This past winter I had the opportunity to meet Sheila Donohue with Vero. This was on a Zoom Chat about Italian Wines so, as all 2020 meetings, it was virtual. December was a busy, busy time, so we promised to get back in touch and set up a time to get to know each other in the new year.
We often hear about wonderful small wineries. Many of these, we would never hear about, were it not for importers, like Sheila, who bring their wines to the people. So today, I want to tell you a bit about Sheila.
Here she is, a little more than 3 years into the venture. The pandemic has of course been hard. She is located in Emilia Romagna in the North of Italy, where the virus has hit hardest. Her business is located in Ventura, California. Another hard-hit region.
In addition, restaurants are closed or running on much smaller schedules, and wine shops…wine shops are a place where people come and ask questions and hear the stories behind the wines. This is where you sell small production wines. With COVID-19 people now order online or email an order to the shop. The opportunity for storytelling and new discoveries has been greatly impacted.
None-the-less, Sheila perseveres. For me, as a wine writer, she is representing all those wines that I love so much! Small producers with great stories. Many are growing in the style that their great-grandparents grew in, without pesticides or other technologies. She mentioned a woman winemaker in Fruili who is a 2nd generation female winemaker at her family vineyard.
She is working hard to get their stories out there, how could I pass up an opportunity to share her story.
Vero – “Real”
Vero means “real” in Italian and that is what inspires Sheila, it’s that authenticity that we all crave. On her site she says:
‘We believe that sourcing genuine products is important for our health and our planet because when you find the good stuff you become the good stuff.”
Beyond the people, it is their drive to work sustainably in harmony with the planet.
“We search for products that are not just good but that are right; right for our hearts and our mind.”
These are small producers, some of whom are re-introducing forgotten varieties, like Braschi who is making Famoso, a variety that all but disappeared. There is Erbaluce from Piemonte, Natural wines from Maremma, Sparkling wines from Romagna…
She also has producers in California, in Ventura where her business is located, and has recently added producers in Spain from La Mancha with vineyards up to 2,500 feet above sea level.
Her “Women in Wine VeroTalk Reunion” will bring together 4 women winemakers to talk about the year of COVID-19, how it changed their lives and businesses and how they look at the future.
Chatting and sharing their wines with us will be Raffaella Merlin of Bugno Martino in Mantua, Italy, Antonella Manuli of La Maliosa based in Maremma Tuscany Italy, Patti Mitchell of Ojai Pacific View in Ojai, California, and Hilde Petrussa of Vigna Petrussa based in Friuli, Italy along with her daughter Francesca Mecchia.
She does have a tasting collection, so you can sip along with the winemakers, available on her site. Visit the event page for details.
She also does some IG Live events and will be live from her husband’s bakery in Bologna with a demonstration of pasta making and a tasting of pinoletto frizzante from Tomisa! Find them at @VeroVinoGusto on InstaGram and join them on Saturday February 27th at 10 am Pacific time for this adventure!
I look forward to exploring the wines she brings in and sharing more with you.
In the meantime, head to her website at VeroVinoGusto to find these wines and hear some of the stories of the people who made them. Plus information on her virtual tastings and events!
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
The #ItalianFWT writers are starting the year with their favorite Italian Wines led by our founder Jennifer of Vino Travels. I have chosen Nebbiolo. I won’t claim that it is my favorite Italian Wine, I mean there are so many, how could I just pick one? But, I do enjoy Nebbiolo and I had one in my cellar sent to me by Terre di Bacco which was delicious.
So I will tell you about my delicious and young Nebbiolo and if you scroll to the bottom, you will find links to the other pieces where my colleagues will tell you about their favorite Italian wines.
Nebbiolo
Nebbiolo – often described as “tar & roses”, is the wine of Barolo and Barbaresco.
Nebbiolo, a black-skinned grape variety is found primarily in Northern Italy in the Piemonte region, where it has been grown since the 13th century.
The Langhe DOC encompasses 54 communes in Langhe and Roero. This largest appellation in terms of area that it encompasses within the Cornsorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani.
Nebbiolo is the oldest indigenous red grape in the Piemonte. The name comes from “nebbia” the word for fog or mist in Italian. Perhaps the name comes from Nebbiolo’s late harvest time in late October when it is picked in early morning autumn fogs. Perhaps it is for the velvety look of the thick bloom on the grapes that makes them appear “misty”. Perhaps it refers to “noble”, the reason for the name is up for debate.
The first mention of this variety comes in 1266 when a record of a wine called “Nibiol” is made.
This grape is the first to bud in April and the last to harvest in late October. It tends to be finicky, needing constant and elaborate attention. It prefers calcareous marl soils, doesn’t like quick temperature changes, and to ripen its tannins needs south or south-west facing slopes, that are at just the right altitude to keep the risk of spring frosts the lowest. On top of that, it is susceptible to viruses.
Often called the “Queen of red grapes” this one can be a Diva!
It goes by many names, from the regional names of Barolo and Barbaresco to Spanna in the Novara and Vercelli hills. In Carema on the border to Valle d’Aosta, it is called Picutener, and in Valtellina, in Lombardy, they call it Chiavennasca.
It can be found outside of Italy, in Oregon, Washington State, California, Australia, and South America. We recently enjoyed a Nebbiolo from Australia’s Orange wine region in New South Wales.
Terre di Bacco 2017 Langhe DOC Nebbiolo
The grapes for this wine are hand-harvested from vineyards in Barolo and spent 10 days macerating on the skins in Stainless Steel tanks. It is aged in Stainless Steel and is meant to represent Nebbiolo in its youth.
Medium garnet in color the wine had a nose of Red fruit, Chinese 5 spice, white pepper, rose, and sweet tobacco.
This nebbiolo was dry with Medium/high tannins and acid and pronounced flavors of tart red stone fruits. The tannins were grippy on my teeth but were fine, not gritty. This is not a deeply nuanced wine, rather it is straightforward, delicious, and made to pair gloriously with food.
*This wine was sent to us as a media sample. No other compensation was received. All opinions are our own.*
Pairing Nebbiolo
Nebbiolo tends to be pretty versatile with food! Garlic, truffles, capers, butternut squash, olives, wild mushrooms, polenta, leeks… It likes tomato-based sauces and goes well with the cheeses of the region Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino. This is a high tannin wine so pair it with fat! Rib-eye, sausage, duck, bacon.
Of course, this recipe was working to be healthy, and if I was going to pop open a Nebbiolo I was going to luxuriate in something a little less so. If you want to go the healthy route, you are welcome to do that! Click through to her recipe above.
Bacon and Butternut Squash Pasta
My recipe incorporated the bacon a bit more than crumbling it on top. We want fat, so let’s use that bacon fat and all the deliciousness it brings. I also happened to have some mushroom stock, from rehydrating some mushrooms recently, so I added that to the chicken stock to add those mushroom notes. I also decided to top this with some toasted bread crumbs and walnuts in addition to the bacon for a bit of crunch.
The wine highlighted the umami notes from the bacon and onions and had nice acid to balance the rich butternut sauce. Michael found that the butternut mellowed the youthfulness of the wine, making it come across as a bit older and more serious. He also liked it very much with the sage, the coolness of the wine giving a lift to this herb.
We also did a walnut mushroom flatbread. This dish had a base of onions, mushrooms, and walnuts in a tomato sauce with a blend of sweet paprika, cumin, cayenne, and cinnamon. This was topped with arugula, sliced dried apricots, a lemon-tahini dressing, and a sprinkle of sumac.
The wine pulled the spice notes to the front, stopping before becoming hot. It was brilliant with the tomato, mushroom, walnut sauce. It was good again with the onions, which is this dish was raw.
Nebbiolo is delicious young, but can evolve to become something even more magical. It’s easy to think that once you have tasted a wine of a certain variety, that you know it. The truth is, every place it’s grown the wine will be slightly different. Even within the same place, the vintage will make the wine unique and then as a wine ages, it continues to evolve. I have tasted a few Nebbiolos, but that is just the beginning, just within this one variety, there is so much more to explore. That my friends is the joy and endless rabbit hole of wine.
Yield: 6 servings
Bacon and Butternut Pasta
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
This is a pretty simple dish, that can be ready in 30 minutes. Bacon, butternut squash, onion, garlic, butter, stock, herbs, some milk to make it creamy all in with the spaghetti we all have in the cupboard. You can dress this up with herbs and garnish with walnuts and toasted breadcrumbs for a bit of texture. This warm wintery dish paired beautiful with a young Nebbiolo wine.
Ingredients
3 strips of applewood bacon
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced red onion
1 garlic clove minced
3 cups butternut squash cubes
3/4 cup chicken stock
¼ cup of mushroom stock
1 1/2 tbs diced fresh sage
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup milk
salt to taste
12 oz. pasta (I used spaghetti)
¼ cup toasted breadcrumbs
¼ cup toasted walnuts
Shaved parmesan
Fresh sage to garnish
Instructions
In a large skillet cook the 3 strips of bacon until crisp.
Remove the bacon placing it on a paper towel-lined plate.
Add the butter and red onion to the bacon fat in the skillet. Scrape up any of those delicious bits left by the bacon, this will flavor your dish.
Sauté until slightly soft, about 1-2 minutes.
Add in the garlic, sauté for 30 seconds, until fragrant
Add the butternut squash, chicken stock, mushroom stock, sage, and rosemary.
Cover and cook until the butternut squash is tender, about 8-10 minutes.
Put the squash in a food processor with the milk and salt to taste. Puree until smooth. (or…if you have an immersion blender, just turn off the heat and puree it right in the pan!)
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package
Drain pasta and add butternut squash sauce to the pasta (or the pasta to the sauce, as I did), gently toss together and top with toasted breadcrumbs & walnuts, crispy bacon, and garnish with fresh sage.
Notes
You could substitute frozen butternut squash cubes in this recipe and switch to a different pasta. Mix up your herbs or find different garnishes. This is a filling dish and it easily feeds 6. We had it for dinner and lunch, and dinner again with just the two of us.
Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest
The writers at #ItalianFWT
This bunch of writers gather the first Saturday of each month to collectively write on an Italian Wine topic. This month we were digging into our “Favorite Italian Reds or Whites” led by our founder and leader, Jennifer of Vino Travels.
We will be gathering on Twitter on Saturday morning January 2nd, 2021. You can join us to share your favorite Italian wines, just use and follow the hashtag #ItalianFWT at 11 am EST or 8 am PST!
We all have our favorites, so you will find pieces on wines and regions from all over Italy. Here are the pieces we have shared!
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
Nebbiolo is a wine that is versatile in pairing with food.
Garlic, truffles, olives, capers, butternut squash, wild mushrooms, polenta, leeks, tomato-based sauces, pizza Parmigiana Reggiano or Pecorino Fatty foods, butter, vinegar-based sauces. This is a high tannin wine. Steak with fat. Think meats like bib eye, sausages, duck, or pork shank.
So I had this lovely Nebbiolo that was sent to me as a media sample from Terre di Bacco. This wine is from Langhe and is harvested from vineyards near Barolo. It is a wine that is meant to enjoy young and is brilliant with food.
