Two from the Veneto

I've had a pair of wines from a couple of my favorite producers in the Veneto over the past few weeks, one that's been a regular, and one the is a rarity around here these days. First up was the regular, the 2007 Brig'aldara Valpolicella. It hadn't been too long since my last bottle, but with this wine being available for a song locally, I've been a big buyer. The wine was just as good this time as last - simple, with lots of bright red fruit. It's a great everyday drinking wine that will go well with a variety of foods.

The next was was a bit more serious, but still a well-priced example of the potential in the Veneto. The 2005 Speri Ripasso adds the extra dimension from the Ripasso method, but is still more of an everyday wine. It's unfortunate that the Speri wines have become more difficult to find around here, as they are a great producer of traditional-styled wines from the Veneto. I definitely recommend searching their wines out if available in other areas.

Catching up, two more Italians

Again, I've fallen behind on blog entries with a lot going on, so I'll do my best to catch up in the coming days. I'll be doubling up by country again, starting with a pair from Italy. Up first was one of my standbys, the 2005 Zenato Ripasso. It's only been a couple of months since my last bottle of this wine, and it remained consistent. The wine isn't blowing me away, but it a solid effort, and a great food wine. I had it with Chicken Cacciatore, and it was a very good match. If you can find it around $20, it's definitely worth it, but at a higher tariff, I'm not sure it outdoes other Ripassos available for less in this vintage.

The next wine was the 2007 Altesino Rosso di Altesino, and IGT Toscana. This is a pretty good, though somewhat simple Sangiovese-based blend. It's from a pretty decent vintage and a great easy-drinking wine for food. It's pretty inexpensive, so a wine I'd recommend as a good everyday purchase to have with a meal.

Two familiar bottles from Italy

The two most recent Italian wines I had were both ones I had tried before. It had actually been a while since my last bottle of the 2004 Feudi di San Gregorio Rubrato, but it remains a favorite. The wine remains very elegant for an Aglianico, especially one at the price of about $16. I highly recommend it.

Up next was the 2006 Cesari Mara Ripasso. I've had this wine in prior vintages, and it really impressed me, so I was pleased that the latest vintage measured up. This is a top-quality Ripasso with plenty of dark fruit flavors and a hint of sweetness. What's even better is the price - at under $20, this is a steal. I seem to only find this wine on occasion, but need to be certain to search out more of it from a very good 2006 vintage.

Two Italians from a decent 2005 vintage

Across much of Italy, it seems that 2004 and 2006 are quite impressive vintages, but 2005 offers up some superb wines as well. I've had a couple of wines from two very different regions recently, and both were quite nice. Up first was the 2005 Fattoria Le Pupille Morrelino di Scansano, which I have had once before. This is a nice, easy drinking food-friendly wine that I quite enjoy. It was consistent with the prior notes I had from a few months ago, with a hint of spice to help round out the profile.

Up next was one of my consistent favorites from year to year, the 2005 Zenato Ripassa. Amazingly, it had been about a year since I last had a bottle of this vintage, and it was just as good, though not necessarily improved. I thought some time would really allow this wine to blossom even more, but I'm not sure it's really evolved much. I'm not complaining though, as it's a very good wine, and with the 2006 getting a lot of hype, the 2005 is getting marked down on local shelves back to the $20 price range. It's definitely a good buy at that price, and still a favorite of mine.

Vinitaly 2009, part 4

It has been quite a while, but finally I am catching up with the last of the Vinitaly reports. Saturday was an amazing (and long) day, and by the end we had tasted an incredible number of wines.

The day began in the Veneto pavilions again, first at a new producer we sought out, Marion. A newer small, family-run production, Marion's wines have been getting great reviews, but are still quite unknown and difficult to find. We began with the 2007 Valpollicella Classico, and then the 2005 Valpolicella Superiore, which is dried for 40 days, and thus really a step up toward Amarone. We then moved to the 2005 Teroldego IGT and the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon IGT, which is also made with a partial drying of the grapes. The 2004 Calto, a blend of Valpolicella and Amarone, was next before finally getting to the 2004 Amarone, which was quite good. We finished with the 2002 Passito Bianco, a sweet white dessert wine that was different but quite good. Overall, this was a great tasting from an up-and-coming producer that I hope to be able to drink more of in the future.

