Jaddico vineyard, Brindisi

I came across this black grape variety for the first time during a visit to Puglia in November 2011. Luigi Rubino, of Tenute Rubino, is growing it in near sea level vineyards, 200 metres from the coast at Brindisi.  The vines were planted in the 1930s and in 2000.  He explained “it was a grape variety that was disappearing, because it has a very low yield per hectare and a not very high level of alcohol.  In the past grapes were sold to co-operatives” who paid on weight and potential alcohol (sugar), so it was never to be a huge hit with growers.  Now that trends are changing to better quality, susumaniello is back on the agenda and a handful of producers around Brindisi are working with it.

Apparently, it’s named after the black donkeys that were used to carry baskets of grapes.  Rubino reckons there are about 80 hectares of it planted in the whole of Italy, all of them in Salento.  He’s got ten of them.  And he said the law has changed recently, so from the 2011 vintage he’ll be able to use ’susumaniello’ on the label.

My first taste of the variety:
Tenute Rubino, Torre Testa 2007, IGT Salento
This one is 100% susumaniello. It was fermented in stainless steel then went to barrique for about a year, and it’s had about 12 months’ bottle age.  Deeply, darkly coloured, with spicy aromas of whole black peppers and dark chocolate.  The texture is smooth and silkily-lifte, really attractive mouthfeel and balance amid dark, almost meaty berried and soft plum fruits, and with elegant lines keeping it all really tasty.  Not cheap though, this one retails in Italy at about Euros 30.

Sea-level Jaddico Vineyard at Brindisi

Negroamaro is one of the top three grape varieties grown in Puglia and a strong component of several DOCs. It’s found mainly in the southern, Salento, region of Puglia.  Duccio Armenio of Slow Food said “Salento is the heart of negroamaro. It is a plain, level land with similar heat degree days to the Hunter Valley, around 2000 – one of the hottest areas in the world [where] we have quality in spite of the heat.”

Salento is the heel of Italy, with the Adriatic Sea on one side, and the Ionian on the other, where, said Armenio, “is the magic of these two seas.  The exchange of winds between the two seas creates a unique terroir.  Negroamaro has adapted and enjoys this climate.” Proximity to sea level maximises the cooling benefit of these winds, though Armenio also emphasised the modern importance of canopy management to shade fruit from the sun.

Negroamaro lends itself to many styles, from “rosé, to simple, in a good way, table wines. And dry wines made from late harvest that remind you of Amarone styles” said Armenio.  While the grape readily accumulates colour and phenols, preserving acidity is more of a challenge.

As to its flavour, said Luigi Rubino, of his eponymous estate, and president of the Puglia Best Wine Consortium, “you can feel the true character of negroamaro – it’s rich in spicy notes, red fruits and blackberry.”  Armenio added it also “has spicy notes, tobacco, coffee and dried prunes, and like all big wines, they need some years to come out.” The tannins of this variety, which ripens later than primitivo, are not to be trifled with.

Marco Sabellico editor of Gambero Rosso added that the heritage of old negroamaro vines was very important for the ageworthy character of the best examples.  Vineyards of 50 to 90 years old are quite common.

While negroamaro does particularly well as a rosé wine, in reds, it is blended with a wealth of other grape varieties, including malvasia nera, montepulciano, and bombino nero, or susumaniello. More recently also with primitivo, Puglia’s top variety.  For example, in Salice Salentino, Squinzano and Copertino, negroamaro is blended mainly with malvasia nera, while in Brindisi, a proportion of montepulciano is allowed.

As to the origins of the name, Rubino explained negroamaro as being twice black:  negra from the Latin for black, and amaro, from mavro, the Greek for black.  This view seems to be gaining popularity over the traditional view of negro for black and amaro for bitter.

Tasting, in situ, November 2011

Torrevento, Sine Nomine 2005, Salice Salentino Riserva DOC
Negroamaro, malvasia nera. Medium pale colour. Savoury steaks cooked fully, showing some age, not unbalanced for that. Very well developed, meaty and mature.

Torrevento, Matervitae Negroamaro 2010, IGT Puglia
Violet perfume, sweet texture, smooth, medium body, fragrant palate, some nice freshness.  Good example.

Schola Sarmenti, Roccamora 2008, DOC Nardò
Negroamaro. Bit smoky, bit spicy, rich, sweet, fat and flavoursome. Some nice freshness and backbone structure. Graphite and dark berry fruits. This is really nice.

Paololeo, Orfeo 2009, IGT Puglia
Negroamaro. Smoky, dark floral notes, smooth tannin texture, nice definition and balance.  Good.

Paololeo, Salice Salentino Riserva 2007
Negroamaro, malvasia nera. Charcoal darkness of flavour, in a good way, smooth with some attractive complexity, balanced and with very good depth of flavour. Dark berries, aromatic spices, cardamom, nutmeg, tamarind.  Good.

Feudi di San Marzano, F 2008, IGP Salento
Negroamaro.  Tarry oak, but this bottle a bit bitter, amid the fragrance.

Gianfranco Fino, Jo 2008, IGT Salento
Negroamaro. 16% alcohol. Big, savoury, black-fruited, huge and good for all that. Soft in a muscular sort of way.  Deep rich, sweet flavours, spiced, almost mulled, berries. Good.

Candido, La Carta 2006, Salice Salentino Riserva
Negroamaro, malvasia nera, 13.5%  Smoky, savoury, black tea and tar, serious, smooth, dark, savoury berries. Some backbone, sweetly textured tannins. Good.

Candido, I Satiri 2006, Salice Salentino Riserva
Negroamaro. 13.5%. Smoky, savoury overt oak still here. Silky smooth texture with rich, ripe smoked fruits. Long and deep flavours. Good.

Candido, Cassio Dione 2006, IGT Salento ~€30
50% negroamaro, 50% primitivo
Big dark berries on nose, sweet fruit (only a few g/l RS), smooth texture, full body, with smoky oak notes and liquorice.  This is, for me, nicely balanced. Dense black fruit notes and aromatic spices – star anise, allspice. Soft, round supple wine.

Agricole Vallone, Vigna Castello 2008, Salento IGT,
Negroamoaro, susumaniello. Smoky, tarry nose, sweet/ripe fruit attack, graphite, smooth, tar-roses, black tea, nice complexity and length. Good.

Agricole Vallone, Graticciaia 2006, IGT Salento ~€40-50
100% negroamaro, 70-75 year old bush vines. Made “as it used to be in the past.” Grapes dried on straw mats for 10 to 12 days to give a sugar concentration. This is about 10g/l RS.
Some refer to this as an amarone of the southern Italy, but the active sweetness is a bit too much for me (and more than normally found in Amarone?). Has big concentration of red berry fruits and sugar in a soft, round, full body.

Cantine Due Palme, Selvarossa Riserva 2008, Salice Salentino Riserva DOP, ~€15
90% negroamaro, 10% malvasia nera. 50-70 year old vines.
Spicy, big new oak spices, quite dominant with sweet, sweet black fruit, high alcohol kick at the end. Has good freshness, but made slippery with sweetness (not in a bad way).

Conti Zecca, Nero Conti Zecca 2008, IGT Salento
70% negroamaro, 30% cabernet sauvignon.
Sweet notes on nose and grippy, slightly bitter tannins. Angular, with dry, savoury near-pucking tannins. I’m not sure this blend does well. Is it simply too young?

Cupertinum, Cantina Sociale Cooperativa di Copertino, Settantacinque 2004, Copertino Riserva DOP, ~ €8-12
Negroamaro, < 20% malvasia nera
Dark charcoal, mocca tar, savoury on nose, hints of VA. Dry, with grippy astringency. Fruit has been hidden, is now disappearing? Not aged hugely well, I feel.

Tenute Mater Domini, Casili 2008, Salice Salentino Riserva DOC ~€25
A field blend: 95% negroamaro, 5% malvasia nera, planted 3-4km from the sea.
Smoke, fresh leather, black tea, sweet violet perfume on the palate attack. Aromatic, black cherry core, sweet (ripe), silky texture finishes quite sweetly, in a gentle balance. Acid not so pronounced, but not flabby. Gentle, fine tannins, not to tannic; has nice elegance.

Tenute Rubino, Jaddico 2007, Brindisi DOC ~€15
70% negroamaro, 15% montepulciano, 15% malvasia nera, on sea level vineyards at Brindisi.
Cinnamon, star anise, cardamom aromatic spices, cardamom. Sweet red fruits in medium bodied wine of attractive freshness. Hint of liquorice stick, sweet, modest tannins, that have a certain degree of elegance and smoothness to them.

My trip to visit and judge wine in Puglia was sponsored by the Puglia Best Wine Consortium.

Valle dell'Acate

A two hour – Italian-style driving – journey south and slightly west of Mount Etna lies Sicily’s only DOCG, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, in Ragusa province, awarded in 2005. Before that it had been Sicily’s first red wine to achieve DOC status, in 1973.

It’s made from frappato, which is a thin-skinned variety, and in this appellation, it is blended with the island’s king of reds, nero d’avola, in proportions of 30 to 50% frappato, 50 to 70% nero d’avola.

Modern technology and knowledge has fundamentally improved the fate of frappato. Marco Calcaterra of Avide started in the region in the early 1980s, using temperature-controlled stainless steel to better extract a little more colour from the pale frappato. He explained this was a turning point for vinification in the area: “at the beginning” he said “Cerasuolo di Vittoria was a light colour because there were three kinds of maceration: 12, 24 or 36 hours, without temperature control.” Frappato quickly loses its colour pigments at higher temperatures, but, said Calcaterra “working at 22-23°C lets you get the best part of its colour.”

Calcaterra describes frappato as a semi-aromatic variety saying “the fragrance [in the wine] comes from frappato, it has a good concentration of terpenic compounds, though not as much as muscat.”  These are what give frappato its floral and blossom aromas.

Despite needing close attention to colour development, frappato retains its acidity well in the basking warmth of southern Sicily, and it is this variety that adds acid backbone to nero d’avola in Cerasuolo di Vittoria. Calcaterra said “frappato is one of the first [grape varieties] that has body, but the last to reach ripeness. And on average its acidity will be 6-7 g/l [tartaric], only losing about 0.5g/l in the winemaking.”

So in Cerasuolo di Vittoria, frappato provides cherry fragrance and acid lift to the blend, nero d’avola adds flesh and structure. And where nero d’avola on its own can become broad-shouldered and muscley, blending with frappato moderates its exuberance, bringing it into a more medium bodied wine and with greater aromatic profile.

Frappato is specialised in this Cerasuolo di Vittoria, with only 840 hectares for the whole of the island.  This is less than 1% of Sicily’s total vineyard.  By contrast, the much more widely planted nero d’avola comprises some 18,800ha across the whole of the island.

Barrique ageing has been a development over the last quarter of a century, which has led to a more serious, full-bodied style of Cerasuolo di Vittoria.  At Valle dell’Acate, Francesco Ferreri explained they started maturing nero d’avola in barrique, and have more recently moved to 500-litre French wood casks for a softer impact. This they then blend with frappato made in inert containers as, he said, the theme for Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG, “is an elegant wine rather than powerful wine.”

The origins of frappato are beginning to emerge via DNA analysis. Sicily has always been at a crossroads of Mediterranean trade, so import at some stage in history is a distinct possibility, and recent DNA studies have suggested a link to sangiovese in a parental role.

There are around 7,000 hectares of grapes grown in the Cerasuolo di Vittoria appellation.

Don’t confuse it with Cerasuolo di Montepulciano which is a rosé wine made in the Abruzzo region from montepulciano grapes.

Tasting notes in situ, June 2011

Az. Vitivinicola Avide, Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico 2008 ~€9
13.5%. 50% nero d’avola; 50% frappato. All stainless steel
Aromatic redcurrant and raspberry, soft and supple attack, sweet fruit, lush and medium-full body, gentle, fragrant spiciness on the palate core. Fresh and flavoursome. Smooth and with some elegance. And fresh finish.

Az. Vitivinicola Avide, Barocco Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico DOCG 2005
14%. 30% frappato, 70% nero d’avola. Two and half years in barrique, plus one and a half years in bottle.  Smoky, rich, blackcurrant nose, with dense, sweet fruit, and mid palate fragrance. This is a remarkably youthful, gentle giant sort of wine.  Tasty.

Valle dell’Acate, Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico DOCG 2008 ExC€6.5
13.5%. 30% frappato, 70% nero d’avola. The nero d’avola was in barrique/tonneau for 8 months, some new, before blending with frappato.
Spicy nose, of dark, black hedgerow fruits. Medium to full body, with a dark, almost savoury spiciness, with fine-young-grainy tannins still needing to integrate.

My research visit to Sicily in June 2011 was sponsored by the Sicilian Regional Institute for Viticulture and Wine.

Wintry Puglian vineyard

The origins of the increasingly impressive nero di troia remain uncertain, though an abiding story is that it is named after a village near Foggia in the north of Puglia. Indeed the variety is mostly found in the north of this region, while other mainstay grapes primitivo and negroamaro are found in the centre and south of Puglia.

Castel del Monte is the main DOC of northern Puglia, in which nero di troia plays a leading role. This area accounts for a quarter of Puglia’s 5,000 hectares of the grape. Altitude is a key advantage in Castel del Monte, as Francesco Liantonio of Torrevento, whose vineyard Vigna Pedale is 500m above sea level, explained “in summer we have temperature changes between day and night of 10 to 15°C. This gives freshness to the wine.”

While much nero di troia is bottled as IGT Puglia, other DOCs in which nero di troia plays a significant role include Rosso Canosa, Rosso Barletta and Rosso di Cerignola.

Nero di troia was traditionally blended with other local varieties. Sebastiano de Corato, of Rivera said “nero di troia is a very late variety, it ripens till October, when it’s raining in Puglia.  The tannins are an issue, so the fear of having wines with too much tannin [meant] it was blended with softer varieties such as montepulciano.”

It is only in the last 15 years that the variety is emerging as a flavoursome, qualitative grape variety, and one made as a single varietal wine. Enzo Scivetti, of sommelier association ONAV (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori di Vino) said “15 years ago there were only two or three labels of pure nero di troia. Now there are more than 80 different labels.”

Historically, Scivetti said “nero di troia had a constant but difficult evolution. It was extensively planted in the 19^th century around Foggia, Benevento and Basilicata.” And more recently, “for decades it was considered not a very elegant grape variety.  The wines were tannic and strong, and it needed years to make these wines smooth and softer.”