(If you want to read our post about this wine and the Langhe DOC in Italy, visit our post here)
With the pandemic, I have been trying to eat from the pantry as much as possible and Michael happened to have ordered a butternut squash, so that was where we started.
As you can see in her blog name, she leans healthy, this recipe called for 2% milk, low-sodium chicken stock, gluten-free pasta…which is all wonderful, but I was feeling indulgent, so I mixed this recipe up a bit.
If you want to do it healthily, I salute your discipline, click through to her recipe above, I am sure that it will also go very well with the wine. If you want to indulge…read on.
Bacon and Butternut Pasta
I renamed this dish, “Bacon and Butternut pasta”, leading with the bacon because, in my revamping of the dish, that was the flavor that led.
I do have a fear of butternut squash, not eating it, but cutting it. They are hard and can be difficult to cut. I usually talk Michael into cleaning them for me, and that worked this time. You can of course often find fresh cubed butternut squash in the produce department or even go with frozen. Either would work fine in this recipe.
To meld the dish with the wine, I amped up the fat and depth of flavor, frying the bacon first then adding the butter to the bacon grease to cook the onions and the rest of the dish. I happened to have a little mushroom stock left from rehydrating some mushrooms the other day, so I supplemented my chicken stock (which was not low sodium) with that. This will add mushroom notes and Nebbiolo is known to pair well with wild mushrooms.
I have fresh sage and rosemary growing in the backyard, so those were the herbs I used. The wine has big tannins (a polyphenol that occurs in red wines and black teas, among other things. They are astringent. If you want to see what tannins taste and feel like, put a wet tea bag on your tongue). While the tannins will be good with the fats, I wanted to add another tannic ingredient to the dish to match, so I toasted some walnuts to top the dish.
This is a pretty simple dish, you need a pot for the pasta, a pan for the sauce, and a food processor, blender, or…oh man, I could have made this easier by just using my immersion blender (facepalm!)
Bacon and butternut pasta
30 minutes, feeds 6
Ingredients:
3 strips of applewood bacon
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced red onion
1 garlic clove minced
3 cups butternut squash cubes
3/4 cup chicken stock
¼ cup of mushroom stock
1 1/2 tbs diced fresh sage
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup milk
salt to taste
12 oz. pasta (I used spaghetti)
¼ cup toasted breadcrumbs
¼ cup toasted walnuts
Shaved parmesan
Fresh sage to garnish
Instructions
In a large skillet cook the 3 strips of bacon until crisp.
Remove the bacon placing it on a paper towel-lined plate.
Add the butter and red onion to the bacon fat in the skillet. Scrape up any of those delicious bits left by the bacon, this will flavor your dish.
Sauté until slightly soft, about 1-2 minutes.
Add in the garlic, sauté for 30 seconds, until fragrant
Add the butternut squash, chicken stock, mushroom stock, sage, and rosemary.
Cover and cook until the butternut squash is tender, about 8-10 minutes.
Put the squash in a food processor with the milk and salt to taste. Puree until smooth. (or…if you have an immersion blender, just turn off the heat and puree it right in the pan!)
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package
Drain pasta and add butternut squash sauce to the pasta (or the pasta to the sauce, as I did), gently toss together and top with toasted breadcrumbs & walnuts, crispy bacon, and garnish with fresh sage.
How did the Bacon and Butternut pasta pair with the Terre di Bacco Langhe 2017 Nebbiolo?
The wine highlighted the umami notes from the bacon and onions and had nice acid to balance the rich butternut sauce. Michael found that the butternut mellowed the youthfulness of the wine, making it come across as a bit older and more serious. He also liked it very much with the sage, the coolness of the wine giving a lift to this herb.
This dish paired well with this wine. Keep in mind that this is a young Nebbiolo. A Nebbiolo with more oak aging, might want a dish with a bit more structure.
We did also pair this with a walnut, mushroom flatbread with tomato sauce and spices that was topped with red onions, arugula and sumac. The wine was very good with that pairing also!
Let us know if you try this and what adjustments you made to make the dish suit you (or your wine!)
Yield: 6 servings
Bacon and Butternut Pasta
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
This is a pretty simple dish, that can be ready in 30 minutes. Bacon, butternut squash, onion, garlic, butter, stock, herbs, some milk to make it creamy all in with the spaghetti we all have in the cupboard. You can dress this up with herbs and garnish with walnuts and toasted breadcrumbs for a bit of texture. This warm wintery dish paired beautiful with a young Nebbiolo wine.
Ingredients
3 strips of applewood bacon
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced red onion
1 garlic clove minced
3 cups butternut squash cubes
3/4 cup chicken stock
¼ cup of mushroom stock
1 1/2 tbs diced fresh sage
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup milk
salt to taste
12 oz. pasta (I used spaghetti)
¼ cup toasted breadcrumbs
¼ cup toasted walnuts
Shaved parmesan
Fresh sage to garnish
Instructions
In a large skillet cook the 3 strips of bacon until crisp.
Remove the bacon placing it on a paper towel-lined plate.
Add the butter and red onion to the bacon fat in the skillet. Scrape up any of those delicious bits left by the bacon, this will flavor your dish.
Sauté until slightly soft, about 1-2 minutes.
Add in the garlic, sauté for 30 seconds, until fragrant
Add the butternut squash, chicken stock, mushroom stock, sage, and rosemary.
Cover and cook until the butternut squash is tender, about 8-10 minutes.
Put the squash in a food processor with the milk and salt to taste. Puree until smooth. (or…if you have an immersion blender, just turn off the heat and puree it right in the pan!)
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package
Drain pasta and add butternut squash sauce to the pasta (or the pasta to the sauce, as I did), gently toss together and top with toasted breadcrumbs & walnuts, crispy bacon, and garnish with fresh sage.
Notes
You could substitute frozen butternut squash cubes in this recipe and switch to a different pasta. Mix up your herbs or find different garnishes. This is a filling dish and it easily feeds 6. We had it for dinner and lunch, and dinner again with just the two of us.
Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
Ahh, bubbles. Such a joyful way to end/begin a year. But why wait for a big celebration? There are affordable bubbles to celebrate all through the year! Celebrate Tuesday! Why not?
There are Prosecco DOC wines like the Val d’Oca or the Terre di Bacco, that wrote about earlier this month (it has been quite the sparkling month!). But then you take a step up the quality ladder to the wines of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG, which is what we do today!
Let’s start with some of the basics
Prosecco
Prosecco is a sparkling wine from Northern Italy. This DOC is for a sparkling wine made with a minimum of 85% Glera. The remainder may be Bianchetta, Chardonnay, Glera Lunga, Perera, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, or Verdiso.
Until 2021, the Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir) would need to be vinified as a white wine to be included and still call the wine Prosecco. As of January of 2021, the Prosecco DOC Consortium will allow Prosecco Rosé, where the Pinot Nero could be vinified as a rosé. Many producers already make a sparkling rosé. We in fact had one that we enjoyed with Thanksgiving.
The Prosecco DOC spans nine Provinces in Veneto and Fruili Venezia Giulia. Within it, you find two DOCGs, Prosecco Superiore di Asolo DOCG and Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG.
Map of the Prosecco Production Area courtesty Consorzio Tutela Prosecco DOC
Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG
You won’t however find any Prosecco Rosé in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG. They hold to their vision of Prosecco and it doesn’t include the pink craze.
This DOCG is a small zone in Veneto within the Province of Treviso, is made up on 15 communes; Cison di Valmarino, Colle Umberto, Conegliano, Farra di Soligo, Follina, Miane, Pieve di Soligo, Refrontolo, San Pietro di Feletto, San Vendemiano, Susegana, Tarzo, Valdobbiadene, Vidor and Vittorio Veneto.
Two additional DOCG for higher quality exist within the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG, those include; Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rive DOCG made up of 43 Rive and Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze DOCG which is a subzone of 108 hectares.
“Heroic” Viticulture
Slopes around Valdobbiadene have grades up to 70% requiring most work to be completed by hand. During Harvest … this becomes visually apparent as workers climb up and down the steep vineyards with buckets to harvest the grape. That’ll build your quads!
This denomination is known for its care of the environment and was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019 as a cultural landscape to be protected.
Over the centuries the people of this region adapted ciglione – a type of terrace that rather than relying on stones, uses grassy soil which reduces erosion as it reinforces the slope. It looks like the shapes on a topographical map.
Ecologically the area is kept diverse because the vineyard plots are many and small and are separated by wooded areas.
So viticulture here is “heroic” in two senses, the steep slopes requiring nerves of steel to farm and working as a protector for the environment and our planet.
Out of the Vineyard into the Winery
Here the main variety is again Glera at 85% of the blend. Of the other varieties allowed; Bianchetta Trevigiana tends to mellow the wine, Perera adds aroma and fruit notes, and Verdiso adds salinity. Glera Lunga, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Pinot Nero may also be added.
Picked by hand and pressed only for free-run juice, the rules provide that 100 kg of grapes can only make 70 liters of wine. All the lots from the various vineyards are kept separately and only blended into the cuvée after their initial fermentation into base wine.
The typical method in the region is the Italian Method (also called the Charmant Method, the Tank Method, or the Martinotti Method). In this method, the fermented juice does its second fermentation in large tanks or Autoclaves rather than in bottle.
The styles
There are 3 overall styles of wine made in the region
Spumante – sparkling
Frizzante – semi-sparkling
Tranquillo – still
The styles of Spumante are dictated by the amount of residual sugar (rs) left in the finished wine. These range from the driest at Extra Brut (0-6 g/l rs), to Brut (0-12 g/l rs), Extra Dry (12-17 g/l rs), and Dry (17-32 g/l rs). Ironically, the Dry style is the sweetest of these styles, it is also the least common. The most traditional style is Extra Dry, with Extra Brut, the driest version being the newest as palates worldwide lean toward dryer wines.
A new addition to the Spumante style was added in 2019. Sui Lieviti means “on the lees”. Traditionally known as “col fondo” or “with sediment” these echo back to the original wines made in the ancient method where the second fermentation occurs in the bottle and the yeast falls to the bottom. We received a bottle of wine in this style, the Bianca Vigna, that you will read about below.
We received three samples from the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG via Charles Communications for December’s #ItalianFWT group. Unfortunately, these wines arrived too late to do proper pairings with them in time for the post.
*These wines were received as media samples. No other compensation was received. All opinions are our own.*
So, here we are now, just before the New Year, the perfect time for Prosecco! Let me tell you a bit about each of the wineries and wines from the Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG and then we will get into the pairings.
Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore from Mongarda, Bianca Vigna and Valdo
The history of this winery began in 1926 when a group of winemakers from Valdobbiadene got together to create a company devoted to making sparkling wine in Valdobbiadene and Cartizze. The company was bought by a Verona family with the name Bolla. They renamed the winery Valdo Spumanti.
Sergio Bolla was the 1st President of the company. Today his son Pierluigi is the Chairman.
Valdo Prosecco Superiore DOCG – Cuvee 1926 – Extra Dry
This wine was created to honor the founding year of the winery and is part of their prestige line. 90% Glera and 10% Chardonnay it has 16 g/l residual sugar and extra-fine bubbles. It has 5 months Charmant aging and another 3 months in the bottle before release.
