Camillo de Lellis Biferno Rosso Riserva 2007

Press

It has a soft, dusty-bramble lead-in, a warm but gentle spice (the wine’s aged for up to three years in big old Slavonian barrels, which means the wood has a relaxed farmhouse feel), a generous swoosh of sour red cherry acidity and, the thing that makes it, a little feral elbow of something dark, like lava, that comes from the aglianico and gives it interest. It’s pleasing to find a wine of this price that’s had a chance to mellow a little, too: at five years old it hasn’t been churned through the winery, pushed into a bottle and sold at the earliest opportunity. And it shows; this is a wine that feels like it’s had time to hang out. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/9231201/Mighty-Biferno-a-great-wine-found-at-Pizza-Express.html

Victoria MooreTelegraph, 27/04/2012

A brilliant wine for the price. I first tasted it in Familigia Lazzati, a restaurant in Lewes, and if you're a fan of the more savoury classic wine styles, you'll love it... it's a wine with backbone and class that's an ideal match for rich tomato dishes or tangy hard cheeses.

Olly SmithMail on Sunday Live Magazine 13.03.2011

One of the reasons Camillo de Lellis, Riserva 2006 Biferno is so reasonably priced may be because not only is its DOC, Biferno, so obscure, but also it comes from one of Italy's most obscure wine regions, Molise, way down south on the Adriatic coast just north of Puglia. This Riserva version of Molise's only DOC to speak of is made in San Bonifacio from a blend of 70% Montepulciano, 15% Aglianico and, following old southern European tradition, 15% white grapes, Trebbiano Toscana in this case. The Montepulciano grape can make some great-value wine when handled carefully. And I am a huge fan of the noble Aglianico grape - more readily associated with Campania just west of Molise - which has perhaps conferred a bit of nobility on this blend. It's given 18 months in large oak barrels and a further 18 months in stainless steel so that by the time it reaches the market it is nicely mature, complex and smooth. Unlike so many wines from further south, it is not aggressively alcoholic or hot-tasting. Instead it seems both appetising and really complex – especially for the price. There's a slightly dusty edge to the rich fruit but there is lovely, fully resolved fruit on the front palate. It's so unusual to find such maturity at this price.

Jancis Robinsonwww.jancisrobinson.com - wine of the week 18/03/2010