vinosseur

The first time I met Gabrio Bini was….hold on….Facebook. Not a wine fair where most people meet wine makers. It was after I uploaded a photo of his Serragghia Bianco 2007 about a year or so ago and commented that the wine was interesting but thought the fruit was under ripe and green. A Moscato di Pantelleria vinified dry in amphora without any additives, including sulfur.  I remember really wanting to love this wine for many reasons, but I couldn’t get around that under ripe fruit.  Well, Gabrio saw this upload and my comment and made a comment himself “you should taste my younger vintages then!”. I was surprised. Instead of getting offended and trying to defend his wine, he rather said I should taste again – a more recent vintage.  Enough said.

We didn’t talk again for about 6 or so months,  when i received a message in my inbox, once again on Facebook. It was from Gabrio asking me where he should send this bottle for me to taste. I said, better yet, I will be in Italy in a few months, save the postage and send to my Italian address. He said he would do one better, he said he would meet me and hand deliver the bottle.  And so that’s the way it went.

We met and he not only had that bottle for me to taste, but 3 others (and multiples of each), one of which is the wine I am tasting here.

Some people may say that Gabrio is a bit of an eccentric, including myself.  He splits his time between Pantelleria, Milano and Paris and alongside him always is his wonderful artist wife Genevieve.  I could say that actually his wines are in fact as eccentric as Gabrio himself, starting with the label – which is the same for all of his wines, except slight variations in color. A large arrow pointing straight up with the name of the wine written sideways

Ths Rosso Fanino is made from organically grown Cataratto (45%), Pignatello (45%) and Moscato d’Alessandria (10%). Fermented and vinified in amphora where it remained on the skins for 6 months giving this wine a gorgeous pink-orange color.   This process was made completely hands off.  The wine was bottled without filtration of course in April the following year.  1500 bottles were produced, 500 of which were transformed into sparkling versions that remained on the lees until very recently.

The back label even goes so far as to list ingredients, analytical figures like volatile acidity, etc and states in capital letters “NON CONTIENE SOLFITI” – “doesn’t contain sulfur”. At less than 10mg total sulfur, you don’t have to write on the label that the wine contains sulfur, but he takes it one step further. Obviously somebody from high up didn’t like this, and he is no longer allowed to list the ingredients on his back labels.

Date Tasted:  November 19, 22:00

Appearance:  see for yourself – click on decanted wine image to enlarge

Nose:  In one word, Spring.  Earl grey and mint tea aromas along with red flowers, like roses. Rose hips, musk and hints of watermelon as well.  Slight balsamic scents round of the wine well, as do the delicate mineral aromas.

Palate:  Wow.  Tea-like again, delicate and fresh. Tannic, but not too.  Again the rose hips and mint tea, delicate red flowers and red berries with a refreshing quality about it that you don’t often find in wine. The wine was too drinkable, if there is such a thing.

If you want to taste the wines of Gabrio Bini, last i heard, Pierre Jancou was serving them at his new Parisian establishment, Vivant.

Although the single vineyard Lia Ví 2010, (made without the addition of sulfur for the first time), is available now & super delicious, I decided to retaste the 2009 and provide you with a quick note.

November 10th, 20:38 -HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Appearance:  no development showing on this still young wine. A dark-ish garnet-red with bluish reflections.

Nose: Pure Barbera. Frutti di bosco (wild berries – mostly black, but some hints of red), hints of forest floor and black truffle.  Floral, mostly purple

Palate:  Great fruit attack with a minerality that gives the wine the feeling that it’s lightly sparkling, which it is not. Medium ripe acidity lending to the wine’s  juiciness, the juiciness you might get if you put a handful full of super ripe berries in your mouth.  Smooth, feminine tannins, just enough to make you reach for that semi-mature toma-Piemontese.  A slightly bitter,  semi-long finish.

