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’sCru 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.
The Schioppettino is a red grape grown predominately in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Also known as the Ribolla Nera, Schioppettino literally means “gunshot” or “little crack”. Records show that red wine made from the Schioppettino was used at marriage ceremonies back to 1282. The grape was nearly lost to extinction thanks mostly to the phylloxera epidemic. Today, Bressan is one of the few wine makers making wine from the Schioppettino grape.
Soil composition: Calcareous mineral base, with high presence of iron sesquioxides. Such geological characteristics, associated with this scarce endowment of organic and other nutritional elements, forces the vines to a slow vegetative growth, resulting in an extremely low production, with an overall benefit to the MACRO and MICRO components of the grapes, and therefore the wines.
Total surface area: 3.88 HA
Planting year: 1982
# of vines/HA: 3086
Sun exposition: Southern, with rows oriented EAST-WEST
Harvest: Permitted to slightly over-mature (so as to attain very high fixed acidity congenital to the species), harvested by hand.
Wine Making: Grapes are de-stalked and brought to must by way of soft-pressing; extremely long maceration with principal fermentation along with the grape skins, refrigerated with well water at a controlled temperature not exceeding 25C (77F). After racking, the wine undergoes an ulterior 35 days of fermentation. The wine is then stored in stainless steel tanks, followed by aging for at least 2 more years in 2000 liter oak casks. After bottling, groups of 500 bottles are placed in large chests, which are then stored in a temperature controlled warehouse for additional aging.
Alcohol content: 13%
Total acidity: 5.58 g/l
Date tasted: Saturday December 26th, 2009 12:02 (PM)
Appearance: Medium dark brick red. Very very slight development showing. Medium intensity.
Nose: Very intense freshly ground black pepper. Blackberries and dark plums with mineral undertones. Floral and very intriguing. Hints of roasted meat. Forest floor, musk and wild fruit. Very complex and intriguing nose.
Palate: Very intense on the palate as well with aromas of black pepper, wild dark berries, musk and hints of red berries with a mineral background. Some pleasant dried fruit aromas as well. Medium tannins, medium to medium plus acidity carrying the wine to a long, very fresh finish. Very fresh and very drinkable. This has always been one of my favorite wines of Bressan.. Excellent with lamb!
Soil composition: Calcareous mineral base, with high presence of iron sesquioxides. Such geological characteristics, associated with this scarce endowment of organic and other nutritional elements, forces the vines to a slow vegetative growth, resulting in an extremely low production, with an overall benefit to the MACRO and MICRO components of the grapes, and therefore the wines.
Total surface area: 1.41 HA
Planting year: 1990
# of vines/HA: 4630
Sun exposition: Southern, with rows oriented NORTHWEST-SOUTH
Harvest: Physiologically correct, by hand
Wine making: Grapes are de-stalked and soft-pressed, with cold decanting of the must and the total elimination of the entire part decanted. 20-25 days cold fermentation. Subsequent slow fermentation of the fine lees in stainless steel tanks; then aging for 12-15 months before bottling. Bottles are placed in groups of 500 in large chests that are then stored in temperature controlled warehouses for additional aging.
Alcohol content: 13%
Total acidity: 5.20 g/l
Date tasted: Saturday December 26th, 2009 12:02 (PM)
Appearance: “Ramato” – Copper-like color, but perhaps a bit lighter than the Verduzzo Fruilano with a tad more brownish tinge. Medium plus intense glow.
Nose: Less intense than the Verduzzo Fruilano and more “feminine”. Fresh apricots and orange peel. Hints of star anise and mineral. Medium complex
Palate: Medium intense wine with orange citrus, hints of apricot, star anise and mineral. Well-integrated alcohol, very fresh and drinkable. Very mild tannins, medium plus acidity with a long, mineral, fresh finish. One of the best Pinot Grigio’s I have ever tasted, if not the best.