My notes: Notes of lemon zest and yellow apple. Bright but soft. On the palate, Meyer lemon, pear, and yellow apple.
In 1978 Bruno and Marinella started their vineyard, Mongarda, in Col San Martino. Their son Martino now runs the business. They do not use herbicides or chemical fertilizers.
They produce 50,000 bottles annually in the Martinotti method and refermentation in the bottle.
This wine hails from the San Gallo Vineyard and is Glera with old indigenous grapes. San Gallo sits at an average of 367 meters (1200 feet), the average slope is 38% and the soil is calcareous with iron and aluminum silicates.
These vines are hand-harvested into small crates.
My notes: The first thing that hit my nose was bread, followed by notes of pear and a bit of dust. The tartness swims around in your mouth, fades briefly then returns making your teeth tingle.
Bianca Vigna is the youngest of these Conegliano Valdobbiadene wineries, founded in 2004 by 2 siblings Elena and Enrico. The vineyard however had been in the family since 1958 when their grandfather Genesio and his son (their father) Luigi farmed and sold grapes to a cooperative winery in Soligo.
Genesio and Luigi dreamed of having their own winery, and a generation later Enrico and Elena brought this dream to life, founding Bianca Vigna.
They are guided by the practice of sustainability. The winery is certified Casaclimawine and they have SQNPI certification for their product chain.
Their new winery has a photovoltaic system that provides 80% of their energy needs and they use eco-friendly and recycled material.
They farm 32 hectares, with 4 vineyards in the DOC area: Soligo, Borgo Breda, Busa Schiratti, and Campolongo, 4 in the DOCG: Soligo, Fornaci, Crevada, and Monticella. And 3 Rive: San Gallo, Collalto, and Ogliano. They produce 600,000 bottles annually.
Bianca Vigna Sui Lieviti Spumante Brut Nature 2019
This is the “sui lieviti” that I mentioned earlier. This is traditional Prosecco, on the lees with sediment in the bottle. This sparkling process takes place in the bottle, as in the method champenoise, but without disgorgement, so the wine stays on the yeast giving it its unique character.
The vineyards for this wine are within Conegliano with rocky-clay soil.
My notes: The first thing that hit me was the smell of biscuit dough. It brightens on my palate with bright lemon notes and a lovely creaminess.
100% Glera 11.5% abv 1 g/l rs $20 SRP
Our Venetian inspired pairings
As I looked for pairings, I wanted to include dishes of the region. We began with a cheese plate with gruyere cheese, dried figs, Marcona almonds, sardines, Prosciutto Panino (prosciutto wrapped around Mozzarella), pear, walnuts, and dried apricots. Not all of which are Venetian elements, but the sardines, almonds, figs and pears are all inspired by the region.
Polenta and rice are the grains of this region overtaking the typical Italian pasta. So we ran with that!
Baccalà mantecato
We made Baccalà mantecato which is a fluffy Venetian spread of fish and olive oil. While typically made of salt cod, we used pollock as that was what was available. The fish cooks in milk with peppercorns and a bay leaf, before draining and mashing and whipping with olive oil. We served it, as is traditional in Venice with toasted polenta.
Pear, Walnut, Radicchio Salad
We did a salad with radicchio which is prevalent in the area. This mixed the radicchio with red leaf lettuce, pear, toasted walnuts, and croutons with a dressing of honey, white wine, mustard, and olive oil.
Pea and Bacon Risotto
Finally, we had to do a risotto. I created a simple pea and bacon risotto. It was perhaps not as creamy as it should have been (I might have been Chopped), but it was delicious.
How did they pair?
All 3 Conegliano Valdobbiadene wines paired beautifully with the food. With the risotto, they lifted the notes of lemon zest and complimented the richness of the dish.
With the Baccalà mantecato, the Valdo elevated the fish and brought out a nutty note. The Mongarda rounded the dish and pulled up more mineral and savory notes. The Bianca Vigna was good with this dish, but was my least favorite, pulling forward the bay leaf notes in the dish.
The salad, with its radicchio and honey, was different with each wine, the Valdo melded with the pear pulling forth the sweetness and accentuated the char on the croutons. The Mongarda made the sweetness of the dressing more serious and the Bianca Vigna popped the honey and the toasted walnuts in the dish.
All in all, these were glorious pairings for these wines.
These delicious Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG wines and are so affordable, that you can enjoy them on more than just a special occasion, say Tuesday! They are perfect for the holidays and for ringing in the New Year!
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
Unexpected, unpredictable, a year of endings and beginnings.
This Terre di Bacco Prosecco brings up a story of endings and beginnings – a chapter in my life.
In 2008 after having a successful business for 10 years, the economy crashed and my business was no longer viable. A Warm Wish was a gift basket business in Las Vegas. We created gifts for conventions and conferences.
With the crash, Las Vegas went through a year with very few conventions or conferences, and I re-re-invented myself, returning to my career as a Theatrical Stage Manager.
This was a career I had left 10 years before to start my business. Another chapter, another cycle. I returned to an extreme version of this career joining Cirque du Soleil, grateful for recommendations from friends from my theatrical touring days. And so, in 2008 I joined the SM team at Zumanity.
The Zumanity team was small, so we employed interns to assist with the workload. They were able to have first-hand experience working with a large theatrical circus show. The first intern that joined us after I became a part of the team, was Robby.
He was with us for just a few months, but he and I stayed in touch, and periodically he would be in town. He would see the show and we would catch up over drinks. His career took him to theme parks and cruise lines and he had been traveling the world with his work.
In 2020 we caught up via Facebook, as Robby posted about him and his partner, who was very involved in wine. One thing led to another and I found a box arriving from Robby’s partner Francesco for a label he represents, Terre di Bacco.
*This wine was recieved as a sample. No other compensation was received. All opinions are my own.
Terre di Bacco
Terre di Bacco means “land of Bacchus”. The label is inspired by the Roman God of Wine.
Created as a “by the glass” style wine for restaurants, Terre di Bacco has found vineyards and wineries across Italy to create quality wines that are elegant, simple and genuine.
Terre di Bacco Prosecco DOC Treviso
This wine from Veneto is pale lemon in color with a nose of citrus, pith and lemon. There are apple notes as well. It tastes of bright lemon and citrus. The mouthfeel is lively and dry.
It is, of course, primarily made from the grape Glera.
It sits at 11% abv and is $13.99 so you can buy a case and enjoy a bottle every evening if you like!
Terre di Bacco Prosecco from Treviso
Terre di Bacco Prosecco Paired with Chinese Long-Life noodles with stir-fried vegetables
As our COVID numbers went up, our Governor encouraged us to stay in if possible and order groceries for delivery. So, we returned to weekly orders from Sun Basket. These are meal kits that are Organic and Healthy. We paired this with the Chinese long-life noodles we received. It is a delicious dish that had me cutting vegetables for a bit, with shiitake mushrooms, scallions, bok choy, and carrots, cooked with fresh ramen and eggs in an oyster sauce.
Chinese Long life Noodles with bok choy, carrots topped with green onions, sambal oelek and flowering Thai basil
Terre di Bacco Prosecco with long life noodles
The umami in this dish was lovely with the Prosecco. Stir-fry dishes can have a bit of fattiness and can get heavy as you eat them, but the Prosecco cleaned my palate after every bite (I soooo love bubbles).
Dessert Pairing – Hungarian Nut Cake with Caramelized Apples and Crème Anglaise
I had made walnut cake for another recipe (you will see that soon enough), and thought this would be great with this pairing. I caramelized apple slices in butter and brown sugar, laid them across the top of the cake and drizzled it with crème anglaise.
Now I have been watching The Great British Baking Show for a while, but I have never, myself, made a crème anglaise. I read several recipes and watched a few videos and prepared myself for potential failure (there is a trick, if you scramble your eggs that I learned, to save your crème anglaise). I worked slowly and patiently and it came out perfect. Oh, and delicious! Where has this been all my life?
The bit of apple note in the wine came forward with this pairing and again, the Terre di Bacco Prosecco made each bite with that luscious crème anglaise as good as the first!
So here we are in 2020. Zumanity, after 8 months of being on hold, is now officially closed, and I am on to another chapter, another cycle in life. The connections here were not lost on me. Another cycle has started, paying homage to the previous cycle. The endings make us nostalgic, and their connections to the beginnings give us comfort and hope.
So we celebrate our 12 Days of Wine this year and look to the future. It’s uncertain. It always is. But it is also filled with endless possibilities. So I raise a glass of Terre di Bacco Prosecco to you, to the end of 2020 and to the beginning of so many things! Saluti!
Want to find some?
Terre di Bacco Prosecco di Treviso is available currently in 31 states. You can find more information on their distribution on their website https://www.terrebacco.com/shop-now
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
Wait. My title may lead you to believe that I’m encouraging you to enjoy Prosecco for New Years’. Well, I am, but it’s 2020, my friends, I say we start “wringing out” this year right now! Prosecco for all of December!
This December we join the Italian Food Wine & Travel group of writers (#ItalianFWT) as they explore sparkling Italian Wines. Our leader on this adventure is Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla. You can read her invitation post here.
Scroll to the bottom to see all the posts by my colleagues about the delicious bubbles from Italy that they explored. If you happen to be reading this early enough, you can join us on Twitter on Saturday, December 5th at 8 am Pacific Time to chat about Italian sparkling wines. Just follow and use the hashtag #ItalianFWT to join the conversation.
You might remember that beautiful bottle of sparkling rosé that I had at Thanksgiving? Well, we also received a Prosecco from Val d’Oca and as the Italian Food Wine and Travel Group has decided to swim in Italian bubbles this December, we thought we would pop this beautiful sample from Vigneto Communications and tell you about it.
*This wine was received as a sample. No other compensation was received. All opinions are my own.*
Prosecco
Let’s start with the basics. This wine is Prosecco. A while ago the grape was also called Prosecco, it is now known (to save us all from confusion) by the name Glera, a synonym for the grape that has always been around. Prosecco is also the name of a town just outside Trieste where this wine is first said to have been made.
The Prosecco DOC region lies in the North Eastern part of Italy within the regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia.
It encompasses 9 provinces.
5 in the Veneto:
Belluno
Padova
Treviso
Venezia
Vicenza
and 4 in Friuli Venezia Giulia:
Gorizia
Pordenone
Trieste
Udine
Glera the grape of Prosecco
A late-ripening, relatively high-yield white grape variety, it has long large bunches of grapes on its nut-brown vines. It is fairly neutral in flavor but holds acid pretty well, and is perfect for sparkling wine.
If you find a bottle labeled “Prosecco” it will be at least 85% Glera. The remaining 10-15% can be Bianchetta, Chardonnay, Glera Lunga, Perera, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, or Verdiso.
There are 3 overall styles of wine made in the region
Spumate – sparkling
Frizzante – semi-sparkling
Tranquillo – still
Spumante Style
Spumante is the style most often made. The other styles are a bit rarer to find.
In addition the Spumante style may be made in 6 different levels of sweetness from driest to sweetest, these are: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry, Dry and Demi-sec.
