Wine with Leslie: Bright, fruity wines from Italy are perfect for dark evenings 

Suggestions this week should lighten any wintry moods

"Lively cherry fruits balanced by taut acidity can bring joy and lighten our moods."

In this the darkest month of the year I have gone in search of the light. Rather inevitably I have looked to Italy where bright fruity wines can bring cheer on a dark evening, where lively cherry fruits balanced by taut acidity can bring joy and lighten our moods.

I can’t promise they will bring the same lift to your mood as a red-gold Venetian sunset over the Grand Canal or a misty dawn over some Tuscan hills, but if served with a silky risotto, with fresh made focaccia or a piping hot pizza, the wines of Northern Italy will certainly bring contentment.