Muddy Boots

Corrections to DS site

Finally got around to correcting some errors on the Domenico Selections site. Flavia is no longer Matilde.  Monte di Fice is no longer oaked -- well, it never was, but I made a mistake and there it was, allegedly oaked.  And so forth and so on.

Next up: major additions to the site as we bring in more wines from more producers and a couple of new regions.    

Caught in the act!

Keith Beavers, the East Village Wine Geek, is not only a blogger in the traditional sense, he's a fanatical Tweeter (user of Twitter).  So yesterday when I was at In Vino, his wine bar/resto in Alphabet City, he pulled out his iPhone and caught me at the end of a long, frustrating, thirsty day...

I've decided to be photographed only when the shades are on.

It's better from the bottle.

Terra di Vento "Petrale" Aglianico 2006 scores 92

I got tearsheets of the June issue of Wine & Spirits magazine today, specifically of the pages where two Domenico Selections wines are given good thumbnail reviews.  The roundup is of Southern Italians, so not surprisingly our two featured wines are both from Campania Felix. The labels will be there so even if you're blasting through the pages, chances are they'll register with you.  

We're very pleased that our coastal Aglianico from Terra di Vento, "Petrale," scored a 92.  The review states, in part, "Grown in clay and chalk soils in the foothills south of Salerno, it has the structure and definition of wines from mountain regions like Avellino or Monte Vulture, yet there's a sweet warmth and brightness to its core of fresh fruit (red plum, green figs)."

I appreciate this description though I take exception to it.  To my mind this is clearly a coastal wine, far softer and less fierce than the mountain wines.  It's ready to drink a lot earlier, its tannins are tamer -- and, yes, the "sweet warmth and brightness" are very evident in the "core of fresh fruit."  That and a reasonable price point (around $22) have helped make this a very good seller for us.

*****

The other wine, rated a 88 and a Best Buy, is the Greco di Tufo from Angelarosa.  The review mentions golden delicious apples, a "sandy" minerality and an herbal aspect.  Also about $22 retail.   

I'm still processing "sandy"...

 

McDuff reviews Boccella's Rasott 2006

David McDuff has posted a fair and largely positive of this wine on his blog, McDuff's Food and Wine Trail.  I contributed the first comment, which I hope elucidates a couple of things.

This wine was previously reviewed by Fredric Koeppel on Bigger Than Your Head.  Here's that link.

 

Great beauty shot of product.

Pulled from McDuff's blog.

Last pour: the one down the drain

When I bought all my wine at retail, I was as a child.  I never poured any down the drain.  Almost never.  It had to be absolutely poisonous, rank and life-threateningly over-sulfured for me to throw my hard-earned pennies (pennies is right -- most of the wine was pretty cheap) into the kitchen sink.  I drank it because, damn it, I’d paid for it.

My my.  How things have changed.  I have put away childish things.   

Last night, for example, I poured the sometimes substantial remains of five bottles down the sink.  There was one bad bottle, yes, but the others were perfectly fine.  The only thing wrong with them was that they’d been sitting in the fridge for days -- we just couldn’t consume them.  I’m on a plane to Virginia now.  Ken heads to California on Monday.  The neighbors can’t drink all this stuff.     

The remaining half-bottles of tasting samples aren’t going to get any better over the better part of a week.  So -– dump ‘em.

This despite that fact that, damn it, I’d already paid for the wine. I don’t like it, but it’s inevitable.  This sacred, mysterious liquid becomes a commodity.  Not as much as the heap of condiments you toss out when the diner delivers your hamburger, but a commodity nevertheless. 

I try not to think too much about this necessary waste.  (Necessary both to protect my health and the business, since you can’t take stale wine when you present to a new or existing customer.)  But sometimes, as I’m pouring, I envision the unremitting labor of the producer.  I fret, “What would Luigi say if he saw this?”  “Sorry, Raffaele!  Sorry, Francesco!”  Guilt wracks me.

If it’s a bad bottle?  I curse the producer.  Loud and often.  After all, "I paid for this damned wine, you careless son of a bitch!"

Some practical advice for Italian wine producers

In a recent email exchange with an Italian producer, whose wines we hope to import, I wrote:

As you know, these are very hard times here, and even the restaurants and wine shops with a reputation for high quality (and prices) are buying much less expensive wines now.  People want their wine, but they're paying less for it.  The more expensive ones aren't selling at all.  I know you were a bit shocked by the price we proposed, but to introduce your wines to the US, in these times, it's the only practical way.

Anyone who sells wine, at any level in the distribution chain, will assent to this in an instant.

Aside from waking up and observing market reality, Italian producers can reduce their costs by taking a few simple steps.  The most obvious and important of them is ecologically responsible and a boon to merchants and consumers alike:

Use lighter, less expensive bottles.   

