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Dublin, Ireland
Hi, I'm Dermot Nolan, and I became a Master of Wine (MW) in 1997, and resigned from the Institute of Masters of Wine in 2023 after being an MW for exactly 26 years. I opened a wine shop in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland, called The Wine Library, which closed in 2018, and this is my personal wine blog. I will do my utmost to be fair and responsible in my posts – please read my Who Pays article in re the ethics of wine trips and writing. I have worked in wine education, retail, and consultancy since 1990. I was a Director of the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) from 2008 to 2014 and was also a member of the Events Committee, founder of the Trips Committee, and member of the Governance Committee. Having had problems with potentially libellous comments from unidentifiable posters, I now require that if you post a comment, you must identify yourself properly or it won't be published. Please note that I do not review products or services on request so kindly don't ask. I value my independence and I believe my readers (few that they may be) do so also.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

A magical mystery tour



At the end of the day we were broken up into small groups to visit individual properties in Tuscany. We had a long, very long, drive to visit Fattoria Felsina in Castelnuovo Berardegna and it was worth it.
Greeted by Giovanni and his uncle Giuseppe, we had a brief tour of the winery before settling down to some of their super sparkling wines made from pinot noir, chardonnay and sangiovese. Juicy red fruit flavours meant it went superbly with the wild boar salami we had as antipasti, as well as a lovely aged pecorino. The boar were hunted on the estate and the salami was stunning.
Dinner was fabulous – not wildly fancy cheffy food but really good Itialian food – cous-cous, ravioli, meat and dessert presented in a simple way. The conversation was started off with a tasting of their own olive oils and was further helped by the serving of a wide range of super wines, finishing with a 1999 Fontarella (or so we thought) until a 1985 was brought up.
Evenings like this are one of the main reasons why the wine trade is such a lovely job – the evening was super fun, sociable and a whole load of new friendships were forged. We are so lucky!
Posted by at Sunday, May 18, 2014
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