It can be a blessing and a curse for a wine country to gain mass popularity for one style of wine. Like an actor famous for their hilarious performances that dares to lead in a drama, they will be judged all the harder for trying to break the mould.
Italy is one such wine country; think Chianti, Pinot Grigio and now Prosecco. It has reinvented itself successfully several times but rarely succeeded in commanding top shelf pricing for what become commodity wines. The trouble with Prosecco, their most recent hit, is that it has become so successful it has changed the dynamics of the entire sparkling wine category: it has taught us all that bubbles are now affordable and paying much more than a tenner for those from Italy is not really necessary.
Libiamo is a new e-wine club that aims to break this mould with some of ‘the rarest, most outstanding Italian wines’, including of course sparkling ones, a case of which they kindly sent me to try to get me in the mood for Valentine’s Day. The bar was set high: the wines were beautifully and robustly packaged, included a seductively printed set of info cards on the wines, had a price tag of £99 and a promise of being outstanding. But my hopes were dashed. The Bollicine Smart selection was indeed smart but at over £15 a piece the wines didn’t shine above their main high street competitor. They weren’t Prosecco so perhaps the comparison isn’t fair but to knock down a giant like that whilst commanding higher prices is a battle I doubt Libiamo is going to win. After a bit of research I start to wonder if I was dealt the short straw because I read a lovely review of some of their red wines from a wino friend who raved about them. So for balance do have a look here. But for now if you’re looking to find romance this weekend let the fizz out gently and open a bottle of red.