Scientific research into the variety, the types of planting and training revealed that production had focused on big grapes where strong tannins and herbaceous notes could develop.  But, Scivetti said “by limiting the yield, grape size decreased and the herbaceous characters disappeared. The phenolic content changed, and it became a wine that could be aged.”

Barletta-based Tenuta Rasciatano employed Naples university oenology Professor Luigi Moio to work with their nero di troia. Moio had been studying aromas for many years and said “I came across nero di troia in 2001. I was struck by its aromas, especially in the back palate, which reminded me of coriander and powdered cherries.”

Trani, on the Puglian coast

Making nero di troia as a single variety can be challenging, as Moio explained “nero di troia is usually very tannic, and the anthocyanin concentration is high, so maceration can be a problem to manage. You need a more moderate temperature to keep the tannins under control, and maceration lasts only 10-12 days.”

Firstly, though, he said “grapes are picked as they ripen, little by little, not all at the same time” to ensure only ripe tannins go into the vat.

For Rivera it was in the mid 1990s, when the family started selecting for small berries that the vines “started producing fruit with good concentration” said de Corato, “the fruit balances the levels of tannins, so there was no need to blend.” Though they do use micro-oxygenation.

Oak also helps with tannin management.  Moio said “a tannic wine will always be tannic, so winemakers must plan wines from nero di troia so that it becomes softer. Oak plays an important role in this, where the main role of the oak is played on the tannins, not the aromas.”

No-one is saying nero di troia is the next big thing. Indeed de Corato said “maybe nero di troia will never become a fashionable wine among regular consumers as happened with primitivo and negroamaro.  It is probably more for more evolved consumers.”  But not everything can be mainstream.

Tasting notes, in situ, November 2011.

On the basis of a small tasting, it’s worth the effort to get that mix of herbs, aromatic spices, graphite, plums and cherry fruit in a wine that’s not hugely full bodied.

Tenuta Rasciatano, Nero di Troia 2007, IGT Puglia
Black tea leaf, petals, and savoury tannins that are somewhat nebbiolo-like in texture. The body is smooth, soft, round, and not so firm with acid. This is elegant and very finely textured, with notes of leather and hints of biltong and cardamom sweetness and dark, dried cherries.  Length is good.

Rivera, Puer Apuliae 2007, Castel del Monte DOC
Smoke, black tea and smoked spices. Some fine-grainy tannin texture, savoury, graphite, leathery. Lovely medium bodied texture, with chalky dry tannins. Elegant with aromatic herbs and a long in-palate length. Good.

Torrevento, Vigna Pedale 2008, Castel del Monte DOC
Dark dried cherries, mulled spices and black tea leaves, with a violet perfume emerging. Good primary fruit here too – black cherry, dark fresh plum. Medium body, with fresh and gentle acidity, ripe fruits, and faintly dry and fresh tannins. A sweet texture makes it wholesome.

My trip to visit and judge wine in Puglia was sponsored by the Puglia Best Wine Consortium.

Baglio del Cristo di Campobello

Some countries have an adopted signature grape variety – carmenere in Chile, pinotage in South Africa, malbec in Argentina. Sicily has nero d’avola.

Though Sicily is part of Italy’s vineyard, this island of delicious food wealth has more vineyard than entire countries – more than both Chile and South Africa, so it’s not so strange to make such a comparison. And where pinotage and carmenere both account for around 8% of South Africa’s and Chile’s vineyard respectively, nero d’avola occupies 16% of Sicily’s vineyard.  If the everyday white catarratto is excluded, much of which is used in the production of fortified wine Marsala or to make grape concentrate, then nero d’avola would account for a quarter of Sicily’s 116,000 hectares of vines.

Nero d’Avola, which literally translates as ‘black of Avola’ originates from Avola, in the south eastern tip of Sicily, about 25km south of Siracusa. Here, and around Pachino, a further 25km south, and almost at sea level, produce nero d’avola in a meaty, muscular style.

The challenge for nero d’avola (as for other grape varieties the world over), which is grown all over the island, is that quality ranges from the ordinary to the extraordinary, and because it is so widespread, there is little incentive to create sub-regional specialisms for the variety.  But quality and repute are growing, both when nero d’avola is vinified alone, or blended – traditionally with frappato in Cerasuolo di Vittoria, or more recently with shiraz/syrah, as this international interloper finds some excellent expression on the island.

The altitudinous range of nero d’avola brings its own stylistic variation, from the muscle of sea level Pachino to a certain degree of elegance and perfume at around 750m up in the Madonie mountain ranges.  Alcohol in the finished wine can be up to 2% lower at this altitude, and it is at these heights that Feudi Montoni has some of the oldest source material of nero d’avola.

Back at sea level, Federico Curtaz of Tenuta di Fessina on Etna, makes a nero d’avola from Noto (near Avola). He said nero d’avola “has high acidity, like a Piemontese barbera, often with 6.5g/l acidity [expressed as tartaric] at the end of malolactic fermentation.” Even though, in Noto “with 42°C we are not oppressed by heat, because there is a fresh wind” from the Mediterranean Sea.

Masseria del Feudo

Nero d’avola arguably reaches its most famous guise west of Ragusa, in Sicily’s only DOCG (since 2005), Cerasuolo di Vittoria.  Here, nero d’avola is blended with between 30 and 50% of the light, lifting, fresh frappato. It’s frappato that adds acidic lift to nero d’avola in this warm to hot southerly part of the island. Avide’s Marco Calcaterra said “frappato is one of the first [grape varieties] that has body, but the last to reach ripeness. On average its acidity will be 6-7 g/l [tartaric].  And it will lose about 0.5g/l in the winemaking.” Frappato’s lightness and freshness is just the thing to soften the muscle of nero d’avola.

Even so, experimentation with barrique ageing over the last quarter of a century has led to a more serious, full-bodied style of wine in this region.  At Valle dell’Acate, Francesco Ferreri explained they started maturing nero d’avola in barrique, and have more recently moved to 500-litre French wood casks for a softer impact, as, he said, the theme for Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG, “is an elegant wine rather than powerful wine.”

The warm climate in this south-central part of Sicily “gives fruity, clean and balanced” wines he added, and the regular winds coming up the Dirillo valley from the Mediterranean Sea to the west help keep the fruit healthy.  The resulting nero d’avola is “big, but less big than from Pachino, because the tannins are sweet and mature.”

Further west, parts of Agrigento province are growing in repute, both near the coast and high up in the hills.  Just eight kilometres from the sea, Baglio del Cristo di Campobello, devotes 60% of their vineyard area to nero d’avola. “There’s always a breeze” said Carmelo Bonetta, “and it can be 35 to 40°C during day, then it can be 20 to 22°C at night” which helps to restore a little freshness to the atmosphere.

A little further inland, at Masseria del Feudo, brother and sister team Francesco and Carolina Cucurullo have 18 hectares of vineyard on their 110 ha property of mixed agriculture which their family has been cultivating since 1860. Nero d’avola joins syrah, ansonica, grillo and chardonnay.  With some 450m elevation, Francesco explained there is “up to 15°C day-night temperature difference during ripening. Days can be up to 35°C, with 20°C at night.” This variation helps retain some of the grapes’ natural acidity, as does their picking a few days before full, sugar-sweet ripeness.

Feudo Montoni

Yet it is at even greater altitude, in the northerly extremity of Agrigento province, between 500 and 750m above sea level, that some of the most elegant and perfumed expressions of nero d’avola exist.  And just a handful of producers work in these remote Madonie hills.  It is here that the 380 hectare vineyard of the Regaleali estate of Tasca d’Almerita is found, and Guiseppe Tasca explained “this area gives more austere, not so explosive fruit, with a more velvety texture, more acidity, and more sternness.” Little wonder given that ripeness here occurs a month later than near the coast.

At neighbouring Feudo Montoni, Fabio Sireci claims a unique clone of nero d’avola – the vrucara clone. He said “Giacomo Tachis [who spent time working with Sicily’s Istituto Regionale della Vite e del Vino] likes the vrucara clone. Tachis was looking for true nero d’avola, and he thought mine could be one of the oldest and purest, for its age and isolation”, adding, of the vines his father had propagated, “Tachis said our nero d’avola has more acid, it’s more like a pinot noir,” which is a huge style change from the mighty, muscular, marine nero d’avolas of Pachino.

Wine tasting, in situ, June 2011

Single varietal nero d’avola

Tenuta di Fessina, Ero, nero d’avola IGT Sicilia, 2009  €13
Bright and purple hue. Nose a bit reticent, palate fresh, elegant tannin frame, silky smooth, blackcurrant and loganberry in fresh, fruit-focused style of wine.

Az. Vinicola Benanti, Il Drappo 2005, IGT Sicilia
Grown in Pachino, Val di Noto at sea level. Stainless steel fermentation then new barrels.
Attractive blackcurrant nose, then spicy, rich, sweet fruit to taste, nicely balanced with super fruit concentration and a tone of seriousness.

Azienda Vitivinicola Avide, Tre Carati 2006, nero d’avola. IGT
Half spends 18 months in barrel; the other half in stainless steel
Calcaterra “here you have the rudeness of nero d’avola, it misses the elegance of frappato”
Spicy, bramble, dark berry fruits, full body, big but not too muscley. Tasty and four square, does lack a bit of elegance, but it’s a nice big bold wine.

Valle dell’Acate, Il Moro, Nero d’Avola 2008, IGT €6.5
13.5%. Seven months in stainless steel. One year in bottle to give roundness to wine.
Red flower perfume. Supple and medium bodied. Sweet friuts, nicely textured in a fruity way, with sweet black pepper. Feel a bit of warmth at end, but a decent, uncomplicated wine.

Masseria del Feudo, Il Giglio Rosso, Nero d’Avola 2010, IGT €6
12.5%. 6 months in concrete.
Gentle red spices and redcurrant on the nose, light, primary fruit, unoaked. Nice juicy fruit,
medium deep colour. Lovely, straightforward wine, kind of soft and cuddly.

Baglio del Cristo di Campobello, Lu Patri 2008, IGP Sicilia ~€25
Dialect for the father. Nero d’avola as the father of all the indigenous vines in Sicily. 14 months in French barrique, one-third new. 14%, 5.5TA, pH3.42.
Smoky, liquorice stick, savoury nose.  Palate with smooth and silky texture, dark berries, full bodied, hint savoury elements and lovely layers. Elegance with substance. Vg.

Baglio del Cristo di Campobello, Lu Patri 2009, IGP Sicilia
14%, 5.2TA, pH3.42. Not released at time of tasting.
Bright and crunchy red fruits with depth amidst the still integrating oak. At this stage the alcohol is showing again and the firm structure still needs to mellow with more bottle age.

Tasca d’Almerita, Lamuri 2009 IGT Sicilia €8-9
14%. Ten months in 2-3 year old oak.
Medium deep, bright red cherry colour, intense red and black cherry with sweet pepper spiciness on the nose and palate. Rich, sweet fruit, dry, refreshing texture.

Tasca d’Almerita, Rosso del Conte 2006 €30. Contea di Sclafani DOC
14%.  Flagship wine from oldest vineyards, planted in 1959. New barrique for 18 months.
Smoky, aromatically tarry, lush, fat black fruits, smooth, quite powerful and well toned, not body-built. Big wine, dark brooding black fruits, liquorice, bramble, blueberry.  Rich and succulent. Spicy and characterful.

Feudo Montoni, Nero d’Avola 2009 ~€12
13%. 40% in second passage oak.
Medium deep colour. Fragrant, tarry, elegant, with light redcurrants in mouth, a medium body, and lovely balance. Fresh, crunchy berry frits, just enough grip (without heat). Very nice. Long finish.

Feudo Montoni, Nero d’Avola Vrucara 2008 ~€20
13.5%. This has 8 months in new and second passage oak. Unfiltered. Wild ferment.
Deep colour, with hints of dark purple/blue. Aromatic charcoal smoke, with very smooth texture and sweet, brooding fruit. A real intensity of substance, with a fresh core. This is long, complex, layered, fresh and meditative; balanced, harmonious, and so, so, drinkable. And extremely good value at that price.

Cerasuolo di Vittoria

Azienda Vitivinicola Avide, Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico 2008 ~€9
13.5%. 50% nero d’avola; 50% frappato. All stainless steel
Aromatic redcurrant and raspberry, soft and supple attack, sweet fruit, lush and medium-full body, gentle, fragrant spiciness on the palate core. Fresh and flavoursome. Smooth and with some elegance. And fresh finish.

Azienda Vitivinicola Avide, Barocco Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico DOCG 2005
14%. 70% nero d’avola, 30% frappato. 2 ½ years in barrique, 1 ½ years in bottle.
Smoky, rich, blackcurrant, dense, sweet fruit, has fragrance mid palate.

Valle dell’Acate, Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico DOCG 2008 ExC€6.5
13.5%. 70% nero d’avola, 30% frappato. In barrel for 8 months, some new.
Spicy nose, dark black hedgerow fruits, medium-full body, dark spiciness, but young-grainy tannin needs to integrate. Bit rustic; decent.

Syrah blends

Valle dell’Acate, Rusciano 2006, IGT Sicilia €8.60
90% syrah; 10% nero d’avola. Stainless steel,
Brambly with cardamom spice, supple, fresh and big-juiced. Full body, with fruit spiciness.

Valle dell’Acate, Tané 2005, IGT €15.6
15%. 80% nero d’avola; 20% syrah, part-raisined on the vine, press immediately for the juice. Ferment juice with skins/juice of nero d’avola for 15 days. Put in new barrique for 1 year, then in bottle for 2 years before release.
Rich, sweet, tarry and toasty nose, dense palate, with quite fragrant mid palate. Big and broad shouldered, with integrated alcohol, though I feel it a little at the end.

Baglio del Cristo di Campobello, CDC 2009, IGP Sicilia Rosso 2009 ~€10
~25% each of nero d’avola, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, merlot. No oak. 13.5%, 5.25TA, pH3.41.
Spicy rather than fruity nose, which comes through much more on the palate, with soft, crushed red berries and cherries, alongside soft spices.

Baglio del Cristo di Campobello, Adènzia 2009, IGP Sicilia ~€14
~80% nero d’avola, rest syrah and cabernet sauvignon.  14%, 5TA, pH3.48
Bright and sparky, with spicy, rich, dense sweet fruit. It’s more authentic somehow, and with a hint of chalky backbone.  Good.

