Biondi-Santi for under a tenner

The joy of finding a vintage wine at a bargain price is amplified by its right time, right place difficulty and the risk that the bottle in question hasn’t been looked after.

The joy of finding a vintage wine at a bargain price is amplified by its right time, right place difficulty and the risk that the bottle in question hasn’t been looked after.

We’re on holiday in Stresa which is on Lago Maggiore in northern Italy, stunning landscapes distract our eyes as we cruise along the lakefront roads between towns and wine bars. We stop off at an antique shop, which frankly, once inside, looks rather more like an overpriced charity shop. I quickly realise I won’t find a deal here and so the search moves into a competition to find the weirdest item.

““Ben, they have an antique wine cabinet