The Martinotti method of winemaking for Prosecco
You will hear this method called by many names, (the tank method, Charmant, the Italian method) but here we will call it the Martinotti Method. It is named for Federico Martinotti who patented the method in 1895. The method takes the fermented base wine and places it in a large pressurized container, where the additional yeast and sugar are added to do the second fermentation.
So how does this differ from say…Champagne or other sparkling wines made in the Traditional Method? Well, this method takes its flavors from the grape and the wine, whereas doing the second fermentation in the bottle gives you more flavor and aroma notes from the yeast.
The pressure is different also. This method typically has atmospheres of pressure of around 3, which Champagne has 5-6 atmospheres of pressure. So, you would likely lose the bubbles in a glass of Prosecco faster than in a glass of Champagne, but not as quick as your beer would go flat!
Val d’Oca – History and the future
In 1952, following the Second World War, this area was struggling to rebuild itself. 129 farmers came together to create this cooperative the Cantina Produttori di Valdobbiadene. The organization now includes 600 members.
They look to the future as they hold onto the heritage of the past. With the area now designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the group wanted to solidify the actions that this group is taking to preserve & protect this region.
On September 5th of 2020 the Cantina Produttori di Valdobbiadene – Val d’Oca Group presented its first sustainability report. They looked at the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set out in the UN 2030 Agenda, and reported on those goals that they had taken concrete action on which include:
Decent work and economic growth
They have always guaranteed fair prices to the growers, this is a grower’s organization after all. In addition, they have incentives for members for using the best agricultural practices and bonuses for certified organic grapes as well as DOCG Storico wines, which contain local grapes varieties of Perera, Bianchetta, and Verdiso in addition to Glera.
Zero Hunger
Devoted to conserving the ecosystems as they adapt to climate change and working to improve the soil quality, they have promoted the SQNPI certification for sustainability. 80 members (in the Asolo DOCG) obtained this certification last year. An additional 300 members in Valdobbiadene became involved in 2020.
Affordable and clean energy
The group has two solar plants as well as a geothermal plant underground at Val d’Oca to provide air conditioning. They plan to move onto an energy and water-efficient system for the Cantina that will allow them to re-use “the heat generated by the temperature control plant used for the musts and wines during fermentation.”
Industry, Innovation, and infrastructure
They renovated two of their bottling lines with an automated program that allows them to make the system more efficient.
They also built a new logistics facility in 2018 to keep the winemaking and bottling together saving transport and reducing CO2 emissions.
Quality Education
Weather stations have been put up around the region allowing the Cantina to share the data collected with the growers as to when is the best time to do certain tasks in the vineyard. As these records are made available digitally, this will provide a handbook for information specific to each vineyard that can be passed down through the generations.
Clean Water
Audits are done to check the quality and quantity of wastewater. They are working on a method to reuse the water used to wash bottles in the production process. They also look to conserve water in the vineyard employing micro-irrigation only in a case of emergency.
Reduced Inequalities
They support organizations that assist with rehabilitation for people with disabilities, as well as an organization that researches genetic diseases. Their support includes fundraising through events like “Tiramisu Day” and the “Valdobbiadene Jazz Festival”.
Responsible Consumption and Production
They are looking for alternatives to things like plastic and other winemaking materials that cannot be recycled during the bottling phase.
They find suppliers that offer certified or recyclable materials.
They look to reuse and recycle all waste materials, including vine canes after pruning, pomace, broken glass, corks, plastic, paper, cardboard as well as tartrates.
Action against climate change
Focusing on the ability of their members to deal with the risks of climate and natural disasters.
So we have a winery that is doing more than just making wine. They are preserving and protecting a region and people and looking to make the planet better.
Val d’Oca Prosecco DOC Treviso Extra Dry
This Prosecco is from the province of Treviso. As always with Prosecco it is driven by Glera at 85% it also includes Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay which make up the other 15%.
Or perhaps, make a gift! Share the joy of this wine widely! It’s inexpensive enough!
Val d’Oca Prosecco
Prosecco from Val d’Oca with Roman orecchiette and chickpeas with spinach
We enjoyed this with a Roman Orecchiette with chickpeas and spinach. This was another quick, healthy, and delicious meal from Sun Basket. The bubbles and acid in the wine, make it good to pair with a wide range of foods. Try it with a simple cheese platter. You can enjoy it with anything!
More Prosecco to come!
We will be writing more on Prosecco! Watch for more on a Prosecco from Terre di Bacco as well as 3 stunning Prosecco DOCG wines that we just received! Oh and don’t forget the rosé style. This style will soon be labeled as Prosecco Rosé, as it was approved in the DOC this past year!
I mean, it’s 2020 and I intend to enjoy watching this year-end and I’ll do it sipping bubbles!
3 Wines from the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG
Terre di Bacco Prosecco from Treviso
Val D’Oca Sparkling Rosé
#ItalianFWT
There is more than just Prosecco that sparkles in Italy, check out the wide variety of sparkling Italian wines that my writing colleagues have dipped into!
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
In October we pair wine and volcanos with the Italian Food Wine and Travel group. I’m partial to volcanos, as you will see, so diving into Italian volcanic wine was an exciting prospect. If you scroll to the bottom, you will find links to my colleagues’ writing on the subject.
I was 12 when I met a volcano. My father was stationed in Hawaii, and we took a trip to the Big Island and visited Kilauea. We sat on the edge of the crater as one of my ancestors had done. Samuel Clemons, you might know him by his pen name, Mark Twain, is a distant relation and I read that he too had visited Kilauea. As you can imagine, at that time it made quite an impression. In case you are curious, here is a link to his writing on his visit.
Volcanos have a way of putting things into perspective. They are large and perhaps ominous. When you visit them you are reminded that they are remolding and remaking the land. Kilauea is creating a new island off the eastern shore of Hawaii as we speak. As a child in Hawaii, I learned to respect volcanos and the goddess Pele, who created these islands and continues to create.
I have visited a few times since then, with my husband. The reverence is still there. I always feel I must be quiet and contemplative in the presence of a volcano.
Kilauea is the most active volcano currently on the planet. Sitting in second, is the volcano we visit virtually today. Mount Etna.
Mount Etna in Sicily
Mount Etna is on Italy’s island of Sicily. As I scrolled through the photos of the volcano, I felt that familiar sense of awe as well as a certain giddiness. I do love volcanos.
Erupting Volcano at Night with Lava – Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy photo by Moments by DeWi Adobe stock
Amazing volcanic landscape on Mount Etna, Sicily, Italy taken from adjacent Silvestri craters on a sunny day. Snow on the very top of the mountain. European highest active volcano. Photo By ppohudka Adobe Stock
You might ask about the last eruption on Mount Etna. Well, this is an active volcano. As I write this, there is an ash warning and yes, the crater is still bubbling. This is a stratovolcano and it has been growing for 600,000 years, from a crater on the seafloor to the 3350 meters (that’s almost 11,000 feet) it now towers above the ocean.
Seems exciting right? Something you might want to see on the webcams? But maybe not where you want to go visit a vineyard. Here’s the thing, volcanic soils are great for wine grapes. The Phoenicians knew that when they planted wine grapes here 3500 years ago.
During the Roman empire, this was a prestigious region for wine, but it declined in the 20th century. The Etna DOC was established in 1968, but it was not until the 80s that the region really started to grow.
Andrea Franchetti and Passopisciara
Our wine comes from Passopisciara, Andrea Franchetti’s winery her on Mount Etna. Franchetti was known for Tenuta di Trinoro, where he was making Super Tuscan style wines. Being a man who loves a challenge, he came to Mount Etna in 2000. His writing on coming to Mount Etna is evocative. It paints a powerful picture.
“There’s no mold, no moss; the ground sparkles black like the night; the wine slowly becomes very elegant and strange. During the day a soft light penetrates everything and then there are starry nights; Etna has enormous poetry. Making wine, you have access to it. There isn’t Mother Nature here. You are conducting your viticulture on stuff that comes out of the terrible below.”
They have 26 hectares (64 acres) of vineyards on the northern face of Mount Etna. The wine we tasted, Passorosso, is a blend of 6 Contrade including; Arcuria, Chiappemacine, Favazza, Guardiola, Feudo di Mezzo and Sciaranuova.
What are Contrade?
Let’s start at the top. When you get a bottle of wine from Sicily, it might be labeled Terre SicilianeIGT, which means it can be grown anywhere on the island or Sicilia DOC, which is again anywhere on the island, but with higher standards. Then there are 23 DOCs and one DOCG. The Etna DOC is shaped like a backward letter “C” and wraps around Mount Etna beginning in the North and wrapping around the east side and to the south, the west side of the volcano is not included. You can see Mount Etna on the East side of the island just above Catania on the map.
The contrade are like single vineyards blocks, each of which have a different profile based on the lava flow. The vineyards vary in aspect, altitude, and of course soil. The lava flows happen at different times and as the lava ages it changes and breaks down in different ways. These contrade are treated by the winemakers as Mount Etna’s version of a cru. These “contrade” are not yet codified, but often the wineries will use them on the label.
Some of these vineyards sit outside the Etna DOC as they are higher on the slopes of the volcano than the original DOC accounted for. Such is the case with the wines of Passopisciaro. Their main vineyard sits only partially within the Etna DOC.
Nerello Mascalese
Grape Vine with Leaves Close Up – Italian Vineyard on Mount Etna, Sicily – “Nerello Mascalese” DOC Wine Photo by ItalianFoodProd Adobe Stock
Nerello Mascalese is an ancient grape that has spent almost 4 centuries on the slopes of this active volcano. The best plots date to the early 20th century, with some planted before phylloxera. These older plots are planted to bush-trained vines known here as Alverello (small trees). They are tied to a stake to keep them from falling over and are less densely planted than trellised vines.
Alverello are also low to the ground, which allows the soil to warm them during cold nights. They are also late harvesting when grown in this style and sometimes harvest will extend to late November.
The grape likely has Sangiovese as a parent as per recent DNA testing and possibly Carricante. Others site Mantonico bianca as a parent. The grape is noted to make wines with good acid and medium to high tannins with red fruit and spice. This is often recommended for Pinot Noir lovers, due to its similar weight and ability to pair widely.
Passopisciaro, Passorosso 2014
As I mentioned, the Passorosso is a blend across 6 contrade, with different soils, aspects, and altitudes.
The geeky bits
100% Nerello Mascalese, from vines between 70 and 100 years old. It is fermented in Stainless steel for 15 days, completes malolactic fermentation, and ages in large format neutral oak for 18 months.
“The 2014 vintage presented us with a lightning-quick harvest. After four months of dry heat, a single stormy night in late October brought in the cold. Starting on the 23rd, the moon was waxing, the season closing; the grapes tasted different every morning, and we harvested them in vineyards at all altitudes as the become suddenly ripe.
The last on the mountain with grapes on the vines, we harvested large areas very quickly as we realized that the hot summer had managed to ripen whole vineyards quite evenly. By the 2nd of November, the moon waxed hard enough and drew even the vines living in the coldest corners to perfect ripeness.”
