With A Little Help From My Friends

The Westchester Italian Cultural Center is located in Tuckahoe about a half hour by train from Grand Central. The center preserves, promotes and celebrates the rich heritage of classical and contemporary Italian culture by encouraging an appreciation of the Italian language, arts and letters, history, cuisine and commerce through educational programs, exhibits and events.  Patrizia Calce, the director of events for the center, asked me if I would do a wine and food tasting for members and their guests featuring Wines and Foods of Northern Italy.   I was more than happy to do so but I explained to Patrizia that I would need a little help from my friends.  The first one I called was Gary Grunner of Grapes on the Go, a wine importing company.  Gary said he would donate the wines of Tenuta Santa Maria in Pieve in the Veneto and would also attend the event to say a few words about the winery.  Gary then asked Douglas Giachino of Vinvino wines if he would supply the wines of Andrea Oberto from La Morra in Piedmont.  Vinvino also distributes the wine of Tenuta Santa Maria della Pieve for Gary and Giachino agreed to help, too.

Last but not least I asked Louis Coluccio of A.L.C. Italian Grocery in Bay Ridge Brooklyn to supply the food.
Louis replied “Just tell me what you need.”  A.L.C. sells both top quality imported Italian food products and prepared foods to take away.  It is the closest I have come to an Italian food shopping experience in the New York area.
With so much cooperation and great wine and food lined up, the tasting at the WICC was a sure success.  Over 40 members and guests attended.

The Wines
Prosecco NV 100% Gela-formerly known as Prosecco, Luccio.  The grapes come from the rolling hills of the Veneto countryside just north of Venice and are harvested by hand. A soft pressing occurs and the juice is placed in stainless steel tanks. Before the primary fermentation process is concluded, the wine is run into a pressurized tank where a secondary fermentation takes place allowing it to become a sparkling wine.Soave “Lepia” 2010 IGT made from 100% Garganega Veronese. Tenuta Santa Maria Della Pieve The soil is clay with calcareous-marly subsoil. The training system is the pergoletta, and there are 3,800 vines per hectare. The grapes are harvested in September at different times of ripening and crushed separately, with cold pre-fermentation skin contact. The grapes are gently pressed and fermented. The wine is blended in January and racked in stainless steel tanks with the thin lees. Then there is a short bottle refinement. The wine has flavors and aromas of pears and peaches with a hint of almonds and nice minerality. I like this Soave because it reflects the indigenous grape and the terroir. $22Gavi “IL Mandorlo”  2011 Tenuta San Pietro 100% Cortese.  The winery is organic and biodynamic. Soil is limestone-clayey with a good mineral content and the vineyard is at 300 meters. The grapes are hand harvested in the middle of September. Soft crushing is followed by fermentation in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks using natural yeast from the cellar. This is a well-balanced wine with floral hints, fresh fruit aromas and flavors and good acidity.  $16
Dolcetto d’Alba 2010 Andrea Oberto-La Morra, Piedmont
There are 4,500 plants per hectare, the soil is clayey and calcareous and the exposure is southwest. The training system is Guyot with short trimming. There is manual harvesting of the slightly overripe grapes in 20-kg perforated crates through a careful selection of the bunches. The grapes are transferred into the cellar where they are crushed and destemmed within hours.
A short cryo-maceration and thermo-controlled fermentation takes place at around 30 °C, and soft pumpovers  are frequent. There is a short maceration of the marc, about 100 hours. Racking takes place in stainless steel vats, where the must is thermo-controlled. In the vats the alcoholic fermentation comes to an end and the natural malolactic fermentation takes place. The wine is aged for 8 months in stainless steel vats. $18Langhe Nebbiolo 2010 DOC Andrea Oberto 100% Nebbiolo
There are 4,000 vines per hectare. Vinification is the same as above except that the juice is in contact with the skins for 200 hours. Aging is for six months part in stainless steel and part in wooden casks. $22
Barolo 2008 DOCG 100% Nebbiolo Andrea Oberto Long maceration of the marc about 300 hours and racking in wood casks, where the natural malolactic fermentation takes place
Aging for 24 months in oak casks and 2 months in stainless steel vats and 6months in bottle before release. $45
Valpolicella Ripasso 2009 DOC made from 75% Corvina, !0% Rondinella and 15% Corvinone. Tenuta Santa Maria Della Pieve. The vineyards are located on clay hills with calcareous layers. The training system is the pergoletta, there are 5,600 vines per hectare and the harvest is by hand at the end of September. In the middle of October when the grapes have reached their optimal maturation and sugar level, they are pressed and fermented in temperature controlled stainless tanks for 25/30 days with daily pump over. The wine is later macerated and fermented a second time on the skins and raisins of the grapes used for Amarone, which are still rich in sugar.  This is followed by 24 months of aging in tonneaux and barriques where malolactic fermentation takes place. The wine is then aged for 6 months in bottle before release. $35
Gary said that a new law was passed that limited the production of the Ripasso wines. For every bottle of Amarone produced they are only allowed to produce two bottles of the Ripasso.