I have stated before that I felt that Carussin creates bench-mark Barbera’s that everybody should be envious of. Not only the finished wine, but the grapes on the vine. This wine is alive and fun to drink.  A wine that can complement all parts of the meal, even white fish without pretentions. Enjoy…

Certified organic Catarratto grapes grown with the help of biodynamic preparations at an altitude of about 600 meters above sea level. Grapes are harvested by hand and brought immediately to the winery where they are gently crushed and left to ferment spontaneously. The skins are left to macerate with the juices for about 30 days in open oak vats without temperature control and without the addition of sulfur. Punching down the cap is done by hand 3 times a day, followed by a soft pressing in a manual press.  Maturation in 2500 litter botti (oak barrels) for just under a year. Bottled without filtration and without the addition of sulfur, of course.

Date tasted (numerous times, but for this note):  Sunday September 11th, 2011 9:00pm

Appearance: Dark orange-amber with brownish reflexes (which increase with time in the glass). Shows a bit more age than the 3 years would indicate.

Nose:  spices, apricots, ginger, leafy, molasses and hints of volatility give this wine an interesting edge which keeps  you sniffing it for minutes and minutes before tasting it. Like many skin-macerated whites, this wine hints of sweetness which could lead the unsuspecting to expect a sweet wine on the palate. The last sniffs reminded me of Vin Santo (a sweet wine from Toscana made from dried grapes)

Palate:  I have tasted many skin-macerated whites and knew what to expect: a fruity, yet bone-dry wine. What I didn’t expect (and always surprises me with this wine) is the tannic structure. Owing to the long skin-contact and 10-12 months in oak barrels, this wine packs a tannic punch making it a perfect match for fatty foods such as Fois Gras, duck and some creamy cheeses.  I have also had success serving this with savory dishes like mushroom soup. Very spicy (cardomom, cinammon and ginger) with the usual yellow fruits like apricots and peaches. A semi-long and dry finish round out the wine nicely.

I like the wines of Porta del Vento and have tasted almost the entire product line. The prices are fair as well.  The Saharay I especially like because of it’s masculinity, a trait I don’t often find in skin-macerated whites making this wine more interesting to me. But I also have to point out a negative characteristic of the Porta del Vento wines I have tasted.  As far as I know, all the wines spend some time in oak and leave the mouth with this rather disturbing dryness. A dryness that can be attributed not only to the fruit, but to the oak.  Oak is certainly not dominant in their wines, in fact I would say that the oak is used judicially (it doesn’t “flavor” the wine).   I just prefer to have no oak in my wines letting the fruit shine through without any interruption, especially in wines that have such fresh fruit character, like the wines of Porta del Vento.  The other complaint I have is that these wines should be drunk up the night you open the bottle. Two or three days open and I find that the wines oxidize.

Back label detail - click on photo to enlarge

L103 09, what? This wine is a Vino da Tavola (VdT), table wine in English. And by laws governing wine labeling in Europe, they are not allowed to put the vintage on the label. So, one way to let us know just exactly when those grapes were picked, wine makers often use L (lot) numbers to help indicate vintage. In this case, 2009.

European governing wine laws also don’t allow wine makers to put the ingredients on the back label of their wine bottles; something that is found on all food items. People just take it for granted that wine is a natural product and that of course, the wines we are consuming contain grapes, and only grapes.  Many of us know that this is just not the case. There are many (even 100) additives used in every-day wine making; some natural, some not.

This why I chose to drink not only wines that I enjoy and love, but I chose to drink wines that are made with grapes, and most of the time, only grapes. Nothing added, nothing taken.

Carussin is one of my favorite producers in Piemonte, a region known for it’s age-worthy Barolo’s & Barbaresco’s, neither of which Carussin produces. They produce wines of simplicity, wines of great fruit character and wines of consistent quality, made with nothing  more than quality, biodynamically grown grapes (a bit of sulfur is used, and that’s it).  Their Barbera d’Asti Asinoi  is my favorite barbera, and I often use it as a benchmark to which I compare other barbera’s. In my opinion, very few other barbera’s stand up to the fruit quality of the Asinoi, and once the price is considered, it’s a difficult barbera to beat.

The wine I tasted for this tasting note is Carussin’s entry level wine, Il Carica L’Asino. In 2005, a small farmhouse was purchased in the Valle Asinari region by Bruna Ferro & Luigi Garberoglio.  Soon after, the family discovered the diversity of two small parcels of “Cortese Alto Monferrato” grapes which sparked their curiosity.  They investigated a bit further by speaking to the previous owner, a sprightly & kind lady aged 83 years.  She explains that her and her husband began to plant cuttings of  Il Carica L’Asino (load on the donkey) on his land in the Valle Asinari after discovering  from friends in Acqui Termi, the existence of  this ancient Ligurian vine.  This is a curious coincidence that links Bruna’s love for the Asino (donkey) and this ancient Ligurian variety.