Next we finally made our visit to our friend Tiziano Accordini of Stefano Accordini. After meeting Tiziano last year, Dad was soon contacted by his new importer and they have been able to set up tastings of his wines in Pensacola and get the wines in stock there. Since our return this year, Tiziano has made a visit to the States including a stop in Pensacola where he dined at my parents' house before hosting a tasting the following night. Tiziano has quickly become a good friend, but he also makes some fantastic wines.

We began with the 2008 Valpolicella, which is still very young, but has some potential. Next was the 2006 Ripasso, which is a definite step up. The next wine was the 2006 Passo IGT, which includes 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot in the blend. We then moved on to the Amarones, with the 2005 Amarone normale followed by an outstanding 2001 Il Fornetto Amarone. We finished with the 2005 Recioto, a great example of this type.

Our final stop of the morning was with Tommaso Bussola and his wife Daniela. We met Daniela last year, and she was again a gracious host this year, along with her husband, who is an amazingly talented winemaker. Again, we tasted through an incredibly deep lineup of wines. Up first was the 2006 Valpolicella, followed by the 2004 Valpoliicella Ca del Laito Ripasso, and the 2004 Valpolicella Superiore TB. Unfortunately, this final Valpolicella had some sort of issue, whether there were bad corks or some oxidation that occurred. The Bussolas are very disappointed and not sure what happened, but it only happened with this wine in 2004. From there we quickly rebounded with the 2004 IGT L'Errante, which is modeled on the Quintarelli Alzero (but not quite to that level yet). The Amarones were up next, beginning with the 2003 Amarone Classico. It is a good wine, but the 2004 Amarone Vigneto Alto raises things to another level, though it is a little on the sweet side. The best of the group was the 2004 Amarone Riserva TB, which is a little more balanced and a truly great Amarone. To conclude, the Bussolas had three dessert wines for us, starting with the 2006 Passito Bianco Peagna. We then has the 2006 Recioto and the 2004 Recioto TB Riserva, which is quite sweet, but really a great Recioto.

After all this, we were certainly ready for lunch. Not only were we hungry, but we also needed to refresh our palates as we began what would be an epic afternoon.

My Italian wine tasting

About a month ago, I finally got around to hosting another wine tasting for my friends. I've done several of these in the past, but it had been over a year since the last one. The idea is to choose several affordable and available wines so that anyone who is a wine novice can get some great ideas of wines they might want to purchase.

For this tasting I decided to also center the theme around my trip to Vinitaly, choosing mainly wines from producers we visited on the trip (typically they were older vintages, since most of the newest wines have not yet arrived here). The tasting began with the 2005 Brancaia Tre. This blend of 80% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon has been a favorite everyday wine of mine, and the 2005 vintage is quite good, though maybe not quite as good as the 2004.

Staying in Toscana, we then had the 2006 La Mozza I Perrazzi Morrelino di Scansano. As noted before, this as an excellent value wine, though on this night I didn't think it showed as well.

Up next was the lone selection from a producer we did not visit at Vinitaly, the 2007 Luciano Sandrone Dolcetto d’Alba. Of course, I've had this wine recently, and it is a fantastic selection so I had to include it. I thought it was very good on this night as well.

Our fourth selection was the 2006 Il Poggione Rosso di Montalcino. This was the most expensive selection in the lineup, but I think it was also the best. The wine was showing off a lot of cherry flavors with a longer finish than any other.

Moving south, the next selection was the 2007 Terredora Aglianico, which was as good as its previous tasting a week before. Perhaps because it came after the star of the night it was overlooked, but I still really enjoyed this wine.

The night's red wines concluded with the latest vintage of one of my favorites, the 2006 Zenato Ripassa. I had initially planned on the 2005, but came across a bottle of 2006 at the last moment so went with it. The 2006 has gotten great ratings, but in the end I think it was a little young still, and perhaps the 2005 would have been a better choice. This will still be a great wine I think, but for now it could not step up to the level that Il Poggione had on this night.

