i Filari is a light red wine from Langhe, a village in the hills above the River Pô to the east of the more famous wine village of Barolo. The name of the Nebbiolo varietal translates literally to “from the clouds” and indeed those hills are often swathed in mist out of the summer season, though rarely affected by frost. So i Filari is wine from the clouds.
Opening the bottle of i Filari, the cork is branded with Barbanera Vini SRL, one of the large wine conglomerates based in Asti. An immediate aroma of red cherries, even without pouring the wine.
The Langhe 2023 wine is very light in colour, one of the lightest and brightest colours I can recall, but the taste is really strong in the mouth. Simply red cherry, balanced, not a hint of tannic. The label suggests this is a warm atmosphere wine so to serve the bottle relatively warm, 17° to 19°C. It was a delightful accompaniment to our salad of Mousse de Canard with crudités and fresh-grilled croutons, on the last evening of our holiday, now back in Marseille.
Provence strawberries are coming in to season, we followed our salad with Tartlette de fraises from a local Marseille boulangerie, plus some Marie Brizard, the classic anisette digestif that is the counterpart to pastis.
And the clouds outside provided a spectacular sunset show.