The biodynamically-grown Cortese Alto Monferrato & Il Carica L’Asino grapes for this wine are usually harvested in the first two weeks of September by hand.  The grapes are crushed and left to spontaneously ferment on their own in stainless steel.  Nothing is added during the entire process except a bit of sulfur.  A light filtration before bottling, and there you have it!

Here is some nerdy information:

Date tasted:  May 25th, 2011 19:24 - melanzane (eggplant) alla parmigiana in the oven!

Appearance: medium intense yellow with green reflexes. No age showing

Nose: a youthful, vibrant, medium intense nose of sweet yellow plums, arctic cloud berries and hints of elderflower. Subtle notes of sweet lime on the back end

Palate: Fresh, crisp and very fruity. Yellow plums dominate with a delicate mineral touch to give the wine a (slight) touch of weight, while remaining light and playful. Bitter almond hints surround the fruit. Medium, ripe acidity that cleans the mouth well and helps the wine linger around just long enough to remind you just how balanced this wine is. Five minutes in the glass and one degree warmer, and I find very slight hints of yeast and bread, but only slight. The bitterness also intesnifies a tad, which in my opinion makes the wine more interesting. A very well balanced, although simple, wine with a moderate 12% of alcohol. Great for aperitif or with simple tomato based dishes – like my melanzane alla parmigiana!

19:40

Nose: hints of hay start to appear.

Most  of the producers (and grapes) in this area of Italy have names that the rest of Italy cannot pronounce. Take Vodopivec for example and the only grape they vinify, the Vitovoska. Even the wines made in this corner of Italy stray from the every-day wines that the average Italian recognizes and consumes. Yet, these are very much wines. These are living wines, often made only with grapes. Nothing added, nothing taken.

The wine for this tasting note was produced by Franco Terpin. A little easier to pronounce, yet far from typical.  Franco farms in a natural fashion without the  use of industrial fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides.  ”The vine listens. The vine understands”, says Franco.  Franco says that the Ribolla Gialla (called Rebula in this area) is difficult to grow and he only vinifies it in exceptional vintages. Harvest is done by hand, fermentation  (initially in steel) is spontaneous thanks to the extended skin contact.  The wine is then transferred to oak where it spends about one year on the lees. It  is then transferred to stainless steel where it spends another year. Then it’s bottled without fining or filtering and is left to rest for yet another year before going for sale.  Approximately 2500 bottles produced.  This wine is not available in Norway or Poland.

Date tasted: Tuesday May 17^th – Norwegian Independence day – 1845

Appearance: a slightly cloudy, orange-hued wine with a high intensity reflection. I just love the look of orange wines!

Nose: Oak  jumps out of the glass at first, with hints of reduction. Not a lot of fruit showing at this time. Mineral.  Some orange peel emerging, but the wine is still closed and not showing well yet. Some very slight, slight balsamic hints.

Palate: mineral, dry and surprisingly, the oak is less evident on the palate. The wine is quite intense on the palate and ends (many seconds after first entering the mouth) with a slight bitterness.  Medium-high acidity. Alcohol seems high, yet is well-integrated. The wood dries out the mouth very slightly, but not offensively . Very focused finish. Reminds of the peach iced-tea I just drank.  Super food wine i would imagine.

Wine is decanted………

Same night at  20:25:

Appearance hasn’t changed

Nose: More fruit has emerged. No sign of oak anymore. More herbs.

Palate: Still quite mineral. Oily. Orange peel. Pork fat, bacon. Alcohol is the only disturbance here, but the wine has been sitting in a decanter for almost two hours at room temp. Sits a long time on the palate. again, serious food wine. Fatty, oily. Texture is nice.

as we finished the last sips about an hour later, the wine had developed the sort of texture that helped the wine  just slip easily down the throat

What?! A cooperative making wines without the addition of Sulfur?! Is this possible? Yes it is!  The Valli Unite coop in Alessandria, Piemonte was formed over 30 years ago by three men who merged their vineyards and built stalls for their farm animals in order to use organic manure.  They saw organic farming as the way of the future, and from this was born the Valli Unite coop.