Amarone Della Valpolicella DOC 2007 made from 75% Corvina, 10% Rondinella and 15% Corvinone. Tenuta Santa Maria Della Pieve  The training system is the pergoletta and there are 5,600 vines per hectare. The grapes are hand harvested and placed in wooden trays inside rooms with well-circulated air for 4/5 months. In the middle of January after reaching their desired sugar content and losing 25%/30% of their weight, the almost raisin like grapes are pressed and fermented for 25/30 days at controlled temperatures with daily pumping over. After a period of decantation and refining in French barriques and Italian oak tonneaux, malolactic fermentation takes place. After 48 months the wine is bottled and remains for 6 months before release. It is a complex and elegant wine with hints of dried cherries, prunes and spice. The finish is very long and there is a lingering aftertaste. $90

Contact the Vinvino Wine Company- 212-463-7880 to find the retail store near you that sells these wines.

The Tradition Continues

I am always interested to see what happens when the next generation takes over an Italian winery that makes wines that I enjoy.  Will they follow the traditional methods  or will they go to what I call “the dark side” and make modern international style wines?

Tiziana Settimo

I was invited to Porter House in NYC to tastes the wines of the Aurelio Settimo Winery.  I have enjoyed these wines in the past and wanted to see if Tiziana Settimo was staying with the same traditional style wines as her father. Tiziana was presenting the wines so I could have all my questions answered.

The Settimo family first settled in Annunziata in Piemonte in 1943. In the beginning they practiced mixed farming (as did most of Italy), having vineyards, fruit and hazelnut trees, and breeding hens, rabbits and cows.  They sold off almost all their grapes.  When Tiziana’s father Aurelio took over the winery, he decided to grow only grapes and expanded the vineyards.  However they continued to sell 50% of their grapes.  In 1974 Aurelio decided to keep all of the grapes and vinify the wine on site.

Tiziana said she had worked at her father’s side for twenty years until his death in 2007. The winery is a family affair run mostly by women.  The only man involved is Tiziana’s brother-in-law.

From the very beginning Tiziana made it clear that this is a very traditional winery and that she uses the same methods as her late father Aurelio.  She did say that one thing is different: her father used Slovenian oak for his barrels and she is using French oak from Allier. She fells that the French oak gives the wine a more elegant character. The Barolo is aged in 2,500 to 3,500 liters oak barrels.

The menu

 

Only 3 wines are produced from their estate vineyards.  There are 5.6 hectares of Nebbiolo and 0.9 hectares of Dolcetto. Their Rocche Dell’Annunziata vineyard is 3.42 hectares and the exposure is south and southwest. The vines are between 18 and 46 years old. There are 4,500 to 5,000 vines per hectare and the training method is traditional Guyot.  Tiziana said that the fertile, clay-calcareous, limestone, rocky soil together with the altitude (270-300 mt) and the exposure produce a full bodied but elegant and very fragrant Barolo.

All of the wines are excellent with food.  At Porter House, we had them with Porcini Risotto to start followed by Heritage Berkshire Roasted Pork Loin, a great combination.

Tiziana said that she was in Boston a few days before and she had these wines with fish, including shellfish, and they all worked well together. It is my opinion that a red wine which is not on the “dark side”, is well made, and has good acidity can go with almost any type of food.

The Wines
Dolcetto D’Alba DOC 2010 100% Dolcetto
Tiziana said that 2010 was a great vintage for Dolcetto.
The grapes are hand picked and vinified in stainless steel with about 7 days skin contact with a submerged cap and frequent repassing.
This is a fresh fruity wine with hints of cherry and surprisingly good acidity. Tiziana said that she likes to keep the alcohol low on her Dolcetto, between 12% and 12-1/2% to keep the freshness so the alcohol does not overpower the fruit.
Langhe Nebbiolo DOC 2006 100% Nebbiolo
Tiziana said that 2006 was also a very good vintage. She went on to say that this wine is produced from grapes grown on the younger vineyards facing southeast in the same area as the Nebbiolo used to make Barolo. It has a shorter maceration on the skins (8 to 10 days) than the Barolo and does not see any wood. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel and the malolactic fermentation takes place in concrete vats of 52hl. The wine was bottled in November 2010 after spending two years in the bottle. They do not make this wine in every vintage if they feel that the alcohol content will be too high. It is a wine with good fruit and has an excellent balance between tannins and acidity. This wine was made to be drunk when released however it was showing no signs of age and could last another 5 to 10 years.  $30

Barolo DOCG 2007 100% Nebbiolo
This wine is produced from the older Nebbiolo grapes. The must is in contact with the skin for 15 to 20 days with a submerged cap and frequent repassing. The wine is aged in wood for two years. The wine was bottled in March 2011  $42

Barolo” Rocche Dell ‘Annunziata” DOCG 2007
This is one of the great crus of Barolo and Tiziana said there were 23 other producers making wine from this vineyard.  She considers the 2007 vintage to be an excellent one, though it was in many ways a difficult vintage because it was very hot. This is a traditional classic Barolo with aromas and flavors of black fruit especially blackberries and hints of leather, tea, spice and liquorice with good acidity.  $50

I am happy to see that Tiziana is making wine like her father’s and that they are very good value for the money.
I look forward to enjoying these wines for many years to come.

Italian Red Wine Under $20 for All Seasons

Over the past few months I have tasted a number of Italian red wines for under $20. The first two, on the list which I tasted last week at an event called Piemonte Land of Perfection’s I have had many times before and have always enjoyed. The last two on the list were a new discovery.