My research visit to Sicily in June 2011 was sponsored by the Sicilian Regional Institute for Viticulture and Wine.

Silvia Maestrelli and Federico Curtaz

Tuscan wine producer Silvia Maestrelli, and Federico Curtaz bought Tenuta di Fessina on Etna’s northern slopes in 2007, part of the growing band of producers on this active volcano.  From just a decade ago numbers have increased almost tenfold to around 40 wineries, all of whom make less than 3% of Sicily’s total production.

The Etna property of Maestrelli and Curtaz comprises 10 hectares, which used to belong to eleven people. Curtaz said “it’s an old property, planted after the second world war, all bush vines. They are single stake bush vines, 1m by 1m – the old-fashioned way” he added proudly, planted on finely textured, black volcanic soils.

The vineyards are planted to red varieties nerello mascalese and nerello cappuccio which are “similar to nebbiolo” said Curtaz, who still lives in Piedmont, and used to be the vineyard manager for Gaia, “with high acidity, and which need a long maturation.”

Their white carricante vines are planted at 800 to 1,000m above sea level, which they pick in late October, early November, with around 12° of potential alcohol.  Their A Puddara 2009 Etna Bianco was recently awarded the top, tre bicchieri (three glasses), in the 2012 issue of the Gambero Rosso Italian wine guide.

The top red, Il Musmeci, is named after the family who formerly owned the vineyards. It is made from the best selection of all the nerello mascalese and nerello cappuccio grapes, from small bunches. Fermentation is in stainless steel, then maturation for 14-15 months in 500-litre and 35hl casks, and bottled after around two years.

Traditional single-stake bush vines

In addition to their Etna wines, the pair also produce a chardonnay on calcareous soils near Segesta in the west of Sicily, where Curtaz said poetically “every stone has chardonnay written on it”, and a nero d’avola from Val di Noto in the south-eastern tip of the island.  Nero d’avola, said Curtaz “has high acidity, like Piemontese barbera, with 6.5g/l total acidity (tartartic) at the end of malolactic.” And despite the hot temperatures, on occasion more than 40°C, the vines “are not oppressed because there is a fresh wind in Noto”.

The aim, said Curtaz, is elegance, whether red or white, and with plentiful character. Among other things this means a lot of new oak is avoided. They also aim to remain artisanal in production – the maximum capacity of the winery is just 70,000 bottles, and they’re still a good way off that yet.

Tasting notes, in situ, June 2011

Tenuta di Fessina, Chardonnay Nakone 2009, IGT Sicilia  €13
All stainless steel, on skins till May.
Curtaz: “it has no big structure, but finesse and elegance. The character of chardonnay is riper because it’s in the middle of the Mediterranean.”
Melon, peach, hint of mandarin zest. Rich palate, sweet and succulent, with sweet freshness. Full bodied, and very appealing

Tenuta di Fessina, Apuddara, Etna Bianco 2009  €30
Vineyards face south at 1,000m. Carricante. Oak fermentation and maturation in big casks.
Curtaz: “it could stay in bottle 15 years. The acidity is around 7g/l. It’s a wine that searches for the centre of Europe, not the south. We pick cool grapes in late October, early November.”
Fresh, leesy nose, with Chablis-like mealiness on palate, though this has more fullness and roundness. Quite full, in a lush- fresh form, and sophisticated. Long mealy, citrus finish. Very good.

Tenuta di Fessina, Erse 2009, Etna Rosso  €16
Nerollo mascalese.
Curtaz: “No wood, fresh, simple wine, with strict Etna character; spice, freshness, tannins, acidity is the centre of the wine.”
Pale colour, strawberry initially, then hint of stick liquorice and nutmeg spice, and a little more complex than Curtaz suggested. Nicely balanced with a fresh core of supple fruit. Good.

Tenuta di Fessina, Il Musmeci 2007, Etna Rosso €35-40
Pale colour, aromatic, wafty smoke nose, almost full bodied, fresh core with sweet baked, red forest fruits, strawberry and raspberry, and supporting fine grains from tannins. Good.

Tenuta di Fessina, Laeneo Nerello Cappuccio 2009, IGT Sicilia €13
Curtaz “A curiosity, we make just 2,000 bottles to see what nerello cappuccio could give to the blend.”
Medium pale, juicy red fruit nose, sweet attack, fresh and straight lined. Young and youthful. Think Chinon.

Tenuta di Fessina, Ero Nero d’Avola 2009, IGT Sicilia  €13
Bright and purple hue. Nose a bit muted, but the palate is fresh and elegant, with a silky smooth tannin frame, and sweet black currant and loganberry fruits.

My research visit to Sicily in June 2011 was sponsored by the Sicilian Regional Institute for Viticulture and Wine.

The Bonettas, father Angelo and brothers Domenico and Carmelo, have revitalised their business in the new millennium. They used to sell bulk wine, but in 2000 they planted new vineyards on their 50 hectare property, and in 2006 a state of the art winery was opened, costing some €5m.  It was in 2007 that they bottled their first vintage, taking it to market in 2009.

The 30 hectares of  vineyards, all around 230 to 260m above sea level, are mostly planted to nero d’avola (60%) and grillo (25%), with the rest being split among insolia, catarratto, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and chardonnay, though, said Carmelo, “after 2006, we’re moving more to indigenous grape varieties.”

Domenico, Angelo and Carmelo Bonetta

A lot more than money has gone into this property, with an emotive Sicilian story being woven around the wines, whereby dialect names have been chosen for the names of the wines, and where some of the labels are “based on veils from 200 years of Arab rule” Carmelo said.  Still on the agenda for restorative investment is the traditional farmhouse complex – the baglio – which sits near the top of a slope amidst the vines.

With the sea just 8 km to the south Carmelo added, “there’s always a breeze. And it can be 35 to 40°C during day, then it can be 20 to 22°C at night.”

The family is making around 25,000 cases across eight labels, and not a duff one among them.

Wine tasting, in situ, June 2011

CDC 2010, IGP Sicilia Bianco ~€10
25% each of grillo, insolia, cataratto, chardonnay, in stainless steel. 13%. 5.9TA, pH3.16.
Aromatic, quite peachy nose, full, rich, tasty, tropical, flavoursome with decent length. Good.

Lalùci 2010, IGP Sicilia ~€15
Lalùci means light in Sicilian dialect
100% grillo, all stainless steel plus 4-6 months in bottle. 13%, 6TA, pH3.11.
Lemon grass, citrus, quite full and richly flavoured. Nice round balance with good fresh, prickly core. Long. Good

Adènzia 2009 IGP Sicilia ~€12
Adènzia is dialect for paying attention.
75% chardonnay, 25% grillo. Stainless steel plus on lees for 4-6 months. 13%, 5.5TA, pH 3.2.
Nose a bit reticent, in typical non-aromatic chardonnay style, with melon, white peach. Attractive smooth texture, nicely balanced.

Laudàri 2008 IGP Sicilia ~€17
Laudàri is dialect to sing someone’s praise.
100% chardonnay, in barrique, one-third news, plus 3, 4^th year, for 2-4 months with battonage. 13.5%, 5.7TA, pH3.22.
Peachy, toasty, broad, well made, but for me lacks a singular identity. It’s a bit like so many other nicely oaky chardonnays on the market.

CDC 2009, IGP Sicilia Rosso 2009 ~€10
~25% each of nero d’avola, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, merlot. No oak. 13.5%, 5.25TA, pH3.41.
Spicy rather than fruity nose, which comes through much more on the palate, with soft, crushed red berries and cherries, alongside soft spices.

Adènzia 2008, IGP Sicilia ~€14
60% nero d’avola, rest cabernet sauvignon/merlot. 13.5%, 5.3TA, pH3.42
Spicy black fruits on nose, soft, supple sweet texture, round and quite lush, full bodied and appealing, with hint of bramble on the finish.

Adènzia 2009, IGP Sicilia ~€14
~80% nero d’avola, rest syrah and cabernet sauvignon.  14%, 5TA, pH3.48
For me this wine works better with more nero d’avola and less cabernet sauvignon. It’s bright and sparky, with spicy, rich, dense sweet fruit. It’s more authentic somehow, and with a hint of chalky backbone.  Good.

Lusirà 2008, IGP Sicilia ~€25
Dialect for syrah. 14 months in French barrique, one-third new. 14%, 5.5TA. PH3.54.
Bass notes of stewed red berries, in a full, round spicy, and quite hot, whole. The alcohol shows through a little, and it’s not in a familiar varietal style (but is the style of Sicilian syrah?), but does have very good length.

Lusirà 2009, IGP Sicilia
100% syrah; 14.5%, 5.1TA, pH3.45. Not released at time of tasting.
Spicy with bits of raw oak, which is still integrating during bottle ageing. Big, with the alcohol showing, and also with big fruit, which tastes like it will all come together in a really good way.

Lu Patri 2008, IGP Sicilia ~€25
Dialect for the father. Nero d’avola as the father of all the indigenous vines in Sicily (but maybe also for Angelo?) 14 months in French barrique, one-third new. 14%, 5.5TA, pH3.42.
Smoky, liquorice stick, savoury nose.  Palate with smooth and silky texture, dark berries, full bodied, hint savoury elements and lovely layers. Elegance with substance. Vg.

Lu Patri 2009, IGP Sicilia
14%, 5.2TA, pH3.42. Not released at time of tasting.
Bright and crunchy red fruits with depth amidst the still integrating oak. At this stage the alcohol is showing again and the firm structure still needs to mellow with more bottle age.

My research visit to Sicily in June 2011 was sponsored by the Sicilian Regional Institute for Viticulture and Wine.

Fabio Sireci with Buffina

Not quite bang in the middle of the island, not close to any major town of import, not quite isolated, but quite out on its own in the uplands of central Sicily, lies the vinous beacon of Feudo Montoni. 

The estate of the delightfully, gently eccentric Fabio Sireci is based on the baglio, the typical, traditional farmhouse complex with interior courtyard, and his dates from 1469. It had been bought by his grandfather at the beginning of the 20^th century.

The farm lies in the north-south running valle delle Tumarrano, and in traditional farmhouse style, Sireci’s 25 hectares of vineyards, which produce about 80,000 bottles of wine, lie among 50 ha of wheat and 5ha of olives. The vineyards face east at altitudes ranging from 500 to 750m above sea level, where, he said, the day-night temperature differences are greater than on Mount Etna’s vineyards.

Given the isolation of the vineyard, and its remoteness, Sireci claims a unique clone of nero d’avola – the vrucara clone – and one of his vineyards has 85 year old bush vines from pre-phylloxera stock.  He said “Giacomo Tachis [who spent time working with Sicily’s Istituto Regionale della Vite e del Vino] likes the vrucara clone. Tachis was looking for true nero d’avola, and he thought mine could be one of the oldest and purest, for its age and isolation.” 

Feudo Montoni

Sireci added that documents from the 16^th century record winegrowing at Feudo Montoni. He said “in the ‘De Vinorum’, Andrea Bacci [the papal agronomist] wrote about Etna, Palermo and he wrote about Feudo di Montoni as a ‘powerful red wine for long conservation.” More recently “Tachis said our nero d’avola has more acid, it’s more like a pinot noir” added Sireci.   These were the vines his grandfather propagated.

Sireci makes four wines, and is experimenting with one or two new wines. Some 90% of his production is exported, though inexplicably not to the UK.

Wine tasting and notes, in situ, June 2011

Feudo Montoni, Grillo 2010 IGT ~€9
13%. Aromatic, intense, lemon grass, white peachy, green hints. Rich, succulent, layered fruits, citrus, melon, peach; round and textured. Good. 

Feudo Montoni, Catarratto 2010, IGT ~€10
13%. Fairly unaromatic nose, this has delicate citrus and white pepper notes, lifted, light and fresh. Smoothly textured. Very nicely made wine, though I struggle with the point of catarratto as a light wine. Of these two, I’d have the grillo every single time.

Feudo Montoni, Nero d’Avola 2009 ~€12
13%. 40% in second passage oak.
Medium deep colour. Fragrant, tarry, elegant, with light redcurrants in mouth, a medium body, and lovely balance. Fresh, crunchy berry frits, just enough grip (without heat). Very nice. Long finish.  

Feudo Montoni, Nero d’Avola Vrucara 2008 ~€20
13.5%. This has 8 months in new and second passage oak. Unfiltered. Wild ferment.
Deep colour, with hints of dark purple/blue. Aromatic charcoal smoke, with very smooth texture and sweet, brooding fruit. A real intensity of substance, with a fresh core. This is long, complex, layered, fresh and meditative; balanced, harmonious, and so, so, drinkable. And extremely good value at that price.

My research visit to Sicily in June 2011 was sponsored by the Sicilian Regional Institute for Viticulture and Wine.

Bush vines planted in hollows

Pantelleria is a small volcanic island, just 14km by 9km in size, off the south west coast of Sicily, and nearer to Tunisia than the rest of Italy.  

The island’s main claim to fame is as an historic producer of fine sweet wine. Along with other celebrated sweet wines of the 19^th century, passito di Pantelleria has a distinguished heritage, and after a period of decline, one that has been revived in the modern era, almost single-handedly, by Donnafugata.

In the heat of the near-African Mediterranean, grape growing conditions can be extreme. Heat is a given, and the island is also extremely windy, which helps to keep fruit healthy. Furthermore, while the island may have only around 400mm rainfall per annum, morning dews from the 836m Monte Grande in the middle of the island provide sufficient moisture to keep crops alive during the summer heat that increases the population of the island tenfold during the holiday season.

Vineyards range from near sea level to over 500m above, and are sculpted along sometimes very steep slopes on lava stone terraces. Vines are planted in traditional free-standing bushes, half-buried into hollows in the soil, to protect from the ravages of the wind, notably the scorching sirocco from the Sahara.  Even the olive trees were traditionally trained and pruned into broad, shallow growths no higher than the metre deep terraces, to avoid the wind that would have prevented olive growth.

About three-quarters of the island’s 500 hectares of vineyards are dedicated to muscat of Alexandria, or zibibbo, as it known locally.  It should not be confused with white muscat (muscat blanc à petits grains), which is used to make the likes of Moscato d’Asti, French vins doux naturels, Vin de Constance and the Rutherglen muscats. Zibibbo needs serious warmth to ripen, and because its susceptible to various fungal diseases.

Pellegrino, one of the biggest companies in Sicily, dominate production on the island.  They make an economical passito liquoroso, using grapes that are dried on racks in a drying room rather than out in the sunshine, and adding spirit to achieve the finished product.

