VinoCibo.com by Craig Camp

Italy's producers eye the skies with trepidation

Decanter reports on the 2005 vintage in Italy
Italy's producers eye the skies with trepidation

The Marriage of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay

Wine is steeped in tradition and history. California wineries proudly talk of decades and French wineries centuries of tradition. Librandi, a winery in Calabria is also proud of their tradition. In fact, they have named one of their wines after a former winemaker, Magno Megonio, who wrote proudly of the wines he made from their vineyard – 2,000 years ago.

Winemaking history is long in Calabria, the peninsula that reaches out towards Sicilia. The Greeks and Phoenicians brought winemaking here some three thousand years ago. Cirò, home to Librandi and thousands of years of winemaking, is located in an area known as Enotria and locals believe they are the birthplace of winemaking on the Italian peninsula. Unfortunately, the winemaking did not change much there over the millennia and Calabria became a winemaking backwater making mostly rough wines for local consumption.

Librandi began bottling their own wines in the 1950’s and soon became recognized as a leading winery in Calabria. Like all of Calabria, the Librandi family is keenly aware of the history represented in their vineyards. Traditional vines like magliocco, mantonico and gaglioppo are given the finest care and full star billing in their best wines. They even reach back thousands of years for their names: Magno Megonio after the Roman centurion who grew wine in the same vineyards, Cirò was offered to Milo of Crotone when he won the ancient Olympic Games and the white wine Critone is named for Crito a disciple of Plato.

So why, in the face of centuries of tradition, does Librandi make Critone from chardonnay and sauvignon blanc? Walking nicely the line between tradition and using modern methods and international varietals, Librandi has created a top-quality line of wines ranging from wines steeped in tradition to modern blends of local and imported vines. Guided by superstar consultant, Donato Lanati, Professor of Enology at the Universities of Torino and Roma, Librandi is showing winemakers in Calabria what is possible.

Librandi Critone is a blend of 90% chardonnay with 10% sauvignon fermented and aged in stainless steel. Although Calabria is sun-bathed, the vines grown on the plain of Strongoli are placed perfectly between the mountains and the sea where hot days alternate with dramatically cooler nights – much the same as California. These cool nights along with careful fermentation gives Critone its fresh, fruitiness. It is a tremendous value at under $10.00 and is easily better and more interesting than California wines at this price point.

2004 Librandi Critone, Val di Neto Bianco, IGT

Tasting notes: Bright light gold. Fresh fruit and floral aromas fill the round nose. Honeydew melons, green apples and ripe pear scents brighten the lively bouquet. Medium bodied but mouth filling. Packed with zesty ripe fruit flavors -- cantaloupes and pears with a clean almond hint. Smooth and round, but not flabby. The long clean, fresh aftertaste is filled with juicy ripe pear flavors. The clean refreshing flavors of this wine make it a great choice for fried calamari and other fresh seafood.

Imported by Winebow

Red Wines, Tomatoes and Fish

Surrounded by coastline, Italy is full of fresh seafood. Blessed by abundant sunshine, it is also full of richly flavored tomatoes. This means that the two often appear in the same dish and that creates a challenge for food and wine matching.

White wines always seem to fall a little short against the acids of the tomatoes and reds always taste a little more tannic contrasted against the seafood. Italians usually don’t give this much thought and make do with whatever is local. A tried and true solution is rosè, but good rosé can be hard to find. Fans of salmon and tuna long ago discovered the natural combination of pinot noir with robust fish dishes and the often garlicky and a bit spicy fish and tomato combinations of Italy fall in the same category. The problem is that wines like that are hard to find in Italy. Oddly enough a good solution can be found in the hills of Tuscany far from the fresh seafood restaurants on the coast.

The fine pinot noir vineyards of Marchesi Pancrazi are a lucky mistake. For years they produced an ordinary light red wine thought to be sangiovese; then an enologist visiting owner Vittorio Pancrazi discovered the vineyards were in fact planted with pinot noir vines. These mis-identified vines were planted in 1975 and not correctly identified until 1989. This mistake made Vittorio Pancrazi the owner of the oldest pinot noir vines in Toscana and started him off in what was to become a passion: to make great pinot noir in Toscana.

