Fall 20 Wine Club 2

Wine Notes | Fall 2020 Wine Club 2 | Roscioli

In Wine Club Tasting Notes by Alessandro Pepe2 Comments

 

 
 

FRANCIACORTA "SUI GENERIS", 2019
BLANC DE BLANCS DOSAGE ZÈRO
CHERUBINI



Grapes: Chardonnay 100%
Region: Franciacorta (Brescia) - Lombardia
Pairings: Great for starting an aperitivo. Perfect wine to open with finger food and a fried fish "cartoccio".
Drink By:
Ready.
Notes: Chardonnay in purity, soft pressing and spontaneous vinification in a concrete tank for about twenty days. Conventional farming tools such as weeding or pesticides are not used.
Description: The Cherubini winery is located beyond the borders of eastern Franciacorta region, immersed in a natural park near the Brescia hills. This millenary valley is filled underground aquifers and rocks rich in limestone with a clayey substrate. These soil characteristics combined with a constant light breeze and thermal excursions give the wines minerality and acidity typical of this terroir.

 
 

RIBOLLA GIALLA, 2016
VENEZIA GIULIA I.G.T.
DAMIJAN PODVERSIC



Grape: Ribolla Gialla 100%
Region: Monte Calvario (Gorizia) - Friuli - Venezia Giulia
Pairings: This is really an universal wine which can be paired with almost everything during the meal. From warm or smoked fish appetizers to eggs and savoury pies. From linguine with clams to steamed rice with crustaceans. Ending with a grilled salmon or tuna fillet, even a poultry or white meat stew is a good option.
Drink by: Ready, but it can rest for over 5 years.
Notes: Fermentation takes place with skins contact in conical oak barrels for 60 - 90 days. After maceration, it is aged in 20 or 30 hl barrels for 3 years and aged in bottle for 1 year. This wine combines both the organic and biodynamic principles.
Description: Damijan's wines are fresh and elegant, but after knowing their creator, they become poignant and emotional. One of these wines, the Ribolla, is probably one of the greatest Italian macerated white wines, with an unparalleled balance of tannins and their sweetness. Damijan is a rural-philosopher: an attentive and polite interpreter towards his territory, with a gentle approach, but also wary and irreverent towards his detractors.

 
 

"SACRISASSI" ROSSO, 2017
COLLI ORIENTALI DEL FRIULI D.O.C.
LE DUE TERRE



Grapes: Schioppettino 60%, Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso 40%
Region: Prepotto (Gorizia) - Friuli - Venezia Giulia
Pairings: Stunning if paired to a meat ragout gnocchi. Pairs well also with grilled turkey breast with oven-baked potatoes.
Drink By: Ready or before 2024.
Notes: The harvest takes place in the second week of October, carried out manually and collected in dedicated boxes. Fermentation takes place in concrete containers thanks to indigenous yeasts, and lasts for 15 days without checking fermentation. Aging in French oak tonneaux for 22 months.

Description: Le Due Terre is a small winery in Friuli - Venezia Giulia, in the Prepotto area, on the Slovenian border. It was founded in 1984 by the spouses Silvana Forte and Flavio Basilicata who, after a long experience in other wineries, buy a farmhouse with four hectares of vineyards and begin to cultivate their dream. The name of the winery derives from the particularity of the land on which it is placed: one side is made of marl and the other is made of red earth. Silvana and Flavio lead the vineyard and the cellar with minimal human intervention.