Finally, the night concluded with a bottle of 2008 Saracco Moscato. We have tasted the Moscatos from Saracco at Vinitaly each of the past two years, and it really is wonderful. There is so much fruit like apricot as well as floral notes that make this a wonderful way to end an evening.

Overall, I think the tasting offered a great look at some of the best Italy has to offer right now at a great price. I hope everyone that attended agreed and they will seek out some of these wines for themselves. For me, it was another great chance to share my passion with friends, which to me os one of the great joys of wine.

Three more Italians

Yes, I seem to be drinking quite a lot of Italian wine lately, and these three all offered some great quality. Up first was the 2007 Sandrone Dolcetto d'Alba, the latest vintage of a wine that has been fantastic the prior two years. I am pleased to report that the 2007 manages to stand up quite favorably to the 2006, and is a very pleasant fruity wine. It is again a great food wine, able to match up well with a variety of foods.

Up next was the 2004 Secco Bertani Valpolicella Ripasso. This was also a repeat wine, and was consistent with my prior tasting back in December. It is a very nice Ripasso that offers plenty of drinking pleasure at a great price (a good bit less than Zenato or Allegrini's similar quality offerings).

Finally, I had another bottle of the 2004 Angelini Val di Suga Rosso di Montalcino. I've had this wine multiple times, and I think this may have been its best performance yet. The wine seems to just now be entering it peak window, and over two nights was really showing all it had. There was a lot of cherry and other red fruit, and the wine just seemed in perfect balance. I think this wine still has a couple of years of life, but it certainly seems that the great 2004 vintage is now beginning to show its full potential in the Rosso di Montalcinos.

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.

Vinitaly 2009, Part 1

And now, we finally get to the real meat of the Italy trip, our 3 days at Vinitaly 2009. Thursday and Saturday were two full days, and we really put up quite a pace. There is just so much there, and though you try to make sure to get to as much as you can, you know that it is absolutely impossible to get to everything you would like to taste. Having experienced things once, I even tried my best to have some sort of plan of attack for us, but we would still not even come close to getting through all I had hoped. Thursday morning's start was somewhat slow as we got into the swing of things, but we spent a great deal of time visiting some of the wineries at the top of our list. We were also trying to make sure that we were able to see several of the people we had met previously, and that we could spend some time with them discussing their latest releases.

As we did last year, we began our first day in the Veneto pavilion after finally getting inside. We met up with Megan, and made out first stop at Giuseppe Campagnola. Of course, we had met Giuseppe the previous evening, and he was there to greet us upon our arrival. We sat down and began our tasting through his wonderful lineup of new releases. We started with the 2006 Caterina Zardini Valpolicella, then move don to the 2007 Corte Agnella, an IGT that is 100% Corvina. Next up was the 2005 Campagnola Amarone, which was still a bit tannic, followed by the 2004 Caterina Zardini Amarone, which we had drank the prior evening. It was just as good as the prior night, fully deserving of the 3 Glasses from Gambero Rosso. We then finished with the 2006 Recioto and the NV Fortificato, also tasted the prior night. Having Giuseppe there to walk us through everything of course made it an even better experience, and it was the perfect way to start out at Vinitaly.

Next we made a quick stop at Brig'aldara, where we tried the 2007 Valpolicella (still a bit young) and the 2004 Amarone Case Vecie. As mentioned in other posts, we had plenty of Brig'aldara wine on the trip, and they remain a favorite of mine from the Veneto.

Our next stop was one of the biggest names of the region, Zenato. Amazingly, last year we did not make it here, so this was a new experience for us. I'm pleased to say it did not disappoint, as we went through a great lineup of wines. We actually began with the NV Lugana, a sparkling white similar to Champagne. From there, we went into the reds with the 2007 Valpolicella (a little better than the Brig'aldara), the 2006 Cormi IGT (a blend of Corvina and Merlot), and the 2006 Ripassa, a favorite of mine in most every vintage. The next wine was a new one for us - the 2006 Cresasso IGT, a 100% Corvina Veronese selection that was quite nice. Finally, we were able to taste two Amarones, the 2005 Amarone normale and the 2003 Riserva Sergio Zenato, which was really amazing and one of the best Amarones we would have.