The Marchesi Pancrazi pinot noir has now well established itself as one of the best pinot noir wines in Toscana and in fact in all of Italy. Dedicated research has adjusted Burgundian winemaking methods to the unique soils an climate of the Pancrazi vineyards which are located on the estate, dateing from the fifteenth-century, west of Firenze. New clones of pinot noir have been selected and vineyards replanted all with the goal of great pinot noir in mind. Fortunately not all the attention was focused only on great wines and in the process Marchesi Pancrazi has also created a charming and easy wine for everyday drinking that happens to go perfectly with the seafood and tomato dishes where we started.

The Pancrazi San Donato is made from 50% pinot noir and 50% gamay. The gamay undergoes carbonic maceration and this blend offers the charming fruit that this style of fermentation produces along with a balancing backbone from the pinot noir. In San Donato, Vittorio Pancrazi has created a lovely cru Beaujolais styled wine.

2001 Marchesi Pancrazi, San Donato, Toscano Rosso IGT

Tasting Notes: Sparkling bright scarlet with ruby hints. Just translucent. Lovely fruity floral nose filled with wild strawberry aromas. Spicy and very fruity on the palate with bright sweet canned cherry and ripe strawberry flavors. The finish is bright and fresh. A charming, appealing wine that should be served cool. Besides tomato, fish and seafood stews like San Francisco’s cioppino, France’s bouillabaisse, or Italy’s zuppa di pesce in its many forms this is a perfect wine for any casual occasion where many different types of foods will be served.

A Neil Empson selection

2005 - so far...

(ANSA) - Rome, July 19 - Italy appears set for a bumper wine harvest this autumn which should be in line with 2004 in terms of volume, sector sources said on Tuesday .

According to Italian Wine Union (UIV) and the agricultural services agency Ismea, weather will remain a major variable, but the harvest looks goods and will no doubt be better that 2002 and 2003, which were the worst years in decades because of drought .

Wine growers had been concerned after sparse rainfall in June, but rain and cooler-than-normal temperatures in the first half of July, together with long and rainy winter, should produce healthy grapes for September .

According to an Ismea-UIV report, the situation is not uniform throughout the country. In Piedmont, for example, late spring cold reduced the Nebbiolo grape crop by some 10% .

In neighboring Lombardy, sufficient water supply permitted vines to withstand the June heat wave and the harvest will be good, even if just below the volume of last year .

Volume will also be off in Veneto and Friuli, but this will be due more to the abundance of last year's crop, the report said .

Production in central Italy is expected to be closer to that of last year in the Marche and Tuscany, while volume will be down in Lazio because of damaging hail storms last month .

An increase in production is forecast for the southern regions of Molise, Puglia and Sicily, while volume should be the same as 2004 in Sardinia .

Wine experts agree that it is still to early to make any plausible predictions on the quality of the 2005 harvest. However, there is guarded optimism on the part of some producers who recalled that climate conditions this year are similar to those of 2001, one of the great vintages in recent memory .

  © Copyright ANSA. All rights reserved

The Outstanding Selections of Jens Schmidt

The room is packed with wine lovers clutching oversized wine glasses. Behind each of the dozen or so tables covered with wine bottles stands an Italian winemaker busily pouring their wines into the mob of outstretched glasses in front of them and trying explain in their best English their vinous creations. Through the crowd darts the energetic and passionate Jens Schmidt, owner of Montecastelli Selections. Each of these producers are part of the Montecastelli portfolio - his selections. Jens seems to be at every table at once as he tries to convey his passion for these wines to each of the consumers attending.

The sold-out tasting is at Sam's Wine Warehouse in Chicago, one of the world's largest fine wine retailers. It is not easy for new importers to get their wines into such a high profile store, but almost the entire Montecastelli catalog is represented on the wine racks at Sam's - a tribute to their quality and the sharp palates of Sam's Wine Director Todd Hess and Italian Buyer Greg Smolik. Hess and Smolik are looking over the crowd at the tasting with satisfaction as each guest departs with shopping carts laden with the delicious Montecastelli wines. Their customers are sure to return for more as these wines will taste even better at the dinner table.

