These days, the estate is run by Aldo’s three sons, Giacomo, Franco and Stefano with Aldo “popping in” every so often to offer his expertise. Giacomo, so affable like his father, made time for us as his vineyards approached harvest time, inviting us into his tasting room to discuss the Cru Cicala 2005 and 2007. The Cicala vineyard is situated on south-southwest hills comprised of clay calcareous soils. After a mid October harvest, the must remains in contact with the skins for 28 days and eventually, after several decantings in stainless steel tanks, finds it’s way into large Slavonian barrels for 28-30 months. The result is a wine that’s firmly structured, with great fruit and spice, a long finish and worthy of your cellar.
Luca Currado of Vietti estate www.vietti.com, is unquestionably one of stars of the Barolo region, producing coveted single cru Barolos as well as outstanding Barbarescos, Barberas and even a fabulous everyday Dolcetto. Even in the midst of active harvesting, Luca welcomed us warmly to his estate during our Piedmont video tour last September, guiding us through the winery and wine tastings. While the wines continue their ascent to excellence vintage after vintage, it seems that Luca has truly hit his stride with the 2006 and 2007 vintages, perhaps the best of his lifetime!
In this video, we asked Luca to share his thoughts about his Barbaresco Masseria and Barolo Castiglione ( a blend of grapes from four vineyards). As you’ll see in the video, these wines are simply delicious as Luca continues to overachieve vintage after vintage. He’ll be visiting in both Tucson and Phoenix on January 30th and 31rst respectively as our featured guest in wine pairing dinners. Check our Local Event Calendar for all the details. This is one wine pairing event that shouldn’t be missed!
We have a stash of all of these and I am always impressed as to their consistency in flavor and structure. While visiting the Nipozzano estate last summer, we tasted two wines that I’ve never enjoyed, the Benefizio Chardonnay and Momoreto, a Tuscan blend of Cab Sauvignon, Cab Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot, yielding an almost Bordeaux like profile. Listen as Leonardo takes us through the tastings. It’s hard not to race out the door and pick some up.
Tucson wine manager Gil Fraijo chose a late vintage bottle (LBV) along with few Tawnys that worked their magic with the different style of chocolates. Trust me, marrying port with rich chocolate creates a whole new dimension in taste. While younger Ruby Port is filled with beautiful red fruits, the deeper and richer Tawnys, especially well aged vintage styles, bring coffee, chocolate, toffee and caramel notes to the table. If you’ve not tried ports, it’s definitely worth the experience. And best of all, they’re very affordable, even at aged vintage level.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Sarah is not actively involved. In fact, it’s often her palate that determines which wine will become everyday or the collectible “Love” series.
In this video, Sparky tells us why their unique and trademark irrigation process, is key to the fruit expression of all of their wines. It’s an amazing system and as you’ll learn, unbelievably labor intensive. It’s worth the effort to link on to their site for the video which details the system. Here’s the link:
Despite his frantic pace, Piero, accompanied his wonderful daughter Alessia, kindly made time for us, offering a magnificent wine tasting and luncheon. This is the first in a several part series of interviews with Piero, discussing here the greatness of the Sangiovese grape and the special terroir of the Chianti region.
In Part II of my interview with manager Justin Ove, he takes me through these wines and few more. All of the wines were from the 2009 vintage with the exception of the 2010 Gimme Some Skins. I have to tell you that I’m really impressed with their line of reds and wines. Like so many other vintners, Eric is high on Malvasia and other Mediterranean blends. The good news here is that all the wines are pricied so that all of us can enjoy them.
Similar to so many of the grapes successfully cultivated in Arizona, the Malvasia has its roots in the Mediterranean region, Greece specifically. Today, regions such as Croatia, Slovenia, Australia and Brazil grow the grape. Clearly, Justin and owner of Page Springs Cellars, Eric Glomski, are very enthusiastic about its future and why not. The wines are lively, citrusy and floral and make for outstanding food matches.
We joined Giacomo for a tasting of his 2006 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino and the collectible single vineyard Cerretalto, 2004 and Tenuta Nuova, 2006. While the Casanova di Neri Brunello fabulous, the single vineyard wines are simply elevated to another level. These are wines that should be in cellar of any serious wine collector.
Giacomo was just beginning harvest when we caught up with him (and his son) in early September. He graciously took some time out to speak with us about his wines and the 2010 and 2011 vintages. In this video, he focuses upon his “entry” level Rosso di Montalcino wines. While they’re everyday drinking wines, he makes it clear that they still have some aging potential. Stay tuned for our follow up video as Giacomo highlights his award winning Brunellos. By the way, we showed up just as the staff was dumping a lot of grapes into the destemmer and sorter…………..Take a look at the video at the end………
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