Valdobbiadene - heart and soul of Prosecco

It's hard to describe the steepness of these vineyards, and specifically of the fabled Cartizze vineyard, without seeing them firsthand. Le Colture, situated in Santo Stefano, owns about one and a half hectares in this spectacular vineyard which tops out at about 400 meters. 

Unforgettable vineyard shot of Giovanna Madonia's old Albana; Spring 2016

And the Chardonnay wins!

The last time I had a match made in heaven between Jura Chardonnay and roast chicken was in Vincelles, the home town of L'Aigle à Deux Têtes, and the chicken was real Bresse Chicken, a beautiful 2+kg bird roasted by none other than our host Henri Le Roy, amateur chef and vigneron de L'Aigle. This time, it was at home, the chicken was from Whole Foods, and the wine was the newly arrived 2013 Chardonnay (and Pinot Noir) from L'Aigle, but the taste experience was equally incredible. Kudos to all concerned (except me, I'm not much of a food photographer). That's my son Wil making a reappearance, who loved the pairing as well.

Re: Ella agrees - Lunatique is crazy good!!

A magnum of Lunatique a day keeps the doctor away!

What a cutie! :-)

Thkm

Ella agrees - Lunatique is crazy good!!

La Palazzetta di Luca e Flavio Fanti

The irrepressible Flavio Fanti is a fortunate man indeed. Both his son Luca and his daughter Tea have, in their early twenties, eagerly embraced the family's farming activities, and have become indispensable members of the hardworking, well-oiled machine that is La Palazzetta. Their Brunellos continue to astonish me and other tasters with abundant, deep fruit and intoxicating, complex aromatics. I was there last week with several customers who snapped up our current inventory of 2007 Riserva faster than you can say Sangiovese (a few more cases will be on the way soon). 

Flavio's paradigm is simple, like that of many of our other growers: hard work in the vineyards pays handsomely. And with old-vine vineyards of mixed galestro and ferrous, calcareous material, and with the usually warm, dry summers of their southerly location near Castelnuovo dell'Abate, the family is blessed with 20 hectares (about 50 acres) of amazing grape-growing potential. Get yourself some 2009 or 2010 Brunello from La Palazzetta and dish up some Cinghiale con Papardelle or even better, a beautiful grilled beefsteak, and it will be easy to imagine yourself basking in the Tuscan sun, not a care in the world. I promise. 

It was pretty crazy and hair-raising to watch Luca Fanti backing down the steep, rutted driveway with a very full pallet order for us that happened to be scheduled for pickup the day we left. Fortunately he aced it, and Hillebrand made the pickup without anyone breaking a sweat (except me as I watched breathless). Nick Y, those are your magnums, and 3 and 5 liters of 2010 Brunello on top of the pallet. 

Castello di Torre in Pietra

Visiting the ancient, pastoral estate at Castello di Torre in Pietra feels like taking a step back in time. All around is tranquil, verdant loveliness - so close, but in many ways so far, from the beautiful chaos of Rome. The ancient long-horned cattle - the breed is called Maremmana, from Maremma - still graze in pastures fenced in wood. Hillsides are covered in cypress and pine. Nature bursts from every vista. 

From the point of view of wine production, Lazio has never enjoyed the renown of many other appellations in Italy, even if generations of tourists to Rome fall in love with Frascati, or Est! Est!! Est!!! - simple white wines that can certainly be pleasing, but rarely great. But there is a new DOC in town...and it carries the name of the great city that lies just to the east. Roma DOC comes in rosso and bianco. The white is made from Malvasia Puntinata, or Malvasia di Lazio, although Bombino Bellone or Trebbiano Verde are also permitted. The red features Cesanese along with Montepulciano and Sangiovese. These are easy drinking, delicious wines, best consumed in a local osteria, in big gulps, with generous quantities of good and simple fare. 

Filippo Antonelli, the proprietor of the estate, is friendly, curious and smart. His line includes not only the Roma wines, but a delicious, spritzy white from Fiano, made with no additions of sulfur, a spumante made in small quantities, mainly for local celebrations at the Cantina, and a pair of simple but delicious blends named for the wooly mammoth, whose remains were found when the tunnel between the old cantina and the newer was excavated - Elephas. The damn nazis, leaving Italy in a hurry, ran off and stole the fossilized mammoth tusk that was part of the collection. A femur still remains on the property. 

Roman Street Food

Trapizzini - delicious little sandwiches made from goodies like artichokes, meatballs, beef tongue, involtino (cheese, guanciale, and other stuff folded into a meatball), octopus, tripe...and any number of other delicious ingredients, served in a pocket of bread with sauces that will make your eyes roll back in your head. 

Next time you're in the eternal city, check it out: www.trapizzino.it. 

Thanks for the tip Marco Moroder! 

Caserta: ground zero for mozzarella di bufala

When in Caserta, or anywhere else for that matter, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, like fresh mozzarella...for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, or anytime in between. 

Mozzarella starts as curd, which is then washed with hot water to make it stretchy and elastic. Then, it's formed into balls, and soaked in brine. In the case of this and many other caseifici around Caserta, the entire process is made by hand.  