 
 

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO, 2015
POGGIARELLINO



Grapes: Sangiovese Grosso 100%
Region: Montalcino (Siena), Toscana
Pairings: A great wine to enjoy alongside hearty red meat dishes such as a prime steak, rich beef stews or seasonal game served with roasted vegetables. The perfect match is a classic Fiorentina cut steak.
Drink by: Ready or before 2030.
Notes: The grapes are thin out manually when green and selected a second time during the cutting season. They observe, even for the alcoholic fermentation, the old and traditional techniques and let the nature take its time. This Brunello is aged in middle capacity slavonian oak barrels, no more than tirthy ectolitres. The bottling procedure, with no filters, permits to sharpen the wine.
Description: Poggiarellino Farm is located in a pleasant and peaceful corner of the Senese countryside, among the old and famous Val d’Orcia’s hills. The 30-acre estate is divided between vineyards, olive trees and cereal production, with just 3 acres dedicated to the production of their exceptional Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino wines. Structurally the full body and smooth tannins are carefully balanced by a bright acidity and impressively long finish which will respond well to further ageing over the next decade or so.

 
 

CIRO' ROSSO CLASSICO SUPERIORE, 2017
CATALDO CALABRETTA



Grape: Gaglioppo 100%
Region: Cirò Marina (Crotone) - Calabria
Pairings: Excellent wine for structured aperitifs based on aged cheeses, typical Calabrian cold cuts and game salami.
Drink by: Ready or by 2025.
Notes: Vines of almost 40 years of age, facing East and West, on clay soils and limestone. Fermentation happens with indigenous yeasts, then it ages for 10 months in cement, then at least 7 months in the bottle.
Description: The Cirò Rosso Classico Superiore by Cataldo Calabretta is absolutely the most representative wine of this new reality of Calabria. A new reality, but that has its roots in the history of the family Calabretta that for over four generations produces wine in Crotone, in the countryside around Cirò Marina. Today Cataldo, with the sisters Maria and Michela, gave a new impetus to this fantastic reality, combining tradition and craftsmanship to his studies by winemaker place in Milan. Harvest strictly in cases, minimum intervention in the vineyard, fermentation with indigenous yeasts and aged in cement to preserve the best and leave intact the characteristics of Gaglioppo, the grape that is the master in the cellar Calabretta. 10 months in cement and 7 months in the bottle make this Cirò Rosso Classico Superiore a red full-bodied and intense that you show with an interesting personality where features freshness and aroma. On the nose there is a succession of notes of cherry, licorice and violet, while in the mouth Cirò Rosso Classico Superiore by Cataldo Calabretta is displayed in all its structure and in all its enveloping tannins.

 
 

PARUSSI, 2016
BAROLO D.O.C.G.
FRATELLI SOBRERO



Grape: Nebbiolo 100%
Region:
Castiglione Falletto (Langhe) - Piemonte

Pairings:
Surely a pot roasts with Barolo, red meat and game, stuffed guinea fowl, seasoned cheeses.

Drink by: Ready or by 2028.
Notes: Controlled fermentation and maceration in steel with hair submerged for about 50 days, with pumping air. Malolactic fermentation in steel and matures for at least 36 months in 25 hl oak botti. Bottling without filtration.
Description: Here is a Barolo outstanding for its crispness and slaty elegance, its marked savouriness and long-lingering finale, and its sinewy character, qualities that distinguish the wines from Castiglione Falletto. An alluring mixture of delicate rose, wild cherry and leather. Firm, almost raspberry-like acidity with well integrated tobacco notes extended to the palate.

 
 

PROSECCO SUPERIORE EXTRA BRUT, 2018
VALDOBBIADENE - CONEGLIANO D.O.C.G.
SILVANO FOLLADOR



Grape: Glera 95%, with small percentages of Verdiso, Perera and Bianchetta
Region: Valdobbiadene (Treviso) - Veneto
Pairings: Perfect with a seashell or lobster risotto, great with finger food and fried squids.
Drink by: Ready.
Notes: First fermentation with indigenous yeasts in steel or concrete tanks and second fermentation in the bottle with subsequent disgorgement according to the Classic Method, without the addition of sugar dosage.
Description: Silvano Follador is a man capable of doing all the jobs, capable to reflect his pragmatism inside the bottle; but at the same time does not disdain the concept of beauty, which always tries to express in its wine. Nevertheless, this does not take away the immense effort of managing his 3 hectares, which he looks after alone as if they were his children, who are able to gave him satisfaction. He is a man who does not intend to lose any aspect of production, with a scrupulous control of every single moment, from harvest untill bottling. A firm hand is needed to tame the power of Glera, but at the same time a maniacal dedication that allows him to develop an unprecedented elegance in the glass.

