The shop isn’t just a benchmark for wine sales. It’s also a top resource for great wine writing.
Berry Brothers and Rudd. Every heard of it? It’s the leading wine merchant of the British Kingdom. And it’s also Bele Casel’s importer in England.
We visited with the outfit’s Italian buyer, David Berry Green, this year at Vinitaly, the annual wine trade fair held in Verona. He tasted through our new releases with his staff. And here’s what he wrote last week on the shop’s web site and online portal.
We are the biggest fans of David and his honest approach to wine writing. And he’s probably the best taster we’ve ever tasted with. He’s also a super nice guy, btw!
Here’s what he had to say about this year’s releases from Bele Casel:
“Among the Asolo hills, Prosecco producers Bele Casel were also ‘burnt’ by April 2017’s frost, reducing their yield by up to 20%. That’s not as bad as the 30% lost to the frost by the 600 million bottle Prosecco market, mostly to plantings on the plains! Unbowed, Bele Casel’s Ferraro family continues to focus on high quality, organic Glera, Manzoni, Bianchetta, Perera, Boschera & Rabbiosa grapes from the hilly Asolo villages of Cornuda, Maser & Monfumo (hit hard in 2017 alas). Their new Extra Brut (4 grams RS) continues the trend for drier Prosecco, even among the US market. While later this year/early next, they will be releasing two new wines: Asolo Prosecco Colfondo ‘Quindici’, a special, vintage bottling & label that celebrates the pretty cassis fruit of the successful 2015 vintage. And then there’s ‘Uve Vecchie’, a (2017) Asolo Prosecco that blends the above 6 ancient Prosecco varieties from across their 10 hectares, which has been aged for 12 months in tank… a dry wine that sings of prati del montagne/mountain meadows!”
From the Wikipedia entry on the shop:
“Berry Bros. & Rudd (founded 1698) has been the official wine supplier to the British Royal Family since the reign of King George III and received its first Royal Warrant of Appointment in 1903 from King Edward VII. Queen Elizabeth II granted the company her royal warrant in 1995, while Charles, Prince of Wales granted it his in 1998.”