Today, they are a group of 25 people working together.  Their viticulture follows closely the belief that wine drinkers should drink  little, but well.  In their wine production, the aim is to let the wine remain as alive as possible so that it is the true reflection of the grape.  They use old cement vats to ferment their reds later transferring them to barrels.  This wine was bottled without filtration. No sulfur was used from the beginning of fermentation to time of bottling.  Here are my thoughts:

Date Tasted:  November 7^th, 2010 20:42 (8:42pm) – decanted after 5 minutes

Appearance: Dark purple with light purple edges. Great color extraction and very young in appearance.

Nose: Dark berries, especially black berries with fresh red fruits in the background. «frutti di bosco» (forest berries). Slightly reductive… will decant… purple gooseberries and hints of barnyard and crushed, dried leafs. Smells like a freshly fermented wine.

Palate: slight fizz on the tongue, very slight. Frutti di bosco all the way with tremendous structure, medium (ripe) acidity and gripping tannins. Medium length finish (approx 20 seconds). A very structured wine that has lot’s of mouth feel. I don’t mean «velvety» -  rather chewy, rustic and a bit «rough». Well integrated 13.5% alcohol.   Not an elegant wine, but a very honest wine which begs for grilled sausage.

21:10 (9:10pm) almost half hour in decanter

Nose: The wine is much more floral (roses) now then before. The reductive notes have fallen to the background and are no longer as noticeable.

Palate: some sour red plums on the finish now. Tannins have stepped up a bit and now dominate a bit.

November 8^th, 21:52 (9:52pm)

Nose: more fruit showing and less reduction. Tree bark.  Blackberries and raspberries. Also some black currants and purple gooseberries. Very slight hints of dark licorice and bitter almonds (like found in the pit of a peach)

Palate: Still has very grippy tannins, really feels like you are chewing on the pips of the freshly picked grapes. Pure fruit quality in my opinion. Mostly dark berries, but yet a fresh wine. Hints of licorice and dried leafs. Again, really strong character of pure grapes and the pips. Really more open then yesterday. A slightly bitter finish. Really enjoying this wine today – just like eating the grapes off the vine. Picture this – you walk into a vineyard and grab a handful, and I mean a handful, of healthy, ripe dolcetto grapes and just pop them in your mouth. This should give the idea of the how this wine is every time I take a sip. This is one unsulfured wines which I feel could benefit from some storage – let’s say a year or two?  And you know I love my wines young.

November 9^th, 18:15 (6:15pm)

Nose: More earth and dark berries. Hints of lavender. Alcohol also more noticeable on the nose than it was in previous days.

Palate: A bit rounder today. Tannins  softened a bit. The finish is a bit more leafy. Just as fresh as the first day opened, but the tannins seem a bit more integrated today and the finish is more «almondy» now, which I love.  Alcohol still not noticeable on the palate, well integrated.

I drank the last glass and a half with a homemade burger topped with white cheddar, caramelized onions and avocado… gotta say that the wine was a bit too much for the burger, even with the cheese and onions. Although Dolcetto’s are often paired with «carne cruda» (or beef tartare) with the raw egg and the fixings in Piemonte, this dolcetto would be too much in my opinion. Try this wine with another Piemontese speciality,  fresh pasta with rabbit ragu. Or if you are in Norway, like I am, try with some duck confit. With the wild flavors of the duck, this wine should pair well.

I am sure that each and every one of you has tasted a Prosecco.  That fruity and light sparkler, ranging from almost dry to slightly sweet (up to 35g/l of sugar even). You know, the one you have tasted but kind of forgotten about? Over 150 million bottles (& over 5000 producers) are produced annually of this inexpensive sparkler in the North Eastern part of Italy in the wine region of the Veneto.  Most of it is mass-produced wine that is (re)fermented in big stainless-steel tanks then bottled under pressure to maintain the bubbles. Much of it is produced with grapes other than the Prosecco grape in purity (only 85% of the Prosecco grape is required to satisfy the DOC, now DOCG requirements).