Jens and Ruth Schmidt have come a long way in a very short time. Montecastelli was only founded in 1997 and their American importing company was born in 2002, yet they have established themselves with some of America's most demanding retail buyers and are distributed in 22 states. They have accomplished this with only two tools: a dedication to quality and old-fashioned hard work. Montecastelli is the name of their home and farm in Tuscany where they have restored an 11th century monastery. Here they produce their excellent olive oil and have also established a lovely agriturismo. They are living in reality what so many thousands only dream about.

One thing that is certain when tasting through this portfolio is that all of the wines are absolutely delicious to drink. They are modern wines, yet they pay homage to traditional winemaking and never let modern methods overwhelm the integrity of the vineyard. Jens describes his palate in this way, "Technically speaking I value cleanliness, fruit and natural balance of acidity. I disapprove of even only small amounts of Bret (brettanomyces-a winemaking fault that is sometimes considered acceptable in small amounts), oxidization and lack of acidity. However in our wines I am looking for more: To make things unique I always look for character and integrity. Integrity is the combination of the vintners approach and individuality confronted with the things in nature he cannot change: history, climate and soil type. Character is emerging as a unique expression of the vintner findings over time and his ability to listen and taste."

Indeed each wine in the Montecastelli portfolio is a wine of character.

Recently tasted wines all of which are highly recommended:
Cesani, Toscana (2002 Chianti Colli Senesi, 2001 Ireos, 2000 Luenzo, 2002 Sanice); Cima, Toscana (2001 Montervo, 2001 Romalbo); Col Vetoraz, Veneto (Prosecco di Valdobbiadene - Brut, Extra-Dry, Cartizze, 2001 Millesimato); Collelceto, Toscana (2001 Rosso di Montalcino); Destefanis, Piemonte (2000 Nebbiolo d'Alba); La Rasina, Toscana (1999 Brunello di Montalcino, 2001 Rosso di Montalcino); La Tenaglia, Piemonte (1999 Barbera del Monferrato Tenaglia e', 2000 Barbera d'Asti Giorgio Tenaglia); Le Fonti, Toscana (2001 Chianti Classico, 2000 Vito Arturo); Novaia, Veneto (2000 Amarone della Valpolicella, 2001 Valpolicella Cantoni); Palazzo Bandino, Toscana (2002 Chianti Colli Senesi, 2000 Bandinello); Perticaia, Umbria (2000 Sagrantino di Montefalco); Pira, Piemonte (2001 Dolcetto d'Dogliani -Bricco Botti and Landis, 2001 Barbera - Fornaci and Briccobotti, 2000 Nebbiolo d'Alba Bricco dell'Asino); Ronchi, Piemonte (2000 Barbaresco, 2001 Barbera d'Alba, 2001 Dolcetto d'Alba); Terre del Sillabo, Toscana (2001 Sauvignon, 2001 Gana); Torre Quarto, Puglia (2001 Guappo Rose, Bottaccia Uva di Troia, Quarto Ducale and Tarabuso Primitivo)

Retailers with extensive selections of Montecastelli wines:
North Berkeley Wine Merchants (Berkeley, CA); Sam's Wine Warehouse (Chicago); Italian Wine Merchant (NY); E and R Wines (Portland); Hi Time Cellars (LA); PJ Wine (NY); The Wine Merchant (St. Louis) and Whole Foods Markets in New York, San Francisco, Portland, Santa Fe, Seattle, Cary NC, and Atlanta.

Mancianti San Feliciano Extra Virgin Olive Oil

There are many good extra virgin olive oils available from Italy, but few that will change the way you think about olive oil altogether. In the hills overlooking Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, Alfredo Mancianti produces some of Italy's finest and most distinctive olive oils including the rare "Affiorato" which may be the finest olive oil produced anywhere.

The San Feliciano is a wonderfully fragrant oil with a lively pungent tang balanced by the flavors of artichokes and almonds. This complexity makes San Feliciano the perfect condiment to almost anything and this exceptional oil can turn simple grilled bread into a feast. Go out of your way to find Mancianti oils.

