Wine Indulgence

Changing this year’s Vinitaly from five days to four caused all of us to work a bit harder and faster, to please all the wine lovers who came from all over the world.  Raising the ticket price also changed the type of person coming to this grand event, purposely pushing away those who come only to drink too much.  Every year, the producers come ready to present their latest vintages to interested buyers worldwide, hoping to be asked to export the wines to distant lands.  I too, looked forward to meeting new people and discussing this year’s tastes in wine.  I signed on again this year  to work in the private area for the Consorzio di Brunello di Montalcino.  This organization gets all participating Brunello wine producers together to discuss upcoming events, rules on the wine, etc.  In this ‘VIP’ area, importers, journalists and restauranteurs cantaste 130 Brunello wines, 100 Rosso di Montalcino and a small variety of Sant’ Antimo, Muscadelle and Vin Santo.  Of course, I needed to try all of them.  The 2007 vintage is an interesting year, high in acidity which makes the wine taste really young, and in some cases too young.  A few Brunellos were ready to drink now, but I think if I were to buy a bottle, I would store it away for a few years.  That  makes the Rosso Di Montalcino, the little brother, a much better choice for a drinkable, fresh and fruity wine.  A lot has been said about this 1 year aged instead of 3 years, red wine from Tuscany.  This past year, the Consorzio voted on whether or not to allow wine producers to add up to 15% of other grape varieties to the otherwise 100% sangiovese grape wine.  The result was to leave the centuries old wine as is and I couldn’t be happier.  Although many in the wine business think this is a shame, I personally think it only gives an opportunity for bigger producers like Barbi and Biondi-Santi to ‘cheapen’ the wine.  Adding, for example, merlot, can not only change the taste of the wine but also the price.  Merlot is much easier to grow on the vine and to control in the wine-making process, thereby making it less pricey for the grower.  The problem for small wine producers is that they can’t afford to change what they have already planted, nor do they all want to.  Therefor the smaller producers can’t compete in price with the larger vineyards.

Thinking about how the DOC (wine law) could have changed, gave me a new appreciation for these wines.  After tasting this year’s vintage, I was sad to see that some of my favorites from last year fell short.  However, many powered through again this year and I was glad to have discovered new, interesting companies.  My favorite Rosso was that of Mastrojanni, for its ripe strawberry and cherry aromas and for the freshness it left in my mouth.  Poggio di Sotto was also great, as was Baricci.  For the Brunellos, I fell in love with Agostina Pieri’s version.  It was not too heavy or modern in style, but still strong and bold like a good Brunello should be.  Gianni Brunello offered a bio wine that was tastefully elegant and balanced.  Uccelliera had an amazingly fruity Rosso and Brunello, both great to drink now or to store for a few years.  Cava D’Anice had perfumes which reflected its name- star anice, and was well-rounded and warm on the tongue.  As for bigger names, both Col D’Orcia and Capanna shined, producing Brunellos full of flavor, balancing the acidity with the alcohol and the tannins with the ripe, red fruits.

I love cheese, so much so, that I was counting down the days to this event.  We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful pre-spring day and I was looking forward to meeting up with some of the cheese makers I met last year.  Walking around the manicured garden of Villa Braida in Mogliano Veneto, we took our time going from one room to another, filling up our bellies on delicious items. There wasn’t just cheese featured here- oil, balsamic, breads, rice, pasta, aged sardines, salumi and, of course, wine and beer to help wash it all down.  On the second floor, after a quick hello to our friends at Morgana beer, filling up our glasses with the cool, slightly peach tasting, red colored drink, we ran over to my favorite cheese maker, Salicella.  Buffala mozzarella is their specialty and boy does it taste great. Large or small pieces, stuffed with prosciutto and olive or just sliced and topped with a drizzle of oil, there is nothing like it. Maybe it’s that this cheese is so simple and delicate, floral and light in smell, soft and creamy in our mouths, that it can be used in a variety of Italian dishes and is typically a center piece on my table.  I bought a few pieces and hit the rest of the tables.  Casale Nibbi, an organic producer, offered an interesting cheese- an aged Stracchino.  With the outside covered in mold, it’s smell and taste were something to get used to, but definitely something different for the cheese aficionado.  Another important cheese to Italy is the Parmagiano Reggiano. Caseificio Gennari follows tradition, aging  it with a black outer shell, once ash, making the cheese crumble easier and leaving a saltier and lighter taste. They also make a marscapone- like desert, covering the block of cheese in either crumbled ameretto cookies or slices of dried apricot. We bought some other types of cheese from Luigi Guffanti, a producer located just north of Milan.  With a large variety of cheese, we found the Gorgonzola Piccante to be one of the best and took a piece to have at home along with an aged Toma and a Bitto, a semi-fresh cheese made from the milk of cows who live freely in the mountains.  Gorgonzola, they say, was created after a man who left the cheese in a cave, while running after his love whom he met in a city far away. Returning home, he found that the cheese had turned blue and the taste was more pungent and sweet than before.  A ‘piccante’, or spicy version of this cheese, compared to the ‘dolce’ or sweet, just means that the blue is stronger and has more of an impact.  It lasts longer, is less pasty and is incredibly good! Getting full, we stopped at another friend, Birra del Nani, to drink his #3, a Belgium White beer with hints of orange and coriander.  Along with our refreshment, we sat outside, taking in the sun, content and full of cheese.

