Your questions answered   

A. Tartrate crystals or wine diamonds inside a bottle, or lining the inside of a cork, are a normal byproduct of wine as it ages or if the wine is exposed to very low temperatures, and are no cause for alarm.

Most wines will undergo tartrate stabilisation to avoid the unpredictable formation of crystals, and the most common process is cold stabilisation: the wine is refrigerated for several days before bottling which causes the tartrate crystals to precipitate. These are then filtered out and the wine is brought back to cellar temperature.

Some winemaker though is against the stabilisation, to preserve the wine’s full characteristics, so their wines, if exposed to low temperatures will form tartrates or crystals. If you find them, you can either decant the wine before serving or filter it through a muslin cloth.

A. Sediment in a glass of red wine is a natural result of the winemaking and aging process. It usually consists of small particles like grape skins, seeds, and tartrates (tartaric acid crystals) that gradually settle at the bottom of the bottle. Sediment is more common in older or unfiltered wines, where minimal processing helps preserve the wine's natural characteristics.

Though harmless, sediment can give the wine a slightly gritty texture if it ends up in your glass. This is why decanting is recommended for these wines—to separate the wine from the sediment - ensuring a smoother drinking experience. It also highlights the wine’s natural character.

A. In the last few years wine drinkers got used to read on wine labels, mainly Italian, the word “appassimento”, but what is appassimento?

Appassimento is nothing new, Amarone della Valpolicella and Sforzato della Valtellina are two Italian appellations that dry (appassire, hence appassimento) the grapes before fermenting them to concentrate the sugar by letting the water evaporate to produce fruiter, bolder wines. The same process is also used for sweet wines (passiti) where the fermentation is stopped to have higher residual sugar.

There are different techniques to dry the grapes, the main ones are:
On the vine, harvesting the grapes later
Natural, after the harvesting, putting the grapes to dry naturally

A. Sulphites are naturally produced in the form of Sulphur dioxide during the fermentation process, during the transition from juice to wine. However, often their quantity is low so sulphites are artificially added as additives because of their antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Sulphites preserve the wine during the winemaking process.

Sulphites are without a doubt essential to wine making and occur naturally in wine, the problem is with added sulphites. Unfortunately, the lower the quality of the wine, the higher the amount of sulphites added. Healthy grapes require very little added sulphites.

Generally speaking, red wine has the lowest level of sulphites as well as wine made from organic grapes. White wine on the other hand, requires a higher level of sulphites as it is more delicate. From an health perspective, sulphites are classified as allergens. And an excessive consumption of sulphites can give headaches, sneezing, coughing, rashes up to breathing difficulties in anyone with asthma or hyper-sensitivity.

A. European law classifies sparkling wines according to the residual sugar, that is the amount of sugar added after the secondary fermentation has taken place.

If the amount of sugar is less than 3 grams/litre, the sparkling wine is called Pas Dosè, Zero Dosage or Brut Nature. In these wines after the disgorgement (the removal of sediments from the bottle), more wine of the same type, not the liqueur d'expedition, is added.

The liqueur d’expédition is a sweet liquid, each winemaker has it own secret recipe, used to define the final level of sweetness in the finished sparkling wine. Immediately after disgorging, the wine is topped up, and a measured amount of a refined sugar mixture is added (also known as dosage). As the sugar already in the wine was consumed during the secondary fermentation, a sweet dosage is added to balance the high natural acidity, rather than to produce a sweet wine.

If the sugar is between 3 and 6 grams/litre, the wine is said to be “Extra brut”.

Between 6 and 12 grams/litre the wine is considered “Brut”, this category include most classic method sparkling wines.

Wines with between 12 and 17 grams/litre are considered “Extra dry” or “Extra sec”.

Between 17 and 32 grams/litre are called “Dry”, “Sec”, or “Asciutto”.

Between 32 and 50 grams/litre we find “demi-sec” or “Medium dry” wines.

Finally, if the sugar is more than 50 grams/litre, the wine is considered to be “Doux” or “Dolce”.

A. Italians love pasta and wine, but what are the rules when pairing pasta with wine? There are no strict rules, often pasta is paired with the local wine, red wine for tomato or meat based sauces, and white for the others. However, there are some general principle, lets look at them.

Egg based pasta, eg tagliatelle or pasta alla chitarra, they pair perfectly with sparkling wines such as prosecco or “vini mossi”, semi sparkling wines, whether red or white.
Oven baked pasta, eg lasagne or cannelloni, pair with medium bodied wine such as Sangiovese or Syrah.
Soups, it varies based on their ingredients, but generally are paired with medium bodied, low acidity white wines, sometime a red wine.
Filled pasta, such as tortellini or ravioli, with important, structured red or white wines, aged.
Tomato based sauces, again it depends on the ingredients, but generally pair well with delicate red wines such as Valpolicella or Montepulciano d’Abruzzo or white wines such as Soave and Pinot Bianco.
For fish based pasta, a lively white wines such as Verdicchio or for more richer dishes a rose’ wine
Lastly, for Pasta with vegetables, a smooth, delicate white wine.

A. There are no easy tips when choosing a wine from a restaurant's list. Best advice is talk to the sommelier or server and always taste the wine you are being offered. Only buy expensive wines, eg Barolo or Amarone, if you know the producer, if you dont, be careful, dont buy the name. When it looks to good to be true, it probably is, check with the sommelier why the price is so good.
House wine, could be either really good or really bad, ask to taste it, it wont be a problem since it is likely to be offered by the glass as well. For the bubbles, more than the actual wine, find out whether it is a classic method, similar to champagne, or Martinotti, prosecco type, sparkling wine, the first tend to be more expensive and is of better quality. Lastly, wine pairing or wine preference? It is your call, I guess it all depends on the food you will be eating, if it is a gourmet evening, top food, I would suggest to go for the pairing wine, it can open a new world, if a pizza or pasta or quick meal, it is entirely up to you, I would go with your favourite wine, whether it pair the food or not.

A. A Bordeaux red blend is a wine made with the classic Bordeaux grape varieties. In Italy, these tend to be Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot for wines made in the north, with the addition of Petit Verdot for wine made in Tuscany. The classic Bordeaux grapes also include Carmenere and Malbec. There is also a white Bordeaux blend but it is rarely used outside France.

When a wine is referred as to Bordeaux blend or cut, it refers to the grapes used, and not the actual style of the wine. Due to the wine making process, the terroir etc, the resulting wine will never be like a Bordeaux.

A. Yes they can.
Red wine is very often associated to a wine to be served at room temperature, very few wine drinkers actually know that red wine can be served chilled. Which wine can be chilled? There are literally hundreds, we list some of them below, get in touch if in need of advice, however, the general rule is that any fruity, light to medium bodied, without or with smooth tannins, red wine, can be chilled. Very tannic wines should not, on the other side, be chilled, the cold will intensify the tannins making the wine very unpleasant.
Lastly, when opening a chilled red wine, we may find that it has crystals. The wine is still fine, the crystals are due to the sudden drop of temperature.
Below some of the wines we stock that can be chilled:
Cornalin
Valpolicella
Rossese di Dolceacqua
Lacrima di Morro d'Alba

A. Traditional or Classic or Champagne method is the method according to which the second fermentation takes place in the bottle, it is labour intense and requires longer, the fermentation period varies from a few months to years, the longer the better is the sparkling wine.
The Charmat or Martinotti method is the one according to which the second fermentation takes place in the tank. It require less labour shorter time, here the fermentation varies from a few days to a few months, the longer the fermentation the better the wine, hence Charmat method sparkling wines are cheaper than Traditional or Classic method wines but also very different.