Dolcetto “D’OH”  2011 Piedmont Dolcetto  DOC 100% Dolcetto Clavesana  Fermented is temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. This is a fresh fruity wine with hints of cherry that is to be drunk young. It is traditional Dolcetto.  $11

Barbera d’Asti DOCG “Vespa” 2011 100% Barbara Cascina Castlet  The vineyards are at 300 meters and there are 5,000 vines per hectare. The soil composition is clay and limestone. Pruning and harvesting (the middle of October) are done manually. The must is left in contact with the skin at controlled temperatures for 6 to 8 days. There is frequent remortgages and racking is followed by malolactic fermentation. The wine is bottled and released after a few months. It is a fresh fruity Barbera with aromas and flavors of cherry and blueberry and good acidity. $14

Chianti Colli Senesi DOCG 2010 100% Sangiovese Poggio Stella. There are 3,500/5,000 vines per hectare. The training system is guyot and spurred cord, and the grapes are hand harvested. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled tanks followed by maceration in stainless steel tanks. The wine is then refined in Slovenian oak barrels for at least three months. The wine has red berry aromas and flavor with good acidity. $13.99

Vino Nobile Di Montepulicano DOCG 2008 Poggio Stella made from 90% Sangiovese (Prugnolo Gentile) and 10% Canaiolo.  The vines are grown on hillsides and the soil is mostly crumbled rock with good skeletal content. The plant density is 3,500/5,000 vines per hectare and the training system is Guyot and spurred cord. The grapes are hand harvested; fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled tanks followed by maceration in stainless steel. The wine is aged in Slovenian oak barrels for 24 months. $19.

Marche Rosso “Picens” IGT  2006 Domodimonti The wine is made from 25% Montepulciano, 25% Sangiovese 25% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyards are at 250 meters and the soil in mainly clay. The vineyards are south facing, there are 4,000 vines per hectare and the training system is condon with spur pruning. The harvest is from the end of September to the middle of October. The wine is aged in second passage French barriques for 5 to 6 months. There were flavors and aromas of dark fruit with hints of blackberries and a touch of leather. $16

Ciró Rosso Classic Superiore “Liber Pater” DOC 2009 Ippolito 1845 (Calabria) The wine is made from 100% Gaglioppo grapes.  The wine is fermented in stainless steel. This is a rustic wine with deep red and black fruit aromas and flavors with a hint of leather. It has a long finish and a distinctive aftertaste. $16

Rosso Piceno Superiore 2007 DOC ”Vigna Montetinello” Montepulciano 70 % Sangiovese 30% Saladini Pilastri
The vineyard is at 200 meters and the exposure is west- east. The cultivation system is vertical shoot positioned trellis and there are 2,000 plants/ha; the average age of the vines is 30 years. Harvest takes place at the end of October. The wine is fermented in stainless steel and aged for 18 months in French tonneaux. This is a wine with nice red and black fruit, with a long finish and pleasing aftertaste. $17.99

Aglianico IGT 100% Aglianico. Donna Chiara. The soil is clay, training system is guyot and there are 4,000 vines per hectare and the harvest takes place in the second week of November. This wine does not see any wood. The wine is aged in bottle for 6 months. This is a very aromatic wine with wild berry aromas and flavors and hints of blueberries and cherries. $18

I could not believe the price of the next two wines after I tasted them. They are true bargains. I believe that both of them were awarded three glasses by Gambero Rosso, their highest award.

Montepulciano D’Abruzzo “Vignafranca DOC 2007 Fratelli Barba100% Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. The vineyard is at 70 meters and the soil is alluvial, sandy silt and lightly calcareous. There are 6,000 vines/ha, the training is double guyot and the exposure is southwest. The harvest takes place in the middle of October. Fermentation is in wooden conical base vats for 18-20 days.  The wine is aged in French barriques, 50% new and 50% used for 14 months. The wine has aromas and flavors of cherry and spice with a hint of pepper. 14.99

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo “I Vasari” Old Vines DOC 2008 Fratelli Barba 100% Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. The Colle della Corte vineyard is at 70 meters and has a southwest exposure. The soil is alluvial, sandy silt and lightly calcareous and the vines are 30 years old. There are 6,000 plants per hectare, the training system is double guyot and the harvest takes place in the middle of October, fermentation takes place in wooden conical base vats for 18 to 20 days. The wine is aged in French barriques, 50% new and 50% used for 14 months.
This is an intense wine with flavors and aromas of black cherry blueberry and plum with a hint of spice. $18

Lunch and Dinner with Ed McCarthy and Mary Ewing-Mulligan(MW)

Some months ago, I mentioned to our friend Ed McCarthy that Michele and I were invited to a wedding in Massachusetts.  Ed, who has a home in that area, invited us to stay with him and, his wife Mary Ewing-Mulligan, and we gratefully accepted.  Ed and Mary are the authors of the Wine for Dummies books and Mary is an MW.  When I told Ed we could stay for only one day, he said, “We will have to fit in a lot of wine!”  It was a great weekend of wine and food but what I really enjoyed was the wine talk on subjects ranging from “leaf roll” in one of the single vineyards of Ravenswood Zinfandel, to a 1960 Coonawarra Estates Cabernet  from Australia which they had a few days before, and many other things between.  The six wines below were drunk during lunch and dinner.

 Ed always likes to begin with Champagne

 Champagne Brut Rosé “Celebris” 1998 Gosset It is 68% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir Grand Cru and 7% red wine from Pinot Noir.  I believe disgorging is by hand and it does not go through malolatic fermentation and the remuage is both manual and by gryopalettes. The color was a robust pink, a profusion of small bubbles in the glass with aromas and flavors of red fruit and hints of raspberries and strawberries. It made a wonderful aperitif. The current vintage is an “extra brut”.  Gosset located in Ay is the oldest continually operating wine firm in Champagne.