Drinking very well now, but can be stored up to 5 years in my opinion. Another winner from Bressan…
In Part I of the Bressan producer profile, I discussed in depth the philosophy of Fulvio Bressan. Now I will present some of his wines which I had the opportunity to taste. Bressan is an artisan wine producer making wine in extremely small quantities, between 0-50,000 bottles per year. They specialize in the production of indigenous grape varieties, including the wine being tasted for this tasting note.
The Verduzzo (Friulano) grape is indigenous to Friuli, but can also be found in the Veneto. According to Fulvio, it is very rare to find dry versions of the wine made from this grape (only 2 or 3 other producers in Friuli make it dry). The Verduzzo grapes is unusual in that it has high tannins like you might find in a red wine. Therefore, if the grape is harvested too early, the tannins can be quite bitter and harsh, and therefore wine makers began adding sugar to the wine to make it sweet, thus masking the bitterness of the tannins. In Fulvio’s opinion (and in mine as well), a sweet wine will not be balanced when made in this way. Fulvio instead picks his grapes at the optimal ripeness (because he is patient), and vinifies the wine as a dry wine.
The first thing you notice when pulling the cork out of the bottle is the quality of the cork itself. Fulvio swears by the quality of his corks and says that if you ever get a corked bottle, simply return the cork and he will refund you.
Proprietà Sperino is located in the Northern Piemonte wine region and is owned by the De Marchi family of Chianti’s Isole e Olena. We were greeted and given a tour of the winery by Luca De Marchi, the son of the famed Paolo De Marchi. Whenever possible, indigenous yeasts are used (which I am told is close to 100% of the time).
I felt very privileged to have had the opportunity to taste a wine of this age, especially a wine made from one of my favorite grapes, the Nebbiolo. The bottle has been stored for many years without being touched and this was evident by the amount of mold and dust that had attached itself to the bottle. After cleaning the top of the bottle in preparation for the cork removal, the cork screw was inserted and rather than using the lever system to pull the cork out, the cork came out with one pull. The cork came out in one piece and was in great shape considering the age.
Tasting Notes:
Appearance: As Luca De Marchi prepared to pour the wine for us to taste, he warned that the wine would no longer be red, and he wasn’t kidding! The wine had lost all of the natural red color pigment. The wine was quite clear with orange, brown tones. Like a light colored orange wine, if you will, with brownish tones. This was my first time seeing a red wine turn “clear” due to age. Despite the age, the wine was quite clean with a few small pieces of sediment in the glass. Medium minus intensity.
Nose: Medium intense and medium complex wine with interesting aromas similar to a clean, young Sherry or Marsala. Slightly oxidized yellow apples, salted almonds. Pistachio nuts.
Palate: Clean and still quite fresh with medium minus acidity, medium minus, but still living tannins. Slightly oxidized yellow apples, with a nutty aftertaste very reminiscent of a Marsala. Reminded me of some of the Marsala’s I have tasted from Marco De Bartoli. Toasted almonds with hints of butter. A very well integrated and balanced level of alcohol. Good concentration and balance overall. The finish is at least 20-30 seconds. Incredible!
The most incredible thing was that we only had a small glass each, put the cork in the bottle and took the bottle home with us. We popped the cork again at dinner around 4 hours later and incredibly the wine had improved slightly! It had become a bit more complex, but more amazing was the fact that the wine had not died after having been open for 4 hours! Incredible.
The Nocens is Tiberio’s top wine and is made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Canaiolo in equal parts. The grapes are farmed organically and are grown in Chianti D.O.C vineyards. Grapes are harvested by hand. The wine is designated “Rosso dei Colli della Toscana Centrale (I.G.T)”
The Nocens is made in the “Antico Metodo Governo all’ Uso Toscano“. A pre-harvest selection of 10% of the top grapes are harvested by hand and placed in a well-ventilated room to let them finish maturing (and drying) for about 15 days, time enough to finish the rest of the harvest. The rest of the grapes are also harvested by hand and fermented spontaneously using indigenous yeast and without the use of enzymes. Once the fermentation is completed, the pre-harvest “Antico Metodo Governo all’ Uso Toscano” grapes that were set aside are added to the wine and a second fermentation commences (think “Ripasso” from the Veneto here). The wine is then aged for 12 months in 225-liter French Barriques. The wine is bottled without filtration
Appearance: Clean. Medium dark red with hints of blue. Medium to medium low intensity.
