Rossi & Riccardo Winemaking
Italy is such a land of contrasts, and you don’t have to look for too long to find wine that compels, wine that tells a story and has a symbiotic connection to the local food. But Italy is also a land of industry, and there are just as many bottles rolling off a seemingly inexhaustible production line. So many of these generic wines flow out of Italy, many onto our shores, and, to me, none of them offer even a glimpse of the true Bella Italia.
As an importer of Italian wine, I have made countless trips to Italy to source wines that tell a story of grape, land and people, wine that speaks of Italy, from the bedrock right up through the very pulse of the culture. And as rewarding as this journey has been, and no matter how many brilliant wines I have encountered, there has always been a gap in the market. I have always searched for characterful varietal wines at an attractive price, ones that clearly reflect variety and origin and are made with integrity and care. And, although there have been so many successes over the years, finding a single range that clearly reflected Italy’s key grapes and provided compelling everyday drinking was always going to be a challenge.
So, in 2010, and enlisting the skills of the winemakers that I have worked closely with for a number of years, I embarked on a new project. The aim was to represent Italy’s most important and characterful grape varieties in a pure and unadorned form, to provide expressions that were distinctly varietal and unmistakably Italian: an introduction to Italy’s great grapes – Italy 101, if you like.
Launching with a brace of some of Italy’s most recognisable grapes, the range has developed alongside deepening connections with artisanal growers and producers from across the country. We only add a new variety when the right vineyard, in the right place, comes our way. Nothing is ever forced, and if, in any given year, the fruit falls below our standards, no wine is made.
The fruit for all Rossi & Riccardo wines is sourced from prime vineyards that are farmed along organic lines, and each variety is elaborated by a winemaker with a profound connection to that grape and its classic territory – no tricks, just pure, vibrant expressions from the finest makers.
Richard Rossi
To add one, or all, of the R&R range to your cellar visit our producer page.
The Wines
Prosecco NV > Shop R&R Prosecco
From the home of Prosecco in the province of Treviso, this is a vibrant sparkling wine with musk-tinged red apple and Corella pear notes, balanced dry palate and classic soft mousse.
Garganega 2016 > Shop R&R Garganega
From the classic heartland of the Soave zone and reflecting the basalt-rich soils with mineral and spice inflected stone fruit and citrus notes; dry and zippy.
Pinot Grigio 2019 > Shop R&R Pinot Grigio
Lifted, fruit-driven nose of white nectarine and Williams pear with hints of lemon and a savoury almond note; the palate is mid-weight with a lightly textured mouthfeel that is tightened through the finish with ripe acid and a nicely judged phenolic chew.
Barbera 2018 > Shop R&R Barbera
Lifted nose of dark fruits mingling with intense ripe red berries and spice, dense but lifted and pure. The palate opens with ample ripe red fruit, black cherry Danish, sour cherry and spiced plum notes with an underlying nuance of almond and gravelly minerals; the fruit intensity is supported by classic crunchy Asti acid and fine but persistent tannins.
Montepulciano 2013 > Shop R&R Montepulciano
The nose is full of vivid wild red fruits, brambly dark berries, spiced plum and woody herbs with a distant suggestion of oak. The palate is distinctly mid-weight with tarry mineral notes underpinning the fruit, and a snappy structure carrying the wine through a persistent finish.
Sangiovese 2019 > Shop R&R Sangiovese
Classically savoury nose, laced with red and black cherries, dried cranberry, sour plum, woody herbs and notes of baked, mineral-flecked earth; the palate, though fruit intense and supple, is typically savoury with a linear acid and tannin line and good persistence.
To add one, or all, of the R&R range to your cellar visit our producer page.