A newcomer in the last decade is Abraxas, who are trying to make a name for themselves by making red wines, but these are still work in progress, and it is the company’s passiti that are its best wines.

Donnafugata on Pantelleria

But it is Donnafugata, who are the leading light. In 1989 Giacomo Rallo and his wife Gabriella, from an old Marsala producing family, were holidaying on Pantelleria. José Rallo said “my father found an abandoned vineyard and rented it, on the spot, for 20 years.” It turned out to be an inspired decision as the family researched and renovated the style.  Starting with 7ha of vineyard, they now own and manage 68 ha of the island’s 500 ha of vineyard.

Rallo explained the complex production method of their passito, saying that grapes are harvested from mid August and laid in the sun to dry, being turned every two or three days. The berries are stored. In about the second week of September, more grapes are harvested, pressed and the juice stored cold. When there are enough dried berries, the fermentation of the juice is started and a portion of berries added. After a bit of fermentation, the fermenting must is pressed off the macerated berries. More berries are added and the process repeated two or three times. This helps keep fruit precision at its highest. Rallo said in all “it takes about 70kg of dried grapes for every 100 litres of must.” The process is both labour and raw material intensive, but the end result is in a class of its own.

Tasting and wine notes, in situ, June 2011

Donnafugata, Lighea 2009, IGP Sicilia   
A dry zibibbo from Pantelleria. 12.5%, 6.3g/l TA, harvest aug 26 to sept 19
Intense grapey nose, with mandarin zest, and a rich ‘sweet sensation’ associated with the floral perfumes typical of muscat. This is fresh and rounded with a well proportioned body, and exotically-spiced citrus zest density. Long finish. Good.  

Donnafugata, Kabir 2009, Moscato di Pantelleria
The sweet version of Lighea. ‘Late harvest’ style, which on Pantelleria, may be just a week later harvest. Fruit also from slightly lower altitude for higher sugar content. 11.6%, 7.3 g/l TA, 124g/l RS
Floral, honeysuckle, rose petal, sweet attack, with rich acid core. Pure primary aromatic fruit, grapes, melons, white peach, intense, finishes with fruity freshness.

Donnafugata, Ben Ryè 20008, Passito di Pantelleria
14.5% 7.2g/l TA, 203g/l RS
Josè Rallo: “it becomes very interesting in 10 to 12 years – it goes to almond, nuts.”
Golden ochre colour, creamy and peachy, with honey, mandarin, tangerine, lush and complex. A tingling on the tongue of freshness, intensity, and the lightest caramel texture. Very good. Definitely a ‘meditation wine.’    

Abraxas, Scirafi Passito di Pantelleria DOC 207
14.5% 140g/l RS; 6g/l TA. The ‘baby brother’ of ‘Abraxas’ passito.
Bright ochre/amber colour, rich, honeyed, marmalade, full fat creamy, fully sweet and lush, finishes sweet in a positive way. Spiciness to the end palate.  

Abraxas, Passito di Pantelleria DOC 2007
15%, 160g/l RS 6g/l TA
Rich golden amber colour. Perfumed, petals, rich and enticing nose, full fat, creamy, fresh and lush, with a super, big and powerful finish. Good.

Pellegrino, Pantelleria Passito Liquoroso, 2009
15% (added spirit). Pale ochre, almost orange hue. Orange marmalade spices with noticeable warmth on the palate.  

Pellegrino, Nes 2008, Passito di Pantelleria
14.5%. Floral fragrance alongside a slightly oxidative style with notes of bitter orange and dried citrus peel on the palate. Hints of mulling spices add a different layer.    

My research visit to Sicily in June 2011 was sponsored by the Sicilian Regional Institute for Viticulture and Wine.

Lava stone terraces on Etna

Mount Etna is a rather unique place in Sicily’s, let alone Italy’s viticultural heritage. Often referred to as an island within an island, its grape varieties are indigenous, its rainfall is prodigious, (relatively, around 1,000mm), and it’s an active volcano, the highest volcano in Europe, peaking at 3,323 metres.

Sicily’s reputation is as a hot, sun-drenched island, with wall-to-wall beaches, dripping with the sweetest blood-red oranges, island bang in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. All this is true, but while the grape harvest starts at the western end of Sicily at the beginning of August (normal for the hot Mediterranean), picking may still be happening on Etna at the beginning of November. And Etna itself is far from uniform:  harvest in the south end of the volcano may finish up to month before the north end.

The approximately 3,000 hectares of vineyards lie in a semi-circle on the north, east and south-facing slopes of the volcano from around 450m to 1,100m above sea level. At higher altitudes, high diurnal temperature variation helps preserves aroma and acidity in the fruit. The western slopes, with the long afternoon sun, favour the specialty production of pistachios around Bronte.

Nerello mascalese is the main red grape variety, with about 4,000 ha planted in the whole of Sicily, though the variety is indigenous to the volcano.  Nerello cappuccio (no ‘n’ in there anywhere), which is reportedly named after the monks, plays a supporting role, with 800ha.  The DOC Etna Rosso must be a minimum of 80% nerello mascalese with nerello cappuccio the remainder.

The white grape attracting attention is carricante, which prefers a higher altitude to keep its acidity and freshness.  Carricante doesn’t feature in the top varieties’ list, so there are less than 750ha on the island. Etna Bianco must be minimum 60% carricante, with the remainder from the much less distinguished catarratto.

Benanti is the famous name on Mount Etna, located in the village of Viagrande, on the south east edge of the Etna crescent. They started growing grapes on Etna in the 1800s, and had a bit of a hiatus until 1988 when Giuseppe Benanti started growing grapes again on one of his father’s old farms.  In this warmer southern spot, the sea is only about five kilometres distant.

Another long timer is large producer Nicosia, based in the neighbouring village of Trecastagni. They set up shop in 1898, and as do Benanti, these guys produce wines from a number of Sicilian regions.

Black volcanic soils

Other growers have arrived much more recently. Another famous Sicilian name, Planeta, bought 10 hectares (ha) of northern slopes at 870m above sea levels, in 2006. The north east aspect faces away from the heat of the midday Mediterranean sun, which adds a bit of cooling influence, along with the altitude. Planeta’s first release was 2009.

In 2007, Silvia Maestrelli and Federico Curtaz arrived to Tenuta di Fessina, at Rovitello, on the north side of Etna, and are already making impressive wines. They own 10 hectares of old, traditional bush vines which used to be owned by 11 people. The reds, nerello mascalese and nerello cappuccio face that favoured north east. “They’re similar to nebbiolo” said Curtaz, who still lives in Piedmont, and used to be the vineyard manager for Gaia, “with high acidity, and which need a long maturation.” 

The pair’s carricante is around 1,000m, which they pick in late October or early November, with modest potential alcohol.

Another year later, and the first vintage of Tasca d’Almerita’s Tenuta Tascante (Tasca merged with a backwards Etna) estate on the northern slopes of Etna near Randazzo was 2008.  Guiseppe Tasca said it is a work in progress as they are new to nerello mascalese and to the growing conditions on Etna. He added “we have two vineyards, 1km apart, which we put together [in the wine]. Maybe in the future when we have a winery there we will make two single vineyard wines.“ And because they don’t yet have a winery on Etna, their wine has to be labelled as an IGT Sicilia. Just one of those regulatory quirks.

Tasting, and wine notes, in situ, June 2011

Nicosia, Fondo Filara 2010, Etna Bianco
60% carricante, 40% catarratto. 13%. A third aged in second fill acacia for a month.  
Almond and apple nose, fresh, very clean, with a bit of depth on the mid palate. Smooth texture, some honeysuckle fragrance, good intensity of fruit, with decent length. Will be good value, straight down the line Etna Bianco.

Tenuta di Fessina, Erse 2009, Etna Rosso ~€16
Nerello mascalese 13.5%
Pale colour, strawberries initially, with hints of stick liquorice and nutmeg spice. Nicely balanced, with a fresh core and supple fruit shown to the fore without with influence of oak. Good.,  

Tenuta di Fessina, Etna Rosso 2008
Perfumed, aromatic and floral, with fresh, crunchy fruit, of discernibly intense fruit concentration. Medium deep body, with attractive line and form. Hints of liquorice stick, in a well balanced whole. Very good.  

Tenuta di Fessina, Laeneo Nerello Cappuccio 2009 IGT Sicilia, ~ €13
The cappuccio vineyard is close to the carricante vineyard, at around 1,000m. Curtaz said “it is a curiosity, we make 2,000 bottles to see what nerello cappuccio could give to the blend.”
Medium pale, juicy red fruit nose, sweet attack, fresh and straight lined. Youthful, juicy. Think Chinon.   

Tenuta di Fessina, Apuddara 2009, Etna Bianco ~€30
Vineyards face south at 1,000m. Carricante. Oak fermentation and maturation in big casks.
Curtaz: “it could stay in bottle 15 years. The acidity is around 7g/l. It’s a wine that searches for the centre of Europe, not the south. We pick cool grapes in late October, early November.”
Fresh, leesy nose, with Chablis-like mealiness on palate, though this has more fullness and roundness. Quite full, in a lush- fresh form, and sophisticated. Long mealy, citrus finish. Very good.  

Tenuta di Fessina, Il Musmeci 2007, Etna Rosso ~€40
Named after the surname of the family who formerly owned the vineyards. Traditional field blend of nerello mascalese, up to 90%, and nerello cappuccio. 14%. Best grape selection; fermentation in stainless steel, following by 14-15 months in 500-litre and 35hl casks, bottled after around two years.
Pale colour. Aromatic, wafting smoke nose, almost full bodied, fresh core of sweet, baked red forest fruits, with strawberries and raspberries, and soft, fine-grained tannins. Also good. 

Az. Vinicola Benanti, Pietramarina 2007, Etna Bianco Superiore  
Stainless steel only. 12.5%. 950m asl.  Carricante 100%.  Harvest latter half October.
Steely nose, creamy palate, weighty and becoming nutty, with lots lees flavours and noticeable warmth despite 12.5%. Richly textured with savoury palate, intense, serious and long.

Az. Vinicola Benanti, Serra della Contessa 2006, Etna Rosso
Grown on Monte Serra, in commune of Viagrande, at lowest altitude of eastern side of Etna. Harvest end September. 14%. 450m asl. 80% mascalese; 20% cappuccio.  18 months in oak.
Medium deep colour; spicy, with hints of aromatic tar, quite rich and full, black berry fruit. Quite muscular, with still chewy tannins, and well balanced.    

Az. Vinicola Benanti, Rovittello 2005, Etna Rosso
Nerello mascalese, nerello cappuccio. 14%. 750m asl, from the north, in commune of Castiglione di Sicilia. Harvest second half October. Stainless steel fermentation; one year in French barrique.  First vintage of this wine in 1991.
Bright black cherry nose and palate attack, savoury aromatic tar, smooth and fresh. Linear, youthful and elegant, all in an attractive frame. Very good.  

Az. Vinicola Benanti, Il Monovitigno, Nerello Cappuccio 2005,  IGT Sicilia
Grown around Verzella, towards north, commune of Castiglione di Sicilia. 700m asl. Eight months in barrique for 8-10 months.
Black and aromatically tarry, dark and brooding, (might be quite dominant in a blend?) Savoury and dark with grainy texture. 

Az. Vinicola Benanti, Il Monovitigno, Nerello mascalese IGT, 2005
Grown around Guardiola, towards north, commune of Castiglione di Sicilia.  750m asl. Stainless steel fermentation then age in barrel.
Perfume, fragrant, red berry fruits and blossom. Sweet and intoxicating heady nose. Smooth, bright red berries, sweet fruit, fresh acidity of backbone, lovely.

My research visit to Sicily in June 2011 was sponsored by the Sicilian Regional Institute for Viticulture and Wine.

I was commissioned by the Italian Trade Commission, a section of the Italian embassy that promotes trade, to deliver a tasting seminar at a May 2011 wine trade show – the London International Wine Fair.  This is what I talked about, along with my tasting notes below.

Soave is one of those appellations that continues to suffer after the swathes of industrial production that started in the 1970s.

The mainstay of the appellation is garganega and the purpose of the tasting was to look at this grape variety to judge whether it deserves the bad press, or if it’s an interesting or even more than interesting grape variety.

Garganega is vigorous, it’s productive, yields need controlling to produce high quality. The grapes are thick-skinned, they have naturally high acidity levels. Reductive winemaking focuses on the primary fruit characters of this not particularly aromatic grape variety, though at the top end the variety can perform extremely well with some oak influence.

Thus far, this could equally describe sauvignon blanc, which much of the world loves, and especially the UK.  Even some of the generalised fruit characters, though not all, concord with sauvignon blanc – citrus fruits, candied fruits, apple, pear, apricot, nectarine, mango, pineapple. 

But it is a notably different grape variety – independence is struck with green hints to the colour, and manifold floral perfumes – white flowers, orange blossom, acacia, elderflower, cherry blossom and honeysuckle have been variously cited. Steeliness, with a delicate spiciness and sometimes tangy, fine herbal twist of sage, fennel or chicory can also be found, as well as a very typical fresh almond note, especially on the finish.  It’s already beginning to read like quite an interesting, flavoursome option (but then I’ve long been a fan of good quality Soave).

Ripe, tinted garganega

Ripeness has previously been an issue for garganega. When picked early, the thick skins have not had a chance to soften, which can impart bitter, green flavours to the wine. When the skins are ripe they turn a translucent sun-blushed colour, and it is this ripeness that’s required to release the flavours that are bound up in the skins. Achieving ripeness is one of the key quality parameters for the grape, and work has been done on this in recent years.

Other quality parameters have been identified by research programmes instigated by the Soave Consorzio. One of these was to focus on garganega as the mainstay for the appellation.  Now it must comprise at least 70% of the blend, with trebbiano di Soave up to a maximum of 30%.  The less good trebbiano di Toscana (aka ugni blanc) is no longer permitted in the blend.

Another key quality factor was the identification of crus, after a viticultural zoning study was carried out between 1998 and 2002. Following on from this detailed classification of the 6,900 hectares of vineyards and their mostly volcanic soils, some 50 crus, or single vineyard sites were named. Work on defining these crus continues, most, though not all, of which are in the Classico zone.

In Italy, Classico denotes the original heartland of an appellation, and thus the terroir-istic apex of the quality pyramid, as in Chianti Classico for example. 

