RAISE A GLASS

I LOVE it when an invisible umbilical cord connects me and the glass of wine I’m holding to its beginnings.

It’s a link from the vineyard and the winemaker to the liquid in my hand.

I had such a moment in a video call with Andrea Cecchi, from Famiglia Cecchi. He’s the fourth generation of the Tuscan wine-making family. He showed me a picture of vineyards and the winery at Val delle Rose in the Maremma region, about 15 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast.

We were tasting Val delle

Rose 2019 Vermentino Litorale (£12.99, noblegrape. co.uk). The wine is named after the Litorale vineyard in which the vermentino grapes grow. Litorale is Italian for coastline.

As I looked at the picture, I spotted the Litorale vineyard in the top corner. The vines clustered into a shape like a building with a roof. The home of the wine I held in my hand. I just love that kind of thing. Andrea enthusiastically described his wine. “An intense bouquet,” he said, “with a nice aroma of peach, apricot and some exotic fruit.”

He loved its freshness, its acidity and touch of minerality due, he said, to the coastal winds and local soils. We also shared red wines and I loved Villa Cerna Primocolle Chianti Classico DOCG 2016 (£14.99, noblegrape.co.uk, oxfordwine.co.uk).

Sangiovese makes up most of the blend. It’s an authentic chianti classico, explained Andrea. He added: “This is a very typical taste of sangiovese, with cherry, violet, iris. We have a hint of barrel ageing, but we want this wine to be prominently about the fruit of sangiovese.”

He then said: “This is a lovely job. But you have to work hard.”

I say to Andrea, and to wine producers everywhere, thanks so much for that hard work.

In my glass: I baked a ham and looked at the wines waiting for my verdict. I spotted La Crema Pinot Noir Monterey 2017 (£20.99, simplywinesdirect.uk) and I knew it was the wine for the moment.

Californian wines have been on my mind in recent days as terrible fires have been sweeping through the wine regions. I’ve donated to the Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund (donatenow.networkforgood.org). I’ll leave that thought with you.

Back to the delicious pinot from Monterey, which lies about 120 miles south from Napa. The wine has dusky notes of plums, cranberries and cherry. There’s a hint of savoury and a tilt towards earthy, newly-rain dropped soil.

Find Jane on social media and online as One Foot in the Grapes. Email jane@onefootinthegrapes.co.uk