Terrabianca Extra Virgin Olive Oils

The Terrabianca estate in Tuscany is loaded with style, after all the fashion industry provided the financial fuel for this beautiful estate. However, never satisfied with just good looks, the Guldener family has pursued quality both inside and outside of their bottles. The wines of Terrabianca are justifiably famous as each is of superb quality, but wine is not the only excellent liquid that Terrabianca puts into bottles. They also produce a delicious extra virgin olive oil from their Il Tesoro estate in Maremma on the Tuscan coast. To make things more interesting, Terrabianca offers a range of flavored oils that comes in an assorted gift set of six 100 ml. bottles. The package includes one bottle each of Terrabianca extra virgin olive oil plus bottles of their oil flavored with oregano, basil, white truffles, hot peppers or rosemary. These oils add an easy creative touch to your cooking - and like all things from Terrabianca they look good on your shelf too.

Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato

Ruché just doesn't taste like it comes from Piemonte. It is a graceful wine, elegant and floral with a body more defined by its lively acidity than its soft, round tannins. If there is a wine in Italy to relate to fine Beaujolais it is most certainly not the tart dolcetto, which is often referred to in that context, but the refined smoothness of ruché can be more than a little reminiscent of a Fleurie or Chènas. Of course, ruché is not Beaujolais and has its own distinct character, but as most people have not tasted this delicious wine it is a fair way to set a point of reference.

Ruché now sports its own DOC, Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato, and this small zone in the hills just outside of Asti is responsible for all the production from this rare variety. Now that DOC status has been awarded to this region you can expect to see production expand perhaps making ruché easier to find. This is one of those wines that one sip is likely to inspire gulps and case purchases. Ruché is pure forward fruit flavor.

Ruché is a bit of a mystery vine. Local wisdom says it is an ancient variety probably indigenous to the Monferrato hills. Even the origin of the name is unclear with some claiming it came from the name of a local monastery while another source points to a resistance to a particular vine disease. Whatever the case, little documentary evidence exists and the history of ruché is more folklore than fact.

Cantine Sant'Agata is making an exceptional assortment of ruché wines and excellent wines from Asti's two other important red wine vines: barbera and grignolino. Founded in 1916, the present generation, Franco and Claudio Cavallero, produces 150,000 bottles of wine from their own vineyards, which total 30 hectares. Other than a small amount of chardonnay all their vines are indigenous and all their wines are of excellent quality and value.
Tasting Notes:
2003 Cantina Sant'Agata, Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato, 'Na Vota ($19)
Brilliant ruby with a just a touch of purple, quite translucent. Smooth, forward ripe cherry vanilla nose with a bitter tinge. a touch of cassis and lovely hints of wildflowers and violets. Firm and fresh on the palate with flavors that expand and grow mirroring the forward yet complex fruit and flowers of the bouquet. In the finish the cassis dominates carried by a refreshing acid zip.(89) The warm 2003 vintage produced particularly rich versions of lesser known Piemontese varietals like ruché. grignolino and freisa and you should keep an eye out for them as they are now in the market. They also offer a special selection ruché, Pro Nobis, to continue the Beaujolais reference, it is to regular ruché what Moulin-a-Vent is to normal Beaujolais. It has all the characteristics of the 'Na Vota on steroids. I will confess I prefer what I consider the more balanced 'Na Vota, but I am probably in the minority on that choice with most consumers preferring the chunky Pro Nobis.

A John Given Selection-Imported by John Given Wines (Northeast and other states)
Imported by Siema Wines (southeast and other states)
and other importers including: Wine Appellations

A facinating Gravner debate from Robin Garr's Forum

Gravner, Ping Pong, The Third Thing (Long) by Steve Edmunds

Soffritto-Mirepoix-Sofrito

Through the haze of jet-lagged sleep the aromas would wake me and lift my tired, but still hungry body to the lunch table. Normally we would arrive at the airport at 7 a.m. and then go straight to bed for a few hours sleep when we reached my in-laws house just northwest of Milano. As lunchtime approached a fragrance would slowly grow and expand throughout the house and before you know it my nose would set off the alarm clock in my stomach.

