Benchmark Barbera d’Asti

Taste the Difference Barbera d’Asti 2014, Italy, 14%

(£8, Sainsbury’s)

So Italian – full of the fragrance of cherries and wild herbs, very stylish too. I matched this on Saturday Kitchen to pasta dish by Joe Hurd which incorporated nduja (spicy sausage) and tomato sauce.

Show co-host Gennaro Contaldo loved it, saying it was, ‘so good’ and adding, delightfully, ‘Susie’s done it again!’ Joe was also full of praise for the wine, commenting lyrically this it was, ‘like a good Italian footballer: smooth, reliable and elegant, Andrea Pirlo in a glass!’ If only I knew who that was…

(Susie, 7/10, May 2016)