Yes, folks, it's that simple.  

How many times have I struggled to fit an extra-long bottle into my Winecruzer or a box?  How many times have I lugged a thick, superheavy bottle around town all day?  For a wine that sells on the shelf for about $10?  

That's crazy.  It costs more to ship, contributes to the combustion of more petroleum products and does nothing but satisfy the ego of the producer -- or is expressive of his misguided marketing acumen.  He may think he's sending a signal to the market that his wine is important or of high quality.  

To me it's just as much a signal that he's trying to cover what he perceives to be a deficiency in the wine.  

The Domenico Selections Soave producer, I Stefanini, uses standard-issue Bordeaux-style bottles for all their wines.  Francesco Tessari saves money on these bottles and passes the savings on to us and, ultimately, to the consumer.  His wines are great, and their price/quality ratio makes them even better.

One more suggestion for Italian wine producers -- one that very few of them seem willing to consider for a moment: use screw caps.  If your wine will retail for (say) under $15 in the States, trust me, it's meant for early drinking.  The screw cap may not scream "class," but it does suggest that the wine is fresh and easy to drink.  Embrace that idea.  

Though I must add: if you're keeping the cork, use a good one.  Do not compromise on the quality of the cork.  Save me a lot of expense, embarrassment and the inevitable volley of curses that are the sound track of my higher blood pressure when I open a bad bottle.  Do it for old Strappo.

    

Dr. Debs digs biodynamic

Specifically Trasubie, a Sangiovese (85%) Syrah (15%) blend from the Montecucco zone of Tuscany.  The wine is from Schiaccionaia, a certified biodynamic farm.  

In today's post, "Think Spring, Think Sangiovese," Deb Harkness of Good Wine under $20 says this about the Trasubie 2006:

I loved the aromas of leather, sour cherries, and earth that were my introduction to the wine. These were followed up by flavors that were leathery, with nice spicy clove and cherry as well. The wine had a smooth finish, and will please traditionalists who are looking for a wine that is nicely balanced between fruit, acidity, and more complex notes. Even though it cost slightly more than $22, I felt this represented excellent QPR given the quality and the complexity it offered.

Click on one of the links above to read the complete review.

To read more about Trasubie and the winery that made it, click here.

 

 

Corrections

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea minima culpa.

It's Good Friday, Lent is winding down, and I must admit my errors of information before my own personal resurrection on Sunday, i.e., my birthday.  Don't ask the number.  Suffice it to say that if you tried to clap through the years, you'd wind up with some nasty blisters.

First, when I walked up to the Vinitaly stand where Nunzio Aurisicchio (Angelarosa) and his wife were on duty, the missus immediately exclaimed, "Why did you call me Matilde?" She was referring to one of my posts. I got her daughter's name right, but somehow managed to understand Matilde for hers.  "My name is Flavia!"  

Oh snap.

 

"Matilde", allegedly Flavia, with Dalila and Nunzio 

*****

There are a few more errors on the Domenico Selections site, which I swear will be corrected rather soon.

* On the specs page of I Stefanini's Monte di Fice, I wrote -- again unaccountably -- that the wine resides a while in oak.  No, not true.  No wood.  It's the minerality of the volcanic soil and the holding-back of the wine for over a year before release that creates the impression.  And the partial malolactic fermentation.

* On the Borgo di Gete page of Reale's winery, I incorrectly wrote that the wine spent 10 months in oak.  No, no, it's 15 months.  

To err is human, to forgive uncommon.

What does ripasso mean?

I've been using this word to describe the San Vito from Villa Monteleone, so I thought I'd give you the first part of the definition provided in the Oxford Companion to Wine:

ripasso

Italian term meaning literally 'repassed', for the technique of adding extra flavour, and alcohol, to valpolicella by re-fermenting the young wine on the unpressed skins of amarone wines after these dried grape wines have finished their fermentation in the spring. 

Though this is the "proper" or legally defined way to produce ripasso, a sort of "baby Amarone" (as it's been described), a more expensive and better-quality option is to use dried grapes that are being used for the first time, which cuts the bitter tannins that result from the strictly defined ripassimento.  

I prefer ripasso to Amarone, in general.  It's more balanced, less sweet, usually has less alcohol and accompanies a meal far more pleasurably than Amarone.  Ripasso you can drink all the time; Amarone has to be reserved for special times -- cold weather, big heavy dishes, holidays.  And then there's its high cost.  To my mind, ripasso is a far better deal for the really smart winelover.

Un ottimo ripasso per voi

"An excellent ripasso for you."