That fragrance was created by my father-in-law, Aldo, cooking his soffritto as he began to prepare for lunch. Soffritto is that simple combination of sautéed aromatic vegetables that is the basis of a seemingly endless list of Italian dishes. Everything from pasta sauces to ravioli filling to Brasato al Barolo has at its heart a fragrant and flavorful soffritto.

The basic soffritto is equal amounts of chopped celery, carrots and onions slowly cooked in butter or olive oil so they release their flavors and aromatics into the ingredients that are then added. The trick is the temperature of the pan: too cool and you just poach the vegetables in the oil -- too hot and you start to caramelize the vegetables. In France they call it mirepoix and in Spain sofrito, but whatever you call this process of cooking aromatic vegetables in fat to create a foundation of flavors for a dish, it is a basic element of good cooking in every cuisine: both for amateurs and professionals.

The word soffritto is a conjugation of the Italian verb soffriggere, or to fry lightly, which is an accurate description. A good soffritto needs a little attention from the cook. A trip to the wine cellar while the vegetables are cooking can result in a burned soffritto. Expect to devote an attentive 10 to 15 minutes to cooking your vegetables. They do not need constant attention and stirring, but they do want a watchful eye. You will know you have it right by the mouthwatering aromas that fill your house.

Soffritto is about flavors. If you buy bland, old vegetables you will get a bland soffritto. Go out of your way to get the freshest most flavorful vegetables available. While carrots, onions and celery are the holy trinity of soffritto, there are as many variations as there are vegetables. Garlic often makes an appearance in southern Italian dishes. Some soffritti include pancetta or other meats in the preparation. In classic risotto recipes, onions stand alone as the soffritto. Remember soffritto is a technique and a concept in flavoring not a specific recipe. Try the recipes below and then get creative. Each serves six as a main course and eight to ten as a first course.

Spaghetti con Pomodori e Soffritto
Recommended wine: 2003 Conterno Fantino, Dolcetto d’Alba, Bricco Bastia*

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped.
2 large stalks celery with leaves, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1- 28 oz. can excellent quality crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. thick spaghetti (avoid very thin spaghetti)
Sea salt
Grana Padano or Parmignano Reggiano cheese for grating

Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and add celery, onions and carrots. Sauté the vegetables gently for about ten minutes until just before they began to brown, then add sugar and cook for one minute more. Add canned tomatoes and mix well. Cover and slowly simmer for thirty minutes stirring often. Salt to taste.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 heaping tablespoon of salt for every two quarts of water. When the water returns to a boil add the pasta and cook until not quite done.

Bring the heat under the pan with the sauce to high and drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the pan and gently mix the pasta and the sauce. Continue cooking until the pasta is done.

Serve immediately with grated cheese on the side.

Penne con Ragu alla Varano Borghi
Recommended wine: 2001 Destefanis, Nebbiolo d’Alba

1 lb. ground sirloin
1 sweet Italian sausage, skin removed and chopped coarsely
2 large carrots peeled and chopped
1 large onion chopped
2 large celery stalks with leaves, chopped
1- 28 oz. can excellent quality crushed tomatoes
a piece of lemon peel
1 bay leaf
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ lb. unsalted butter
1 cup red wine
1 cup beef or chicken broth
Grana Padano or Parmignano Reggiano cheese for grating
1 lb. penne pasta

Heat and melt the butter in a heavy tall-sided pan over medium heat and add celery, onions and carrots. Sauté the vegetables gently for about ten to fifteen minutes until just before they began to brown then add the ground sirloin and sausage, cook for several minutes more. Add canned tomatoes, wine, broth and mix well. Add bay leaf and lemon peel. Add salt and pepper to taste. Loosely cover and slowly simmer for thirty minutes, then cover tightly and simmer on very low heat for 3 hours stirring often.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 heaping tablespoon of salt for every two quarts of water. When the water returns to a boil add the pasta and cook until not quite done.

Bring the heat under the pan with the sauce to high and drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the pan and gently mix the pasta and the sauce. Continue cooking until the pasta is done.

Serve immediately with grated cheese on the side.