  “One of the main reasons that I wrote Champagne for Dummies is to share with you my enthusiasm for the lesser-known Champagne houses such as Gosset. This firm, owned by the Gosset family until a few years ago, has been making wonderful Champagne for as long as I can remember, and only a small number of people (in the United States at least) have experienced them”. I agree with Ed!

 Fiano di Avellino “Radici” 1997 Mastroberardino 100% Fiano di Avelliano (Campania)

The grapes are from the Santo Stefano del Sole vineyards and the soil sandy, deep and rich in minerals. The harvest takes place in the second half of October. Classic white wine vinification takes place in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperatures. It has been my pleasure to drink Fiano di Avellino from this producer that has been 20-25 years old.  This is a white wine that can age and this 14 year old wine still has many more years in front of it. It had subtle white fruit aromas and flavors, more than a hint of smoke, and touches of honey and toasted hazelnuts. It was rich on the palate with a finish and aftertaste of slightly bitter almonds.

 

Arnad-Montjuret  DOC 2009 La Kiuva 75% Nebbiolo with some Pinot Noir and perhaps some Dolcetto (Vallée d’Aoste) This is a small co-op of 60 growers on 25 hectares of vineyards. They produce 8,000 cases of 3 different wines. Each grower tends his own plot with the help of the co-op’s agronomist. The wine is named for two small villages.

The local clone of Nebbiolo here is called Picatendro. Ed made me taste this wine blind and asked me where it came from and I said Piedmont, I was very close and I had never had this wine before. It is a light wine with aromas and flavors of cherry and a hint of spice. The wine was very easy to drink and the alcohol was only 12.5%.

 Vignabajla 1982 Angelo Gaja 100% Dolcetto. (Piedmont) This is a single vineyard Dolcetto and it is the wine Ed should have given me to taste blind.  Dolcetto means “sweet little one” even though the wine is dry. It should be consumed within the first few years. This wine still had aromas and flavors of cherry, was not showing any sign of age and if Ed had given me the wine blind and only told me the year, I would have guessed it was Nebbiolo!  Gaja no longer makes Dolcetto.

 Taurasi “Radici” 1994 Mastroberardino 100% Aglianico (Campania) the grapes are from the Montemarano vineyard that has a southern exposure and chalky clay soil. The harvest is at the end of October and the beginning of November. Classic red wine vinification with a long maceration with the skins and aged for about 30 months in Slovenian oak. This wine was produced before they began to use barriques. In the past Mastroberardino used cement tanks and both large chestnut and Slovenian oak casks for the wine. It is classic Aglianico with dark fruit flavors and aromas, with hints of smoke, leather and tobacco. Their Taurasi can last for many years and I have had wines in the last few years from the 1960’s and 1970’s that are still drinking very well.

The 1968 still remains a classic.

 Barbaresco “Martinenga” 1985 Tenute Cisa Asinari Del Marchesi DI Gresy 100% Nebbiolo. (Piedmont) The Martinenga vineyard is 11 hectares with a southern exposure and blue marl soil. Vinification is on the skins. There is 8 to 10 day fermentation with floating cap followed by 5 to 10 days fermentation with submerged cap. This wine was aged in Slovenian oak for at least 14 months. More recent vintages have a brief period in barriques. 1985 was a very good vintage for Barbaresco. The wine had red fruit flavors and aromas with hints of cherry, tobacco, leather and spice. It was not showing its age.

 

 

Finding Fu Run

Finding Fu Run

Just as we exited the Main Street Flushing #7 train station, the skies opened up and the rain began to pour down.  Carrying two bottles of wine, two wine glasses, and our umbrellas, we threaded our way through the crowded streets to Fu Run, a restaurant we had never tried before, wondering all the while if it would be worth the trip.

 Normally, when Michele and I go for Chinese food we prefer to drink tea. But it is always interesting to go to a Chinese restaurant with friends, in this case members of The Wine Media Guild, to see what wines they will bring, and to eat, drink, talk  about the wine and the food.

 Fu Run features the the food of Northeast China.  Today it is called Donghei but it was once known as Manchuria. The food began to appear soon after we arrived. 

In all, there were 17 dishes and they came so fast and were eaten so quickly that I am not sure what they all were.

 Here are a few that I did remember:

 -Muslim lamb chops– lamb ribs marinated and braised with a crispy coating of cumin seeds and hot pepper.  The meat was so tender, it fell right off the bone.

Egg Pancake

-Three different types of pork dumplings, one with celery, another with leeks and the third with cabbage.  I couldn’t stop eating them. 

-Egg pancake with leeks and pickled vegetables which was the special of the day.

Jelly Fish Salad

-Jelly fish salad–a light soy and scallion dressing made it very refreshing.  A first for me, the jelly fish didn’t seem to have any flavor, just a crunchy texture.  

-Shredded pork with green peppers

-Tender little pork meatballs in a rich broth

-Noodles with mixed vegetables

     -Sauteed water spinach

Each of the 9 guests brought a bottle of wine.  The whites were:

  Schloss Gruner Veltliner 2009 Gobelsburg Steinsetz 100% Gruner Veltiner (Austria) The vineyards are located on an elevated plain. The soil is based upon alpine pebbles transported here by the Danube River and covered by black and loamy soil, loess and gravel. The average age of the vines is 25 years. The wine is racked no more than 3 times before it is bottled, unfined and unfiltered. Maturation takes place in Austrian oak casks of 25hl. No new oak is used. The wine is released 30 to 36 months after the harvest. This wine worked with most of the dishes because no new wood was used and it had a mineral character with hints of pepper and spice and good acidity.