Of course before there can be mozzarella, there must be milk. And for there to be milk, there must be cows: in this case, water buffalo or bufala, which probably arrived in Italy from India a couple thousand years ago according to il professore, Massimo Alois. 

On Lipari

After waiting much of the day for waves to subside we took the fast ferry to the Island of Lipari, where the spanking-new high-tech Tenuta di Castellaro was built. The island is breathtaking. Below, my daughter Aili taking in the scenery. 

The barricaia, or barrel room, is supported by columns of cement that were poured without a cast, directly into the earth in order to preserve the impressions of 5,000 years of stone strata. The winery has incredibly innovative sustainability systems built in, like a "wind tower" that opens and closes automatically, and who's job it is to capture cool nighttime winds, vent them below to a 350m long system of ducts where they maintain naturally cool temperatures in the cellar. 

In one of the cleanest fermentation chambers I've ever seen, left to right: Sebastiano, Salvo Foti's right hand here on Lipari, winery owner Massimo Lentsch and his wife Stefania, Gabriele Colombo who manages sales, and Michele Giannetti, the brilliant architect who designed the winery and its many innovations. We tasted last night the Bianco Pomice, and Nero Ossidiana, unique and expressive wines crafted from indigenous grapes under the guidance of Salvo Foti. Those wines have been an important part of the WorldWide Cellars portfolio for 4 years, since the first vintage in 2008. We also tasted a new rosé from Nero d'Avola and Corinto, barrel-sampled a red wine from 100% Corinto, and finally, tasted the winery's first vintage (2012) of the jaw-dropping Malvasia delle Lipari, a vino passito made from the local Malvasia and the required 5% of Corinto. Sweet but not too sweet, with a nose of nectar, apricot, and a touch of honey and fig, it was brilliant. 

How do you get to Lipari? Weather permitting, you can take a fast ferry that will travel up to 30knots. You'll be there in about 45 minutes. Hope you don't get seasick. One of Massimo's passions, and one of his reasons for investing in Lipari, is because of his passion for sailing. Lipari is famous for its winds, and the islands provide exceptional day-trip destinations. 

New projects from Salvo and Mario

Another day on Mount Etna. Weather continues to be a bit of rain, a flash of sun,  another sprinkle. At the end of the day, a full-out storm hit the mountain with hurricane winds, rain, and driving snow higher up. Could be an interesting trip tomorrow to Lipari on the hydrofoil. 

The day started with I Custodi: a tour of the magnificent Vigna Centeraria, Mario Paoluzi's spectacular vineyard of ancient albarello-trained vines, some plants up to 250 yrs old. Eventually there will be a grand-cru bottling from this vineyard, but for now the grapes are used for Aetneus, the winery's spectacular "regular" Etna Rosso. We then drove to the Moganazzi vineyard, where at some point the new cellar of I Custodi will be completed. Eventually, there are plans to get to 100,000 bottles and to bring all the winery's production here, which compared to productions that are currently counted by much smaller multiples of a thousand, is very exciting. 

Lunch was with Salvo, at his newly-acquired old palmento in Milo, on the east side of the volcano. A palmento is an ancient cantina, typical of Sicily, in which grapes were crushed by foot, macerated in vats of volcanic stone, and finally pressed by means of a gigantic lever made from a chestnut beam, supported with a stone counterweight, all flowing through the system by gravity. Strictly speaking, the use of the palmento is now not allowed in Sicily due to what I believe Salvo would call government overreach - concerns about hygiene. True that the volcanic vats are probably difficult to clean, but over the years, Salvo explained, the flora of yeast lives on and the wines taste not only of the terroir of the vineyard, but also of the cellar. 

The gentlemen in the photo (left to right: Massimo Rufino, Mario Paoluzi of I Custodi, Thomas Schuster) are tasting a wine that (may have) been made by Salvo in his palmento, and aging in two buried anfore of 800 and 1200 liters that Salvo purchased and had blessed by priests in Georgia (not the one in America). In another photo, the wine is drawn by Salvo's son and likely successor Simone. The wine was incredibly pure, aromatic, elegantly balanced: pure Salvo Foti. 

Scilio - Winter on Mount Etna

There is a decided chill to the air up here in Linguaglossa today even if one senses that spring could not be far off. And rain: one must remember that water is never a problem on the mountain, especially in February. Rain showers, then a respite of sun, a rainbow, and fifteen minutes or an hour later, another sprinkle or a downpour. Things are decidedly on the wet side during the winter season.

The Scilio family has been growing grapes on this mountain since 1815, longer than any other current grower. Giovanni remembers his great grandfather selling wine to the locals as a boy. Farming has always been as natural as possible, and the estate is now certified organic. The old vineyards produce Nerello Mascalese and Cappuccio, Carricante, Catarratto, and small quantities of other indigenous cultivars. The resulting wines are made with natural yeast and minimal intervention. Our relationship with this producer is still almost new, but I feel myself growing more and more excited about our future together. Tasting the wines from the old vine parcels yesterday made me very grateful to be working with this smart, committed family.

