A patchwork of patterns, an undulating green quilt of vineyards sloping and soaring, lifting and pouring: the first time a wine lover sees Barolo his or her heart leaps with the landscape. Barolo the wine I had of course sipped before, but before this summer never had I tasted Barolo the wine region. As an oenophile the omission skirts on the sinful. Tuscany, tick. Alto Adige, tick. Valle d’Aosta, tick. Langhe, glass still shamefully empty.

Therefore, when Ian D’Agata invited me to his Wine Project in July 2017, the answer was a no-brainer. For five years the scientific director of Vinitaly International Academy and Italian native grape expert has been inviting opinion leaders and sommeliers in the wine world to Collisioni Agri-Rock Festival, played in 2017 by the likes of Robbie Williams, Placebo and The Offspring.