But when considering a DOCG, which is usually regarded as another quality progression, for whatever reason, the DOCG was not granted to the Classico region alone.  A DOCG Soave Superiore was created, in 2002, which – potentially – included all the Classico zone, but also – potentially – included some hillsides outside the Classico zone. 

Being on those hillsides, or in the Classico zone, is not enough to automatically qualify for the DOCG – the wines must come from lower yields (though from already generous limits), and have half a degree more alcohol (from already modest levels). That is, from conditions which are not really too arduous to achieve. So Classico wines may be ‘Soave Classico DOC’ or Soave Superiore Classico DOCG’, and from the hillside outside the Classico zone wines may be ‘Soave Superiore DOCG’, or ‘Soave Colli Scaligeri DOC’. 

Unsurprisingly the system has its critics, notably from producers already making seriously good wine, to already more stringent standards.  The geography and regulations alone are confusing for anyone not intimately associated with the region to properly understand.

Criticisms apart, the region seems to be going in the right direction. It is addressing basic production and building a hierarchy that aspirational producers can use to differentiate themselves from the basic stuff. And good quality Soave is a tasty wine.

Tasting notes, London, May 2011

The wines were all as close to being made entirely from garganega as possible. 
Flight one (wines 1 -3) showed differences in the straightforward Soave DOC, from light and simple to more rich and tropical. 
Flight two (wines 4 – 6), looked at Soave Classico DOC, showing a clear quality improvement.
Flight three (wines 7 -9) looked at the influence of smaller and larger oak, and none was stated as being new, and for me the best worked well where overt oak could not be tasted.

1.  Cantine Riondo, Castelforte Excelsa Soave DOC 2010
100% garganega; 12%, 4g/l RS; all stainless steel; 3 months on lees
Light, floral, apples and pears. Designed to be straightforward and clean, this also has pear drops and a bit of upfront fruit.

2.  Bertani, Sereole Soave DOC 2010
100% garganega; 13%, 3g/l RS; fermentation in 75hl oak casks (no overt influence)
Hints of aromatic smoke, rounded, citrus and peachy with decent supple Mediterranean fruits on the palate.

3.  Agr. Fattori Di Fattori Giovanni, Motto Piane Soave DOC 2010
100% garganega; 14.5%, 6.5g/l RS; fermentation part in stainless steel, part in 25hl casks.
Rich and fruit-laden with creamy peach melba notes, aromatic fruit spices in a medium bodied wine with attractive concentration and some power and intensity for the style. Alcohol is unnoticed and the hint of fruitiness accentuates the body and tropical notes.

4.  Cantina di Soave, Rocca Sveva Soave Classico DOC 2010
100% garganega; 12.5%, 4.5g/l RS.
Clean, fresh and straightforward wine with attractive pear and nectarine fruits in elegant and fairly light-bodied style.

5.  Cantina del Castello, Castello Soave Classico DOC 2010
90% garganega, 10% trebbiano di Soave; 12.5%, 3.9g/l RS.  All stainless steel
Creamy texture, with almond cream, white pepper and allspice in wine of good density and delicate yet persistent fragrance. Linear profile. Good.

6.  Suavia, Soave Classico DOC 2010
95% garganega; 5% trebbiano di Soave; 12.5%, 3.5g/l RS.
Spicy, rich and dense tropical fruits with a herbal twist in the core. Wafting gunsmoke complexity with very good definition and stacks of flavour – tropical fruit and a gunflint/stony edge. Good.

7.  Az. Agr. Dal Cero, Vigneto Runcata Soave Superiore DOCG 2009
100% garganega; 13.5%, fermentation and 12 month maturation in 20hl wooden casks, on fine lees.
Solid density of fruit, in more savoury than fruity spectrum, with some gentle hints of sandalwood. Slight lanolin, beeswax notes on the palate detracts from this wine for me.

8.  Cantina di Monteforte, Vigneto di Montegrande, Soave Superiore Classico DOCG 2008
100% garganega; 13%, 4g/l RS. Fermentation in barriques and 15hl casks; 12 months maturation in big casks.
Rich, medium weight with tropical fruits of mango and pineapple. Hints of savoury complexity threaded through a really strong fruited, concentrated core. Long and good.

9.  Az. Agr. Montetondo, Casette Foscarin Soave Classico DOC 2008
90% garganega, 10% trebbiano; 13%, 8g/l RS, fermentation in steel, six months maturation in barrique.
Some sweetness of fruit from a portion late harvested. Rich, dense, aromatically spicy and almost full-bodied, with tropical fruits to the fore. Texture, nuance and complexity, rather than overt flavour, provided by the oak. Lush fruit, layered, richly balanced and long.  Very good.

Montepulciano

The Fortezza di Montepulciano opened its doors in February 2011, after a long restoration, to host the new release tastings of the new vintage releases – 2008 for Nobile and 2007 for Riserva.

This small appellation of just 1,300 hectares in the east of Tuscany, 110km south of Florence, and 180km north of Rome, has been a DOCG since 1980.

DOCG production comprises a minimum 70% sangiovese, known as prugnolo gentile in this region, plus 30% of other varieties permitted in Tuscany.  In this part of Tuscany that mainly means the likes of canaiolo, colorino and mammolo on the traditional side, plus merlot and cabernet sauvignon on the international side.

Merlot seems to suit the slightly softer, gentler, more perfumed expression of sangiovese/ prugnolo gentile grown on sands and sandy clay soils with pebbles. Altitude also plays its part: vineyards are between 250m and 600m above sea level.

DOCG wines must be aged for minimum of two years (three for Riserva).

In addition to Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG, another 350 ha are certified for Rosso di Montepulciano DOC. The Rosso di Montepulciano DOC has the same blending stipulations, but the yield can be 25% higher.

Scale is generally small. The total production of these wines is about 670,000 cases (12s) in the entire DOCG, plus 230,000 cases of Rosso di Montepulciano, made by about 250 producers.

Whilst new oak barriques are making their presence felt, sangiovese generally needs big barrels, often 20 to 50 hl just to soften out the edges, make it easier to drink.  Casale Daviddi’s Nobile has 28 months in 25hl oak, for example. And 60% of the Le Bèrne Nobile is made in 20-30hl casks, with 40% going to older barriques.  So whilst some new oak is being used in the appellation, there seems to be a sensitivity as to the amount of new oak that sangiovese can absorb without a deleterious effect on the wine and its freshness.

Favourites from the new releases – all tasted blind, in situ, February 2011

Fattoria della Talosa, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
Cask sample. 90% sangiovese; 10% merlot
Elegant attack, rich black fruit, brambly, all spice,, with a modern and fleshy note; silky tannins, full bodied, lush and sweet fruit, expansive enveloping fruit, all in the black berry spectrum; less of the typical teacake and savoury notes.  Supple and tasty. Good.

Az. Agr. Icario, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
80% sangiovese, 10% merlot, 5% canaiolo, 5% colorino
Teacake and tealeaf, fine grainy oak yet to polymerise, savoury, black berries, and red cherry fruit, fresh and structured, chalky refreshing tannins, nicely balanced. Long and vg.

Poderi Boscarelli, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
90% sangiovese, 5% merlot and canaiolo, 5% colorino
Typical savoury tang on the nose, gentle palate attack, with baked cherries and spice, tea cake and dried citrus fruits. Nice texture and good finish.

Az. Agr. La Bandita e Lunadoro, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
100% sangiovese
Warm and gently spicy, soft baked cherries and allspice, lush blanketing palate, seductive tannin profile, supple and sweet. Warm fruit of decent finish. Good. 

Avignonesi, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
85% sangiovese, 10% canaiolo, 5% mammolo
Medium deep, teacake and dried cherries nose, savoury/sweet combo of red and black berries, smooth palate texture, nice tannin fineness and silkiness, sweet, fully body,  plenty of supple exotic tannins. Length not massive. Good. 

Tenuta La Braccesca, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
90% sangiovese, 10% merlot
Medium deep, plenty of fresh vanilla. Chalky tannin attack, then smooth on the palate, sweet red berry fruits, palate also with velvety feel. Supple and mouth-filling texture. Long and good.

Az. Agr. Canneto, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
90% sangiovese, 5% merlot, 5% cabernet sauvignon
Cask sample. Medium pale. Dried and spiced cherry, fresh and lifted, more classic, medium body, perky structure with elegant and rich black tea and dried cherry fruit. Nice definition, balance and length. Eminently drinkable. vg. 

Az. Agr. Poliziano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
85% sangiovese, 15% colorino, canaiolo, merlot
Medium deep, lifted bitter red cherries on the nose, smooth, aromatic tarry attack, liquorice stick. Supple, integrated tannins, blanketing, rich balance. Vg. 

Bindella, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
85% sangiovese, 15% colorino, canaiolo, mammolo
Smoky-spiced cherries, warm fruit with fresh acid core, sweet fruit mid palate, medium weight, fine grained, youthfully tight tannins, very elegantly balanced, delicious. Long.

Montemercurio, ‘Messaggero’, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
100% sangiovese
Medium deep, mulled blackberries, round and rich palate, sweet black berried fruits, stewed and still with fresh core. Spiced black tea comes through mid palate. Rich and enveloping sweet fruits with ripe, lush tannins in a full body. Good.

Az. Agr. Croce di Febo, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
85% sangiovese, 15% others
Medium deep, wood smoke nose with chocolate cherry, spiced palate, not quite all the mulling spices, dry baked cherries, and fresh, ripe tannin frame, grip of youth, with fine grained velvet. Big, full bodied and muscular with proportioned frame. Good.

Az. Agr. Casale di Daviddi Aldimaro, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
85% sangiovese, 10% canaiolo, 5% mammolo
Medium deep, sweet and brambly, savoury tea leaf, lifted blossom notes comes through on the palate. Lush, sweet dark berried fruits, bits of chocolate and liquorice stick. Plenty of tannin, becoming supple on the palate; rich and lush, long and linear.  Vg.

Dei, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
90% sangiovese, 10% canaiolo
Medium deep, fresh, perfume, cherry blossom nose, lightness of attack with full intensity, fresh core, bright red fruits, supple, with five spiciness, elegant and persistent mid palate. This is rather nice in an understated way, with layered purity. Long and good.

Podere Le Bèrne, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
97% sangiovese, 3% colorino
Medium deep, brambly nose, firmly structured. Muscular in upright, well toned sort of way. Tight with chalky freshness, and some nice layering. Good.

Tenimenti Angelini, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008
90% sangiovese, 5% canaiolo, 5% cabernet sauvignon
Medium deep. Spicy cherries with sweet/dry fruit, supple tannins, rounded with black fruit, medium bodied with five spice aromas mid palate. Balanced with good intensity.  Good

Vecchia Cantina, ‘Cantina del Redi’, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008 selezione
Medium deep. Fresh, perky, bright red cherries, elegant, lifted with cherry blossom perfume. Fresh, lots primary fruit of rich intensity, precise and perfumed. Good.

Montemercurio, ‘Messaggero’, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008 selezione
Medium deep. Spicy baked red fruits. Medium body with supple, savoury black tea leaf and hint of fresh leather. Youthfully tight tannins, well balanced. Good.

Az. Agr. Casale di Daviddi Aldimaro, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008 selezione
Deep colour. Complexing stalky blackcurrants on the nose. Fresh, upright attack, supple black berried fruits and very fine grained tannins, already mellow. Velvety texture, though still youthful and firm: iron fist, velvet glove. Very well balanced and proportioned. Vg.

La Ciarliana, ‘Vigna Scianello’, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2007 selezione
Cask sample. Very deep. Big, dark, brash black fruits, big and full bodied. Well proportioned in body builder style, and positive for that. Rich, fat, full bodied, sweet fruited. Good.

Tenimenti Angelini, ‘Simposio’, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2007 selezione
Medium deep, sweet blackberries, full body, sweet lush fruit, rounded and fleshy, fat and still fresh. Hessian textured fruits. Vg

Dei, ‘Riserva Bossona’, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2007
Deep colour. Perky, fresh, bramble, liquorice stick and dried fig. Complex, seductive velvet glove texture with density and concentration. Vg

Az. Agr. La Bandita e Lunadoro, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2007
Deep colour. Bitter chocolate and liquorice stick. Supple, expansive dark berried fruit. Warm baked earth combined with lush, sweet/dry fruits, Long. Vg

Podere Le Bèrne, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2007
Medium deep. Rich crumbly strawberry and black cherry compote. Sandalwood texture, medium body, warm and earthy, hessian textured, warm earth, warming, concentrated. Vg.

Az. Agr. Icario, ‘Riserva Vitaroccia’, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2007
Opaque. Bramble, black fruits, lush sweet fruit with firm core running through it. Fleshy and rich, supple, plentiful tannins. Big and powerful in fleshy, black fruited mould. Vg.

Az. Agr. Canneto, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2007
Medium deep. Chalky fruit cake nose, firm morello cherry, lifted, medium body, more ‘classic’ and lovely for that. Still taut with tannin, integrating, with plentiful layered fruit. Vg.

Az. Agr. Nottola, ‘Riserva Il Fattore’, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2007
Opaque. Lush, sweet bramble fruits, rounded and fleshy body, with sweet fruits and elegantly embalming tannins. Sweet, dark and fleshy. Good.

Contucci, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2007
Deep colour. Chalky and lifted baked cherries on the nose. Stringent hessian character and lifted liquorice stick and tea leaf.  Structured and linear. Vg.

Barbara Tamburini

Barbara Tamburini is a modest and unassuming, and extremely talented, consultant winemaker in Italy, who has been making wine since 1996.

She makes wine for around 20 properties, ranging in size from 5 hectares to 60 hectares, mainly across Tuscany and Umbria, and she cites her car as her first home during the busy season, as she travels almost non-stop between clients.

Hers was an accidental journey into wine. Knowing that she needed a career that allowed her to work outdoors and with people, her only option at the time was agriculture, so she started her university training, in oenology, without having previously tasted wine. But, she said, without any prior prejudice, “I learned many things in the right way” from an open-minded perspective without any pre-conceptions.  And having taken the tough choice of an experimental thesis over four harvests, she left the University of Pisa with the top marks.

She still consults for one of the wineries – Gualdo del Re – where she did her university research.

A year after graduating she met up with Vittorio Fiore, whom she describes as “one of the best winemakers in the world”, and whose seminars she had attended at university.  She said “ten years ago he was looking to slow down, so now we work together at some wineries.” And they both still have their own clients.

