I enjoyed reading very much this article and “Swiggable Italians”. But the prices quoted seem to me to be not for the ordinary wine lovers!!!
I wonder if Walter has any input on this subject.
Jagdish, thank you for your comments. I an understand that these prices put these wine out of daily reach, also for me, but I tend to think of them as special occasion bottles. Their complexity and drinking pleasure is beyond doubt, and many of the wines mentioned are made painstakingly and in small quantities.
For producers like Contrada Contro there simply is no ‘entry level’ wines. Because of the tiny production (a couple of thousand bottles) the profit margin is already small as it is. It is a labour of love more than anything else. But others may have an entry level wine, which will give more than a glimpse of what the estate or producer stands for.
I sound like a broken record, but compared with France Italy nearly always wins hands down when it comes to price and quality. And, sadly, we will have to get used to higher prices, not least due to duty being jacked up again and again and something wholly out of control lately.
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It’s true that ‘Swiggable’ could be construed as every day drinking wine and much as we value and make an effort to have lower priced wine (we are known for looking for wines that punch above their weight) the purpose of this particular tasting was to highlight exciting Italian wines, of serious quality, that have not yet been imported to the UK, and those which represent an alternative style to the classics, even if from a classic region. You could say ‘new wave’ applies to most of these. So, it was more about this, on this occasion, and pointing people towards interesting options that are not easy to spot when confronted with famous brands in so many places. A tasting of Italian wines under £20 would be possible but it would have excluded these special, pioneering producers. Nothing drives me crazier than another trophy post on Instagram of a bottle or two of Sassicaia at the end of the night. Well done! How original! It’s time we turned the world of Italian wine upside down. And that’s what we were having a crack at when we brought these wine producers to London. One highly respected producer of new wave Barolo, Gian Luca Colombo, said to me quietly, when he needed a rest from his table, that was always mobbed, that this was the best tasting of contemporary producers from Italy under one roof he’s ever seen. So, while this tasting wasn’t about everyday drinking, if that means under £20, although for quite a few people that now means £20- £30 a bottle, there was still a lot of value in these wines, and plenty to get excited about, hopefully! But, I will think about putting on a tasting of all of our wines that are £25 or under, before long. Robin
I think you have to go region by region here. I suspect it’s pretty similar. For every Barolo and Burgundy (expensive), there’s a Puglia or Languedoc/ Beaujolais (lots of value). But, equally, if the JR.com Italian correspondent didn’t believe that Italy was greater than France on price/ quality/ anything, there would be something wrong!
I don’t disagree with you, Robert, however (there it is…), just looking at Chianti Classico, for example, in price as well as value for money I can afford the greatest of producers. In the Languedoc, if I want to drink greatness, I will have to pay far far more.
I cross France many times a year and am in Paris regularly and also buy plenty of wines in French supermarkets that have a large wine section. My unwavering conclusion is that I need to pay far more in France to be served wines that are good but rarely truly complex compared with what I can get in Italy both in price and diversity.
BTW with very few exceptions would I look at Puglia for something special, but I will keep on digging!
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I admit that’s how I’d interpret ‘swiggable’ (as I would ‘vin de soif’) - a simple, everyday wine that is enjoyable but likely not very complex. (Sometimes these wines are expensive, though… 
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The article itself made clear that this wasn’t the type of wines being discussed, though. I guessed it was a pun on the wine merchant’s name! 
Yes, thanks for highlighting these producers. I will try and look out for some of them myself.
From a brief search, it seems a few are more affordable here in Italy than in the UK – presumably due to the costs and poor economies of scale involved in importing small volumes of wine. Unfortunate, but likely unavoidable.