The Prosecco grape is a white grape that grows in small clusters and thrives in the calcium-rich soil typical for the region.  All Prosecco’s are fermented a second time, to create the bubbles.  Most in pressurized steel tanks and bottled under pressure (the Charmant method).  Prosecco’s can be vinified totally dry (uncommon) or left with some residual sugar (the more common version).  Almost all Prosecco’s are filtered to remove sediment, but some are left “sur lees” and sold that way. Some Prosecco’s are even vintage.

I have never really appreciated Prosecco. I had always considered it that cheap alternative sparkler that I never really paid much attention to.  In fact, I never really cared to pay attention to it.  Until last year when I had a revelation in the form of Silvano Follador’s Cartizze.

I was invited to the taste some wines at the house of a local importer of  “real” wines one Sunday afternoon in the summer of 2009.  The first wine this importer wanted to let me taste was a bottle of Prosecco from the top vineyards of Cartizze.  I wasn’t that enthusiastic, let’s be honest, a Prosecco? Is this why you invited me over here?  But, being passionate about wine, I would taste just about anything because that’s what I do, right?

He poured me a glass.  Nice mousse and a typical light, slightly pear-like, stony color. As I raised the glass to my nose aromas of yellow apples, very crisp pears, grapefruit, lemon & lime hit my nose with a supporting back bone of minerality. Ok, the crisp pear aromas were expected, but the other fruits and especially that mineral component were not.  I can remember being a bit caught off guard, but I still wasn’t expecting much once I tasted the wine.  As I took my first sip, the first thing that surprised me was the sudden weakening in my knees when my brain got the message that this was no ordinary Prosecco.  It was super-structured and completely dry.  It had essences of lemons, pears and yellow apples, but was not at all sweet as I had expected.  There was a super-long mineral finish with slightly yeasty notes of autolysis (those notes we get on Champagnes!)  This almost literally floored me!  What?!  What the hell was I drinking?

It was that summer day in 2009 that I will remember, that day when my love affair with a real Prosecco began – Silvano Follador.  A small family owned vineyard inherited in 1999 by brother Silvano and sister Alberta in the quaint area of Follo in the outskirts of Valdobbiadene. Silvano feels closer to the heart and sentiment of their grandparents , who knew little about sulfur dioxide, acidity and PH, but knew every plant in their vineyard almost like the back of their hand.  Silvano spends 80% of his time in the vineyards.

They use organic and biodynamic principles in the vineyards, and they produce only 4 wines, approximately 30,000 bottles.  The  top wine from the vineyards of Cartizze (3.4 grams of sugar in the 2008 and 6,600 bottles produced – the wine I tasted here), a Brut (3,4 grams of sugar in the 2008) ,  a Passito made from the grapes from their Cartizze vineyard (the 2005 had 300 grams of sugar!), and very recently a bottle-fermented (think Champagne here) Cartizze.  Silvano hopes to stop using the Charmant method all together someday, and has been already trying to remedy the “coldness” of the Charmant method by leaving the wines in contact with the lees for 8 or 9 months with very little racking and carrying out secondary fermentation at 3/4 months (one reason why their sugar levels are so low).  All of their wines are made with 100% Prosecco grapes, express purity of fruit and are so well-balanced that you just keep coming back for more.  Although great as an aperitif, the wines of Follador have enough “body” to also be enjoyed with food like tapas, Italian salumi (salame, prosciutto, etc), white fish, sushi & sashimi.

*Available in Norway through the special ordering range at the Vinmonopolet by providing details about producer and importer.

The estate, located in Monforte d’Alba, was founded in the 1950′s by Ferdinando’s father Americo.  Ferdinando took over the estate from his father in 1993 and since 2004, Ferdinando has removed all chemicals from the vinification process, including sulfur (which he has almost completely eliminated except for a pinch in his Barolo).  His viticulture practice also respects nature and the grapes she gives by eliminating all industrial fertilizers, herbicides, etc.  Natural yeasts spontaneously ferment his wines without the control of temperature.  The resulting wines are fresh, juicy and easy to drink on their own, but just like most real wine, pair fantastically with food.  His 2005 Barolo Serralunga was a perfect companion with a fresh whale course that we were serving up at the restaurant last month.   Approximate annual production is about 50,000 bottles total.