Quite often she works with single varieties, which she says “is the most difficult.  You must have the best from single grapes.”  But some grapes are made for each others, and “when we do the blend of merlot and cabernet sauvignon, it gives a well balanced equilibrium.”

But sangiovese, central Italy’s ‘prince’, is more capricious. She said “it is not simple to make a great sangiovese, but thanks to the new clones we can make very high quality pure sangiovese. But it is a grape variety we can blend well with international grape varieties too.”

Is there a point where too much cabernet sauvignon dominates the idiosyncracies of sangiovese? Well, Tamburini said “if we have a powerful sangiovese, we can need 10 to 20% to make a high quality wine, which still has the personality of a Tuscan wine.  And I like to make good wine that respects the territory.” And, she added, “wine that is also elegant.”

Achieving elegance can be another tricky issue. Tamburini, who has her own elegant style, said “the vinification must respect the aromas of the grapes.  We work with French oak, usually a blend of different forests and tonnelleries to give a unique value to the wine, but [drinkers] must be able to recognise the grapes.”  She said new oak is fine only when the grapes have great maturity.

Being sensitive to “the different characters of different grape varieties, all with their own different needs” is high on Tamburini’s list of skills, as is, she said, having “the perfect conditions of the vineyards, rootstocks and clones, having the right choices in the vineyard.”

Barbara Tamburini’s list of clients, 2011
Gualdo del Re, Suvereto (LI)
Fattoria di Grignano, Pontassieve (FI)
Podere Le Poggiarelle, Carmignano (PO)
Az. Agr. Colline San Biagio, Carmignano (PO)
Giuliano Tiberi, Cantagrillo (PT) 
Tringali Casanova, Bolgheri (LI)
I Balzini, Barberino Val d’Elsa (FI)
Castel Pietraio, Monteriggioni (SI)
Castello di Ripa d’Orcia, San Quirico d’Orcia (SI)
La Calonica, Valiano di Montepulciano (SI) and Cortona (AR)
Az. Agr. Cecilia, Isola d’Elba (LI)
Podere Scurtarola, Massa
Podere Brizio, Montalcino (SI)
Tenuta Roccaccia, Pitigliano (GR)
Podere La Corsa, Capalbio (GR)
Goretti, Perugia
Fattoria Le Mura Saracene, Montefalco (PG)
Azienda Cavitria, Tirano (SO)

Luca De Ferrari Corradi

As part of the anteprima/en primeur tastings in Tuscany during February 2011, Poderi Boscarelli hosted a 20-year retrospective of their wines.   

Poderi Boscarelli has been owned by the De Ferrari-Corradi family since 1962, when it was bought by the grandfather of the current generation, brothers Luca and Nicolò. 

The estate, situated around 300m above sea level on the hill of Cervognano, has 14 hectares under vine. Sangiovese makes up 80% of the plantings; the rest is planted to local reds mammolo, canaiolo and colorino, with a bit of merlot and cabernet sauvignon.

Their first vintage was in 1965 and from the 1968 vintage they started bottling under their own label.

During the tasting Luca explained the evolution of the Boscarelli style, some of it reflecting wider trends at the time, for example, in the first two wines there were some bunches of white grapes, but by 1988 the family had stopped using white grapes.

Fermentation vessels have changed from concrete in the 70s and 80s, through stainless steel in the 90s and, from the 2001 vintage, in large, 40 hectolitre barrels.  By now the family has accumulated 10 of these big casks.

Vintage 2001 was a turning point for yeast, as well. The vintage marked a return to natural yeast after a decade of using cultured yeasts.  Luca said “we went back to natural yeast because the 2000 was very difficult to finish the fermentation. By the end of April the fermentation was yet to finish.”   They felt natural yeast was more reliable to see fermentation through.

Half the estate’s production is devoted to the ‘straight’ Nobile, and this provided the focus of the tasting, with the exception of the first wine.  The Nobile is completely classic, comprising 88% to 90% sangiovese with canaiolo, mammolo, colorino; aged for 24 months in oak. They may make 45 to 50,000 bottles of this, or they may make just 8 to 10,000 bottles, depending on the vintage.

Luca said “we had planted merlot as a curiosity because it was fashionable [in the 90s], and we wanted to make a richer wine, with more oak, and more [immediately] pleasurable.” And so some merlot used to be used in the straight Nobile, but “from 2001, we went back to a traditional Nobile, with more elegance and more acidity”.  This fits more with their philosophy of wanting to show the elegance and freshness of acidity of sangiovese. 

The '79 magnum

But, Luca explained “at the beginning of the 90s, the wine was often closed in the bouquet, and with not enough colour.  Cabernet sauvignon and merlot helped the wine to be more open. You did not have to wait half an hour for the wine to open up.  We used small oak on the cabernet sauvignon because it can stand more oak than sangiovese.”  And, he added, “this is why we have gone back to using big casks and less new oak, because oak covers the sangiovese, and with too much oxygen [through the oak], sangiovese suffers.”  The wines showed it doesn’t take much cabernet sauvignon and merlot to knock sangiovese’s profile off kilter. The 2001 is a welcome return to the purity of a traditional expression.

The riserva is a different style “more international” said Luca, “it tastes different”.  The riserva continues to absorb a little international merlot (7%) and cabernet sauvignon (3%) in its profile, with 90% being sangiovese, and it is aged for three years in oak.  Luca said “it has more power, more oak, and a little less sangiovese character, with merlot and cabernet sauvignon.”

Produced only in top vintages is Nocio dei Boscarelli, a single vineyard wine, solely from sangiovese, from the vineyard of the walnut tree.  The sandy clay soil of this vineyard gives more silky tannins in the wine.

The vineyards have seen their own changes. Replanting started in the late 1980s, with a selection of old clones from their grandfather’s old vineyards, and new clones.  Luca said “we have one third clones from our grandfather, one third from Montalcino and one third from Chianti Classico massale selection.” Density almost doubled to the current 7,000 vines per hectare, which means yield can be restricted to around 1kg/vine.

Maurizio Castelli has long been the family’s oenologist.

Tasting notes, in situ, February 2011

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 1979, from magnum
Medium colour, mahogany rim. Nose of mahogany, tertiary notes, fruitcake and dried earth. Very smooth character, warm and savoury, casserole meaty. Rich and warming, a rewarding experience to taste.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 1983
Medium deep with orange rim. Still primary fruit here, bright red fruits, obviously very mellow and relaxed, with caulky tannins, medium bodied, freshly balanced still, rather delicious. Mellow but still with spine. vg.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 1988
Medium deep, not too aromatic on the nose, but spicy, black and aromatic tar on the palate, with a warm baked earth sort of texture, and rich, warmly embracing structure. Sweet baked berry fruit with the patina of graceful age. Lovely, with still a bit of grip.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 1991
Medium deep, bricking rim. Wood smoke and baked earth nose, Dundee cake, smooth, sweet tannins, embracing palate again, with fine grainy tannins still framing the whole. Supple core, still fresh, with a slightly fuller rounder body.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 1995
Medium deep, bricking rim. Smoke and fruitcake, warm and nearly full bodied. Chocolatey and blanketing in a warm, cuddly way. Rich with warm, sweet, enveloping developed fruit.  Perhaps less fresh than the 1980s.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 1997
Medium deep, hint of bricking. Five spice and aromatic tar, chocolate and smooth texture, velvet texture, rich and mouth-filling. Medium body, with framing tannins.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 1999
Medium deep, overtly tarry, with supple, brambly flavours.  The least interesting for me.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2001
Fresh, hint of lifting morello cherry volatile acidity. Silky tannin texture, and lots of tannin in this medium bodied with which has big flavour and intensity and an integrity to its balance. Refreshing, very fine tannins, youthful and delicious. Vg.

The main focus of attention was the weighted trio of barbera, dolcetto and nebbiolo.

Stephen Brook

Setting the Piedmont scene Brook explained that it is a huge and diverse region. He said the “heart of the region is the Langhe with the central town of Alba in the north of the region.”  The Roero area is to the north of Alba, on the north side of the river Tanaro.  North east of Alba lies Barbaresco, and to the southwest is the Barolo zone.

In literal translation, Piedmont is the foot of the mountains, in this case the Alps.  Brook said while “summers can be hot, this is not a Mediterranean region.  Winters can be harsh and foggy. And the Alps can be seen from the hilltop villages of Barolo.” It is on the slopes of these hills that the vineyards lie. 

Brook said people often compare nebbiolo with pinot noir, but he warned against a facile comparison with Burgundy’s Côte d’Or, which “is one slope. Whereas Langhe has expositions facing all conceivable directions.” He added “even in a single cru there are different altitudes and expositions.” And nebbiolo is always reserved for the best sites, with the likes of barbera, freisa and dolcetto playing second fiddle.

The region is one of family smallholdings with one or large families, such as Gaja and Fontanafredda. Adding to this complexity, said Brook, is that “more producers are bottling their own wines, often spurred on by the younger generation.  This has resulted in a proliferation of estates which have started bottling just recently.”  

Grape varieties

Dolcetto is a rich and gluggable red, according to Brook. It’s low in acidity and rich in colour.  It is usually drunk young, though there is a fashion for treating it very seriously, which means barriques.

Barbera is low in tannin, high in acidity. Brook says it’s a great food wine as it cuts through cuisine. And it’s often made in two different styles:  one for early drinking, which is made in steel or traditional big oak botti grandi; the other being made with new barriques, to add tannic structure. Both styles work well, appealing to different occasions.

Nebbiolo, however, is the star of the Piedmont show.  Brook said it picks up “tar [aromas] from hot fermentations, and chocolate from barriques.”  It’s a grape with lots of everything: tannin, acidity, alcohol, making big wines. “The trick” said Brook “is to bring all the elements into balance. The wines often do not achieve full harmony till 6 to 10 years of bottle age.”  They are undoubtedly wines that demand patience.

Of the Barbaresco camp, Brook explained that the soils are a bit more fertile than in Barolo. He said “Barbaresco gets a bit more fog in winter and is a touch warmer in summer.” As a result of which the grapes are picked 5 to 7 days earlier than Barolo. “The differences are not colossal” he said “Barbaresco is a tad lighter, a tad more elegant, a tad more approachable than a Barolo of the same vintage.” Added to which the prices can be a bit lower than the great names of Barolo.

Tradition versus modern

“The alleged battle between traditional and modern styles is an oversimplification” said Brook.  “When I first visited the region 25 years ago, the tradition was for a long fermentation, at a high temperature, over 30°C. The wines were rich in tannin, and needed a minimum three years’ ageing in botti grandi before the tannins softened up, and then more bottle age.”

It was the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when producers such as Altare, Gaja and Clerico started using barriques to age wine.  “But it was not just about the wood” said Brook, “Altare started green harvesting; he saw the importance of reducing yields. And he wanted his wines to be not so tannic and extracted. So he used rotofermenters over a few days.”  

Having blind-tasted some older vintage in the region this year, Brook said “there were some magnificent wines from the ‘70s and ‘80s. With the older wines it was impossible for me to say that this is a ‘traditional’ or ‘modern’ wine.”  He added “the variety and terroir took over. The perfume, elegance and acidity of nebbiolo came through more importantly than what the wine had been aged in.” 

Now some producers blur any boundaries up front by using both new barrique and old oak. Brook concluded that whilst there may be a few arch-traditionalists and arch-modernists, most producers are pragmatists.

Of the Barolo camp, Brook listed the important communes of La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Barolo, Serralunga and Castiglione Falletto, in which villages there are dozens of different crus.  “Generalisations are terribly dangerous” he said, though himself succumbed with ”La Morra is the most elegant and perfumed, while Serralunga gives dense and tannic wines.”

Vintages

2007 not the greatest vintage, mostly for medium term drinking
2006 more structured, formidable vintage
2005 lighter than 2004
2004 very good.

Nebbiolo plantings in Barbaresco and Barolo

Source: Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Roero, most recent five year averages

Tasting, London, September 2010, and comments

Cantine Salvano, Fosco 2009, Diano d’Alba DOC   
Dolcetto 100%, 13.5%, ~£15
UK Importer: Cibo Wholesale                
Almost purple hue, typical for dolcetto. Parma violet freshness on nose, youthful and crunchy with smooth palate attack, good volume of fruit mid palate. Fresh and enjoyable. Brook:  sweetness of fruit and vibrancy are the bywords for dolcetto.

Az. Agr. Rivetto, Lirano Soprano 2007, Barbera d’Alba DOC
Barbera 100%, 14.5%, ~£35
UK Importer: Ellis of Richmond 
Full throttle oaky barbera, made in 50% new barriques from not very old vines. Smoky, toasted notes with smooth, rich and young primary fruit; nicely balanced and integrated. Good intensity, long finish.

Az. Agr. Negro Angelo & Figli, Riserva Sudisfà 2006, Roero DOCG  
Nebbiolo 100%, 14%, ~£30
UK Importer: Great Western Wine 
Bricking colour with orange tint to rim. Tar, rose and tangerine bouquet. An element of lightness to the palate attack, with redcurrants and cherry. Chalky, youthful tannins, pretty approachable now, thought with grippy finish. Good.
Brook:  Roero region soils are different from Barbaresco and Barolo. They are sandy, which gives a more accessible style of nebbiolo. It’s much less prestigious, so can offer a Barolo experience at affordable price.

Az. Agr. Albino Rocca, Vigneto Brich Ronchi 2007, Barbaresco DOCG 
Nebbiolo 100%, 14.5%
UK Importer: N/A
Pale, tarry nose, something elusive in the background. Rich-baked redcurrant attack, full body, very fine grained, almost supple tannins. Appealing now, nicely balanced and readily integrated.
Brook:  A single vineyard Barbaresco.  From 2007, he has switched to using Austrian ovals which are smaller than the traditional botti.

Az. Agr. Orlando Abrigo, Vigna Rongalio Meruzzano 2006,  Barbaresco DOCG
Nebbiolo 100%, 14%
UK Importer: N/A
Palish colour, then dark and brooding, brambly, full and fleshy, spicy  notes to mid palate. Rich, almost supple fruit, structured. More modern appearance. Good density and volume. 
Brook: A single vineyard wine.  Short, 10-day maceration, half in botti, half in 500-litre casks.

