Showing posts with label Canaiolo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canaiolo. Show all posts

Monday, November 5, 2018

Italian Wine Shopping

Shopping for Italian wines in a place that really "gets" Italian wine is a fantastic experience.  There are several small shops in Los Angeles that fall into that category, and Eataly gets Italian wine, too, although the space isn't exactly small.  It's a big, Italian grocery market with an extensive wine section.

Normally, my wife would be the one wanting to linger a bit longer in an Italian market, but the wine section offers me a chance to browse a bit, too.

Possa's 2014 U Neigru is a Ligurian red wine made from half Canaiolo grapes and half Bonamico, grown on 45-year-old vines in sandy soil.  The wine spent five days on the grapes skins, fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts and was aged for nine months on the lees in chestnut and oak barrels.  I had never encountered chestnut aging before, and I'm told it has a neutral effect.  Alcohol comes in at a low, low 12.0% abv and it sells for about $27.

Discoverportovenere.com reports that Samuele Heydi Bonanini started the winery in 2004 on the steep cliffs of the coastal Cinque Terre region.  He harvests his grapes by hand, since no machinery can fit in the narrow space.  He uses chestnut wood in the aging process because it's a local tradition.

This 2014 natural red wine has an incredible nose that's loaded with minerals and earth.  Loaded, as in like never before.  It also displays aromatic herbs and has a strong floral aspect.  The palate is savory to the nth degree, downright dusty in fact.  Red cranberry and raspberry notes are traveling incognito  under the influence of the earth from which they grew.  Tannins are somewhat soft, but the acidity is bracing.  A pairing with Italian sausage is great, and it also fits well with a tomato-based pasta dish.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Going Italian At Whole Foods: Monrosso Chianti

Attention Whole Foods shoppers, this month and next, Whole Foods Market shines the WFM spotlight on Italian wines at great prices.  The grocery chain is also hosting a pair of virtual tasting events to help spread the word about their great Italian value wines.  Get the details on the wines and the April 10th virtual tasting event on Twitter here.

You can search the hashtag #WFMWine on Twitter to see how much fun we all had on the previous virtual wine tasting on March 13th.  We hope you can join us on Twitter in April.

Today we sample one of the wines to be featured on the April tasting event.


Twitter Tastings

Thursday March 13, 5:00-6:00 p.m. PT:
Banfi Principessa Gavia Gavi
Ruffino Orvieto Classico
Gran Passione Rosso
Donnafugata Sedàra

Thursday April 10, 5:00-6:00 p.m. PT:
Presto Prosecco
Caposaldo Pinot Grigio
Monrosso Chianti
Verrazzano Rosso


Monrosso Chianti  $13.99

The Castello di Monsanto website tells the story of Aldo Bianchi, who swooned over the views available on the Tuscan property he bought in 1960.  His son, Fabrizio, swooned over what was in the cellar - bottles of Chianti.  He and his wife worked to build the winery and plant new vineyards, and through the years the company has brought their winemaking techniques into modern times.

Their Monrosso Chianti is made of 80% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo and 5% Merlot grapes.  It carries an alcohol number of 13.5% abv and is bottled under natural cork.  The grapes come from the Chianti Colli Senesi region, south of Chianti Classico in the Siena hills.  Produced in stainless steel tanks, the wine is then aged a year in Slavonian oak barrels which, according to the winery, gives sweeter and less aggressive tannins.

Medium dark in color, Monrosso Chianti has dark fruit aromas on the nose with separate floral and savory angles running through it.  A slight funkiness really offers an attractive note, while oak spices are in plentiful supply.  The palate shows blackberry, plum and cherry flavors with a nice level of acidity and gentle tannins.  On the finish, the plums come forward to take their place in the spotlight.  Possessed of a rustic character, it's an "everyday red" you can pair perfectly with pasta or pizza.


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Friday, May 3, 2013

Italian Wine Class: Chianti Tasting Event


The Chianti tasting event, staged in April 2013 by the Consorzio Vino Chianti, was a nice event, really nice.  Nice people, nice wine - really great wine, actually - and a nice, fancy Beverly Hills locale to call my home base for a couple of hours.

Forty Tuscan wineries pouring their best juice in a swanky hotel is not a sucky way to spend an afternoon.  It was just the good stuff.  There were no squatty bottles swaddled in straw baskets, waiting to be emptied out and covered in candle wax by a sorority sister.  Everything was nice.  Except that I now have to write about Italian wine.  It's not, unfortunately, my strong suit.

I love drinking Italian wine - I even love tasting it at events where I spit out every sip I take.  Understanding the intricacies of Italian wine classification, however - and boiling it down to a clearly digestible morsel - is the stuff from which migraine headaches are made.

The Chianti region is a good representation of the state of Italian wine classification.  I see a listing of the subregions of Chianti and it makes my head spin to read it.  The thought of actually trying to disseminate that information literally chips away at my will to live, and I’d really like to make it through the night.