This is a wine that moves you. It lifts and fills like a deep breath. In the glass it is vibrant and bright, a light brilliant ruby color. As I dipped my nose in there were bright red fruits, anise, sour cherry, then grilled meat, smoke, and savory notes. On the palate sour cherry and red plum vibrated. If you picture this wine filtered through lava rocks you get the idea. There is a leanness, a sense of altitude, with clean air moving.
This is a bright wine, bursting forth from soils of lava. I am taken back to the big island of Hawaii, watching bright green life sprout forth in fields of black lava. Yeah, that’s what it’s like.
It’s delicious and I want to drink this again and again. It sits at 15% abv, but it doesn’t come across hot or out of balance at all. Eric at Garagiste said they fell in love with this wine when they opened and are determined to keep in on their wine list.
Red wine with fish
I looked for a pairing, something Sicilian, and came across Polpette di tonno. These are croquettes with tuna. While tuna is a fish, in Sicily it is considered red meat (it is a red-fleshed fish after all).
I adapted a few recipes and mostly just tossed things in a bowl figuring I could add more if the consistency was not right. I used torn white bread, tuna in oil, bread crumbs, capers, parmesan, ricotta, egg, and parsley. I made balls and rolled them in more bread crumbs and stuck them in the fridge while I heated the oil. They fried and drained. Other variations included milk instead of ricotta, some had bread soaked in the milk and one suggested drizzling with olive oil and baking.
They were beautiful with the wine. We had a marinara dipping sauce and a cheese plate. That was dinner and it was heaven.
#ItalianFWT
Are you ready to dive in and talk and learn about these wines? Join the Italian Food Wine and Travel group on Saturday, October 3rd at 8 am Pacific time on twitter. Follow and use #ItalianFWT to join in the conversation!
If you want to discover and learn more about Italian Volcanic wines, take a look at the pieces below.
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
The Delle Venezie DOC is a relatively new DOC, replacing the IGT that previously covered this region, specifically for Pinot Grigio. We will talk about the region, the process of becoming a DOC, the impact of the pandemic, their highly entertaining YouTube marketing campaign as well as two wines that we tasted.
I was presented with samples of two Delle Venezie wines for this piece from the Consorzio Delle Venezie DOC, as part of an online tasting and seminar on the region, in conjunction with with the 2020 Virtual Wine Media Conference. All opinions are my own.
Pinot Grigio. We’ve all heard of it. We’ve probably all had a glass or two. This wine comes from a large area covering 3 regions in northwest Italy.
Delle Venezie DOC
Delle Venezie DOC region – courtesy Consorzio DOC Delle Venezie
The Delle Venezie DOC covers the region of Trentino, Veneto, and Friuli Venezia Giulia. This is the northeastern part of Italy encompassing Veneto, the region around Venice with its southwestern edge on the Adriatic Sea and Lake Garda on part of its western border, Trentino sits in the region northwest of here, getting into the Italian Alps and then Friuli-Venezia Giulia which is bordered by Austria to the North and Slovenia to the East. This DOC replaces the pre-existing IGT for the region when it comes to Pinot Grigio.
This is the first Italian consortium for territorial extension. What does that mean? Well, an IGT (Indicazione geografica tipica) typically covers large regions and these are wines that have fewer restrictions on viticulture and winemaking techniques. On the wine ladder in Italy, IGT is on a lower rung sitting just above Vino (basic table wine). Above that, you have DOCs (denominazione di origine controllata) which have more restrictions and then DOCGs (denominazione di origine controllata e garantita) that have some of the most strenuous restrictions.
The new Delle Venezie DOC encompasses 20 DOCs within this region, but it is specific to the variety of Pinot Grigio. The great part about this is the variety. With so many smaller regions in this DOC, there are variations on soil and climates, and you will be able to find multiple styles of Pinot Grigio.
A little bit on Pinot Grigio
42% of the Pinot Grigio in the world comes from Italy and 96% of that is exported. With the primary export markets being North America, Great Britain, and Germany.
In Italy, there are over 32,000 hectares of vineyards specific to Pinot Grigio and almost 26,500 of those hectares are in the Delle Venezie DOC. (Figures as of 2018 from DOC Delle Venezie).
So, what is the difference between this new DOC and the old IGT?
The differences primarily affect the regulations for quality. Here are the most important changes.
Must be a minimum of 85% Pinot Grigio from the Trivento area
Yields are limited. They decreased the amount per hectare by 26 hectoliters per hectare from the previous IGT level.
Creation of the Delle Venezie DOC
Getting to be a DOC is a long process. The DOC was approved in Italy in 2017. EU acceptance has been longer, coming earlier this year. Valentina from the Delle Venezie press office clarified the dates for me.
“…the DOC and the Consorzio were born and founded in 2017 and in August 2020 the DOP obtained the official name protection and consequent registration in the eAmbrosia register by the European Commission and, 20 days after, the Consorzio got also the recognition from the Ministry of Agriculture (Rome).”
Valentina Fraccascia, Delle Venezie DOC August 31, 2020
The affects of the pandemic on this new DOC
I was curious as to how the pandemic had impacted the rollout of the DOC. Valentina said that the new DOC has not suffered economically from the pandemic. They have international large-scale distribution.
“Signs of stability compared to last year confirmed by the trend of DOC certifications and bottlings at the end of June, which have even slightly grown, and which suggest an equivalent absorption capacity in the next marketing campaign.”
Valentina Fraccascia, Delle Venezie DOC August 31, 2020
Entertaining marketing with Filippo Bartolotta
I also inquired as to how they had pivoted their marketing during the pandemic. This is where their highly entertaining video series with Filippo Bartolotta comes in. It allowed their clients worldwide a resource when they could not taste with them live. She shared with me a bit of their April press release.
In the face of the restrictions imposed by governments around the world that have caused the main trade fairs such as Prowein and Vinitaly to be suspended, the Pinot Grigio delle Venezie Consortium looked to the polyglot fluency of the communicator Filippo Bartolotta. Storyteller, teacher and writer with a foreign background and a huge following especially in the USA, Filippo knows how to transport the auditorium with an engagingly cheerful energy and with the professional firmness of competence. His charisma will reach Europe and the shores of North America – which accommodates the largest exports of Pinot Grigio delle Venezie (whose foreign share reaches 95% of the bottled product) – bringing the public of operators in the sector closer to that of wine lovers from around the world.
Therefore, 16 videos that will recount over 100 DOC labels of the latest vintage, 2019, after the introduction of another 3 videos that will lead the listener by the hand to discover the land, the vine and the denomination, revealing the history and the culture of the place but also the ampelographic characteristics of the grape variety and all the processes that make it traceable, safe and guaranteed. But above all, Filippo Bartolotta will raise the curtain on what is the “Italian Style”, that savoir fair that the glass emanates at each twirl, emanating memories of our country, and which is passed on in a sip that is eclectic, fresh and rich in tradition. Pinot Grigio is perfectly able to represent all the facets of the Tre Venezie, thanks to a bond with this land that has historical origins.
The videos are wonderful. They do not lie when they say that Filippo Bartolotta is charismatic. Here is one of the introduction videos, in which he explains how widely Pinot Grigio from the Delle Venezie will pair with food. Additional videos are geared to importers, but…they are highly entertaining as he runs through tastings live on camera and shares with you his thoughts in one take.
The Delle Venezie DOC is raising the bar for Pinot Grigio from this region. With this information in hand, I expected to see some classic Italian wineries, striving for a tradition of quality, or perhaps younger wineries who are breathing new life into the region with thoughtful wines….hmm…Here are the two wines I received.
Tommasi 2019 Le Rosse Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC
Tommasi – This wine is a 4th generation family winery based in Valpolicella. Yes, of course, they make Amarone. They also own vineyards in Tuscany, Puglia, Basilicata, and Oltrepo Pavese in Lombardy. This is not a small producer.
Filippo describes it at 5:28 into this video. They are very well known in Italy.
The Tommasi Le Rosse is a single vineyard Pinot Grigio from Le Rosse vineyard in the Valpolicella Classico area.
Prophecy 2019 Delle Venezie Pinot Grigio
Contrast that with our other wine. Prophecy Wines Delle Venezie Pinot Grigio.
Here, the company has invested in beautiful labels. They tell a story about each wine, and you can read up on the Artist Victo Ngai. She is an award-winning illustrator from Hong Kong who is New York based and has received numerous awards.
What you won’t find, is many details on the vineyard or vineyards, the name of the winemaker, or any other real details on the wine. They have added a page on their blog about the sourcing of their wines. They source different varieties from their best-known regions globally hence a Pinot Grigio from the Delle Venezie. They do supply a description, full of visuals, and few details on their blog.
“Our Pinot Grigio offers a glimpse into the classic wines of Northeastern Italy, where the grape flourishes against the backdrop of the region’s stunning landscape. The high-altitude vineyards lie in the shadow of snow-capped mountains and vines that thrive in the cool air climate of the Adriatic Coast, resulting in elegant and crisp Pinot Grigio wines with citrus characteristics, delicate hints of white flowers and signature minerality.”
You can see Filippo wax poetic on the label at 13:38 into this video.
The wines? Both were enjoyable. I enjoyed the Tommasi best, it was a little leaner and more elegant, softer and rounder. The Prophecy felt a little larger and in my face. But, in all honesty, I might have been biased based on my research. I want a real story, not a marketing ploy behind my wine. So much of my enjoyment of wine comes from the stories. If this had been a blind tasting, would my reaction have been the same? I think that I would have still leaned toward the subtleties of the Tommasi and referred to the Prophecy as a bit bolder.
I will admit that the Prophecy label is eye-catching and striking, which is great when you are looking for it in the grocery store. I found it at our nearby Smiths when I was last in the wine section there. The price online I found for it was $10.99. the Tommasi from Wine.com retails at $15.99.
The 2020 Harvest
I receive a press release about the 2020 Harvest. The Pinot Grigio harvest in Veneto finished in early September. Overall, quantity was down, and quality was up. With the decrease in supply, the price of grapes increased. We will see if this translates into higher prices on shelves for the 2020 vintage.
This region, so known for Pinot Grigio, has set their sites on increasing quality for their wines. For consumers, that is rarely a bad thing. So I encourage you to watch for the Delle Venezie DOC on the bottle.
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
Climate change and sustainability. If you love wine, you really can’t be a climate change denier. I have spoken with too many winemakers who are seeing the changes in their vineyards. They watch bud break as well as harvests coming earlier. In some regions, they are dealing with increased pressure from fires and the possibility of smoke taint, with some losing entire vintages. We watched this in Australia early this year and parts of California are dealing with this right now. Vineyards are looking at planting new varieties, geared toward the new climate that they see moving into their area.
This month the Italian Food Wine and Travel Group are tackling climate change and sustainability. It’s a big subject, even if we are just focusing on Italy. We are led by Katarina of Grapevine Adventures. You can read her invitation post An Invitation To Look Closer at Aspects of Sustainability to Better Tackle the Climate Change. I look forward to reading all the viewpoints and insights that my colleagues will bring. Scroll to the bottom to find links to their pieces on the subject.
We will be gathering on Twitter on Saturday September 5th at 8 am PDT. Just follow and use #ItalianFWT to join the conversation.