After Zenato, we proceeded to Lorenzo Begali, where son Giordano was once again there to host us (along with his sister Tiliana). We started here with the 2008 Valpolicella, then the 2007 Ripasso and the 2005 Tigiolo IGT. After that came a trio of Amarones, starting with the 2005 Amarone normale. We then tried two vintages of the Ca' Bianca Amarone, the 2004 and 2003. The '03 is already drinking well, but the younger 2004 has all the potential of a real blockbuster. We finished with the 2005 Recioto that was sweeter but still not overpowering.

All in all, it was a great start to the day. At this point, we went ahead and took our lunch break before embarking on an afternoon in the Toscana pavilion, which will come in the next entry.

2004 Secco Bertani Valpolicella Ripasso

One of my favorite choices from the Veneto over the past few years has been the Ripasso from one of the most well-known producers in the region. The 2004 Secco Bertani Valpolicella does not disappoint. It offers a bit of the complexity that comes from the Ripasso method, but is still very fresh with good fruit.

The wine is also still very fairly priced at about $15, making it more in the value range that the comparable wines of Allegrini and Zenato have since soared past. At the same price I might prefer Zenato's Ripasso, but it is not worth the $10 more it costs in most stores these days. For a better value, the Bertani is definitely a winner.

2005 Zenato Ripassa

One of my favorite wines year in and year out is the Ripasso-styled Veronese wine from Zenato (Ripasso wines are Valpolicellas that are put through the Amarone racks after those grapes are dried). Having had several vintages, my initial though is that the 2005 Zenato Ripassa may be one of the best of the past few years. This wine is holding nothing back from the first pour - a great nose, and plenty of fruit right from the start. There's also plenty of stuffing here, with some tannins and complexity to suggest that this wine will hold up for a few years.

I always try to put at least one bottle from each good vintage away for a few years and have found that these wines can age well for 4-5 years with no problem. The 2005 should be no different, and in my opinion could even improve with a year or two of bottle aging. One caveat I will give - I drank this wine much more regularly when it was $16 or so, but over the past 2-3 years the price has jumped quite dramatically in most stores. It often now sells for $25 or more, a price point that I find hard to take. The 2005 vintage may be good enough to justify that price, but there are other good ripasso-styled wines for much less. If you can find this wine for under $20, then it's still a great value. I have been able to still find a couple of places that will sell it for this price, and that's when I make sure to pick up some.

Oh, and one other note to pass along from last week - I had another bottle of the 2004 Rubrato from Feudi di San Gregorio and it was consistent with my prior notes from June.

More from Vinitaly - Veneto

A rather nasty cold has curtailed my wine intake over the past week, so I'll use this time to try to catch up with more notes from Vinitaly. Today I'll tackle the Veneto. Rather than one massive day of tasting from the home region of Vinitaly, we spread these out over the full 5 days. Unfortunately, my Thursday notes were a bit incomplete, so I've not got much other than the producers for the first few.

Our initial tasting at Vinitaly was with the wines of Brig'aldara. From my recollection, we tasted their Valpolicella, Ripasso, and Amarone. All were solid if not spectacular, though I must also note here that we drank the Valpolicella with lunch one day on the trip (by the glass), and also the 2003 Amarone at dinner one night in Venice. The 03 Amarone especially was quite good.

Up next at Vinitaly was Speri. Here, we were lucky enough to have one of the members of the Speri family (son Luca) guide our tasting of the La Roverina Valpolicella, the Sant'Urbano Valpolicella, the Ripasso, and the Amarone. Luca was really great at giving us lots of info on the wines as well as the Speri philosophy - they are focused on a very traditional style, producing more elegant wines that will typically require some age. I have to admit that I was not high on Speri before this, but the tasting really opened my eyes, and I look forward to drinking more of their wines. In fact, we did actually drink a bottle of their Amarone Friday night at dinner. We had plenty of choices too, as that dinner was at the Bottega del Vino in Verona, one of the great restaurants for wine you will ever come across.

