Salute! It’s an all-Italian offer this week thanks to our fratelli nel vino at Honest Grapes, whose speciality that great country is. We could, of course, offer nothing but Italian wines all year and still not cover every region and every grape variety but we’ve done our very best on this occasion to give as fine a glimpse as possible of the vinous treasures that Italy possesses by featuring as many different producers, regions and grape varieties/blends as possible. It wasn’t easy whittling them down and a lot of bottles were broached to get the mix just right. Don’t say we don’t love you.

As so often, I was helped – in a manner of speaking – by the perennially unquenchable Mrs Ray. I thought she’d already nipped out to see her sister and had forgotten to say goodbye. The first pop of a cork, though, and there she was glass in hand. It’s extraordinary what my wife’s hearing does and – all too often – doesn’t pick up. It’s remarkably selective. “Where’s the bloody car key?” yelled at full, Regimental Sergeant Major Brittain, volume she’ll somehow miss. The mouse-like squeak of a turning corkscrew she can hear from two floors up. It must be on some special frequency. Funny that.

We start with the 2022 Conte di Alari Gavi Di Gavi (1) from Piedmont, in Italy’s far northwest. Owned by the Moccagatta family for over fifty years, Villa Sparina is celebrated both as a wine resort (it boasts a very swanky hotel just an hour’s drive from Genoa) and a wine producer and was Wine Enthusiast’s 2021 European Winery of the Year. Conte di Alari is the estate’s second label and this appropriately well-priced, 100 per cent Cortese, is fresh, light, elegant and appetisingly citrusy, making a brilliant, uncomplicated aperitif. £14 down from £15.

The 2022 Corte Adami Cimalta Soave Classico (2) from Angelo Adami and his four children – longtime grape growers who set up as winemakers in 2004 – using fruit from their Castelcerino vineyard in the Soave Classico region of the Veneto, in Italy’s northeast, is made entirely from Garganega. The wine is steel fermented for freshness and spends time on the lees for weight and texture. The result is beautifully textured – soft, smooth and enticing, full of wildflowers and ripe stone fruit. £15 down from £16.

The 2021 Donnachiara Alethea Greco di Tufo Riserva (3) was the wine Mrs Ray cannily snaffled for supper with her sister, but I made sure to grab a mighty gulp before it was ripped away. Made from Greco Bianco in Avellino, Campania, southern Italy, by lawyer-turned-winemaker Ilaria Pettito and oenologist Riccardo Cotarella, it’s full and weighty, with a deliciously complex mix of fruit – apple/ginger one minute, lemon/lime the next – and a long, long finish. Only 250 cases made. £23.50 down from £24.50.

The 2022 San Giorgio a Lapi, Chianti Colli Senesi (4) from the Simoni family in Castelnuovo Berardenga, Tuscany, is a Sangiovese-based blend of simple, undemanding charm. Pale cherry red, it’s fresh, light and easy-going with teasing, slightly spicy, cherry fruit and fine acidity. I really enjoyed it and enjoyed the price too. £12.80 down from £13.80.

The 2020 Anna Maria Abbona Dogliani Sori Dij But (5) is 100 per cent Dolcetto from Cuneo, Piedmont, due north of Monaco. A deep plum red that pales at the edges, it’s nothing if not expressive on the nose with a heady mix of violets and freshly cut roses. In the mouth, it’s all crunchy, juicy red/dark fruit with the softest of tannins. £15.50 down from £16.50.

Finally, the 2021 La Giaretta Valpolicella Ripasso Classico Superiore (6) from the Veneto, a blend of Corvina plus splashes of Molinara and Rondinella. A typical Ripasso (double-fermented and aged in oak), it’s right up my street being high in alcohol and high in flavour and full of sweet, spicy plum fruit and touches of vanilla. Mrs Ray had left by the time I got to it, and it was her loss. I all but drained the bottle alongside my homemade meatballs and mash and felt very pleased with life. £22.50 down from £23.50.

The mixed case contains two bottles of each wine and delivery, as ever, is free.
Jonathan Ray, The Spectator Wine Club