Viña Pedrosa 1994 Ribera del Duero Crianza

I'm starting to once again become fascinated by the great wines of Spain. Tonight, the night before the last day of 2014, it's a bottle of Viña Pedrosa 1994 Ribera del Duero Crianza - a wine I used to import many years ago and that has been waiting in my cellar for just the right time to appear on my table. That time has come, with sautéed duck breast in red wine sauce, kale sautéed with eggplant, and buttercup squash so sweet it could almost be for dessert. The wine is beautifully transparent in color, still youthful. The nose is violets and red meat with the amazing deep blackberry-currant note still intact, plenty of garrigue too - lavender, a hint of thyme. The palate is all roast red meat and chalky minerality, then comes stewed blackberries, and a thirst quenching, delicious finish. An amazing pairing with the wild duck breast in red wine sauce.

This is an homage to a great wine, not a sales pitch. We no longer sell this wine, and likely never will again. However, one of my new years resolutions for 2015 is to dig back into Spain, looking for wines of terroir and individuality, crafted from fine raw materials, with an eye towards tradition. Wines like this one from Viña Pedrosa / Hermanos Perez Pascuas.

Nardello Soave "Meridies"

If you haven't yet tasted the 2013, you should. It is marvelous...full of complex aromatics with a big floral and peach emphasis, lush fruit on the palate with almost incredible ripeness and yet beautifully balanced acidity. A glorious white wine for summer and beyond.

Sailing with Fabio

We've got Fabio Oberto in town for a few days, and I figured I'd take him sailing over the weekend to give him a taste of northern Wisconsin and Lake Superior. Turns out not only does Fabio grow incredible Barolo, but he might be a natural born sailor. Never seasick, completely at home on the boat, more than willing to lend a hand. Hope he can come back for a longer passage.

Below decks, we enjoyed a bottle of JJ Prum 2012 Kabinett, (Riesling is Fabio's favorite grape after Nebbiolo). The wine was stunning, if far too young. We then opened an Oberto 2004 Barolo DOCG from my cellar, which was deep, spicy, and very complex, almost perfect Barolo, but which is yet still too young. It was a more than acceptable pairing with grilled Lake Superior lake trout, caught that very day by local fishermen.

2001 Chateau de Viella

Stunning, youthful, shockingly delicious. This 2001 Madiran from Chateau de Viella has another 15-20 years in it.

Available from WorldWide Cellars by first September, in very limited quantities.

Piaggia arriving this week!

Piaggia is a recognized leader in Carmignano, one of the oldest designated appellations in the world, which is a fact that will surprise some of you. Carmignano is named for the eponymous city of Carmignano, a mere dozen kilometers west of Florence. Long ago ruled by the Medici, the Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici took special pride in the area's wines, and in 1716 ruled that the wine-growing area, and the name Carmignano, should have special legal protected status, essentially creating one of the world's first appellations. 

Mauro Vannucci and his daughter Silvia are making stunning, serious wines that show true noble character and cellar-worthiness. Don't miss!! 

Piaggia vineyard, taken just a couple of weeks ago on visit with Tony Lemmo, of Cafe di Scala in Des Moines. Note the calcareous content in the soils that makes them appear practically white, and the traditional chestnut stakes. One can see Florence less than 15 km away from a different angle in this vineyard. 

The next vintage of Il Sasso is 2011, but the 2010 that is on the way has the potential to be a "classic" vintage. 

Tony contemplates the array of wines during our tasting: impressive!

Tony contemplates the enormous bistecca fiorentina that came out for lunch after our tasting at the winery. These steaks come from the famous white Tuscan chianina cattle, and are usually cooked over a wood fire. Needless to say, delicious. Needless to say, I was not able to finish (that steak was for one person). 

Long Island, Lake Superior

There is only the sand, the water, the wind, the waves: everything else.

Barone di Valforte

In Abruzzo, Montepulciano (the grape) is king. In the hands of Valforte, who have 20 hectares in the DOCG zone, Colline Teramane, the king's crown shines bright indeed. Pictured below, Guido Sorricchio shows Tony and I the new gemme, or flowering shoots. The growing season is off to a promising start. 

South facing vineyards in Città Sant'Angelo, where the cantina, and one part of vineyards of Barone di Valforte are located. The vineyards are about 3km from the Adriatic Sea. 

Guido shows off the new gemme, but also evident is the clay soil with an enormous calcareous but also ferrous content, which gives the soil a yellowish cast. 

Super-modern winemaking facilities include state of the art controls for all of the winery's stainless steel vats. 

Sun setting over Colline Teramane

After a hard day of winery visits, multiple plates of seafood at Osteria Della Loggia Di Bruno Mancinelli, in Alta Silvi...high in the hills. The meal was absolutely breathtaking. 

Michele Alois

Don Michele Alois shows how it's done: we arrived to find him working in the vineyard, and somewhat annoyed that his vineyard guys had missed tucking some of the leafy canopy under the training wires, and had missed tying up a few newly planted vines that weren't tall enough yet. We found the Alois vineyards in a gorgeous state; in one of the 4 vineyards that hadn't been mown yet, flowering alfalfa giving the impression of a garden of Eden. Soon enough it will be mown, and the result saved to feed the farm's three horses (one of Michele's hobbies and passions).