Situated high in the hills of Conegliano is the magical castle of San Salvatore.  Here, in the palatial estate rooms with painted murals and outside views of vineyards, many events are held.  On the 10th of March it hosted 300 x 100, a wine event that promotes 100 producers from the Veneto state, each with 3 different wines.  This is the third year that the Italian Sommelier Association presented this event, and with each year more people attend.  Each room of the castle represents a different wine area- Lison Pramaggiore, Valpolicella, Conegliano (Prosecco), etc.  Roaming around these rooms, we can taste the different wines and grapes grown in each area.  We can see how a slight change in land and climate can offer a wine  different from its neighbor.  In fact, this is the beauty of these events, that we are able to understand how various the wines of the world can be.   The Veneto may be the fifth largest state in Italy, but it’s smaller than Massachusetts, with around 7,000 sq miles.  Even still, an endless amount of grape varietals are grown, from international names like Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay to indigenous vines like Raboso, Refosco, Bardolino, Garganega, Tai, and Prosecco.  Some of the most famous wines known world wide are from the Veneto.  Wines like Amarone, Soave, Prosecco and Pinot Grigio were all represented at the event.  There were some larger names like Speri, Zeni, Santa Margherita, Tedeschi, Villa Sandi, Mionetto, Venegazzù and Astoria.  Other producers may not have as large of a recognition worldwide but are producers with whom I work with often and believe that they will be leaders in the future.  These are Geretto, Sandro de Bruno, Le Carline, Col Vetoraz, Stajnbech, Casa Roma, Cechetto, Maculan and Santa Sofia.  Lots of tasting helped me find new wines to add to my cantina and others that I found less desirable.  Most of all, I realize that I will never know enough about wine or get to taste every producers version of what they think to be the best representation of their wines.  Guess it just means I have many more events to go to.

With the spring weather arriving, the Hotel Monaco in Venice was filled with interested wine drinkers eager to learn more  about the 40 wine producers present from Friuli and Slovenia.  ’Gradito il Abito Rosso,’ or ‘Appreciate the Red Dress,’ is the second wine event presented by Fisar.  They wanted to get people interested in and learn more about the hearty, domestic Friulan reds like Schioppetino, Refrosco, Pignolo and Terrano, as well as international ones like Merlot and Cabernet.   Typically, Friuli is known more for its white wines, especially from the area of Carso, where the ground is made of limestone and therefor produces a fresh taste to the wine.  But, the reds from this area are equally interesting and have a long history in the region.  At the event there were many wine producers I had already known, like our good friend Marco Cecchini, who presented his ‘Careme,’ a blend of Merlot, Cabernet and Refosco; and 2 different years of his Refosco.  The Refosco grape/wine is thick skinned and dark.  It has strong red and blue fruit flavors and is great for aging. Marco explained to us that many producers are ripping up these indigenous vines to plant more internationally known types and how it’s unfortunate because these grapes are part of the history of Friuli.  It’s a great wine, intense and tannic which I personally think would sell amazingly in the US  market, especially when paired with a nice juicy steak!  Some other producers whom I found interesting were Borgo delle Oche, Jacùss, Petrussa, Muzic, Ronco Servero’s fantastic Merlot and La Ponca, who presented another interesting Friulan wine called Schiopettino.  This wine, in general, is known  for its spice, and La Ponca did it perfectly.  Aged for 18 months, it has hints of vanilla and leather which balanced nicely with the spice and made you feel warm all over.  Fiegl, from the Gorizia area, poured a 13 year old  Merlot, which still seemed as fresh as it was made yesterday.  Davidè Feresin was probably the most interesting find, with a fantastic Refosco called ‘Nero di Botte.’

Of course, we can’t forget about the Slovenian wines.  Terrano, a thicker and more tannic brother to the Refosco, is what was presented at large and paired often with the international grapes.  Simcic had absolutely fantastic wines, although a tad pricey, with my favorite being a Pinot noir, which was soft, velvety, balanced and had hints of raisins.  MonteMoro and Guerila poured great Terrano while Skerk and Kante led the pack.

Towards the end of the day. we had the chance to take part in a tasting of a wine called Pignolo.  This rare wine has changed a lot over the years and it too is being ripped out to be replaced by Merlot and Cabernet.  Six producers presented their product.  From a younger, more vegetable tasting wine by Ermacora to a slightly sweet, amarone styled Pignolo by Castello di Buttrio. The tasting proved that this type of wine is better with age and deserves it’s time to shine among the big wines like Barolo and Brunello. I can’t say how many of these wines or producers sell their wines outside of Italy, but all are happy to send bottles to wherever you live.