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.