If we just talk about climate change…(this is the “why you should care” part)
Picture the wine regions that climate change will affect Photo by Onur Adbobe Stock
I recently attended a session called “Wine and a Changing Climate: Will the terroir model of today survive”. It was presented by Roger C. Bohmrich MW at the Society of Wine Educators Virtual Conference earlier this month.
He points out that some regions may benefit from climate change, like Bordeaux and much of Germany, while other regions will suffer as more and more of their vineyards become too warm to sustain their traditional varieties of grapes. Italy is one of those places.
Defining Sustainable wines
But there is more to this. Sustainability doesn’t have a universal definition, but Sandra Taylor at “Discover Sustainable Wine” gives one that is easier to wrap your head around.
“Very simply it means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Sandra Taylor, from Discover Sustainable Wine
There are 3 parts to this; environmental, economic, and social. We need to take care of the environment, produce a quality product, and be socially responsible. There are programs out there for certification, that vary on their focus and the area they cover.
Looking through the wines I have tasted recently
I looked through several wines that I had recently tasted from Italy to see where they were in addressing sustainability. To do this, I went directly to each of their websites.
The first I looked at was Banfi. Banfi is a large company, and if you can get these larger companies on board it is helpful, since they employ so many people and ship so much wine.
Banfi has an entire sustainability page where they note specifically their use of the Lightweight bottle, the bio-bed, Variable flowrate irrigation, corporate social responsibility, and certification from the vineyard to the bottle.
They did a bit of research in 2008 and 2009 on this. Reducing the weight of the bottle saves in multiple ways, obviously the shipping weight per bottle is less, which saves energy and there is less glass in the end. In addition, there is a savings on the energy needed to make each bottle. They first reduced from 570 g bottles to 400 g, then in 2014 reduced again to 360 g bottles. ( you can read more at https://www.banfi.it/en/sustainability/lightweight-bottle.php )
Under Corporate Social Responsibility they discus Eco-balance Low input farming. Reducing the greenhouse effect, maintaining biodiversity and working on erosion control.
I expected the “Social Responsibility” to contain something about workers, but it did not. It instead covered things like erosion control and reducing the greenhouse effect.
I moved on to other wineries I had recently tasted. I recently had a lovely Moscato d’Asti from Saracco. While they did not have a page devoted to sustainability, they did have a paragraph regarding their vineyards that included this.
“On their 50 hectares grapes are grown sustainably in harmony with nature and with attention to changes to the climate throughout the year.”
That was it. 3 other brands that I recently tried, had nothing on any form of sustainability. Everything they had to say was on quality and tradition. They did not even link back to tradition in farming and respect for the land. Well, that felt a bit tragic, so I dug deeper into wines I had a month or so ago and remembered Caiarossa.
Caiarossa is a vineyard and winery on the Tuscan Coast. I had tasted a wine from them for a piece on Super Tuscans. They employ biodynamics here and look at the property in a holistic way, which includes the men and women who work on the land, although there are not full details on their vineyard staff. They have been Demeter certified since 1999, and embrace the idea of “…creating a harmonious bond between Nature and Man. …by creating a full resonance with the rhythms of the universe, we manage to fully amplify their effects.”
Okay, I feel a little better about my Italian wine drinking.
My expectations
Perhaps as a consumer, I am pushing boundaries, expecting wineries to share, not just notes on the quality of their wine, but also on the ways, they are making the world a better place, or at least not making it worse.
I was feeling a bit sad about my choices of wine recently. I am good about researching wineries in the US based on their practices, but with fewer options on imported wine, I don’t research my purchases in advance as much as I evidently should.
What’s happening in Italy?
I went in search of information on wineries who are actively working toward sustainability in Italy and there is a great deal of hope.
Italian consumers are also looking for transparency, and the Ministry of Agriculture is working to create a standard for sustainability in wine. If this goes through, Italy could be the first country to set such a standard.
The ministry of agriculture in Italy is working with Equalitas as they create their sustainability program.
Equalitas has set a standard that requires biodiversity in soil, water and lichen. They set a standard for both carbon and water footprints. They cover working practices for both agriculture as well as winery and bottling practices. They deal with economic practices financially for the business and for employee programs as well as dealing with suppliers. There are social practices for workers’ rights and training as well as community relations. Finally, there are policies for transparency. The certification is set fo4 3 years and is monitored within that period. ( source)
Currently Equalitas, which was founded in 2016, has 17 certified sustainable wineries. I do not know about you, but that number seems pretty low to me. They are a young organization, so I look forward to them growing.
Italy is a leader in organic wine. From 2013 to 2018 the organic vineyard acreage in Italy increased by 57% (source Nomisma Wine Monitor). So there is that!
In addition there are other organizations like VIVA under the CCPB, under the ministry of the environment. As well as SQNPI under the Ministry of Agricultural Policies. (source)
But figuring out if a wine is sustainable by its label? That’s a bit tougher.
My friend Lynn Gowdy, of Savor the Harvest, wrote a piece on how you can find details on Italian wine labels which is a great reference. “The Important thing you don’t know about Italian wine labels” So, there is a start there. Look for “Vino Biologico” on the label or look for the Agricoltura UE leaf or Ecogruppo Italia logos on the back label. Agricoltura UE has the Euro Leaf logo (a bright green background with a leaf outlined with stars) which certifies that the product meets the regulations for Organic farming in the EU. Ecogruppo Italia is a certification body for Eco-sustainable production.
These are ways you can check the label, if you are in the market or wine shop already shopping. The best Idea? Do your research ahead of time. In the meantime, let’s talk about some of the means to combating climate change that are out there for wineries.
Fighting Climate change with regenerative agriculture.
The idea behind regenerative agriculture Image by Marcoaliaksandr Adobe Stock
So what can a winery do about climate change? Well, as we mentioned with Banfi, lighter packaging can decrease the carbon footprint. In addition, farming methods can decrease a winery’s carbon footprint. That might be by less mechanical passes in the vineyard, or alternative methods of power, like solar.
Regenerative farming is being discussed quite a bit these days. Most people utilizing the techniques of biodynamics refer to it as regenerative farming. In combating climate change, this is idea of creating healthy soil that absorbs carbon. (source).
Tablas Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles recently joined a pilot program to become Regeneratively Organic Certified (ROC). Their vineyard is already Demeter Certified for biodynamics as well as certified organic. So why did they feel the need to jump on this new bandwagon? Regenerative is by the very name, beyond “sustainable”. This is not about just staying par for the course, it is able to improve the ecosystem. It encompasses soil health, animal welfare, and social welfare. Tablas Creek wrote a great article about why they felt the need to jump on board with this certification. You can read it here. They also released a beautiful video that will explain the idea behind the certification quickly.
That’s what I was really looking for, something beyond the status quo, something that is not just looking to keep us from falling over the edge, but something that might tip the scales the other way.
Beyond the soil, let’s talk about the people
This gets to the “Social” part. The recent uproar over Settimio Passalacqua, the agriculture magnate in Southern Italy who was arrested for systematic exploitation of migrant workers. This dramatically affected his daughter Valentina Passalacqua whose winery in Puglia was on the rise and was being imported to the US through several companies, who have dropped her label, waiting for her to be proven innocent. She works independently of her father and says she is outraged by these types of exploitation practices. She is listed, however, as having a 25% share in one of the companies and as recently as mid-October 2019 attended a shareholders meeting.
Just before this story on her father broke, I had tasted one of her wines and did a piece on it. I watched her videos with her out harvesting with her crew. I was enchanted. The comradery felt genuine. It did not show the whole picture though. (I encourage you to read the article in “The Morning Claret” if you are interested in further details)
The point I guess is, that people are holding companies accountable for unfair treatment of workers. For consumers and distributors you need to be transparent. They need to be sure that you are treating your workers fairly. More and more people are buying less blindly. Like me. But currently it’s not easy.
Why this is important and what you can do
The planet is warming and is on course to get warmer. Climate change is real and ass we look to the future, we must do something about it. People, workers are being taken advantage of. That has got to change. We make individual choices, as well as look to the businesses we support to make good choices. Ideally, we just support those willing to go the extra mile, because they hold the same ideals we do.
It’s not easy. Certifications are individual also. Some more respectable and trustworthy than others. Then there are small businesses and producers, who may not be able to invest in the certification.
We need to do our homework. Again, it’s not easy. I often am writing a piece and need to investigate a region and I get what is available. But more and more I try to research before purchasing, so I can find those brands, or better yet, those small wineries, who are doing things right or working to get better at protecting the land, our planet, and our fellow man. We ask the questions and increase the demand for products we trust and believe in. We won’t always succeed, but together, bit by bit we can get better.
The Italian Food Wine and Travel Group #Italian FWT
After all this digging, there are so many questions I still have and I’m sure we all have. I look forward to reading the work of my colleagues from the Italian Food Wine and Travel Group. If you are reading this in time, join us on twitter on Saturday, September 5th at 11 am EDT or 8 am PST. Just follow and used #ItalianFWT to join in the conversation. I’ll be there with my coffee! You can read my colleagues’ work below!
On Saturday, 5 September we will discuss more in-depth sustainability and climate change in the Twitter chat of the Italian Food, Wine, and Travel writers’ group. Join us on Saturday at 11 am EST / 17.00 CEST to learn more about Sustainability to Better Tackle the Climate Change.
Get into the sustainability vibe…
These are the titles of the coming articles on Saturday.
I highly recommend taking a peek at Discover Sustainable Wine. Sandra Taylor has written some insightful pieces on the subject of sustainability in wine.
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
I love rosé, rosado, rosato. I loved it before it was cool. I’ll admit, back in my youth, I even loved that rosé that now makes my stomach churn, Sutter Homes. I don’t love it because it’s pink, (I’m not a girl who wears pink…I typically live in black), but despite it being pink. I love the way it calms me and makes me hear the ocean even when it is not near. Not that rosés are all made near the ocean, I just always envision myself on the beach when I drink one. It’s a getaway in a glass. All wine of course is, but rosé or rosato, well, it seems to have an extra edge on that.
So here it is, almost August, and we are still stuck at home, in the heat. Luckily, the #ItalianFWT group, led this month by Lauren of The Swirling Dervish, (what a great name, right?) is taking us on a virtual trip to Italy to explore rosatos of indigenous Italian grapes. Kinda perfect if you ask me.
If you want in on this getaway, you can join us on August 1st at 8am PDT or 11am EDT, on twitter. Just follow #ItalianFWT and join in the conversation. You can look forward to hearing about pink wines from all over Italy from my fellow wine writers! (scroll to the bottom for a list of all the different pieces with links!)
As I mentioned, rosé or rosato, as it is known in Italy, makes me hear the sea. So, it will not surprise you that I chose 2 coastal regions (although when you are in southern Italy, all the regions with the exception of Umbria, are coastal) to choose wines from. Both are made from the indigenous grape montepulciano and both come from the southern part of Italy on the Adriatic coast.
Map of Italy
First let’s talk about this indigenous grape Montepulciano
Montepulciano (the grape) and Vino Nobile de Montepulciano – nope, they are not the same!
I’ve heard of that you might say, but you may be thinking of Vino Nobile de Montepulciano, which is the name of a wine, that is made of sangiovese. Confusing, no? Here’s the scoop.
