Who better than the UK’s top wine expert, William Sitwell, to help you choose the best wines for your summer? Discover his recommendations, brilliant tasting notes and food pairings...
“I’m so excited to share some of my favourite, easy-drinking and great-value Italian wines. My summer selection, made especially for Sacla, includes great wines for refreshing sipping on their own, some wonderful Italian fizz and bottles that will suit a variety of occasions, whether it’s a casual supper or you need a gift for a friend. Happy Sipping!”
Portenova Pinot Grigio 2021
“Dry, elegant and fresh, here’s a wonderful aperitif wine. A perfect fridge white with a screwcap for emergency access.
This 100 per cent Pinot Grigio is a white wine made in the Veneto region of Italy. The producer, Sacchetto, was founded in the early 1900s and the business is still in the family. Fermented at cool temperature it retains its delicate fruit character and has the scent of acacia flowers and almonds. There’s a note of fresh apple on the palate and it’s a crisp, dry white. Just the way I like it! Great sipping on its own, or fab with fish and light chicken dishes.”
Buy Portenova Pinot Grigio 2021
Primivito di Salento Organic Doppio Passo 2021
“A full-bodied, fruity red that longs for pasta with a hint of spice or a chunk of pecorino cheese.
The best wines from the Primitivo grape are intense and aromatic with hints of blackberry and chocolate, and here’s a classic example. The grapes grow on the Salento peninsula of Puglia where the summer climate is hot with cool night-time breezes. This produces a concentrated red, quite high in alcohol, but with soft tannins. That’s a great structure if you need a red wine for beef, game or spicy pasta. Which is a need I have.”
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Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva Tor Del Colle 2019
“A classic Montepulciano for your rack. Like a benevolent bachelor uncle, it’s round, rich and ripe.
From the east coast region of Abruzzo this wine is made by a third-generation family responsible today for wines made in some of the country’s finest regions. It has 24 months of ageing, nine of which are in oak casks, which lends the wine a slightly spicy character. It’s a rich sip, it’s a bottle that will benefit from further ageing but crack it open now for a good bolognaise or a Sunday roast and your life will be all the better for it.”
Buy Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva Tor Del Colle 2019
Contrade Bellusa, Nero d'Avola, Sicilia DOC Organic 2021
“A smooth and sophisticated Sicilian sip for seriously suave, sensation-seeking slick senori or senorita.
Within this bottle, with its gloriously funky label, is a classic red wine from Sicily – made with Nero D’Avola. It’s a high-quality wine, grown on organic vineyards, medium-bodied and with great balance. It’s rich and ruby red in colour, brims with ripeness and is a useful wine as it’s a pretty good match for anything you might rustle up mid-week in the kitchen. Gluggable and loveable, reliable and useful; it’s the wine we’re all trying be like.”
Buy Contrade Bellusa, Nero d'Avola, Sicilia DOC Organic 2021
Chiaretto di Bardolino Rosato, Gorgo Organic 2022
“Elegant and versatile. If you need a rosé, and, trust me, you need a rosé, then you need this rosé.
This cleverly produced rosé is a marvellous blend of three Italian grapes: Corvina (65%), Rondinella (30%) and Molinara (5%). Unlike most rosés it’s been aged on the lees (the grape sediment) which lends it a minerally elegance. It’s fresh and floral and dry, is raved about by the wine expert Jancis Robinson, and it deserves to be nicely chilled and poured into a glass near you.”
Buy Chiaretto di Bardolino Rosato, Gorgo Organic 2022
Prosecco Extra Dry Portenova NV
“Clean, fruity and aromatic, it’s the Prosecco other lesser Proseccos wish they could be.
Produced from the classic Prosecco grape, glera, this is an extra-dry sparkling that lends it a seriously impressive, ‘Gosh that really is rather good’ character. From the Veneto region, where it is horribly fashionable and famed for its handsome label, it’s a pale and delicate drink, with a fine mousse and a scent of flowers and honey. It’s light, well-balanced and, quite frankly, one of the best Proseccos out there.”
Buy Prosecco Extra Dry Portenova NV
Head to William Sitwell's Italian Wine Selection and discover our wider range of Italian Wines for every occasion.