Campo Martino Ruttaris IGT 2000(Friuli Venezia Giulia) Jermann The wine is mostly Tocai Friulano, with a small percentage of Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia Istriana and Picolit. The wine is fermented and aged in 750 liter barrels of Slavonian oak for 12-16 months, and released two years after the harvest.  Capo Martino is the name of a hill in the heart of the Collio zone. The wine was very golden in color and looked like it might be to too old.

We had already dumped an over-the-hill Meursault and a Pouilly-Fuisse. The Capo Martino turned out to be just fine.  A complex wine with ripe fruit aromas, a hint of tropical fruits and a touch of almonds in the finish, this worked less well with the food than the first two whites. It was fuller and richer and seemed to have lost some of its acidity. I liked the wine but not that much with this type of food.

 Pinot Gris Personal Reserve 2001 100% Pinot Gris Trimbach (Alsace). Vineyards are Grand Cru Osterberg with a South/Southeast exposure. The average age of the vines is 25 years and there are 5,000 plants per hectare. The grapes are handpicked when they are at their richest and pressed very gently in a pneumatic press. The juice runs into the cellar by gravity and clarifies naturally prior to fermentation. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel at controlled temperatures for 2 to 3 weeks. Fermentation stops naturally and there is a very small amount of residual sugar to go along with the ripe acidity. The wine is not oak aged. Bottling is early to preserve the freshness and bottled aged before leaving the winery. This was the wine of the evening; it has rich and fragrant with ripe fruit aromas of apricot, pear and mango and may be a touch of botrytis.  It is full bodied with a creamy texture and well balanced with a great finish and aftertaste. It went very well with all of the food, even the Muslim lamb chops.

Red Wines

 D’OH 2010 Piemonte Dolcetto DOC 100% Dolcetto Clavesana.   Fermentation and a short aging in stainless steel and it is a wine to be drunk young. The name Dolcetto means sweet little one but the wine is dry with a lot of fresh fruit flavors and aromas with a hint of cherry. It has a deep ruby red color. The wine worked with most of the dishes because it was light, fruity and lacking in tannin.

 Gigonodas 2005 Domaine du Gour de Chaule (Southern Rhone) The average age of the vines is 50 years. There is a 3 week cuvaison.  A small amount of pressed juice is added back to the cuvee. Malolatic fermentation takes place in cuve, and after the malolatic fermentation is completed the wine is racked into large oak foudres where it stays for 18 months. The wine is racked no more than three times before it is bottled unfined and unfiltered 30 to 36 months after the harvest. This was a big wine with full fruit flavors and hints of spice and pepper. It went very well with most of the food especially the Muslim lamb chops where it blended in with the flavors of the lamb.

 Montgarnatx DOC Priorat 2003 Francesc Bas (Spain) The wine is made from 75% Grenache and 25% Carignan.  Stony soil composed of slate and quartz.  They must have used too much new oak and overextracted the wine because all I could taste were jammy, oaky and vanilla flavors.  It did not go with any of the food.

 Zinfandel Old Hill Vineyard 2006 Ravenswood (Sonoma) 76% Zinfandel and 24% mixed blacks. This is the oldest vineyard of the Ravenswood vineyards and dates from around 1880. The soil is clay loam and the climate is what Joel Peterson of Ravenswood called “the banana belt of Sonoma Country”. The vineyard is at sea level with a slightly eastern exposure. They use native yeasts, open-top fermentation and punch down by hand. Skin contact is 10 to15 days, French oak aging for 20 months in new and one year old barrels. This is a big wine but seems to be more balanced than the 2007 I had over a year ago. There were flavors and aromas of blackberry, blueberry, coffee and a touch of smoke with a long finish and aftertaste. This is a big wine and I felt that it worked with some of the food but not the dumplings and the sea food dishes.

 Fu Run Restaurant is located at 40-09 Prince St Flushing, NY 11354.  The phone number is 718-32 -1363.  As they say in the reviews, “It’s worth the trip!”

Cavallotto and Giovanni Manzone- Traditional Wine at its Best

Cavallotto and Giovanni Manzone–Traditional Producers

 The owner of La Pizza Fresca, one of my favorite pizzerias in NYC, called me at 10:00 PM and said, “Come over. We have a white truffle and old Barolo.” I was there before he hung up the phone. Mark Fornatale, who works for wine importer Michael Skurnik, provided the truffle and we had it shaved on pasta, pizza and risotto. This was a preview for me because two weeks later, I was leaving for Piemonte.  Mark represents two traditional producers that I wanted to visit, Cavallotto and Giovanni Manzone, and he said he would make all the arrangements.

 F.lli Cavallotto

 

Castiglione Falletto

It was the only sunny day in our stay in Piemonte as we drove up to the Cavallotto winery in the late afternoon. The estate is in Castiglione Falletto on Bricco Boschis in the heart of the Barolo area. I was introduced to their wines in the early 1980’s by the wine writer Sheldon Wasserman and had visited them in 1983, 2007 and in November of 2010.