 
 

MALVAZIJA, 2018
VENEZIA GIULIA I.G.T.
ŠKERK



Grape: Malvasia del Carso 100%
Region:
Sgonico (Trieste) - Friuli Venezia Giulia

Pairings:
The ideal pairing is with an authentic buffalo mozzarella surrounded by dried tomatoes and chopped basil. Pairs great with fish in general, like fish soups or clams linguine. Also with an amberjack or octopus carpaccio.

Drink by:
Ready or before 2023.
Notes:
Spontaneous fermentation in wooden barrels then macerates for a few days on the skins. No clarification and filtration. Slight addition of sulfur. This Malvasia ages for 12 months in oak barrels.

Description:
Sandy Škerk produces its Malvasia in the Trieste Karst, a stony and windswept land, which gives the wines a strong personality. The vines are constantly beaten by the Bora, the cold North-East wind, which helps to keep the grapes always dry and healthy, allowing agronomic management without the use of chemical principles, according to the dictates of organic and biodynamic viticulture. The plants produce naturally few grapes and after the harvest, the grapes are brought to the cellar dug entirely into the limestone rock. The final result is a Malvasia with rich and intense varietal aromas, "daughter" of the Mediterranean heat, the brackish wind and the white limestone rock. A perfect synthesis between terroir and skilful work of man, still conducted with craftsmanship.

 
 

ROSATO "MARIA PETTENA", 2019
PIERGRAZIANO SANNA



Grape: Cannonau 100%
Region: Mamoiada (Nuoro) - Sardegna
Pairings: Excellent to combine with cold cuts appetizers, first courses, semi-mature cheeses, Great together a plate of penne with Pecorino Sardo and vegetables.
Drink by: Ready or before 2023.
Notes: Vinification takes place without added yeasts respecting the ancient local traditions. It is macerated for 40 days on the skins of Granazza grapes, a rare native white vine. Refine in old wooden barrels and a few months in the bottle. It is neither filtered nor clarified before bottling.
Description: Maria Pettena is a rosé wine made from red grapes produced by Piergraziano Sanna, a whimsical winemaker from Mamoiada, Sardinian outback. The grapes come from a small vineyard that Piergraziano cultivates in an absolutely natural way, also avoiding treatments with copper and sulfur. In 2016 Piergraziano decided to buy a small vineyard and, starting from zero oenological knowledge and zero experience in the vineyard, he began to produce his wines with excellent results. Piergraziano's dream is to produce "feminine" wines, a wine that can be drunk untill the last drop at a couple's table.

 
 

NOBILE DI MONTEPULCIANO RISERVA, 2015
PODERI SANGUINETO



Grape: Sangiovese (known as "Prugnolo Gentile") 80%, Canaiolo and Mammolo 20%
Region:
Montepulciano (Siena) - Toscana

Pairings:
Red meat, salami, pasta with ragout and legumes soups.

Drink by:
Ready or before 2024.
Notes:
The grapes are harvested by hand, put into crates, and are immediately brought to the cellar for destemming. Spontaneous and natural fermentation without addition of yeasts, pumping twice a day during fermentation with the marc sinking. Duration of maceration takes around 8-10 days.

Description:
The winery, which belongs to Dora Forsoni who inherited it from the father, owes its name to a historic battle, which saw the Roman army opposed to the Etruscan one. According to the legend, the clash was so bloody that the lands on which today the Poderi lie, theater of the battle, became red with blood ("sangue" in Italian), hence the name "Sanguineto". Wide and multifaceted, after two years spents in oak barrels, it perfectly integrates fruit and spices. Driven by an unusual lightness for the denomination, allows a "compulsive" sipping.