Nose: Clean. Medium intense nose of dark cherries and wild black currants with hints of cedar and eucalyptus. Medium complex wine with well-integrated oak on the back end.
Palate: Clean. Good fruit on the front end. Sour cherries, black currants and blackberries. Good structure and good acidity carrying the wine to a medium-long finish with medium tannins. Oak is well-integrated, but noticeable lending to the tannic structure of this wine. Very well integrated alcohol at 13,5%
Overall impressions: This is a well-made wine with good structure, balance and clean fruit which should be a pretty good wine to match with food. I am thinking a grilled steak, or grilled vegetables would be a nice complement to this wine. This being said, the oak is too dominant for my palate, but I feel that many people will enjoy this wine. It sits nicely between a modern-made wine and one made traditionally. In my opinion, this wine can be stored for a few more years, but I don’t think that it will improve so I would drink it now.
I have tasted other Tiberio wines and find his fruit to be clean, precise and on the feminine side (especially his Sangiovese, my favorite of his wines) and I feel that his wines would be better represented if they weren’t stored in oak. For those of you who share my feelings on this, rumor has it that he is playing with some un-oaked versions of his wines as I write this and perhaps I will have the opportunity some day soon to taste as stainless steel version of his Sangiovese.
I have written before about Frank Cornelissen. To refresh your memory, click here for one of my previous tasting notes and more about Frank.
I may not have mentioned this before, but I feel very fortunate to live in Norway when it comes to wine. We do get our hands on some pretty obscure and rare wines that very few other places in the world get. This wine is no exception. The 2002 was his second vintage in which he produced about 2000 bottles total between the 3 Magma’s and one Rosso del Contadino. In this vintage, Frank Cornelissen produced 3 different single-vineyard bottling’s of the Magma 2. The Calderara, Trefiletti and the Marchesa vineyards. Approximately 1300 bottles of the Magma’s were produced. That’s it.
The Marchesa vineyard is an ungrafted vineyard which is normally very sun exposed and has a good balance between tannins and density. According to Frank, this was a “backward” vintage, and therefore the alcohol was rather low, even harvesting as late as November 2nd. Harvest of the Nerello Mascalese grapes are done by hand and the grapes are foot trodden. The wine was fermented in Amphorae buried in the ground up to the neck (to keep the Amphorae from exploding during fermentation). Only indigenous yeasts are used of course, and the wine is left to macerate with the skins for between 5 and 6 months. The wine is bottled directly from the Amphorae without fining nor filtration. Nothing is added nor taken. No added SO2.
504 bottles of the Magma 2 Marchesa were produced, approximately 150 came to Norway. Like I said, I feel fortunate to live in Norway. Price at time of release, 1000 Norwegian Kroner ($155).
Bottle opened at 22:45:
Appearance: Very light red but within 15 minutes darkening to a darkish purple, black then going back to red again within a few minutes. This is certainly a “living wine”.
Nose: Crushed rose pedals, dark plums, rose hips. Very farmyard, especially dead sheep (the specific dead sheep comparison came from my two Norwegian friends who were tasting with me). Wild, sour, small cherries. Hints of dark cocoa. Hints of Macadamia nuts, eucalyptus. Much more tight and precise than it was the first time I tasted this wine back in 2006. If you breath in deeply, hints of prune juice without the dried fruit aspect.