Geography, history

Briefly, the eight subregions of Chianti are Colli Fiorentini, Chianti Rufina, Chianti Classico, Colli Aretini, Colline Pisane, Montespertoli, Montalbano and Colli Senesi, which is the largest of the sub-zones and includes the Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano areas, just to throw a little curve into the mix.  By the way, there are peripheral areas not included in the subregions, and the wine made from those regions is simply called “Chianti.”  This is usually about where the road starts to blur for me.

Chianti has certainly been through a lot of changes.  The wine of Chianti was a white wine in the 14th century.  Some 400 years later the blend was dominated by a red grape called Canaiolo, with Sangiovese and Malvasia playing second and third fiddles, respectively.  An 18th-century Italian statesman came up with a Sangiovese-based version of Chianti, and it was adopted by the Italian government.  Now, Chianti must contain at least 80% Sangiovese and is sometimes allowed as a 100% varietal wine.

Many of the small producers at this Chianti tasting event are looking for distributors.  After tasting their wines, I can't hide my surprise that they aren't already represented.  Importers should check the list below for undiscovered delights.

The Best Table

The highlight of the event was the table occupied by Campo del Monde.  Stefano Mantellini poured me through four wines, each better than the previous one.  His Chianti 2008 and Chianti Riserva 2008 are both blends of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon.  The former spent three months in oak, while the Riserva saw ten months in wood barrels.  His Chianti Superiore 2007 is made up of Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Abrusco grapes which are organically farmed.  The nose on this wine is very intense - almost Port-like - and has wonderful acidity and a tart finish.  The Chianti Riserva "Ruschieto" 2006 is all Sangiovese and is aged in steel tanks.  The savory flavor is a knockout and the acidity is made for food pairing.

I thought that a Riserva Chianti had to be aged in wood, but Mantellini told me it's the Chianti Classico region which has that restriction placed upon it.  Chianti does not, and he takes full advantage of that loophole with his "Ruschieto."

Vin Santo

After he poured me through his list, he waved his hand over a bottle with a wax seal on it and told me to come back later and make it my last wine.  I did.  It was a Vin Santo aged for seven years, a wine his family has made for decades.  Mantellini carefully scraped the wax seal away from the Port-style bottle, wiped the cork, opened it and ceremoniously poured a delight.  The nut-brown wine made of dried grapes smells of raisins and caramel and offers notes of coffee and toffee on the palate.  Another taster beside me could only utter, "God," as he walked away.  It is a heavenly sip.

Another exceptional Vin Santo came from Villa Artemino.  It's the color of scotch, with a nose like whiskey and a beautiful, semi-sweet taste.

Characteristics 

Certain descriptive words kept appearing in my notes - cherry and smoky came up a lot - but the one I couldn't get away from was "great acidity."  Chianti is a Sangiovese-based wine, and that's a particularly good grape for acidity.  It's what makes Chianti such a good wine to pair with food.

Many of the producers at this event poured wines which were aged in stainless steel or cement.  These wines showed a wonderful freshness and, even though some were rather young, were ready for a prime-time food pairing.

Fattoria Le Sorgenti Chianti Colli Fiorentini "Respiro" 2011 prompted a "wow" moment for me.  Smoke, smoke and more smoke on the nose, with a dark and smoky palate - from a wine aged in steel tanks.  Marco Goracci said his lower-elevation vineyard yields the Sangiovese for this varietal wine.

Fattoria Poggio Capponi poured a 2011 Chianti which is a blend of Sangiovese, Colorino and Canaiolo aged in cement.  It's beautifully fresh on the palate.

I would never have guessed the Fattoria Valacchi Chianti 2011 was aged in steel, not oak, with the smoky red fruit it offers.

Three-to-four year-old wines were the rule, although a couple with some years on them sneaked into the room.  The Azienda Agricola Casale di Giglioli Chianti Riserva 2004 was silky smooth on the palate and aromatic, too.  The 2010 is still young, but is well on it's way.

The Castello di Oliveto Chianti Riserva 2010 has two years in the barrel and shows an incredible savory note on the nose and palate.

La Querce Chianti "Sorrettole" 2011 puts Merlot in with the Sangiovese and Colorino.  It has a smoky black cherry palate in which the supporting grapes really shine.

Here are the wineries which are in need of an importer.  They all poured remarkable Chiantis at this event.  An importer looking for a rising star may want to dig into this list:

Az. Agr. San Gervasio
As. Agr. Corbucci
Castello di Oliveto
Fattoria di Casalbosco
Fattoria Lavacchio
Fattoria Le Sorgenti
Fattoria Valacchi
Podere Alberese
Soc. Agr. Venatoria Tacinaia
Streda Belvedere
Tenuta Bossi - Marchesi Gondi
Terre di San Gorgone
Villa Travignoli


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