 The Cavalotto’s have been producing wine for five generations.  In 1948, they were the first winemakers in the area to dedicate themselves to the vinification of their own grapes and the marketing their wines in bottles.

  Alfio Cavallotto, who is an enologist, gave us a tour of the vineyards. The property consists of 65 hectares of which 60 are planted with vines.  Alfio said that they have a high number of vines per acre with a corresponding low number of buds per plant, sacrificing quantity for quality. Since 1970 they control the grass covering between the rows of vines to help maintain the natural organic substances in the soil. They have re-introduced natural insect predators allowing for the elimination of pesticides and other toxic chemicals. He also spoke about the soil, the difference between clay and sand in the area and the annual rainfall, as well as the different exposures of the vineyards to the sun. Alfio was a wealth of information and you can find out more at the website. www.Cavallotto.com 

Alfio on Bricco Broschis

Bricco Boschis, their cru, is 25 hectares of which 23 hectares are covered with vines. Half of it is planted with Nebbiolo for Barolo and the other half has Barbera, Freisa, Grignolino, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They use Slavonic oak barrels of 10, 30, 50, 80 and 100 hl. He also said, with a smile on his face, that they have two barriques.

They have both stainless steel and cement tanks and Alfio said that cement tanks ferment the wine at a higher temperature.

 Alfio led us in a tasting of his wines.

 Langhe Bianco 2009 DOC 100% Chardonnay. The wine is fermented in stainless steel and remains on the lees for 11 months. This is a big ripe wine with a lot of fruit and it proves that a Chardonnay that tastes like Chardonnay can be made.

 Dolcetto d’Alba Vigna Scot Bricco Boschis DOC 2009. 100% Dolcetto. Vinification on the skins for 7 days in steel vats and aged in stainless steel for 6 months. Alfio said that for Dolcetto, 2009 was better than 2008 and that 2010 was a very light vintage. This was a Dolcetto with body. It was well balanced, with red fruit aromas, hints of cherries and a touch of bitter almond.

Langhe Freisa 2008 Bricco Boschis DOC 100% Freisa. Maceration on the skins for 5 days with frequent pumping over the must and a few months in stainless steel before release.  It has soft tannins with nice fruit and hints of pepper and cloves. This is one of the best examples of this type of wine that I have tasted.

 Barbera d’ Alba 2006 “Vigno Del Cuculo” Bricco Boschis  DOC 100% Barbera This is a Barbera that is grown in the Barolo area.  It has very good aromas and flavors, a little like Nebbiolo because the soil here is more complex. Alfio believes that the Barberas from Asti are too simple and light or way over the top because of the use of barriques. He also said the land is less expensive in Asti. This Barbera is four years old and showing no sign of age. I believe that it will age for 10 years or more.

 The Nebbiolo vines can be found in the two historical zones of Castiglione Falletto, Bricco Boschis, where the cellars are located, and the Vignolo zone.

 Langhe Nebbiolo Bricco Boschis 2007 DOC 100% Nebbiolo (declassified). This is the same vineyard that they get the grapes for Barolo. It is big for a Nebbiolo, tannic with great fruit flavors and aromas and a hint of spice.

 Alfio said that Bricco Boschis was divided by the family into three vineyards: San Giuseppe, which may be the finest vineyard, Colle Sudovest and Punta Marcello.

 Barolo Bricco Boschis 2005 and 2006 DOCG 100% Nebbiolo. Maceration on the skins for 20 days and aged in Slavonia oak casks of various sizes for three and a half years.

 Barolo Riserva 2004 Vignolo DOCG 100% Nebbiolo. Maceration on the skins for 26 days in stainless steel vats and four years in Slovenian oak casks of different sizes. The Vignolo vineyard is slightly lower than San Giuseppe. I think Bricco Boschis might be the highest vineyard in the zone.

 Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis San Giuseppe 2004 DOCG 100% Nebbiolo. Maceration on the skins for 26 days and aged for four years in Slavonia oak cask of various sizes for four years.

 Alifo said that the Barolo area has been fortunate over the last 20 years and that between 1988 and 2010 the only vintages not to buy are 1991, 1992, 2002 and 2003. I agree with him.

 The first vintage of Cavallotto Barolo I tasted was the 1971 which I had in the early 1980’s. In 2007 at the winery, I tasted the 1971 again and it was still going strong. Not much has changed over the years as they continue to produce traditional wine and classic Barolo with aromas and flavors of faded roses, tar, tobacco and mushrooms.  

   Agricola Azienda Giovanni Manzone

 The Manzone winery was established in 1925 by Giovanni Manzone and it is located in Monforte d’Alba. It is a small, family run winery consisting of 8 hectares all planted with vines. The average production is 4,100 cases a year. The wines are not clarified or filtered. In 2005, Mauro a trained oenologist joined his father, the present Giovanni at the winery.

 It was a cold rainy morning as we made our way along a dirt road that kept on going up and up.  Finally, we reached the top of the hill known as “Gramolere” and the winery. I rang the bell and we were greeted by Mauro.  He took us into the winery where we met his father Giovanni. When he greeted us I knew that this was a farmer and as Gambero Rosso stated, he “… is an authentic wine man…His wines are so typical they are almost textbook in style, perfectly embodying the true Langhe spirit.” I could not agree more. Giovanni was shy and soft spoken and looked like he had just come in from working in the fields.