Palate: Extremely concentrated but very light and fresh with red fruit dominating. Within a few seconds, the tannins arrived and held firmly. None of us could sense the 13.7% alcohol, it was extremely well integrated. The acidity was medium plus and very ripe and “sweet”, but the wine is bone dry. Hints of plums that have been picked a week before being over ripe, the fruit is very ripe. No dried fruit evident. Sour fruits. Every sip seems different and has you going back for another. The wine will most likely run out before we finish analyzing this bottle. There is a slight nuttiness on the finish with super-ripe fruit that lingers and these two aromas add incredible complexity to the wine. One of the most fantastic and interesting wines I have ever tasted, again.
23:15:
Tannins really stepping up, but not dominating. More nutty macadamia’s starting to show.
23:30:
This is the hard part of this entry, having to write and report the following:
The wine seems to be “dying”. The finish seems to fade quickly now. The 3 tasters all agreed that the wine was now dead. Perhaps if we had waited, and if we had any wine left, the wine would have come back alive. I am not sure. I should also mention that this wine was not stored perfectly.
To conclude, I feel that this wine will throw many old school wine people off. I believe they will most likely say that the nutty aspects of the wine are signs of oxidation and therefore this wine is not a good wine, and therefore not well-made. This being said, you have to remember that when judging a wine, you must do so as objectively as possible. You cannot let your personal opinion of weather or not you like the wine enter into the equation. There are many well-made wines that I just don’t like, that doesn’t change the fact that the wines are well made.
The facts about the Magma 2 Marchesa are that this wine is well made, has tremendous concentration, complex aromas both on the nose and palate, is extremely well-balanced and the finish seems to never end. These are
facts that are undeniable and in my opinion reflect an excellent, well-made wine. Don’t get distracted by the nutty aromas and forget the aforementioned quality attributes.
Translation of back label:
Ingredients: Only Nerello Mascalese Grapes from the 2002 harvest without the addition of any other ingredient.
Attention: This wine has not been modified. It doesn’t contain stabilizers nor preservatives. There will be a natural deposit because the wine has been bottled without filtration. It’s important to store the bottle at temperature of less than 16°C (60.8° F). It’s recommended to not decant.
In the hills and mountains of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in North Eastern Italy, there are a group of winemakers that wish to make wine like they did centuries ago. They farm organically and believe very firmly in the principles of natural wine making. Ancient methods of cultivation are employed and the white wines are treated to extended maceration periods on the skins, producing “orange” wines. Indigenous yeasts are used without the use of temperature control. Fermentation takes place naturally and spontaneously. In some cases, this takes place outdoors in large terracotta Amphorae.
The Vodopivec brothers’ Valter and Paolo’s winery is about 20 minutes north of Trieste, near the Slovenian border. The brothers own a nursery and are plant and flower experts. They have been making wine since 1995. Up until the 2005 vintage, they have always used big Botti, now they are also using Amphorae.
The Vodopivec brothers usually bottle two different wines from the Vitovska grape. The Vitovska grape is a vine with a greenish-gold berry that has always been cultivated in area of Trieste. The name of the vine is undoubtedly of Slovenian origin, and was often called Vitovska Garganija. The top bottling is the Solo, comprised of the top selection of grapes from older vines. The second bottling is their second selection.
2005 was a challenging vintage with an overabundance of rain, therefore only one (hand) harvest was made. The Solo cuvée was not produced. After harvesting, approximately 60% of the grapes were then fermented in Botti, the remaining 40% in Amphorae. The wine was macerated with the skins for around 70 days. Only indigenous yeast, no filtration, no treatments. The botti were sprayed with about 10mg/liter of sulfur about 2 weeks before the harvest to “sterilize”. The Amphorae were not sprayed.
There were two bottlings for the declassified 2005 vintage. The wine fermented and aged in Amphorae has an orange stripe on the label. The wine fermented and aged in Botti has a green stripe on the label. This bottle was the Amphorae version. Price in Norwegian Kroner is 320 ($50)
Appearance: Apricot, amber color. Clean. Medium plus intensity.
Nose: Spice, Cinnamon. Kumquat, Umami and orange peel. Very intense and complex nose. Keeps you going back to the glass to smell and smell again. Also leaves the impression that this wine could be very fruity or even sweet.