2009 Dolcetto d’Alba Sant’Anna

The grapes for this wine come from the Sant’Anna vineyard in Monforte d’Alba.  The grapes are planted with a density of about 5000 vines/HA at an altitude of about 400 meters above sea level.  Harvest occurred at the end of September and of course is by hand.  Fermentation in stainless steel was spontaneous and continued on the skins for about 20 days without temperature control.  The wine then remained in the tanks for about 10 months before being bottled.  Approximately 5000 bottles were produced.

Date tasted: July 15th, 2010 1800

Appearance: Med dark  red with purple edges. Very young looking, and of course it is!

Nose: Very open and floral.  Medium intense nose of raspberries, cherries and plums.

Palate:  “sweet” red fruit. Raspberries & cherries. Medium tannins and medium acidity.  Very balanced and well-integrated alcohol.  Very fresh wine with a medium-long finish.

2008 Barbera d’Alba Laura

The grapes for this vineyard come from a tiny 1ha vineyard in Serralunga d’Alba.  Planting density is about 4000 vines/HA at an altitude of about 400 meters above sea level.  Exposure of this small vineyard is S-SW.  The grapes are harvested by hand then spontaneously fermented without temperature control in stainless steel tanks.  The juice stays on the skins for about 30 days, with manual remontage of the grapes.  The wine is left in the tanks for 10 months following fermentation.  About 8000 bottles produced.

Date tasted: July 15th, 2010 1800

Appearance: Med-dark red with purple, youthful edges

Nose: Slightly reductive and closed initially.  With some swirling, the wine opens up to reveal blackberry, black currant, raspberry and purple gooseberry.  Hints of blueberry.  Very slight floral component. Medium intense

Palate:  Blackberries initially, then mostly red fruit.  The red fruit revealed itself much more on the palate then on the nose.  Mild tannins with medium + acidity.  Well Balanced fruit & acidity.  Alcohol is pretty well-integrated, but you can feel it a bit at the back of the throat with a slight sweetness (this wine needs some grilled veggies or meat!)

Until this year, Ferdinando’s wines were not available in Norway.  But they are now being imported by a small importer focusing on organic, real wines.  The Dolcetto will be available on the main wine monopoly’s shelves for about 159 Norwegian Kroner (approx $25) sometime this month.

La Biancara di Angiolino Maule

Angiolino Maule owns 11 hectares (& rents 2ha more) of vineyards on volcanic soil between the provinces of Vicenza and Verona, an extension of the Soave foothills in the Veneto, in North Eastern Italy. The Veneto is a region traditionally famous for the Soave white wines and the dark, rich and typically hugely alcoholic Amarone della Valpolicella wines.  But Angiolino is traditional in another way, working the vineyards as naturally as possible without the use of any synthetic or chemical additives, industrial fertilizers or any other artificial soil treatments.  Rather, he practices biodynamics and uses only natural preparations in the vineyards.

Angiolino's vines on volcanic soil in the Veneto

Angiolino’s philosophy is carried through to the cellar where his wines spontaneously ferment with only indigenous yeasts.  He doesn’t control temperature during fermentation, he uses no enzymes nor sulfur and bottles without fining or filtering.  To quote Angiolino “The big difference between the majority of vine growers and my vine growing is my great respect for nature and that means no compromise.  I accept and defend what the land gives me without correcting, adding or subtracting to get more.  In the cellar I think the difference is even greater, some producers with the excuse of protecting or enhancing came to use six to eight chemicals added to the must or the wine, I disagree” Read the rest of this entry »

And along came the Pignolo grape, another very rare, refined, prestigious and indigenous grape of the Fruili-Venezia Giulia region in North-Eastern Italy.  This grape has the potential to make “Cru” level wines, like Bressan’s Cru Pignol, a stunning example of what this grape can do when care is taken in the vineyards and the winery.   According to Fulvio, the Pignol needs at least 8 years of aging to become a great wine, and after tasting his latest Pignol release, I would have to agree. At 10 years of age, this wine is just a baby. Drinking well now, but begging to be left alone for another ten.

Read the rest of this entry »