 In the winery they have 500 liter barrels which looked like they had seen many vintages. Next to them were barrels that were a little larger. When I asked about them I was told they were 700 liter barrels and were traditional in the area. This was very interesting to me because I had never noticed these size barrels before.

Giovanni and Mauro Manzone

Mauro and Giovanni led us in a tasting of their wines.

 We started with a Langhe Bianco Rosserto 2009 DOC made from 100% Rossese Bianco. This is an autochthonous variety of the Lange region. Mauro told us that the wine was saved from extinction by his family over 100 years ago. It was in an old family vineyard close to the house.  About 30 years ago, Giovanni decided to make wine from this variety which he calls “this special white wine”.  It took him 20 years to get official permission for the government to recognize the grape. The wine is fermented for 10 days in 500 liter oak barrels and aged on the lees in the same type of barrels for 12 months with batonnage taking place twice a week. The wine was fruity and mellow with flavors and aromas of peach, orange, acacia and flowers.

 Batonnage was not used in the 2000 vintage of this wine.  It was fresh with undertones of citrus, and a nice finish and aftertaste.  Mauro said that the wine could age between five and ten years but the 2000 was still going strong. Only 2,500 bottles are produced.

 Dolcetto d’Alba 2009 DOC from the “le Ciliegie” vineyard. The grapes are harvested the first week of September and maceration takes place for seven days. It is aged in stainless steel tanks for 11 months. The wine is fruity with blackberry overtones and hints of violets.

Barbera d’Alba  2007 DOC “La Serra” Riserva  the grapes are picked in the La Serra vineyard in the middle of September. Maceration is on the skins for ten days. The wine is aged in 700 liter barrels for 16 months. This was an interesting wine with aromas and flavors of red fruit, sour cherries and hints of tobacco.

 Nebbiolo d’Alba 2008 DOC the grapes come from the “Le Gramolere” vineyard and are picked in the middle of October. Maceration is on the skins for seven days. The wine is aged in 700 liter casks for six months. Good red fruit and a hint of spice.

Barolo “Le Gramolere” 2006 DOCG the grapes are harvested in the middle of October and there is skin contact for 30/40 days. It is aged in 25 HL casks for 30 months. This is a very complex wine with a lot of tannin. It has aromas and flavors cherries, raspberries, spice and balsamic.

 2004 Mauro said was a great vintage and they made a Riserva which they only make in the best years. He said the wine was aged in 500-700 liter barrels for 48 months. This is a big wine but elegant at the same time. We also tasted the 1998 Riserva, a year that was overshadowed by the 1997. However Giovanni felt that 1998 was a great vintage similar to the 2004. I had to agree. This wine will age for a long time.

 We tasted the Barolo 2008 DOCG Bricat  from barrel. It had the aromas and flavors of Pinot Noir. These were the same Pinot Noir aromas and flavors we tasted at Elvio Congo when Valter gave us a barrel sample of his 2008. There must be something about that vintage. I cannot wait to taste them from the bottle to see how they have developed. 

 Barolo Bricat  2006 DOCG  the grapes were picked in the middle of October. Maceration is on the skins for 15 days. 50% of the wine is aged in 500 liter barrels and 50% in 700 liter barrels for a minimum of 24 months. It has flavors and aromas of blueberries, blackberries with a hint of chocolate and walnuts. It is not as big a wine as the “Le Gramolere”.

Giovanni Manzone has a very good website   www.manzonegiovanni.com

 Every time that I travel to Piemonte I see changes. For many years I feared that the entire Langhe wine production would veer toward the “international style” of wine making. This method trades off the wonderful authenticity and purity-of-character of the Nebbiolo grape for faster maturation and more immediate gratification. The use of small, new, French oak barriques accomplishes this but adds flavors of oak and vanilla to the wines; flavors that the original Barolo producers never envisioned or desired.

 Although it is true that “degustibus non disputandum” (personal taste can’t be disputed), if the reader wants to experience Barolo in the form in which it was originally conceived and made, producers like Cavalotto and Manzone, and last issue’s Elvio Cogno, are the guarantors of that tradition. As long as these families continue their fine work, those of us who want authentic Barolo wines will be able to get them.

 Finally, I am happy to mention that many of the Barolo houses that veered toward the use of new oak and international style are turning back somewhat; and trying to get closer to the more authentic methods that Cogno, Cavalotto, and Manzone never forgot.

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Clavesana: Siamo Dolcetto

Clavesana- Siamo Dolcetto – We are Dolcetto

It was a typical day in Piemonte in early November–fog and rain with a chill in the air as we headed for the town of Clavesana in Dogliani and the Clavesana winery. I was glad that I was not driving; Ernie and Louise DeSalvo joined Michele and I on our trip and did all the driving.

 This was very different from the hot June day when I first tasted four Dolcetto’s from the Clavesana winery in a New York City apartment with Anna Bracco, Clavesana’s Director. I liked the wines so much that I told her that next time I was in Piemonte I would visit the winery. This time I was as good as my word.  At the winery, Anna introduced us to Giovanni Bracco (no relation) who has been the Clavesana Coop’s president since 1987.

When they say Siamo Dolcetto – We Are Dolcetto — they really mean it.  Last year the coop sold over 300,000 cases of Dolcetto, over 90% in Italy. The Co-op was founded in 1959 by 32 growers and today there are about 340 members.