Vino Nobile de Montepulciano – that would mean “Noble wine of Montepulciano”, Montepulciano being a village in Tuscany. The wine is made of sangiovese, the grape famous for Chianti.
Montepulciano, the grape, is a grape native to the southern part of Italy.
Due to the confusion with this wine and the grape, the folks at Vino Nobile de Montepulciano have opted to just refer to their wine as “Vino Nobile” and it seems to be sticking.
Montepulciano – the grape
Montepulciano is the 3rd most planted grape in Italy. It sits unsurprisingly, behind sangiovese in the top spot and the white grape trebbiano (or as it’s known in France ugni blanc), which is an undistinguished white grape, (at least typically) that is mostly used in making brandy.
It is most widely planted in the region of Abruzzo, but is also widely found in Marche, Molise, and Puglia. All four of these regions sit in a row down the Adriatic coast of Italy. It is a late ripening grape, which is what keeps it in the south, further north than Marche and you find difficulty ripening it. It is a deep colored grape that imparts great tannins and can age.
Montepulciano as a rosato
With these deeply colored skins, you would be unsurprised to find that the rosatos are deeply colored also. Now many people can get snooty about their rosé and want it in that ballet slipper pink or onion skin color of Provençal rosé, but I love the variety of shades. Rosé or rosato, is a color of wine, just like red or white, and everything pink does not and should not taste or look the same. These darker pink wines, (like Tavel in France), can carry more flavor and texture than a barely colored rosé, and as such can pair widely with foods.
Our first rosato is from Abruzzo where it is part of its own DOC for rosato.
Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo DOC
Abruzzo spans from the mountains of central Italy out to the Adriatic Sea. It sits north of Molise and south of Marche. The ancient tribes of the region long resisted Roman rule, and the rugged landscape kept it isolated for many years.
In 2010 the Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo DOC was established for rosatos from the region. The name means cherry in Italian, and is taken from their deep cherry color.
This is not the easiest wine to pronounce. It is pronounced CHER-rah-ZOO’OH-loh dah-BROO-tsoh
Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo 2019 from Cirellli Collina Biologica
This wine from Francesco Cirelli comes from the Cirelli Farm. I would love to describe it to you, but I think that Francesco on his site does it best.
“The sea is only 8 kilometers away and rolling hills, vineyards and olive groves surround the variegated landscape of the town of Atri in the Abruzzo region where our farmland lies. Nearby, national parks, woods, and badlands, all wonderfully preserved, are waiting to be discovered in the majestic silence that seems to characterize this region of Italy suspended in time and space.”
Francesco Cirelli from his site
This is a farm with olive trees, vineyards, old grains, fruit trees, gardens, and animals. It is certified organic. The property is 22 hectares with 6 of those under vine. They dry farm and produce abut 30,000 bottles annually.
While our particular wine was not, he now makes a line of wines in amphorae. I look forward to an opportunity to taste the Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo made in Terracotta Amphorae.
Tasting the Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo
This wine was a deep pink-orange color and was clear. The nose took a moment to open for me, but Michael immediately got bright red fruit, “cherry fruit rollup” he declared! As I dove into it, I found sour cherry, with notes of watermelon, white flowers, and pomegranate. Additional notes of citrus like blood orange and bits of dried herbs popped up. On the palate it was dry with medium body, tannin, and alcohol (it sits at 12% abv). It had high acidity, and pronounced flavors of cranberry, red currant, and a splash of lime, with a long finish. It was tart and vibrant with red fruits bursting forward.
Puglia
The second wine we had is again a rosato of montepulciano, but this one hails from Puglia. Puglia is the heel of the boot in Italy. This wine comes from just inland of the boot’s spur, the National Park of Gargano, that juts out into the Adriatic Sea. Valentina Passalacqua’s vineyard sits just west of the National Park and 20 minutes’ drive south of Lake Lesina that sits on the Adriatic Coast. Her mantra is “Peaceful Living”. Many of the vines on her property are on pergolas, providing shade for the workers as they pick during harvest. She has a wonderful video on her site that I encourage you to visit and watch.
This wine is made from montepulciano grapes from young pergola vineyards. Fermentation is spontaneous in open vats. It is unfiltered and aged 6-8 months in steel. It is 10.5% or 11.5% abv (I found conflicting and could not locate it on the bottle) and is bottled in a one-liter bottle with a crown cap. The label was drawn by her daughter.
“My work has no secrets. Together with my collaborators-artists, I only try to collect what the Earth presents to me and to give it a personal value through art and craftsmanship. My wines are fragments of the soul of the Gargano, the Mountain of the Sun. A white limestone promontory, which extends into the Adriatic Sea with the green silences of the millenary forests of the Umbra Forest and the scents of the Mediterranean scrub of the National Park. We are waiting for you, to give you a taste of this magical reality.”
Valentina Passalacqua from her site
Tasting this rosato from Puglia
This wine had the same vibrant orange pink color but was a bit cloudy as it wasn’t filtered. There was sediment in the bottom. On the nose you were hit first with funk, the kind that I like. Notes of leather and red fruit, sour cherry, and spice. On the palate it was dry with medium tannins, body, and acidity. I think the fact that it was unfiltered made the acidity seem lower. On the palate I got blood orange, red cherry, blackberry, leather, and dried herbs. I think the nose was really integrated, which was why I determined it as funk, and didn’t break it down like I was able to on the palate.
Pairing with foods of the region
I searched for dishes from each of the regions and the one thing that popped up in both was that these are poorer regions, where meat is a luxury. As such, both my dishes are vegetarian, and both have relatively few ingredients
Pallotte cac e ove
My dish from Abruzzo is called Pallotte cac e ove (cheese and egg balls)
The recipe is simple: Mix together ½ cup of breadcrumbs, 1 cup of grated parmesan, salt, minced garlic, pepper, and a pinch of baking soda. Then add in 3 eggs and mix. Roll into balls. You can either fry them now, to enjoy as an appetizer or do as I did, and toss them in the fridge for a bit, then cook them in a pot of fresh tomato sauce for 15 minutes.
Orecchiette from Puglia
The second dish is from Puglia. Puglia is known for its orecchiette pasta, the little hand made pastas whose name means “little ears”. Traditionally this is served with turnip tops or broccoli rabe. We had baby broccoli and cherry tomatoes.
I boiled the pasta and added the baby broccoli to blanche in the last 2 minutes. I drained it reserving some of the cooking water. Then I cooked up some minced garlic in butter and olive oil until it was fragrant, I added a bit of the cooking water then, the orecchiette and broccoli, some grated parmesan, juice of a lemon, chili flakes, the sliced cherry tomatoes and lemon zest.
Each of the dishes went well with the food, but each also paired best with the wine from their region.
We also did a cheese plate with orange, herbed mozzarella balls, blackberries, strawberries, pomegranate, rosemary asiago, prosciutto, and almonds. The herbs from the mozzarella balls really paired beautifully, elevating the flavors of the herbs.
So that covers 1 grape. Italy has more than 400 grape varieties allowed in their wines. Guaranteed, a few of those are international varieties, but still… If you count the subvarieties, the total comes to almost 2000. Wonder what varieties the other #ItalianFWT writers got into?
Don’t forget to join us Saturday August 1, 2020 at 11 am Eastern Time (8 am Pacific) on twitter to chat! Just follow #ItalianFWT! We’d love for you to tell us about your favorite Italian rosatos, just remember to add the hashtage #ItalianFWT to be part of the conversation thread!
Do you love pink wines? Well we have written about them before and if you would like to explore…
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
I anticipated enjoying Sparkling Wine Week. Who doesn’t like bubbles? I was ready for the education sessions, for the interviews, but I was not prepared for the variety of sparkling wines that would be presented.
Yes, there were Champagnes, Proseccos and Cavas. But I had not expected sparkling red wines, sparkling wines from Nebbiolo, Barbera or Grignolino, or traditional method sparkling wines from Argentina.
Allow me to share with you some of the unique wines I discovered.
Hic et Nunc from Piemonte, Italy
Hic et Nunc, Latin for “here and now” is in Vignale Monferrato in Italy’s Piemonte. These hills are home to Barbera and Grignolino. The Rosolen family bought 100 hectares of this land in 2012 with 20 hectares dedicated to vines. In 2016 they released their first wine, from the indigenous grapes on this property. Some of their Barbera vines are over 80 years old. They presented 2 wines both made in the Charmant method.
Màrsia is a Brut Rosé made of 100% Barbera. It sees 9 months fermentation and has fruity full aromas. The color is pink with a bit of orange.
Mète is 100% Grignolino. This wine is lighter with more bronze tone. It carries more floral notes with berries and citrus.
While both wines are sparkling rosé, Stephano Gervasoni, from Hic et Nunc tells us that the wines each have a different nature. The Mète is good with light cheese, chicken, or vegetables, whereas the Màrsia has a stronger personality with berry and spice notes making it suitable with dinner.
They have a stunning website with beautiful video of their hilltop vineyard.
Wessman One from Maison Wessman, Champagne France
Robert Wessman is the owner of a large pharmaceutical company. A few years ago, he purchased Château Saint-Cernin near Bergerac. He wanted his own Champagne Brand, so he brought in experts to create an unusual champagne, one of strong character.
This wine is a rosé, but more than the style that you typically think of with Champagne. Myriam Carrere explained that the pinot noir is vinified like a red wine. It is destemmed and has a long maceration followed by malolactic fermentation to avoid bitter notes. To this, they blend Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs to create their base wine. It ferments in the bottle on lees for at least 15 months.
This is a high-end luxury brand currently served on private jets and in some high-end restaurants. It was described: “refined bubbles, with a softness from the Pinot Noir. Surprising aromas of red fruits, rose, with citrus and orange peed on the finish, keeping it balanced.” They produce just 6000 bottles of Champagne with Pinot Noir from Aÿ and Chardonnay from the Côte de Blancs (a 55/45 blend). This wine sits at 6 to 9 g/L of residual sugar (so at a Brut level).
Jasmine Monet Organic Sparkling wine in Mendoza, Argentina
Yes, you read that right, Mendoza, Argentina. The vineyards sit at 1200 meters in the foothills of the Andes. They have 44 hectares of French varieties with some vines up to 50 years old. The vineyards are in the Valle de Uco near Tupungato. The wines they produce are certified organic.
The wines are traditional method and the two that Fernando Cardinali and Julien Mendoza presented were classic Chardonnay, Pinot Noir blends. These wines do have a bit of Argentinian flare. The altitude, soil and microclimates give a unique personality to the wine. If that doesn’t set them apart enough, their name packaging will.
Julien Mendoza is one of the vineyard owners. His wife, a fashion designer, does the marketing. They produce 200,000 bottles per year, across their 3 varieties.
Their Organic Brut is 85% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Noir. Decked in Black and Gold with a bit of reptile skin texture on the label. This wine has notes of green apple, citrus and coconut.
The Rosé is 65% chardonnay and 35% Pinot Noir. This bottle is dressed out in pink w/leopard print. This wine is sweeter, sitting in the Demi-Sec range. They note white peaches, red fruits, and almonds on the nose.
They have full scale gift sets complete with flutes, ice buckets and sparkling wine all coordinated with their theme. Quality of wine aside, this packaging has a certain demographic dialed in.