Palate: Medium tannins and extremely focused fruit. Orange peel and touches of spice. Medium plus, mature acidity with a smooth, long and elegant finish. Bone dry. Really complex with some minerality on the finish. Best enjoyed at closer to room temperature. Goes very well with mature goat cheese. I have also found success pairing this wine with pork belly in an Asian inspired sauce.
Although extremely enjoyable now in it’s youth, the wine’s concentration indicates to me the potential to lay down in the cellar for 5-8 years; perhaps more.
Frank Cornelissen owns about 12 ha on Mt. Etna in Sicily. He’s a non-interventionist who says “Consequently this has taken us to avoiding all possible interventions on the land we cultivate, including any treatments, whether chemical, organic, or biodynamic, as these are all a mere reflection of the inability of man to accept nature as she is and will be.”
Frank & Alberto at the top of 'Rampante', the pre-phylloxera vineyard at 1010m altitude located above Solicchiata on Mt Etna after the devasting forest fire of 3 full days & nights.
On a postcard I recently received, he goes on to say “To produce a bottle of genuine, natural wine, the recipe is simple: take large quantities of dedication, determination, intuition and coherence. To these ingredients throw in a strong dose of masochism in order to physically and emotionally survive the difficulties and downsides of this ‘Art of Wine’. Finally, enjoy a glass (or more) of this wine, before sending the rest around the world to good homes.”
Of all the “natural” wines I have tasted, Frank’s are always the most interesting. I am not saying that his wines are the most well-made of the natural wines I have tasted, but his are always the most engergetic. And, definitely the most natural tasting compared to his counterparts. From the very rustic labeling, to the almost opaque wines that are very obviously not filtered nor fined.
This “orange” wine is no exception. Made from the local (white grapes) Grecanico Dorato, Coda di Volpe, Carricante and Cattaratto grapes, this orange wine is barely see through. This cloudy wine is so packed full of sediment that I swore I could see chunks of grapes floating towards the bottom of the bottle. Of course this is a “slight” exaggeration, but it sure made me happy knowing that this wine was made from something (grapes) that was growing wild in the vineyards, and nothing else. His wines are the most natural of the natural wines I have tasted, and this wine was no exception. His wines have a certain “energy” about them which is hard to put in words, but they make you feel good.
The grapes for this wine come from various vineyards on Mount Etna owned and cared for by Frank. Frank harvests the approximate 13ha/hl of grapes totally by hand. The bunches of grapes are put into a destemmer and crushed, not pressed at this time. This machine is more of a crusher than a destemmer as it hardly removes any of the stems at all.
The must is then placed into plastic containers in his backyard (no temperature control here) which are then covered with a tent-like plastic material to keep the rain out. Of course only indigenous yeast here. The wine is left to spontaneously ferment and macerate with the skins for about 4 months giving the wine it’s apricot-hued glow. The wine is then pressed into Amphorae with the help of gravity and then bottled. Absolutely nothing else is added to this wine. Nothing. Not even SO2 (Sulfur Dioxide). The wine is not fined nor filtered before being bottled and this is evident. Since Frank bottle’s his wine without filtration, the last wines bottled have more sediment than the first ones.
First tasting 1500 (3pm):
Appearance: A very cloudy, unfiltered appearance. Loads of sediment which are very visible to the naked eye. In the glass, the wine has an apricot juice hue with a medium intensity. It is hard to analyze intensity with an unfiltered wine of this type (wine with high intensity glows can indicate a high level of intensity and vice versa).
Nose: Apricots with hints of minerals and loads of farmyard (those of you familiar with red Burgundy know what I am talking about). The distinctive (for me) Cornelissen pickle juice. Dry hay and flowers.
Palate: Wild just like the other Cornelissen wines. Typical. A little tingle at the front of the tongue initially from the slight residual CO2, which quickly burns off with a little swirling of the glass. Medium minus tannins. High acidity, but not harsh, just mouth watering and mature. Pickles and smoke. Kumquats. Essence of apricots and peaches, but not sweet. Bone dry with around 2g/liter of residual sugar according to my palate.
