Vinitaly 2011, Part 2

After a refueling stop at our favorite Vinitaly eatery (the Pad 8 cafeteria), we were ready for a busy afternoon. With about 4 hours of time remaining, we decided to spend a little more time in Tuscany before heading to the Veneto. Our first stop was another of Chianti’s top estates (though one better known for their Supertuscans than Chiantis), Castello di Rampolla. We began with the 2008 Chianti Classico, then followed with the 2009 Chianti Classico before moving to the big guns. The 2006 Sammarco was solid as usual, but the real star was the 2006 D’Alceo, which had lots of dark fruit and a long finish. It was definitely one of my top wines of the week.

Our final stop of the day in Tuscany was Il Poggione. I had met assistant winemaker Alessandro Bindocci at a tasting in Atlanta a few months ago, and he was nice enough to take a few minutes of time out from a group he was already with to speak with us. We discussed my initial thoughts on the 2006 in Atlanta (which had been delayed from his visit, but tasted on a Friday night later with the 2003 and 2004 Riservas) and Alessandro made sure we were taken care of before returning to his meeting. He continued to check up on us as we went through the lineup of the 2009 Rosso, the 2006 Brunello and the 2005 Brunello Riserva, which were all very good.

At this point we were close to our appointed time to meet friends in the Veneto pavilion so we began to head in that direction. Along the way, finding out they were a few minutes away still, we stopped in at the Campania producer Terredora di Paolo. I’ve become a big fan of their red wines, but we actually decided to start with their whites. We went through a trio of very nice wines, the 2010 Falanghina, the 2010 Greco di Tufo, and the 2010 Fiano di Avellino. These are all whites I’d buy to accompany a light seafood dish, though I preferred the Falanghina and Fiano. After the three whites we realized we needed to head on, so we did not get into their excellent lineup of reds, instead promising to return. Alas, we never did, as we just ran short on time on the week.

Finally, we made it over to the Veneto pavilion, and specifically a group of smaller producers. We met our friends Dominic and Roberta, and went to visit Dominic’s client Tiziano Accordini. Tiziano was busy, so we took the opportunity to first taste the wines of Lorenzo Begali. Lorenzo’s son Giordano began with us, pouring the 2010 Valpolicella and the 2009 Ripasso. Giordano’s sister Tiliana then took over, offering us the 2007 Tigiolo IGT, the 2007 Amarone, and the 2006 Amarone Ca Bianca. Lorenzo himself actually stopped by before we finished with the 2008 Recioto. Overall, it was an impressive lineup once again from this family operation, and I look forward to searching out several of these wines.

Tiziano was now free, so we moved across the aisle to taste the latest wines of Stefano Accordini, which Dominic imports. Here we again started with the brand new 2010 Valpolicella, followed by the 2008 Ripasso. We then had the 2008 Passo IGT before moving to the big guns. We had the 2007 Amarone, the 2004 Il Fornetto Amarone, and finally the 2007 Recioto. The whole lineup was good, with the Passo a great QPR option, while the Il Fornetto is definitely one of the top Amarones anywhere below the Dal Forno/Quintarelli level. As always Tiziano was great to visit with, and his son was also there with him. Like the Begalis, they are a family-run operation, and extremely gracious. It is wonderful to be able to taste great wines made by such great people.

Our last two stops were with larger producers, though the first of these can still seem like a smaller family operation. Anyone who is familiar with my prior visit to Vinitaly knows about our meeting with Giuseppe Campagnola, who was so nice to us at dinner one evening and then spent a great deal of time tasting with us at Vinitaly two years ago. When we stopped by the booth this time, he was initially busy, but eventually found his way over to us and was as friendly as ever. We began our tasting with the 2009 Valpolicella, followed by the 2009 Ripasso. We the moved to the 2008 Valpolicella Caterina Zardini before trying the 2007 Amarone. We concluded with a very good 2006 Amarone Caterina Zardini and the 2009 Recioto. This was another good lineup from Campagnola, once again reminding me of how disappointed I have been in trying to find their wines here in the US. The Caterina Zardini wines are definitely top-quality wines that are among the upper tier of Veneto wines in my opinion.

Our final stop of a wonderful first day was at one of the biggest names in the Veneto, Zenato. Our group of five (Dominic and Roberta were still with us) was welcomed graciously and brought into the booth to sit at a table for tasting. We decided to begin with their whites, a 2010 Lugana and 2008 Lugana Sergio Zenato. I’ve had very little Lugana, but these were enjoyable, and wouldn’t be the only Luganas we tasted on the trip. Following these whites, we moved to the reds with two of my favorite QPRs, the 2008 Valpolicella and 2008 Ripasso. I buy these wines in most vintages, and the 2008s are once again solid performers. We then jumped up to the 2006 Amarone, the 2005 Sergio Zenato Amarone, and finally the 2006 Recioto, the first Zenato has ever made. The 2006 Amarone is great (and available at some US retailers for a steal) and the Recioto is outstanding – I hope it ends up as widely available as most of the Zenato line.

At this point it was past 6 pm and we had dinner reservations at 7 pm at the Bottega del Vino with a great group of folks, so it was time to go. There was some scrambling to be done though, as we needed to find Mario (who was joining us for dinner) before heading out. I’ll just say it was a blur of Mom, Dad, and I running about for 20-30 minutes, finding Mario but not all of us getting back, and finally getting on a shuttle bus, where we somehow managed to get to the restaurant right at 7. I’ll detail that dinner in a later post recapping the meals of the trip. Next up will be the recap of Friday morning, where we returned to the Tuscany pavilion.