460 Casina Bric – Piemonte, Italy
Casina Bric is Piedmontese for “Hilltop Farm. 460 Casina Bric is the most elevated property in the village of Barolo at 460 meters. After working for 20 years in the family vineyards, vigneron Gianluca Viberti created this independent project.
They have 2 vineyards, one facing Barolo and one facing the Alba Region, between Barolo & Barbaresco in the Langhe Valley. This is the Nebbiolo d’Alba Spumante DOC created in 1970.
Gianluca presented 2 100% Nebbiolo Rosé sparkling wines made in two styles and methods.
Nebbiolo Origo Ginis Cuvee 970 is the more accessible of the two wines. 970 is for 1970, the year the Nebbiolo d’Alba Spumante DOC was created. This is made in the Methodo Martinotti. Martinotti himself was from Piemonte. It spends 8-18 months on lees and is a non-vintage sparkling wine.
Origo Ginis Mellesimator Brut Nature 2014 is bottled by vintage in magnums. This wine is made in the traditional method spending 24-36 months in bottle on the lees. This wine is kept in cellar 1-year post disgorgement. They note floral aromas on this wine of wild rose and peach flowers. This is their higher-end wine, meant for special occasions.
La Pamelita – Vino Espumoso de Calidad, Spain
Pamela Geddes of La Pamelita and her Sparkling rose and red wines from Spain. Photo Courtesy of Wine Pleasures
Sparkling red wine and a winemaker with a story. Pamela Geddes is a Scottish Microbiologist who shifted from hospital work to whiskey to wine. She went to Penfolds to study wine and took over for their microbiologist. After some time making sparkling Shiraz in Victoria’s Great Western. She spent time in Chile and created a sparkling Monastrell. While in Chile, they called her La Pamelita. The name stuck and when she returned to Spain to make a red sparkling wine, it became the name of her label.
She is the smallest legal sparkling wine producer in Spain with an annual production of 6000 bottles. Located outside Sant Sadurni, she sources Syrah and Garnacha for her sparkling red wines, which cannot be listed as Cava, as Cava cannot be red.
She shared with us 2 wines, both fall under the labeling DO Vino Espumoso de Calidad.
The La Pamelita is 95% Syrah and 5% Garnacha. It is. This wine she describes as elegant, chocolatey, and spicy.
The La Rosita is a sparkling rosé of 100% Garnacha. She describes it as “Summer Fresh, with a creamy mousse and wild strawberries”.
Sparkling Wine Week 2020 in the Books!
This was just a sampling of the most unique sparkling wines showcased. I was sad that there we no British Sparkling wines represented. There were other wonderful wines as well of course, as the 50 Great Sparkling Wines 2020 and the 50 Great Cavas 2020 were presented.
If you are interested, the recordings are still available. I’ll include the link with the other resources below.
If you are an importer and are interested in contacting these wineries, I suggest contacting Anthony with Wine Pleasures. He can put you in touch with them.
Take me to the vines: Wine tourism 2020 and beyond
Coming up soon on July Thursday July 9th the IWINETC (The International Wine and Tourism Conference) will hold the “Take me to the vines: Wine tourism 2020 and beyond” seminar. This will include 2 one hour sessions. The first will discuss the safety precautions being put in place for the upcoming IWINETC conference scheduled in November in Italy and the second “What’s next for wine and culinary tourism”. Here is the link to their site if you are interested in details and signing up.
And be sure to check out the 50 Great Sparkling Wines as well as the 50 Great Cavas of 2020. (links in the photos below!)
50 Great Sparkling Wines 2020 courtesy Wine Pleasures
50 Great Cavas 2020 by Wine Pleasures
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
When I discovered that the Italian Food Wine and Travel group (#ItalianFWT) was tackling Super Tuscans this month, I had a lot of questions, perhaps you do too.
What is a Super Tuscan? Where did this name come from? Are Super Tuscans worth my time & money? How can you find a Super Tuscan? Is the name Super Tuscan still relevant? Are there affordable Super Tuscans out there?
(Scroll to the bottom to see how you can join in the conversation and read the pieces the rest of the writers wrote on Super Tuscans)
What is a Super Tuscan?
Quite honestly, until this piece I had never tasted a Super Tuscan from Tuscany. I have had multiple “Super Tuscan” style wines from California. So, what is the commonly held description of a Super Tuscan anyway?
A Super Tuscan is generally thought of as a blend of Sangiovese with other International red varieties, most commonly Bordeaux varieties, like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.
Of course, it is not that simple. We will get into more of that soon.
Where did this name come from?
The term was first coined in the early 1980’s. Remember the ‘80’s: Madonna, Wall Street claiming that “Greed is good”, big hair, spandex, leg warmers…In the wine world, Wine Collections became a thing, as well as Robert Parker and The Wine Advocate.
A little history
In the 60’s when the Italian DOCs where being set, the Chianti DOC in Tuscany, set rules dictating the percentages of grapes that must and could be part of the wine. Sangiovese was the base, but 10-30% needed to be white grapes at the time and International varieties were not allowed. (These rules have since been adjusted.)
Italian winemakers can be rebels and some winemakers did not want to stick to this formula. Some wanted to make wine that was 100% Sangiovese, some wanted to blend in International varieties. “Fine,” the DOC said,” just don’t put our DOC on it. You can label it as vino de tavola or table wine”. These guys were making high-quality wine and they did not want to just label it table wine. To set these wines apart, the wine media began referring to them as Super Tuscans.
Are Super Tuscans worth my time & money?
Hmm…this was a big question for me. Some of the original Super Tuscan brands like Sassicaia or Tignanello can run up to $250 per bottle. These hit the status of cult wines. Remember when I mentioned the 80’s, Wall Street, and wine collections? Yep, this fit right in. You could show off and brag about your fancy expensive wine portfolio aging away in your cellar. Not my thing.
These wines, like those California Cult Cabs, could be big. This of course was the theme du jour with Parker. Again, not my thing.
But you can find some that are more reasonable, in price at least, and I did. It just took a little research to find.
How can you find a Super Tuscan?
This is another difficulty and one that I ran into in finding a wine for this piece. They have added a couple of additional DOCs like DOC Bolgheri, as well as DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia, which is just for the one winery. In Chianti, the Chianti Classico DOCG now allows 100% Sangiovese wines. There is also the Maremma Toscana DOC. Established in 2011, it allows a wide range of varieties. Other than that, you will need to research and slog through many wines that are listed as IGT Toscana.
Is the name Super Tuscan still relevant?
This, I think, is the big question. The wineries do not use the term, it’s mostly for consumers. Is there still a market out there (maybe old rich white guys) that are looking for these wines as status symbols? Do we need the term to find the style, when in the region the styles tend to vary? I don’t have an answer here. What do you think?
Are there affordable Super Tuscans out there?
I promised to get back to this. And the answer is yes. You can find wines in the $25 to $80 range. Let me tell you about the one I found.
Caiarossa – A Super Tuscan I can get behind.
Truthfully, I don’t know if they would consider themselves a Super Tuscan. While they fit the description, it is not a term you will find on their website. After a bit of searching, I found a local large wine store had several vintages of Caiarossa available. As I am known to do, I researched the winery before heading out to purchase. What I found I liked.
Caiarossa is labeled as IGT Toscana Rosso. The wine itself is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Sangiovese, Petit Verdot and Alicante all from their Serra all’Olio Vineyard. But that is not what made me choose this wine.
The vineyard here is working biodynamically and I like biodynamic wines. The people who pursue biodynamics, tend to be people I like. Those I have met, have a reverence for the earth, and a passion for making good wine. Caiarossa has a section of their site devoted to explaining their use of the practice.
A Biodynamic preparation being sprayed in the vineyard at Caiarossa in Tuscany Photo courtesy of Caiarossa
In the vineyard at Caiarossa Photo courtesy of Caiarossa
Soil and biodynamic preparation at Caiarossa Photo courtesy of Caiarossa
Soil map for Caiarossa’s Serra all’Olio vineyard, Photo courtesy of Caiarossa
The Barrique room at Caiarossa in Tuscany Photo courtesy of Caiarossa
Varietal map of blocks at Caiarossa’s Serra all’Olio Vineyard in Tuscany, courtesy Caiarossa
The team at Caiarossa. Photo Courtesy Caiarossa
The story of Caiarossa
Caiarossa began in 1998, and in 2004 was acquired by Eric Albada Jelgersma, a Dutch businessman. They also own 2 Grand Crus Classes in Margaux, Chateau Giscours and Chateau du Tertre.
They are located in Maremma, near the Tuscan Coast in the Val di Cecina. The hills around them offer protection from the cold north winds, while the Tyrrhenian Sea to their west provides cool breezes to keep the vineyard from being to warm. The Vineyard is near the small town of Riparbella which sits between the ancient city of Volterra and Pisa. Soils here on the Serra all’Olio Vineyard include clay, silt, sand, limestone and gravel. The planting density is 9,0,00 plants per hectare.
The logo of the winery is an ancient clay sculpture of the head of the Greek God Dionysus. Dionysus was the ancient god of wine and theatre (both things I am quite fond of). The sculpture dates from the 4th Century BC and was discovered near the city of Volterra.
So, biodynamics, the beauty of the spot, the reverence for history, art, and earth. Yep, if I was going to pick up a Super Tuscan, this sounded like the right choice for me. But I still didn’t know if I was going to like what was in the glass.
2013 Caiarossa
Caiarossa 2013 from IGT Toscana
I opened this with preconceptions. I knew it was likely to be big. The label told me the alcohol was sitting at 14.5%. So, when I put the glass to my nose, I was surprised. The wine was balanced, no heat hitting my nose. And the nose! This was complex (well, I mean with that many grapes), and intriguing. I spent quite a bit of time going back to the glass.
Appearance: Deep Ruby
Nose: Pronounced intensity, with notes of terracotta, black fruit, prune, damp hay, eucalyptus, sweet tobacco, leather, fig, black currant, and Chinese 5 spice.
Palate: Dry with suede-like tannins. It numbed my gums, and coated my mouth, but smoothed away quickly. The body was medium, and it had high acidity, so I knew this was going to be brilliant with food. I got black plum, red fruit, cranberry, and notes of spice and violet.
Finish: The finish was medium.
All in all, Michael and I really enjoyed this wine. I wasn’t expecting that. It was lively in the glass and I kept returning to the nose on it.
Will I buy a Super Tuscan again?
That is another good question. I think there is so much variety out there, and so many other wines, I’m not sure how much I will explore the genre of Super Tuscans. I will however purchase a Caiarossa again. This was a great experience and for $59.99, I am willing to test the waters further with their wines for special occasions.
The Italian Food Wine Travel Group (#ItalianFWT)
On Saturday June 27, the Italian Food Wine Travel Group will gather on Twitter following hashtag #ItalianFWT to discuss Super Tuscans. Feel free to hop on and join the conversation. It begins at 8am PST or a more reasonable 11am EST. Jill of L’Occasion at the lead. You can read her invitation here.
This group of writers, all spent time formulating their thoughts on Super Tuscans to share with you in the pieces below. Give them a read!
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
