£11.89–£16.95, All About Wine, Svinando, Wickhams Wine, Kwoff
The name of this new north Italian Alpine red may look a bit opaque, but the wine is a delight: fragrant, fresh and light on its feet, buoyantly fruity in a cherry-strawberry way, yet also dry and softly savoury with a dash of herbs.
Unoaked and with a spring in its step, it’s very much a red wine of our times – and a good choice for Valentine’s Day as long as you’re not tempted to explain the name. I, of course, have no hesitation in doing so here.
Schiava is the grape variety, one of the oldest cultivated in Trentino – only it isn’t just one variety, it covers several distinct types and colours. In this case, it’s Schiava Gentile. Schiava itself means female slave in Italian and Cum Vineis Sclavis means enslaved vines.
Why call a wine ‘enslaved vines’? I’m so glad you asked.
One of the things that the different Schiava varieties have in common is that they are all naturally productive. So, as far back as the Middle Ages, the vines were trained in a particular way, tying the young plants to rigid supports in neat rows to inhibit their growth. Hence, enslaved.
Although this is the first Cum Vineis Sclavis, it’s made from 30-plus year old vines, grown sustainably in the foothills, mainly in the Valle dell’Adige and Valle dei Laghi, and with the bonus of a perfect growing season in the debut 2020 vintage.
It’s a red wine you can enjoy on its own, but it also pairs with cured and air-dried meats, roast aubergine dishes, seared tuna steak, prosciutto-wrapped monkfish, cod or chicken breast, or roast poussin. 12%. Empty bottle weight: 479g.
Cum Vineis Sclavis Schiava 2022, Trentino, Italy
£11.89–£16.95, All About Wine, Svinando, Wickhams Wines; £83.99 for 6, Kwoff
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