Second tasting 1809 (609pm):
Nose: Much more pickles and farmyard. Less distinct apricots. The apricot aromas I do get are of unripe apricots.
Palate: Medium minus tannins. Rosemary, sweet yellow fruit at the back end, apricots. Finish is long and persistent with mild tannins, great acid and smokey flavors. The wine sits and sits.
Interesting to note that although the wine was dry, it paired well with sweeter dishes. It worked well with my honey and lemon marinated chicken. It was also working surprising well with my Mexican Cactus Fruit.. Strange….
I’m always fascinated with the fact that the few bottles of natural wine that I manage to keep open a few days seem to only improve.
Please check out my video wine tasting of Frank Cornelissen’s Rosso del Contadino! Click below and forgive the quality:
I have tasted a few Chianti’s from the Colli Senesi DOCG and they are often fresh and light. This wine seemed more like a Brunello di Montalicino than a Chianti or Chianti Colli Senesi. With some digging I found out that Azienda Agricola Pacina is located in Castelnuovo Berardenga, but his vines are in the Colli Senesi DOCG (which I am told you can see from the kitchen window). I should also add that on a clear day, you can see Montalcino from the estate (home of the afore mentioned Brunello di Montalcino), which could be part of the reason why this wine was more like a Brunello to me.
The 10ha vineyard for this wine is made up of sand, clay and oyster fossils and is farmed organically, leaning towards biodynamics. The blend is 97% Sangiovese and 3% Canaiolo/Ciliegiolo. The grapes are hand harvested, crushed and the alcoholic fermentation takes place utilizing indigenous yeasts. The wine is left to macerate for around five weeks in concrete tanks (the long skin contact could be another reason why this wine resembled a Brunello). The wine is then aged for one year in (5-10 year-old) 500 liter barrels and botti of 17-25hl. The wine is then bottled without clarification nor filtration. Very little sulfur is added at this time ( I’m told 15-20 mg) and aged a further 6 months before release. 25,000 bottles are produced. Alcohol: 13.2% Total Acidity: 5.5%. Price in Norwegian Kroner is 200 ($31).
Appearance: Dark brick-red with good color depth. Medium intensity. Still nice dark edge suggesting that this wine is younger than it really is.
Nose: When first opened, slight hints of onion, suggesting that there was slight reduction. This very quickly burned off. Hints of mineral emerged along with dark cherries and dark plums. Hints of herbs like rosemary. Some dried fruit notes on the back end.
Palate: Dark cherries and cherry pits. Medium plus acidity and medium plus tannins which actually increased and began to over power the wine a bit once in the glass for 10 minutes. It was difficult to distinguish weather the tannins were coming from the fruit or the 500 liter barrels. I am quite sure that most of the tannic structure of the wine came form the fruit itself. Very rustic style of wine with secondary aromas that emerge about 10 seconds after the initial impression on the palate. Those secondary aromas sat for 30 plus seconds.
I tasted this wine again on the 19th of May, after the bottle had been open for 3 days and stored in the refrigerator. It had actually improved considerably. The tannins were better integrated and the fruit more precise. It’s my opinion that this wine is a wine that could benefit from 5-7 years of cellaring. A reliable source reported to me that he had recently tasted a 1995 and that it was, to quote him directly “fantastic”! I suppose that at this price, one might expect that a wine with the Chianti Colli Senesi DOCG can be aged.
Vinosseur is the company name of sommelier Joseph R. Di Blasi. Vinosseur.com is his web page where he writes about wine, food, restaurants and other gastronomic experiences.
Joseph has a special place in his heart for quality wines from the old world, especially France, Germany & Italy with a strong focus on Organic, Biodynamic and Natural wines.
Joseph grew up in Italy and California, but left The States in 2002 and now resides in Norway.
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.