 Anna then told us more about Clavesana.  Their logo, she said, features the ten landmark “campanili’ (bell towers) of the towns where the growers (shareholders) live. These are the towns of Dolcetto’s homeland. The keys on the logo are the symbol of the town of Clavesana, which has been named the gateway to the Langhe. Some of the growers have other jobs and can only look after the vineyards part time and their agronomist Carlo Arnufo gives extra help to these growers so they will not feel alone and abandon the land. She went on to say that they are trying to keep young people from leaving the area and the land and are doing everything possible to help them to stay. One such young man was Guiseppe Bracco, the nephew of Giovanni, and we had an excellent lunch with him and his fiancée Fiorella. One of the highlights of the lunch was a quiche topped with shaved white truffles, a first for me; it was a perfect combination with the Dolcetto. In fact the Clavesana Dolcetto went very well with all the local specialties that we had.

Quiche with White Truffles

 Anna made a point of saying that they pay the growers according to the quality of the grapes and will pay them as much as 20% higher than the market price. This she says is another incentive for the growers to produce superior grapes.

 Giovanni Bracca explained some of the Italian terms they were using including the idea of “singular-plurality”:

 Clavesana’s microvinification is called Vinification alla Giornata, and Allagiornata are the single vineyard Doglianis—Dolcetto DOCG.

 Allagiornata – A day’s work from the single vineyards of Clavesana’s stakeholders. When two Piemontese bulls are finished for the day, they have worked one “giornata”, nearly one acre (3,310 meters). This is the root of Clavesana’s singular plurality. He went on to say that even though they are a co-op, some growers bottle wine from a single vineyard. Day in and day out they live “Allagiornata”. They are identified on the label of each bottle by the stakeholder’s number and name. On Google Earth, it is possible to zoom in on the exact location of the vineyard by entering its single vineyards’ coordinates from the label. For example:  Giovanni explained that his vineyards are at 571 meters above sea level and his single vineyard wine is 110 Dogliani DOCG delle 3 Giornate di Socio 110 a Calvesana 44º 27’ 59.76” N 7 56’ 54.26’’ E. which we drank when we visited his nephew Giuseppe Bracca for lunch in Pra Del Pozzo one of the ten villages in the heartland of Dolcetto. We also had the  474 Dogliani DOCG  2008 from the 5.5 Giornate of Socio 474 in Clavesana-Marco Beccarai  44º 27’ 42.55’’N 7 55’07.34’’E.  I enjoyed this wine at Del Posto in NYC where I was able to discuss it with Clavesana’s oenologist, Roberto Boeri.

 

Sig. Bracco further explained the difference between the Dolcetto di Dogliani DOC and the Dogliani DOCG.  The old winery, the heart of Clavesana, was originally built only with cement tanks. Later, stainless steel tanks were added but mostly on the outside of the winery.  Dolcetto di Dogliani 2009 and Piemonte D’OH 2010 were vinified in stainless steel tanks and are left here or transferred to cement tanks for a few months. For these last two wines, there is no minimum aging.

 Dogliani DOCG/ Dolcetto di Dogliani Superiore- The DOCG has the lowest yields in liters(wine)/ hectares 4.760 of all the different zones of Dolcetto production in Piemonte. The minimum aging is 12 months from Oct 15 of the year of the grape harvest. The minimum alcohol is 12.5%. It is interesting to note that if vineyard and geographical names are on the label, the yield is reduced to 4284 liters/hectare (wine) and the minimum alcohol content is increased by 0.5%. Il Clou Dogliani DOCG is vinified in stainless steel but is aged in botte grande (large oak barrels of oak 50hl).

Allagiornata Dogliani DOCG (Socio 110 for example) are the only ones vinified in cement. The length of time depends on the vintage, 4/6months.

 Dolcetto di Dogliani DOC –  With geographical and vineyard names on the label the yields are reduced to 5040 liters/hectare (wine) and natural alcohol content is increased by 0.5%.  All of the wine is made from 100% Dolcetto grapes

 The name Dolcetto means sweet little one but the wine is dry. It has medium alcohol, tannin and a deep ruby red color. They can be light wines fresh and fruity like the “D’HO” Piemonte Dolcetto DOC 2010 that are meant to be drunk young and has written on the label “You D’OH Something TO ME” Or they can be full bodied and well structured like the “Il Clou” Dogliani DOCG 2008, aged for a short time in botte and the Allagiornata vinified in cement and aged in botte grande that can age for several years. All of this depends on the area of cultivation and how the grapes are vinified in the winery.

  Dolcetto is 90% of their total production, though Clavesana also makes other wines. When we were taking a tour of the winery Giovanni Bracco said that they were experimenting with different woods for aging wine. He pointed out 500 liter barrels made from local acacia wood that was aging Nebbiolo from the 2009 vintage to be made into Barolo. They also were experimenting with local oak.

"Vino Sfuso"

Giovanni Bracco offered us a taste of the “Vino Sfuso”, a wine that the local’s buy. They bring in large plastic bottles and fill them from a barrel that had a hose attached.  The wine is very young and very inexpensive but both Ernie and I liked it. We were told it was the same wine that they bottled, but this way they could sell it for less.

 I have heard it said that the best Dolcetto comes from the Dogliani zone and after tasting and drinking the Dolcetto from Clavesana I agree. Even their “D’HO which is a Piemonte DOC (meaning the grapes can come from any Dolcetto area) is a bargain at $10.99 as is the Dolcetto di Dogliani. The Dogliani DOCG, both the regular and single vineyard, are a great buy at $16.99.

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