Vinitaly 2009, Part 4

Saturday morning we were back for our final day of Vinitaly 2009. Dad and I would have to make it on our own without any translation help from Megan, and we had a lot of wineries we still wanted to visit. With more crowds also expected, it was imperative that we maximize our time to get to as many producers as we could.

We began our morning back in the Veneto region, as we needed to get by to see our friend Tiziano Accordini. He was initially busy and asked if we could come back in about 30 minutes, so off we went to find a way to kill a bit of time. One winery we had both been hearing about but had not actually tasted their wines was Marion, so that's where we decided to stop. It turns out that Marion is a small, family-run operation headed by Stefano Campedelli and his wife. We began our tasting with their 2007 Valpolicella, followed by the 2005 Valpolicella Superiore (some grapes for this are partially dried for 40 days, with the others late-harvested). From there, we were offered a trio of IGT wines, the 2005 Teroldego, the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2004 Calto. These wines all have some interesting traits, as the first two are monovarietals where the grapes are partially aged, while the Calto is a "blend" of Amarone and Valpolicella. We then finished with a very good 2005 Amarone and the 2002 Passito Bianco. Overall, this is a winery to look out for - they are doing some different things, and seem to be hitting on most of them. If you find any of these wine sin the US, I'd definitely recommend them.

After this great start, we returned to meet with Tiziano. The Accordini lineup was stellar once again, with the 2008 Valpolicella starting us off, followed by the 2006 Valpolicella Ripasso and the 2006 IGT Passo that includes 20%Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot in the blend. After that, we moved on to the 2005 Amarone, followed by the excellent 2001 Amarone Il Fornetto, and finally the 2005 Recioto. Again, these wines are all great examples of the Veneto, and are very reasonably priced where available.

Our last visit of the morning was with another Veneto favorite, Tommaso Bussola. We had tasted with Tommaso's wife Daniella last year and she was there to welcome us again this year, along with Tommaso himself. Once again, we were treated to a great lineup from this top-notch producer. We began with a trio of Valpolicellas, the 2006 normale, the 2004 Ripasso Ca' del Laito, and the 2004 Superiore TB. Unfortunatley, something has happened with the TB, as the wine seemed a bit tainted or possibly oxidized. The Bussolas are unsure what has happened, as no other wines of theirs are showing this. Next up was the latest vintage from the always interesting IGT, the 2004 L'Errante before moving on to the Amarones. We began with the 2003 Amarone Classico, followed by the 2004 Vigneto Alto, which was very good but a little sweet, before finishing with the 2004 TB Riserva, which I thought was the best of the group. Finally, there were three sweet wines, the 2006 Passito Bianco Peagna, the 2006 Recioto, and the 2004 Recioto TB, which is very sweet but great. Overall, another great lineup from Bussola that in my opinion affirms this winery's standing among the top echelon of the region.

At this point, it was a natural spot for lunch before beginning our afternoon. A break following some very sweet Reciotos would help the palates as we moved on to other regions, and we needed time to set a plan of attack for what would be an epic afternoon.