Toffoli Conegliano and Agostinetto Valdobbiadene

Toffoli Conegliano and Agostinetto Valdobbiadene

CHL Import
Cheshire

Sunday 30th March 2003

This is the second in a series of reviews of wines provided by CHL Import of Cheshire for us to sample.

Reviews of Agostinetto’s Nogarole can be found here...

As on the first tasting session, we waited until we had a number of people around the table to try these wines. This would give us a broad range of opinion, even if we are all less than expert in oenology.

We started with the Toffoli Prosecco di Conegliano. (TOFFOLI PROSECCO di Conegliano D.O.C., extra dry. Winner 2001 Gambero Rosso sparkling wine of Italy award £10.50 )

We generally agreed that the flavour of this wine, especially in comparison to the Nogarole we had tried on the previous session, was lighter, less pronounced. In my opinion, it was not as distinctively "Italian" as the Nogarole. Nevertheless, it is a pleasant, refreshing wine with more than a hint of elegance and refinement.

We then moved on to the Agostinetto Valdobbiadene. (AGOSTINETTO PROSECCO di Valdobbiadene D.O.C. , extra dry £11.00 )

Our impressions were: stronger, earthier and drier than both the Nogarole and the Conegliano.

The whole party agreed that all three wines were eminently drinkable - and this from confirmed Red Wine drinkers. We all recognised that all three had obvious character, and we all agreed in the eventual ranking:

The Agostinetto Nogarole was our favourite, with the Conegliano second and the Valdobbiadene an honourable third.

Finally, I have to put all this into context and remind you that none of us are wine experts: we just like wine - generally to drink with meals - and do not have the time or funds to explore the vast landscape available to todays wine drinkers. In today's wine scene, it is increasingly rare to come across a really poor wine and as the standards rise the differences between an everyday wine and something more "special" become more esoteric. All that said, I can be sure that anyone trying any one of these three wines will not be disappointed with their quality, so it's up to you to decide whether you like the taste!

Sandro Melkuhn