Our last producer on Day 1 was Giuseppe Campagnola. There we tasted a Valpolicella, followed by two Amarones, the Amarone Classico as well as the Amarone Caterina Zardini.

Saturday, we got another treat when we went to the booth of Tommaso Bussola. After some initial difficulty, we were seated and hosted by a woman who we would discover to be Daniella Bussola, wife of Tommaso. She proceeded to guide us through an extended tasting of several wines and vintages, beginning with the 2003 and 2004 L'Errante. This wine is an IGT made with a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc varietals, and is quite good, though atypical for a Veronese wine.

We followed that with all three of Bussola's 2004 Amarones, the Amarone Classico, the Amarone TB, and the Amarone Vigneto Alto. Each presented a different profile, with the TB probably my favorite (the Vigneto Alto came across just a little too sweet for me, almost like a Recioto).

Finally, our tasting finished with two Reciotos, the 2005 Recioto Classico and the 2003 Recioto TB. These were both amazingly good, sweet and thick, like a liquid dessert. They are special wines that anyone who wants a really great sweet wine should search out. Just a note to remember - don't try drinking any other regular wine afterward (we tried and unfortunately it ruined my taste buds for some quality stuff we had later).

Sunday, we finally made it to one of the big producers of the region with a stop at Allegrini. The tasting there started with their two basic IGT's from the 2005 vintage, Palazzo della Torre and La Grola. I have always loved the Palazzo della Torre as a favrorite regualr purchase, starting with the 1998 vintage. For 2005 through, this tasting definitely favored La Grola (perhaps it was the bit of Syrah in the blend). We then stepped up to the 2004 La Poja, another IGT blend, and finally the 2005 Amarone. Both of these were very good, though not at a higher level than many of the top Amarones we tasted.

Moving back to a smaller producer, we then tasted the wines of Stefano Accordini. Tiziano Accordini (Stefano's son) was our gracious host, and one of the friendliest people we met during the trip. We tasted the 2004 Amarone Acianatico, the 2001 Amarone Riserva (very good) and finally the 2005 Recioto. We enjoyed our visit so much that we ended up stopping in for a final taste of the Amarone on Monday before departing for Milan.

Monday, we once again went big and small. First up was Masi, probably the biggest of the Veneto producers. We started with the 2005 Ripasso Campofiorin, followed by the 2003 Serego Alighieri Valpolicella. Next up was the 2004 IGT Toar, an indigenous grape usually only blended in small quantities, which was different than most anything else tasted from the region. Finally, we had two Amarones, the 2003 Costasera Riserva and the 2001 Mazzano.

We concluded our Vinitaly extravaganza with a great tasting of the wines of Lorenzo Begali. His young son Giordano led us through this impressive lineup, beginning with their 2007 Valpolicella. Up next was the 2006 Ripasso, followed by the 2005 Tigiolo, an IGT blend. We then moved to the Amarones, with the 2004 Amarone Classico and the 2003 Amarone Monte Ca Bianca, before finishing with the 2005 Recioto. This was a great overall lineup, and a producer I definitely recommend to search out (I've seen a bit of their wine in Charlottesville, but that's it in the US).

I know there's a lot here, but it should be a pretty comprehensive listing of some of the best the Veneto has to offer (well, it excludes Dal Forno, but that visit will be in its own post sometime later). There's certainly other producers we missed, but all those visited offer a wide range of classical and modern wines from a region that many Americans may overlook, but Italians recognize as one of their real treasures.

2004 Cesari Mara Ripasso

I've had wines from Cesari before, and while they've always made solid wines, none have ever really stood out to me as a star of the Veneto region. And at VinItaly, we never made it to their booth, or really talked about them much. This wine changed all that.

The 2004 Mara wowed me from the first sip. It was as good of a Ripasso as I've had in quite a while, full of dark fruit flavors with just a hint of sweetness. I drank this over 3 nights, and each night it was just as good, offering up an abundance of flavors and more complexity than one would expect. The last night I was even hit with a hint of chocolate.

I went back and checked to find where I got this, and how much I paid: $15. At that price, this is a wine I would highly recommend to anyone. I know I will certainly head out this weekend to buy a couple more bottles.