 
 

VINO DA RIMESSA
MARABINO



Grape: Giacche and Parigina (Technically illegal to say)
Region: Noto - Sicilia
Pairings: Great if paired with a grilled red tuna fillet, Sicilian caponata or any kind of spicy meat. It could surprise if opened with a gourmet hamburger.
Drink by: Ready, but it can rest for over 5 years.
Notes: Biodynamic agriculture, without herbicides, without chemical and/or synthetic treatments and/or fertilizations, pesticide treatments limited to low doses of mine sulfur; fertilizations limited to biodynamic preparations, pruning shredded and green manure of grasses and legumes.
Description: "Ogni scarrafone è bello a mamma soia" - "A mother of a beetle finds her son beautiful", Neapolitan proverb. Which literally means that it does not matter how bad you are but your mom will love you anyway. Or if I've never made wine it's because I've always thought it would be much easier to drink it, and desperately judge it. Perhaps waiting for that opportunity in which I could put my desires at risk without actually risking anything. In short, the ideal situation. The opportunity presented itself a few years ago, walking among the vineyards of Pierpaolo. I asked, walking on the hill of Marabino what were those slightly different plants. He tells me that maybe they are two hybrid vines of northern Italy, Giacche and Parigina, but he is not convinced. What are you doing? I asked him. I don't know, there are too few plants to do anything, Maximum 300-400 bottles. So I offer him a collaboration: I remove the whim of playing the vigneron and he does all the rest. My idea, I tell him: let's make a wine, I'll buy all the production in advance, and whatever happens, happens. I liked the idea of recovering two unknown vines, in extinction, in such a well-known territory. Giacche, but above all Parigini hybrids are related to the American vines. A lot of fruit, body, perhaps little personality, but this land is magical, if it has ennobled the Nero d'Avola and the Muscatedda, who knows what's possible. So three years later I go back to the cellar with Lindsay, and hell, I think the wine is a bomb. Fruit, strawberry, cherry and a Nordic freshness on the finish. A bipartisan wine, able to satisfy the most simple palate and bribe the most sophisticated palates. Two months ago, the first bottles arrived in Rome and, upon opening the cartons, I saw my label, Vino da Rimessa. An emotion. I finally feel part of a world from which I've always felt detached. There was always a filter, a membrane, that of judgment. Now, I'm part of the game. I open it and immediately feel enveloped by the warmth of the sun, the softness of the fruit. The first taste has the same sweet and lactic taste of the skin of my newborn son. A solar and Mediterranean embrace then leaves the space to an unprecedented, Nordic, austere freshness. The licorice notes here dance with the soft softness of a strawberry jam and then raspberries and oranges and pomegranates and all the red and orange fruits you want. It's a dip in a pool of flavors of the south, in a rustic villa overlooking the sea, on a holiday playing with the great love of my life, my son. Combine it with your best memories, the moments that are only experienced and not described, but above all allow yourself the pleasure of simple things and leave all those grim and pretentious thoughts out of the glass, that desire to see the result of your aspirations in others, in short your children for who they are and not for what you would like them to be.




Last, but not least...