Az. Agr. Mauro Veglio, Rocche dell’Annunziata 2006, Barolo DOCG
Nebbiolo 100%, 14.5%,
UK Importer: N/A
Commune:  La Morra
Faint rose petal perfume, has a certain elegance of attack. Dry autumnal dried oranges, cinnamon, fine ripe tannins which then grip at the end. Dried cherries, and an ethereal element of charm.  Delicious.
Brook:  A neighbour of Elio Altare.  Uses rotofermenters and up to 80% in barriques. Classic La Morra expression – floral, raspberry fruit, graceful, poised, subtle. Acidity and length

Az. Agr. Giorgio Scarzello, Vigna Merenda 2005, Barolo DOCG
Nebbiolo 100%, 14%,  £42.50
UK Importer: Phoenix Wine Agencies 
Commune:  Barolo
Brick rim, savoury, tarry nose. Lifted baked berry fruit, savoury core, grippy, dry tannins demanding some attention. Traditional style, muscular and tannic, with savoury fruit to accompany, and hint of lifted VA for complexity. Big and bold. And long.
Brook:  producer favours long macerations, then 30 months in large casks.

Az. Agr. Schiavenza, Broglio 2004, Barolo DOCG Riserva
Nebbiolo 100%, 14.5%
UK Importer: N/A
Commune:  Serralunga
Medium deep colour with brick rim. Dark, brambly perfumed, full, muscle-toned attack and body, sweet fruit with grip of structure. Lush aspects to volume of fruit, big, savoury-sweet, long finish. Aromatic gun-smoke; rich, big, youthful. Very good.
Brook:  Plums and darker fruit.

Fontanafredda, Vigna La Rosa 2006, Barolo DOCG   
Nebbiolo 100%, 14%, ~£55.50
UK Importer: Enotria Winecellars   
Commune:  Serralunga
Medium pale, ruby rim. Fresh cherry nose, approachable, but lacks a little complexity and density. It’s missing real personaility.
Brook: They got a new winemaker in 1999 and quality has improved since then.  They prefer a long maceration, then half in new oak for 12 months, then large French-made casks.

Tenuta Vitivinicola Cavallotto,  Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe 2004, Barolo DOCG Riserva   
100% nebbiolo, 14.5%, RRP: £45
UK Importer: Goedhuis and Co    
Commune: Castiglione Falletto
Medium deep colour, petals and bright dark cherries. Understated, bit of a stealth wine, it’s all to come. Balance, intensity, length and integrity. Very good.
Brook:  Classic barolo. This is what barolo is all about, beautifully balanced, aromatic, complex. The best sector of the Bricco Boschis vineyard is San Guiseppe. The vineyards are around the house.  Macerations are now about 20 days, then matured in botti.

Red wines from Tuscany was a recent theme. 

Grape varieties in Tuscany have expanded from the indigenous sangiovese, the most widely planted grape variety in Italy, plus canaiolo and colorino, to include all the more famous French varieties such as cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and syrah. The IGT category (equivalent to Vins de Pays in France) has long allowed blending of indigenous and international varieties – this is the realm of the supertuscan wines.

But more recently, Chianti and Chianti Classico have allowed minor proportions, up to 20% in the blend, of those international varieties.

So now, there are three broad categories of Tuscan red:
a)       completely traditional wines, made only from sangiovese, or with small proportions of other traditional red grapes such as canaiolo, colorino and mammolo e.g. Brunello, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano,  some Chianti and Chianti Classico, a few IGTs
b)       blends of indigenous and specified international grapes, so sangiovese with more or less cabernet sauvignon, merlot etc. e.g. some Chianti and Chianti Classico, many IGTs
c)       blends of international varieties only e.g. Bolgheri and many IGTs

Argiano, Rosso di Montalcino 2008, ~£15 (14%)                   
Sangiovese 100%
Medium pale depth of colour. Tea leaf and baked cherry nose. An initial light-bodied palate filled out in the glass to reveal a supple-fruited wine with a decent intensity of dry-baked cherries and redcurrants. Some sweet red berry fruit notes mid palate add flesh to the fresh acid frame. Appropriately modest tannins are supple and integrated. Nicely upright, firm sangiovese.  

Argiano, Brunello di Montalcino 2005, ~£30 (14%)                                         
Sangiovese 100%
Medium deep colour, dark, tarry nose, dried cinnamon, allspice and dark chocolate nose. Savoury black tea leaf attack, charcoal, tar with mocha and bitter chocolate perfumes. Sweet core seeping into the savoury surround, leather baked earth, fine-grained tannins in almost first flush of youth are beginning to blend into the wine. Big and gutsy, but not butch and powerful. Retains defining acidity and poise to structure. Young, savoury and demanding at this stage.

Fattoria dei Barbi, Brunello di Montalcino, Vigna del Fiore 2003, ~£45 (14%)
Sangiovese 100%
Medium deep colour, coffee and chocolate, leather and sandalwood perfume. Smoky, savoury attack, tar and tobacco leaf. Powerful with bitter-sweet cherries and baked pomegranate. Firm-backboned, fully dry spectrum held upright by acidity and surreptitious fruit. Plenty of fine grained chalky youthful tannins lend weight, backbone and longevity potential. Complex, concentrated. Long warm fruit defined finish. Very good

Fattoria Selvapiana, Vigneto Bucerchiale Chianti Rufina Riserva 2006, ~£20  (14.5%)                       
Sangiovese 100%
Medium deep colour, bright red cherries, primary fruit mixes with vanilla-cream hints, blackcurrant, and warm, enveloping sweet tannins. Black tea leaf, with some rose petal perfume. Richly balanced sweet cherries with ripe, savoury tannins creating a medium-full bodied feel to the palate, while the acidity runs through the core demanding posture and definition. Full and richly-dry. Good. Chalky dry finish to the youthful tannins, balanced by fruit. Needs time.

Querciabella, Chianti Classico DOCG 2006, ~£18  (13.5%)                               
95% sangiovese, 5% cabernet sauvignon
Medium deep colour. Blackberries and cream, sweet black tea, bramble and fruitcake notes linger in the background. Smooth attack of freshly-tanned leather, sweet, baked black cherries, with hint of sweetness to the characteristically dry tannin structure. A developing lush texture in the mouth suggests a modern touch, and the earthy, herbal hint on the back palate remains true to the origin. More than approachable. Nicely balanced. Obviously still youthful. Good.

Castello Vicchiomaggio, Ripa delle More 2006, IGT Toscana, ~£27 (14.5%)             
Sangiovese 60%, cabernet sauvignon 30%, merlot 10%
Deep ruby. Almost porty seductive sweet bramble compote nose, rich, enticing, overflowing with sweet primary fruit. No blousiness – characteristic defining acid core to keep the whole in proportion and balanced. Long flavour, fresh, moreish, widely appealing. Modern and lush. Tannins may be sweet and ripe, but still fine chewiness in youth on the finish. Good

Villa Cafaggio, Cortaccio  2004, IGT Toscana, ~£40 (14%)                               
Cabernet sauvignon 100%
Deep ruby. Chalky dry-baked blackberry nose, sandalwood and cedar attack on the palate quickly flooded with creamy-dry blackcurrant and blackberry fruits. Medium bodied with an elegant refinement of structure and balance. Refreshing, youthful, dry tannin core with masses of fruit volume and concentration. Not an iota of age showing on this sample. One to put by for a few more years yet. Seriously good, with some sophistication.

Tenuta Argentiera, Bolgheri Superiore 2006, ~£35 (14.5%)                 
Cabernet sauvignon 50%, merlot 40%, cabernet franc 10%
Deep ruby. Creamy coffee and baked cherry and blackberry pie nose. Ripely proportioned black fruit with soft flesh around sweet acid core. Savoury baked earth and dry-baked fruit notes on the palate with deep, concentrated flavours. Chalky note of youthful tannins balanced by dense, dark fruit concentration augurs well. Elements of sophistication here. With sweet finish that has you going back for another taste.

Antinori, Tenuta Guado al Tasso Bolgheri Superiore 2005, ~£65 (14%)                           
Cabernet sauvignon 50%, merlot 45%, syrah 5%
Deep ruby. Bramble, tender wood smoke and violets emerge from a deep pool of aroma. Blackcurrant fruit to the fore, sweet, fine, youthful tannins wrap around the dark brooding berry fruits with a velvet-glove texture. Seductively textured, massively concentrated palate but not at the expense of deportment or elegance. Unsurprisingly, really very good. Combination of sweetness of tannin and fruit with structure of dry tannins complemented by entirely integral acid frame.

Bar one or disappointments, this group clearly represents good things that are happening  in Italy.

Tasting notes, London, September 2010

Carpenè Malvolti, Viognier Brut NV       
Creamy texture, grape variety not obvious. Clean, fresh, balanced. 

Carpenè Malvolti, Cuvee Extra Dry NV, Conegliano Valdobbiadene  Prosecco Superiore DOCG,
Floral, soft, big creamy mousse. Has a slight artificial tint to the mid palate, otherwise it’s like many other Proseccos. Nothing particular to draw it above the parapet.

Carpenè Malvolti Rose Brut
85% pinot nero; 15% raboso
Vibrant pink, nice frothy mousse, dry, pleasant.

Ca’ del Bosco, Cuvee Annamaria Clementi 2002, Franciacorta Brut DOCG                              
55% chardonnay, 25% pinot bianco, 20% pinot nero.
Rich, toasty, autolytic, sweet brioche nose, light and intense, then sadly the palate disappoints a little. Everything replicated on the nose, but add in a hint of chalkiness which detracts a little. But a serious wine. Maybe a bottle issue?

Masi, Masianco 2009, Pinot Grigio e Verduzzo delle Venezie IGT             
75% pinot grigio, 25% verduzzo
Pear and apple freshness, good density of fruit flavour, more than the average pinot grigio.   

Alois Lageder, Porer Pinot Grigio 2009, Alto Adige DOC
Peach and pear, good concentration of primary fruit. Plentiful volume and texture. Serious pinot grigio. Nicely balanced.

Alois Lageder, Benefizium Pinot Grigio 2004, Alto Adige DOC    
Hint of vegetal development, but remarkably little.  Ageworthy pinot grigio, who’d have thought? Filling and softening, the little barrique fermentation not really noticeable other than in the softer, rounder palate. Not pinot grigio as we know it Jim, but good nonetheless.

Michele Chiarlo, Rovereto 2009, Gavi del comune di Gavi DOCG              
Sweet-sour apple tang on the palate. Rich, dense fruit intensity.  More Gavi in a single glass than most might hope for. Good.

Jermann, Tunina 2007, Friuli Venezia Guilia IGT
Blend of sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, ribolla gialla, malvasia and picolit
Gunsmoke and peach nose, mirrored on palate attack. Ripe sweet fruit, nicely complex white blend, rich, sweet, layered, long.

Jermann, Tunina 2002, Friuli Venezia Guilia IGT
Blend of sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, ribolla gialla, malvasia and picolit
Gunsmoke, hint of attractive oiliness developing. Sweet yellow fruits – pineapple, mango. Serious and seductive white. Very nice now, but wouldn’t want to hold on to it for too much longer.

Umani Ronchi, Casal di Serra 2009, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC   
Pebble stones and peaches. Attractive tart tangy twinge of structure. Nicely concentrated stone fruit. Everything in place. Very nice indeed.

Umani Ronchi, Plenio Riserva 1999, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC
Riserva means it is aged for a minimum of 18 months, of which at least six months must be in bottle.
Deep straw colour. A different style of verdicchio: oily, tropical fruit, hint of iodine. Keeping its age very well. Full-fat, and remains fresh, with slightly medicinal, iodine note.  Unusual, and good for that.   

Biondi Santi, Villa Poggio Salvi Vermentino 2009, Toscana Bianco IGT
Chalky, pear and apple, with somewhat stripped notes that appear sweet rather than fruity.

Lungarotti, Vigna Il Pino 2008, Torre di Giano DOC
70% trebbiano, 30% grechetto
Non aromatic nose, reticent white stone fruit palate. Nicely balanced with some good depth, but I’m not sure I understand the purpose for this wine.

Mastroberardino, More Maiorum 2000, Fiano di Avellino DOC
Matured in barrique for 10 months.
Smoke and toast. Round and oily, rarified expression of this otherwise trendy white. Fat, savoury, and fuly developed.

Tasca d’Almerita, Nozze d’Oro 2008, Contea di Sclafani DOC
79% inzolia, 21% sauvignon tasca.
Fresh, pear, chalky nose and palate. Clean and fresh, with some decent volume of fruit, otherwise no great personality.

Tasca d’Almerita, Nozze d’Oro 2007, Contea di Sclafani DOC
79% inzolia, 21% sauvignon tasca.
Some faint tropical fruit on the nose, clean, fresh palate, otherwise no great endearing character.

Ca’ del Bosco, Chardonnay 2007 Curtefranca DOC            
Aromatic, hint fresh buttery, elegant attack, some restraint. Fruit delightfully overwhelms new oak flavours, leaving the structural support neatly in place. Medium full, sweet fruit. Attactive wine.

Ca’ del Bosco, Chardonnay 2001 Curtefranca DOC            
Plenty of lanolin and toast on the nose, showing attractive development. Smooth, some spiciness on the full-bodied mid-palate.  Fully mature, still nicely balanced but quite ready to be drunk.

Pio Cesare, Piodilei Chardonnay 2008, Langhe DOC                        
Chalky melon, white peach, some light toastiness, no great personality but pleasant.

Antinori, Cervaro della Sala 2007, Umbria IGT
85% chardonnay, 15% grechetto
Rich, spicy vanilla toast, cob-nutty nose, with some restraint to the profile. Full bodied, with lushly ripe fruit, and savoury, wood spicy notes to the core. Very good.

Tenute Ambrogio e Giovanni Folonari, Cabreo La Pietra 2008, Toscana IGT                          
Chardonnay
Dry peach melba, dry toasty rather than nutty, decent but without real personality. Nicely made, in a more savoury than ripe fruit sort of spectrum.

Rivera, Lama di Corvo 2008, Castel del Monte DOC
Chardonnay
Toasty aromatic spices on nose and initial palate. Savoury profile dominates the fruit which is a shame and tannins are noticeable on gums which also detracts a little.

Donnafugata, Ben Ryè 2008, Passito di Pantelleria DOC 
Zibibbo (muscat of Alexandria)
Golden amber colour. Lush, florally aromatic, fully sweet, gentle medium body, golden syrup flavour without its stickiness. Has a fresh, cleansing core. Fruit focused and primary fruit, with complexing notes of ginger and jasmine.  Delicious.