 

That's what the headline means, and we really mean it!  Domenico Selections is pleased to announce that we will be offering the ripasso "San Vito" from Villa Monteleone in Valpolicella by the time autumn arrives.  Maybe earlier.  

If you've been reading mondosapore for the past few years, you'll recall that I've written about the wines of Villa Monteleone and the charming Lucia Duran Raimondi several times (like here).  We've stayed at her B&B a few times and prefer the gorgeous San Vito suite when we can get it.  The San Vito is our favorite room there, and it's our favorite wine.    

We'll be taking delivery of the San Vito 2004, which is at a fine stage in its development. This ripasso balances power with elegance, combining good structure with that enticing, characteristic cherry flavors and aromas so characteristic of Valpolicella.

Sorry the picture is blurry.  The photographer was an idiot!

A few days ago we had dinner with Lucia and tasted her new vintages.  The 2007 Valpolicella classico, Santa Lena, was absolutely delicious, a wine with far more depth and complexity than you'd expect from a "base" wine of the region.  Frankly, it was something altogether different from the 2006, which we hadn't cared for at all.  (This is what happens sometimes.  You know, when you don't produce a totally manufactured wine.) 

The 2006 ripasso and Amarone were also superb and showed great promise. Click here for a link to a JancisRobinson.com roundup of newer Amarones; Villa Monteleone ranks high on the list.

We're delighted to work with Lucia and thrilled to offer Villa Monteleone wine to the New York - New Jersey area.    

   

We add two producers to our portfolio

Last week at Vinitaly, we were pleased to sign agreements to import the wines of two additional producers, Musto-Carmelitano of Basilicata and Mustilli of Campania.

A newcomer to the scene, young Elisabetta Musto-Carmelitano, has made an auspicious debut with her Aglianico del Vulture.  She grows only Aglianico and, as I mentioned in a mondosapore post last year, some of those vines approach a century in age.  Please click here and here for articles and pictures of Betty, her family and the vineyards.  

Domenico Selections is importing her Serra del Prete and Pian del Moro wines, which we expect to be in the USA before the end of summer.  Each of the wines is a cru, with the Serra del Prete spending no time in wood, while the Pian del Moro ages in tonneaux. Total production is less than 750 cases a year, and we hope eventually to persuade her to sell it all to us!

Northern Basilicata is the home of the Aglianico del Vulture DOC.  The band running from Rionero to Maschito is the best part of that production area.

As you may know, the Aglianico del Vulture zone of Basilicata is one of the best and most distinctive areas for wines made of the Aglianico grape.  The soil is volcanic, and the wines have a pronounced minerality that recalls the fierceness of the soil and terrain. Powerful, deep-colored, savory with fruit and herbs, this is the type of wine that you remember once you've tasted it.  Betty's vineyards are in Maschito, a village in the very heart of the Aglianico del Vulture DOC.      

(In case you're wondering, we always use refrigerated trucks and containers, so summertime shipments are not a problem.  We also use Gori of Livorno to pick up and ship -- the best such company in Italy.)  

By contrast, the Mustilli family and azienda agricola are well-known to winelovers in America.

I first met Paola Mustilli three years ago at a tasting in New York, and we have remained in touch ever since. Although at the time I had no thought of ever importing, I was intrigued by the story of Leonardo

 Mustilli's campaign to "rescue" the Falanghina grape from obscurity -- indeed, from possible disappearance in the rush to a misguided modernity.  Click here for that fascinating story, and here for notes of the first tasting.  The only thing that I would alter is my overpraise for the Falanghina of that period.  It's a far better wine now, cleaner and crisper, bursting with minerality and a beautiful balance of acidity and fruit.  (I loved the reds, especially the Cesco di Nece -- and, obviously, still do.)

Our favorite Campanians at the Grande Fiera

We met with some of our Campanian producers at Vinitaly the other day, and I'm only just getting to a brief post with new pictures.  I haven't cropped or adjusted them, but at least I'll take the time to give you a few captions, some of which will actually be informative. 

Luigi Reale of Reale, whose new vintages composed of Tintore and Piedirosso, red and rosato, will be sensational when they hit the market.  Unidentified American moved during the taking of this picture.  Americans are a restless people.


Raffaele Boccella with his wife Angela, whose mission in life is to overfeed her America guests with delicious home-grown, -raised and -slaughtered food.  We were very happy with Raffaele's 2006 Rasott and will be at least as happy with the 2007.  The Taurasis are developing splendidly; the 2005 will be available this fall.  The sample of the 2006 Taurasi shows immense promise.  It will be released early next year.

Roberto Nicodemi and his wife Maria Luisa Zottola of Terra di
Vento.  The 2007 Fiano is stunning.  The 2007 Aglianico ("Petrale") has a fresher fruit profile than the so-far wildly popular 2006.  We are well pleased