Bava is based in Cocconato in the Piedmonte region of northern Italy, famous, of course, for its serious red wines Barolo and Barbaresco. We had an in-depth tasting of Barolo while in Piedmonte, sampling a large range of wines from a variety of producers which re-confirmed our thoughts on this fickle wine.

Un-biased we decided that we preferred the style of the Bava Barolos which are delicate compared with the other hugely tannic blockbusters that we tasted. We loved the balance and purity of the fruit that shone through in them.

When we first tasted the Stradivario, a barrique aged Barbera, the oak was overpowering on the nose and palate but it has now mellowed beautifully with superb rich, strong, full fruit coming through, a wonderfully meaty and masculine wine. Their traditionally produced Barbera d'Asti is also a great treat, the wine has a ruby red colour and a nose of tart cherry stones. Vibrant and alive on the palate with raspberry and strawberry flavours it has a typical, slightly bitter finish.

Undoubtedly one of the most unusual and delightful wines that we have tasted in the past few years is Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato. The nose is of soft fruits, flowers and violets, intense and concentrated carrying through onto the palate with a fresh and appealing finish.

The Contravento Dolcetto d'Asti has a gorgeous, purple-red colour, with hints of cherry stones and almonds on the nose. Typically vibrant flavours leave the palate zinging, excited and alive, with the tart, cherry flavours coming through again in the finish.

Piedmonte is not famous for its dry white wines, but one that impressed us is Bava's Gavi. The wine comes from the south west of the region and has a wonderful perfumed nose with a rich, full finish, very clean and fresh.

Bava do excel though in the production of delicious sweet, sparkling wines. We recommend their lightly sparkling Moscato, packed with ripe, peach flavours, being the perfect, light refreshing finish to a rich meal.

We also import their delicious Malvasia di Castelnuovo don Bosco. Quite low in alcohol, pink, perfumed and fragrant with a delicate rose petal bouquet, it is quite delicious.

The Freisa is perhaps the most difficult for conservative English palates to cope with. Red, sweet and sparkling, it sounds you may think, like Lambrusco. Forget your inhibitions and enjoy! The Freisa grape is packed with strawberry and raspberry-like fruit that bursts out in the bouquet of this wine, light and refreshing on the palate, totally unserious, unsophisticated and deliciously different.

Bava also produce superb grappa from the Malvasia grape, expressing the true flavours of the grape variety, delicate and scented.