It remains to be seen how long they'll stick to this agreement. If, like me, you're less demanding when the sun comes out and you've a decent book to hand, even the anodyne likes of pinot grigio and bardolino can taste a lot better in situ The absence of tax and excise duty helps too. But if you're living la dolce vita in the land of Dolce e Gabbana this summer, why not take advantage of the fact that from its Alpine head to its Mediterranean toe, Italy's unrivalled storehouse of grape varieties offers a refreshing antidote to the all too familiar wines of the New World.Each of Italy's 20 regions has its own distinct wine identity, with wines made from local grapes that have evolved over time with the local cuisine. So if you're on one of the islands, vermentino in Sardinia and Sicily's grillo and inzolia are made for the local seafood. Verdicchio dei castelli di jesi from the Marche on the Adriatic and grechetto from Umbria are among Italy's most characterful whites.
Fiano d'avellina, falanghina and greco di tufo vye for the southern crown, while in Venice, prosecco flows as freely as the incoming tide.Puglia, Italy's heel, and Abruzzo further north, boast a diversity of refreshing rosato made from negroamaro, such as Cal?mouthwatering Rosa del Golfo (wine.rosadelgolfo ). It would be hard to do justice here to the plethora of emerging native reds, but Chiantishire's good name has been restored by new-wave chianti classico and morellino di scansano made from excellent sangiovese. Veneto's much improved corvina has revitalised valpolicella and amarone, while Alto Adige's lagrein makes a crisp summer red. Further south, Campania and Basilicata's aglianico is transforming the south, along with primitivo, negroamaro and nero d'avola.Does it travel? The wine might, but the ambience is not so easily bottled and carried home So look for one of the many Italian specialists in the UK. Try the fragrant 2004 Angelo Negro Arneis (£8.95, Great Western Wines 01225 322800), and from Berkmann Wine Cellars (020-7609 4711), the richly textured 2004 Sannio Falanghina (£9.49) and for primitivo fans, the spicy 2003 Torcicoda (£11.99).
Bisol Prosecco fizz (£7.99, Bibendum, 020-7449 4057), John Armit's sumptuous 2003 Colle Morino Montepulciano (£6.96, 020-7908 0600) and Mille Gusti's characterful 2003 Coroncino Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi (£9.25, 020-8997 3932) represent the Veneto, Abruzzo and Marche.. If you have an ice cream machine at home, it's good fun turning pudding into an ice cream. I don't mean throwing in any old leftover desserts, but you can certainly use elements of them very easily. For example, crumble chocolate brownies into an ice cream base. Yoghurt and cr? fra?e make excellent ice cream, although you still need some cream in there or the texture won't be so good. 625ml milk 200ml double cream 500g caster sugar 50g glucose (optional) Grated zest of 2 lemons 625g natural yoghurt 350g lemon curd, softened 50-60g meringue In a saucepan, bring the milk, cream, sugar, glucose and lemon zest to the boil.
