Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Teatro Del Vino, meet the Winemakers, February 16, 2014


75 wines tasted from 12:20-16:30 ish
which included
13 Champagnes & Sparkling wines
28 Whites
29 Reds
4 Rosés
and 1 Desert
which was a delicious 
Recioto della Valpolicella Classico,
which Graziano noted was non stucchevole
(this is a hard one to translate, but you could say not sticky sweet).
Oh, just for the record, Graziano tasted about 85-90 wines total.
I won’t bore you with the tasting notes, because there were too many.  
I’ll just let the photos highlight some of our favorites.
Have I ever mentioned before that I truly love this career I’ve chosen for myself?
Well I’ll take this opportunity now to do so.  The world of wine is a never-ending discovery of tastes, grapes, places, and wonderful real people. 
Days like this make me truly understand how much I love my job.

new discovery... an Englishman in Champagne! An interesting
Blanc de Blancs reserve from Kent




Independent Italian Winemakers Federation, from Valpolicella (Veneto)
Amarone della Valpolicella from
Cantina Antolini, Marano 
here's where we were 

Ultra stylish Greco Di Tufo
Terroir with sulfur from Cantine Dell'Angelo, Tufo 
Cantine dell'Angelo
wine distribution-off the beaten path
a nice organic
Pinot Bianco


Greco with tuff rock
the super friendly sommelier
at the French wine table
this 2012 Condrieu (Viogner)
was a little watery,
but the aroma is so beautiful
Excellent Benoit Lahaye,
Naturessence, Champagne 2008

Dom.Christian Moreau,
the Chablis we liked
Christian Moreau, Chablis 
the scene in the courtyard of the Villa 
details on the outside
reception table of the Villa
Villa Castelletti, Signa, near Florence
Nusserhof, with his fantastic Lagrein
Riserva 2006 magnum, Bolzano
The Burgundy line up
Lopez de Heredia,  opening the Vina Gravonia
Blanco Crianza BIO, Haro, Rioja 
Lopez De Heredia
opening the 1994 Tinto Reserva
Nirina of Pierluigi Zampaglione with her Don Chisciotte, Fiano

This is David Couvreur holding his 2005
millesimal Blanc de Blancs,
an exceptional start to the tasting

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Calcabrina Winery, Montefalco, February 15, 2014


While we were at the Merano Wine Festival this year we came across this new wine from Montefalco.  Here’s some photo’s of our winery-in-progress visit.  
Garage Winery
For the moment this is a garage wine, and we like it that way.

some American Oak is always good

Pure Sagrantino 
custom sink

The Future Calcabrina Winery
Ettore, the Winery Dog taking a break
in the warm winter sun
Our host was owner and Vignaiolo Diego Calcabrina.  
Diego Calcabrina a true garagista
the Calcabrina Estate
They also make artisian goat’s milk cheese.
Ciao!

free range goats which provide the ingredients for delicious cheese
We really enjoyed both his wines they are now available at Vinosofia.


Thursday, February 20, 2014

Cucinà! February 15, 2014

One of my favorite places for many different things is Cucinà.  Cucinà translates to kitchen or cuisine in English and with the accented letter “A” means cuisine is. Cute huh?
Chef Andrea

To a Californian, the concept of Cucinà is nothing new, though for an Umbrian it’s quite avant-garde.  So you may ask what is it? Well it’s a lot of things, it’s a rotisserie, take-out, bakery, bar, casual dining, gourmet shop and they do cooking courses as well as various themed nights.
market style
atmosphere

Cucinà is collaboration between 2 Chefs, and a Sommelier.
The food is fantastic, the wines are quality / value driven,  and the atmosphere a buzzing hub of casual cool foodies.
Italian & Spanish
prosciutto & co.
a crisp white Bordeaux
finished the Bordeaux









The free-range roast chicken is one of my absolute favorites (notice the plural use of this word) as well as the in house cured salmon, a dark multigrain bread and….the list is always growing, the wine list is always evolving and the energy always positive.
multigrain bread & Cucinà cured salmon (2 of my best friends)
& French salted butter from Normandy

Chef Marco & Graziano

Once you start you’ll never stop trying all the tasty bits and sumptuous sips that are always available at Cucinà.
potato & polipo salad
fantastic aperitivo plate, with a pinzmonio dipping sauce

artisan cheese plate
Bon appetite!


Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Cantina Villa Sobrano, February 5, 2014

My friend Emanuela works at a rather new winery in Todi.  On a wet winter day I decided to pay her a visit.  She took me on a complete winery tour which even included tasting
the 2013 Grechetto right from the barrel. 
young Grechetto
 
Fresh Grechetto

inserting the batonnage instrument

Before tasting she first showed me how the batonnage was done, which was something I’ve heard about, but have never seen it done before or the instrument used to do it.


Batonnage is a ancient French winemaking technique, which in short is stirring the wine inside the barrels to bring it in contact with the lees/yeast which have rested on the bottom. 
This process is done once a day by the winemaker all winter. The instrument used to do this is a stainless steel curved bar that has a propeller shaped piece on the end.
vineyards

After a tour through the Agriturismo guest rooms and reading room with a library full of cool antique books,  we headed back to the main building where in the wine shop people were buying wine in bulk.
winemaker's quarters
antique books in the reading room of the villa




















Up in the warm tasting room, the fire was crackling away while I tasted the 5 wines of Villa Sobrano. 
tasting room


I had the pleasure of meeting the owner  Mr. Giovanni Palmucci, who is a very nice man. 
Signore Giovanni Palmucci






The Grechetto di Todi is aged only in Stainless Steel tanks,  I found both wines very easy to drink and well balanced.  The Donna Sabina has a beautiful label, a drawing of the family members, done from an antique photo by my friend Francesca. 
The Donna Sabina, a fine example of oak aged Grechetto di Todi
She also did the Bartolomeo label which is another drawing, done on-site of the borgo of Villa Sobrano.
lounge of the tasting room

and the Donna Sabina has oak aging.
fine details of the Blue Room

cover of an old book in the library

main building which houses the wine shop & tasting room
Blue Room of the Agriturismo

For me the wine I enjoyed the most was the Pinot Bianco. 

wine shop with vats of wine which
can be bought by the liter
Umbria's only Pinot Bianco
To this day, this remains only Pinot Bianco produced in Umbria, quite unique and a wonderful example of the varietal.  Pinot Bianco is a very food-friendly wine so it’s a good staple to have in the fridge.  The winery also sells a white and a red by the liter, which are very affordable and good for everyday consumption.  Here again I preferred the white over the red.  I feel that the wines of Villa Sobrano have great potential and I look forward to putting them on the shelves of Vinosofia this spring.
details of the ancient tile floor
in the Agriturismo
at home, pasta with zucchini & grechetto