The Story:  I always smile when I think of how I met Emilio.

I was invited to a tasting in London of the Federation of Independent Wine Growers (FIVI, for short) Producers from Europe. In English, that means European small producers, usually organic, all looking for representation.

I got to Emilio’s stand. He was well-prepared for people like me to turn up (talking bad Italian and speaking English at 100mph) with a young lad to interpret for him. I tried all of the wines on the stand. The Nebbiolo was nice. The Barbera was good. But the Dolcetto… uh! One sip of the Dolcetto and I was dancing inside! The quality blew me away. I remember the lad with Emilio saying “every year he makes the Dolcetto and his father takes 100 bottles for himself”. That was good enough for me!

Now, I’m very blunt when I talk to the producers about their wines and it was no different the first time I spoke with Emilio. But I’ll always remember the first conversation with him because he found it very funny. People usually pussyfoot about with feedback, I don’t. Every time I walked back past his stand, Emilio would roar with laughter as I would say something very ‘none-wine-professional’. And that, folks, is how business should be.

Since that day, Emilio has been trying to get me to buy the rest of his range but I continue to disappoint him. None of his other wines come close to the quality of his Dolcetto, and I’m only bringing the best into the UK. Just ask Emilio’s dad.