Alois Lageder, Lindenbrug Lagrein 2005, Alto Adige DOC
Smoke and dark chocolate nose, smooth, light tannins, sweet red berry fruit flavour, elegant, medium bodied wine of attractive balance.

Jermann, Red Angel Pinot Nero 2007, Friuli Venezia Giulia IGT        
Medium pale colour, wood smoke and aromatic tar on the nose, varietal character comes through on the palate more than on nose, with gentle red cherry fruit, smoothly textured.

Umani Ronchi, Cumaro 2006, Conero Riserva DOCG
Montepulciano
Sweet red berry compote, with violet perfume, sweet supple, tannins, understated in an elegant way. With a warm spice finish.

Michele Chiarlo, La Court 2006, Barbera d’Asti Superiore ‘Nizza’ DOC
Vanilla spice and crunchy black cherry attack. Medium weight, with firm backbone and sweet fruit. Good definition and balance.

Michele Chiarlo, La Court 2005, Barbera d’Asti Superiore ‘Nizza’ DOC
Black smoke, and tarry black cherries. Savoury elements developing in this one, fruit lying behind the smoke and mirrors. Typically firm backbone.

Pio Cesare, Ornato 2006, Barolo DOCG
Pale brick red rim. Tar and savoury grip to the palate attack. Aromatic cloves and cinnamon add sweetness to the tealeaf and strawberry fruit combination. Firm core, with sweet red flesh in an upright whole.

Pio Cesare, Ornato 2001, Barolo DOCG
Brick, bruised strawberries, cloves and cinnamon. With black tealeaves and warm dry baked red fruits. Warm and fleshy, just beginning to come into its own. Delicious.

Lungarotti, Vigna Monticchio 2005, Rubesco DOCG Riserva         
70% sangiovese, 30% canaiolo
Medium deep colour, coconut and vanilla nose, sweet plum and blackcurrant attack and juicily mellow fruit before spine of balancing youthful tannin kicks in. Well balanced.

Lungarotti, Vigna Monticchio 1977, Rubesco DOCG Riserva
70% sangiovese, 30% canaiolo
Amber rim and ochre core. Full tertiary development in fascinating balance of fresh farmyard, baked earth, and fruitcake. More for intellectual appreciation.

Tenute Ambrogio e Giovanni Folonari, Cabreo Il Borgo 2006, Toscana IGT            
70% sangiovese, 30% cabernet sauvignon
Medium deep core. Nose of blackcurrant and plum, with green tealeaf notes at the heart. Chalky, youthful tannins, in warming fruit palate with some good concentration. Still in youthful chewy stage.

Tenute Ambrogio e Giovanni Folonari, Cabreo Il Borgo 2001
70% sangiovese, 30% cabernet sauvignon
Smoke and tar, cherry, tealeaf aromatics, savoury with tertiary characters. Tannins beginning to dry a little in this sample, it’s a little bit puckering.

Antinori, Solaia 2007, Toscana IGT
75% cabernet sauvignon, 20% sangiovese, 5% cabernet franc
Dry baked blackberry fruit aromas, wood smoke and tar, rich, lush fruit, with supple plentiful tannins providing supple structure. Mouth-filling, youthful soft red fruits with vanilla cream swirling through it.  Nice.

Antinori, Solaia 1997 Toscana IGT           
75% cabernet sauvignon, 20% sangiovese, 5% cabernet franc
Intensely intoxicating perfume of baked earth and sweet fruitcake.  Warming palate, softly textured, savoury elements growing amidst the black fruits. Balanced and attractive, with a cleansing tannin finish.

Tenuta San Guido, Sassicaia 2006, Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC          
85% cabernet sauvignon, 15% cabernet franc
Vanilla cream and blackcurrant fruit on the nose. Lots of supple, chewy tannins in their prime of youth, beginning to settle into the lush red fruits. Mouth-filling without being full bodied and delightfully balanced. Long.

Biondi Santi, Villa Poggio Salvi 2005, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Medium pale colour, tar and black tealeaves, aromatic attack, erring tentatively towards supple rather than structured; might I expect a bit more backbone? 

Biondi Santi, Villa Poggio Salvi 2004, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Muted nose, tealeaves and cranberries, quite firm acid without the flesh of sweet fruit. Firm red cherries with savoury finish. Balanced but I might have hoped for greater concentration.  

Mastroberardino, Radici 2006, Taurasi DOCG
Aglianico
Ruby red, bramble, wood smoke and brooding red berries. Warm, sweet mid palate, enticing and seductive. Smooth textured with youthful, fine integrating tannin, and refined backbone. delicious. Long. Very good.

Mastroberardino, Radici 2005, Taurasi DOCG
Aglianico
Blackcurrant and cream nose followed by sweet black berried fruit and chalky young tannins still integrating. Full, sweet fleshed black fruit seducing the chalky tannins nicely. Aromatic spice, with long sweet finish. Very good.

Mastroberardino, Radici 1999, Taurasi Riserva DOCG
Aglianico
Brick. Tertiary fruit cake development, still with sweet mellow fruit. Graceful, elegant and with sweet concentration. Really rather lovely with long sweet fruit finish.

Tasca d’Almerita, Rosso del Conte 2005, Contea di Sclafani DOC               
85% nero d’avola, 15% other permitted varieties
Juicy red cherry nose and attack. Supple, primary fruit sweetness, with supporting soft vanilla cream, super sweet ripe tannin, sweet fruit but with defining fresh backbone. All the benefits of a super-ripe Aussie red plus a backbone of acidity for structure.

Rivera, Il Falcone 2006, Castel del Monte Riserva DOC
70% nero di troia, 30% montepulciano
Sweet red berries, supple, with chalky note (not structural), light-medium bodied and not unattractive for that. Aromatic raspberry note mid palate. Has a defining core. Quite more-ish.   

Rivera, Il Falcone 2005, Castel del Monte Riserva DOC
70% nero di troia, 30% montepulciano
Smoky, dark berries, more brooding style. Fuller body, with dark sweet fruit. Youthful and crunchy texture. 

Donnafugata, Mille e Una Notte 2006, Contessa Entellina DOC
90% nero d’avola, 10% other permitted varieties
Dark and brambly, late season berry perfume, elegant sweet fruit core, sweetly mouth-filling, full body that’s well toned, no flab. But not a weight-lifter either. Sweetly seductive with structure. And long finish. Good.

Donnafugata, Mille e Una Notte 1999, Contessa Entellina DOC
90% nero d’avola, 10% other permitted varieties
From magnum. Sweet and brambly with beginning of fresh farmyard development. Full body, sweet dark berry fruits, densely concentrated and delicious. Full and long.

Masi, Costasera 2006, Amarone Classico della Valpolicella DOC
70% corvina, 25% rondinella, 5% molinara
Sweet perfumed, mulberry fruit, residual sweetness is noticeable with actively sweet fruit, medium body and density, in a balanced whole.   

Masi, 1988 Amarone Classico della Valpolicella DOC     
70% corvina, 25% rondinella, 5% molinara
Brick. Fully mature, tertiary fruitcake aromas.  Beginning to dry a little. But great academic interest. Drier sensation due to age, despite original 10g/l residual sugar.

L-R: Lynne Sherriff MW, Marchese Piero Antinori, David Gleave MW

That such a group exists at all is quite special in Italy, as the President of the Istituto Grandi Marchi, Marchese Piero Antinori, explained “Italians are very individualistic, they like to do things on their own; they don’t like to cooperate with others. I would say it’s in our DNA, so it is difficult to overcome.” Though, he added “although we are competitors, we respect each other, and in many cases we are also very good friends. We realised it is more effective to do things jointly, rather than individually.  And after six years, this approach has proved to be successful.”

The group includes some of the best known names in the country.  There are 17 members covering almost the whole territory of Italy, which was one of the original ideas.  Donnafugata’s owner Josè Rallo said “I think we are representative of quality in Italy for medium-high and high quality.” In addition to which Antinori estimated that the group represents 16-17% of the total ‘high quality’ wine production, which he described as both DOC/G wines and IGT wines such as the ‘supertuscan’ category.

The group has decided its membership is not open to newcomers though Antinori said they had a waiting list of producers who would like to join. He said “we want to remain as we are. The group is friends, we trust each other. And the new generation is already involved, they are starting to become friends”, adding “the size, location, culture and history can be different, but there are many elements that are similar – our passion for wine; we are all family-owned and run businesses.  And there is a danger [of losing this if] we become too big.”

Their global programme to date comprises almost 50 events – tastings for the trade, for collectors and consumers; education for sommeliers; visits to Italy – and has so far focused on the eastern markets of China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, India and Russia.

The first question of the session addressed non-indigenous grape varieties … Antinori was, after all, one of the leaders in the ‘70s and ‘80s of non-Italian, non-Tuscan varieties, with Solaia and Tignanello.

“It worked well at that time” Antinori explained. Before that “especially in central Italy, we were almost condemned, we were obliged to use non-Italian varieties. In the 60s most of the old viticulture was transformed to more modern viticulture. The problem no-one realised was that the nurseries were not able to provide good genetic quality of sangiovese. This was a disaster for quality.

“The quality of sangiovese that was planted in a relatively short period of time proved to be very poor. Wines, especially in Tuscany went down in quality, in price, in everything.

“To stop this negative trend we had to do something.  I introduced grapes that were already well selected, one was cabernet sauvignon, but also others, and these proved to give very good results.

“We were encouraged to plant grapes we knew would do well, that’s why the supertuscan category was created and some wines became very famous.”

Since that time, there have been many years of research and selection into indigenous grape varieties, the Chianti Classico 2000 project being a case in point.  Antinori believes the future for non-indigenous varieties has peaked. He said “the need for non-indigenous grape varieties is not as strong. Everyone is focusing more on our indigenous grape varieties.  There are some exceptions and regions where so-called international grape varieties have given very good results, for example Bolgheri [based on cabernet sauvignon and merlot], which has gained a great reputation in the last 30-40 years. But this is the exception now.”

Rallo had a slightly different view for Sicily, which, she said “is a little bit behind Tuscany. Our most famous red variety nero d’avola has not yet come into good clonal genetic definition. And there are still cultivations of international varieties which have perfectly found their habitat.”  She suggested more time was needed in other regions of Italy that were not so viticulturally advanced as Tuscany.  She added of international varieties “If you can make a different wine, then you can say that the grape variety has found a terroir, it has found a personality” much like cabernet sauvignon and merlot in Bolgheri.  

International varieties have not pre-occupied Mastroberardino, as Stephan Moccia explained “we never had experience with international varieties in Campania, though other producers have good results blending aglianico with cabernet sauvignon, or with merlot.  But we have always believed in our ancient grapes – fiano, aglianico – and now the critics are looking for native grapes, we think we are on the right way.”

As well as a re-discovery on the international stage of indigenous varieties, Italian wines are being helped by a slow but steady restructuring of viticulture towards better quality.  Antinori said “Italy comes from centuries of viticulture related to quantity rather than quality, for many reasons which would be too long to analyse. But 40 years ago we started to go in the opposite direction.”

It was the beginning of a renaissance for Italian wines.  Antinori said “most producers are now looking for quality rather than quantity. However a big part of viticulture still reflects the old philosophy.. At least 30% of the total acreage of vineyards is still orientated to quantity.” And, he added “the market doesn’t accept any more these type of wines.”

He cited the thousands of acres planted to uninteresting trebbiano, saying “the challenge is to complete the change that started 40-50 years ago. We have to transform these thousands of acres which are inefficient and not orientated to the market. It is an ambitious objective – often these acres belong to small producers who sometimes do viticulture as a hobby, so they have no means to invest or renovate. It’s more difficult than we think.”

No dispute there.

Tasting notes to follow.

1. Michele Chiarlo, Piedmont
2. Pio Cesare, Piedmont
3. Ca’ del Bosco, Lombardy
4. Carpenè Malvolti, Veneto
5. Masi, Veneto
6. Alois Lageder, Alto Adige
7. Jermann, Friuli Venezia Giulia
8. Antinori, Tuscany
9. Biondi Santi, Tuscany
10. Tenute Ambrogio e Giovanni Folonari, Tuscany
11. Tenuta San Guido, Tuscany
12. Umani Ronchi, Marches
13. Lungarotti, Umbria
14. Mastroberardino, Campania
15. Rivera, Puglia
16. Donnafugata, Sicily
17. Tasca d’Almerita, Sicily

Muri-Gries' lagrein vineyards

The grape prefers warmer sites, with sandy and gravelly soils, so production is naturally centred around the bowl of Bolzano, at the bottom of the valley, which concentrates the sun during the day from the surrounding mountains.

Good drainage in gravelly soils is said to help retain the grape’s naturally high acidity. Thick skins give a great deal of colour; indeed historically, lagrein was blended into other wines from the region to bolster their colour.  Plentiful tannins need careful attention in the winery otherwise they tend to be slightly bitter. Markus Heinel, the winemaker at J. Hofstätter said this was because “the stalks always stay green, even when they’re ripe.” One check on phenolic ripeness for other grape varieties is when the pips and stalks become brown. The trend to greater phenolic ripeness has greatly helped to tame the tannins in this often rustic variety.

Heinel added: “there are two vineyard styles, one with short stems which are fruitier and made without oak; the other has long stems with more colour and tannin, made in reserve styles.”

Santa Maddalena, overlooking Bolzano

As well as varietal wines, lagrein is regularly a minor player in Alto Adige’s Santa Maddalena DOC, where it can add a modicum of substance to the light, gentle, uncomplicated, local schiava (aka vernatsch) grape variety. Santa Maddalena is located in the hills immediately to the east of Bolzano.

Muri-Gries is a 15^th century monastery-cum-winery which focused on lagrein in the 1980s, making single variety wines, and is now a leading producer of top lagrein.  They were the first to recognise real potential in this specialist grape variety, including from specific types of the variety from their own vineyard.  Around 80% of Muri-Gries red production is now lagrein.

Cantina Convento Muri-Gries, Abtei Lagrein Riserva 2007, Alto Adige DOC
13.5%.   First vintage 1989. 16 months in barrique, 40% new. Tasted May 2010.
Dark translucent ruby/purple colour.  Dark chocolate and coffee bean aromas with smooth attack. Refined, fine-grained tannin frame onto which aromatic, sweetly-ripe, dark, blue- and black-berried fruits and Victoria plums hang.  Has a deceptive depth of flavour with a refreshing core which creates an elegant and rounded balance.  Very good.