkmann Wines stand. Keep looking out for more wine recommendations during the event.
Today is the last day of Taste of London: we are special guest of Harmonicande Vintners Ltd, stand W2 of Wine Boutique. Come and taste our award winning Prosecco.
Cartizze Riccardo & My Wine Friend iTunes application
A while ago Miss Bouquet, a friend of Prosecco Riccardo, asked for a few high resolution pictures of our Cartizze DOCG bottle.
Few months later she uncovered the mistery and told us she was working on a new Wine application on iTunes called “My Wine Friend”!
My Wine Friend by Miss Bouquet is the iPhone wine app that helps you become your own wine expert! If you enjoy wine but find it hard to get to grips with what you like, remember what you’ve enjoyed or confess ‘I’m no wine expert’ when faced with a wine list then My Wine Friend is for you.
My Wine Friend has been released on 8th June 2011 and you can download it here
Riccardo DOCG wins the Taste of Summer Wine Award!
During last night Taste of London Preview Gala, Prosecco Riccardo DOCG has been declared winner of Taste of Summer Wine Award!
The panel of sommeliers and specialists headed by Neil Philips decided that Riccardo DOCG Extra Dry is the “ultimate wine to be drinking this summer!”
This is a wonderful and gratifying news. Neil Philips team’s verdict riconfirms the hard work Azienda Riccardo has been doing creating high quality Prosecco DOC and DOCG with Food Chain Traceability. We firmly believe consumers deserve information and transparency when choosing our products.
Thanks Taste of London! Thanks Harmonicande!
You will find us in London during Taste of London (stand W2 Wine Boutique)
Enjoy Prosecco Riccardo this summer!
Best in Taste Wine Awards
On Sunday Taste of London has announced an impressive shorlist of wines for its first ever Best in Taste Wine Awards.
A panel of established sommeliers and specialists including Mickey Narea (sommelier at Launceston Place), Roberto Della Pietra (sommelier at Gauthier Soho), Denise Medrano (The Wine Sleuth) and Neil Phillips (Taste of London Wine Ambassador) have tasted over 75 wines in a series of blind tastings.
Neil Philips, will be announcing the results on Thursday 15th June during the Taste of London Preview Night.
“The inaugural Best in Taste Wine Awards attracted a wonderful array of wines from all corners of the world, representing many different varieties and styles. It was a very tough call on all fronts as the quality was so high, but we managed to whittle entries down to three real taste bud tantalisers as the contenders for each prize.”
The shortlisted wines for the three categories are as follows:
Taste of Summer Wine Award
The ultimate wine to be drinking this summer
- Berberana Seleccion Oro Rose 2010, Spain
- Prosecco Riccardo DOCG, Italy
- Zimbro Douro Tinto 2006, Portugal
Foodies Wine Award
Wines which demonstrate the structure, flavour and textural qualities for great food-matching
- Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes, Domaine Roux 2008, France
- Gran Feudo Edición Chardonnay 2008, Bodegas Chivite, Spain
- Pizzato Concentus 2005, Brazil
Indulgence Wine Award
Wines which are a luxurious treat for the palate
- Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle, France
- Fèlsina Vin Santo 2001, Italy
- Reserva Malbec, Bodegas Norton 2008, Argentina
We are proud to be running for the Taste of Summer Wine Award with Riccardo Prosecco DOCG and woud like to thanks Harmonicande Vintners for the help and support offered.
Read more here
Prosecco Riccardo @ Taste of London 2011!!!
On June 16 – 19, Azienda Riccardo will be in Regent’s Park for the 2011 edition of Taste of London, a four days of summer eating, drinking and entertainment.
Regent’s Park will be hosting 40 plus of the city’s best restaurants, while 200 producers will provide the best in food and beverages, ensuring that guests sample and shop from a range of products in the laid back atmosphere of a boutique food market.
Come and join us to experience Riccardo’s high quality and certified DOC and DOCG Prosecco range!
Girowine mentioning Riccardo
Girowine is the latest great idea of Juel Mahoney from winewomansong offering cyclist lovers the opportunity to follow the “Giro d’Italia” while reading reviews of wines and winemakers discovered along the areas touched by the tour.
We are delighted Juel mentioned Prosecco and Prosecco Riccardo when writing about “Day 17: Feltre -> Tirano”:
Today’s race starts in Feltre, which is in the Veneto region, and is also known as the gateway to the Dolomites mountains. Thirty minutes by car from Feltre is a region that is home to one of the most popular sparkling wines in the world: Prosecco.
Read more here
Last few stages of the Tour: the finish line is this Sunday in Milan.
Keep following Juel and have a Riccardo ready to celebrate the arrival of your champion!
Cheers
Riccardo’s latest big news!