CANNUBI, 2016
BAROLO D.O.C.G.
BREZZA



Grape: Nebbiolo 100%
Region: Barolo (Langhe) - Piemonte
Pairings: Perfect wine for importat occasions or holidays, such as Christmas dinner or Thanksgiving. Ideal with red meat stews, roasted and grilled meat. If opened alone, enjoy this Barolo with a plate of refined and aged Italian and French cheeses.
Drink by: Ready, but it can rest for over 20 years.
Notes: Vineyards located at 250 m. above sea level, facing South-East, on the ground silty-sandy. Vinification starts with the alcoholic fermentation for 7-8 days, where temperatures never exceed 28°C. It ages in Slavonian oak barrels of medium capacity for at least 2 years, then it rests 1 year in bottle before release.
Description: The Brezza philosophy is easily understandable: producing great red wines in the full respect of nature. Hence the choice of organic production, understood as ethical and cultural value and not as a promotional tool. The wines of Brezza represent the noble side of tradition and fit fully in the classical Barolo, but they always manage to maintain dynamism and originality. Founded in 1885 by the skilful work of Giacomo, the cellar Brezza can count on twenty-two acres of land, of which sixteen and resources are devoted to vineyards. 2016 stands to be a very promising – and potentially exceptional – vintage. Producers in all zones have been very happy with the outcome of the harvest season, reporting a crop that’s high in both quality and quantity, with sugar concentration to rival the richness of 2015 but with greater structure and livelier acidity. This is surely one of the best Barolo ever produced.


 
 

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OILS

Alfredo Cetrone



Olive: 100% Itrana
Region: Sonnino (Latina) - Lazio
Pairing: Ideal raw on crudités, artichokes, and mushrooms of the forest floor, farro and legume salads, carpaccio and tartare of beef, and fish, raw shellfish, marinated fish, soups, vegetables and legumes, risotto, grilled fish, grilled white and red meats, raw and cooked vegetables, fresh and mature, hard and spun cheese.
Notes:
Manually harvested in October/November. This monocultivar EVO oil has the DOP certification. Extraction method occurs with cold-crushing in a continuous-cycle plant.

Description: The influence of the sea air, the almost continuous exposure of sunglight, the shape of the rocky terrain, the altitude of the olive groves, and the extreme care and attention put into the process of production and transformation, determine the quality of Cetrone Extra Virgin Olive. Their Extra Virgin Olive Oil is extracted exclusively from Cetrone "Monocultivar Itrana" olives, which are healthy, fresh olives hand-picked directly from the tree and pressed the same day, employing a rigorously cold procedure. Its green color with golden reflections, intense fruity flavor with a harmonious hint of almond, a fragrant aroma, and low oleic acidity (always less than 0.2 %), qualify it as truly unique among the extra virgin quality. The essence of Cetrone Extra Virgin Olive Oil is defined by its naturalness, its exceptional organoleptic characteristics, the low oleic acidity, and by its many recognizable therapeutic qualities.




Franci


Olive: 100% Frantoio 
Region: Montenero d’Orcia (Grosseto) - Toscana
Pairing: It matches perfectly with beans starters, grilled red meat, salmon carpaccio, tomato salad, amberjack marinade, cream of legumes, artichoke risotto, gratin shellfish, grilled squid, baked rabbit, grilled chicken and goat cheese.
Notes:
Hand-picked in October/November. Extraction method occurs with cold-crushing in a continuous-cycle plant.

Description: Franci Olive Farm was established in the 1950s on the hills of Montenero d’Orcia, a small hamlet at the foot of Mount Amiata, which dominates the landscape of the Orcia Valley in Tuscany, when brothers Franco and Fernando Franci purchased a historic olive grove called Villa Magra and renovated an ancient barn to turn it into an olive mill. The year 1995 represents a turning point for the history of the farm. In fact, it marks the collaboration between Fernando and his son Giorgio, who adds to his dad’s experience a new charge of enthusiasm and entrepreneurship.


 

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Comments

  1. Are all the wines organic? I’m concerned about the sulfates because I can only drink wine in Italy. Italian wine in the US makes me sick because of the high sulfate content. Please advise. Thank you.

    1. Ciao Jacqueline,
      Thanks for writing us… Yes the winemakers we work with all take maximum respect for the land and vines and that means no synthetic pesticides or herbicides ever. Most add minimum or no sulphites as well. Additionally, they are also shipped peer-to-peer meaning they are not altered for importation to the US market as some imported wines are. These are the exact wines you’d be able to drink here in Italy, with no worries of the headaches and troubles from additives. Hope that helps..

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