Fiorano! Turning the impossible into a wine by the glass

Above, Fiorano labels, the Semillon to the left and the Bianco (Mavasia di Candia) to the right.

There are a few articles floating around about Prince Alberico Boncompagni Ludovisi and his magical wines.  When the prince took over the estate just outside of Rome in 1946 he replanted the vineyard with Bordeaux grapes (with the exception of Malvasia), a practice way ahead of it's time.  After the 1995 vintage he ripped up all of his vineyards to protect his name and keep anyone from making his wines.  

Up until the year 2000, 14,000 bottles laid in the cellar covered in the mythical white mold. At that point their responsibility was passed onto Italian wine writer, Luigi Veronelli.  They were then dispersed accordingly and 13 years later they have found their way onto the wine by the glass program at Maialino in New York City.

The four bottlings of Fiorano we are currently pouring on the Lazio Enomatic program:

Age-worthy Semillon in Lazio?

Each of the bottles are interesting in their own way.  The Semillon's are quite deep and complex wines, while the Malvasia's are a little brighter and hit you with a salty acidity right away.  The 1988 Semillon was the bottle everyone seemed to agree on as being the most complex and most suitable for those 25 years of cellar aging, tasting of deep caramel notes, nuts, spices and dried flowers.  The 1995 Malvasia was incredible as well, prancing on the palate with a lightness and it tasted like ocean water, burnt oranges and dried flowers.  One thing to note is that during the tasting every second bottle we opened tasted so differently from the first, wether it was slightly more or less oxidized or just it's own personality that it carried. This is really a case of intense bottle variation and the wine you taste upon opening will be a whole other beast once 15 minutes passes.

However, this still leave's us with the obvious question: Why and how is a 25 year old Semillon from Lazio drinking so damn fine right now? Semillon as a variety seems to only prove itself in Bordeaux and Australia's Hunter Valley.  Even in Bordeaux it is still blended with Sauvignon Blanc which plays a crucial role in the finished product.

Jancis Robinson (Vines, Grapes and Wines) writes of Semillon as ''A very odd grape indeed. It is grown, often extensively, all over the world.  In most of these vineyards it sits around sullenly like an overweight schoolgirl, showing awkward fatness or just plain dullness in the wines it produces.''

The secret must lie somewhere between the soil, the magical white mold, the large mold covered barrels used year after year and the Prince's love for his vineyard and wines.  It is quite an honor to be talking about and pouring these wines in a Roman Restaurant in 2013.  These wines will never be made again, and someday soon enough won't ever be seen or tasted again.  A magical moment in wine history indeed.

Maialino Wine Director Liz Nicholson joined by Prince Alberico's children from Lazio.

Roma Lungotevere

Photo: Jay Elling Photography.

San Giovanni in Laterano

San Giovanni In Laterano Through a bus window.  Rome, Italy 2009

Lost in translation

Today my friend Rivka Spizzichino in Rome shared this photo from the Metro... Classic Italian workmanship here!

la vita romana

remembering the rooftop of il castello di via oderisi da gubbio

Cara Italia, 150 anni

''Cara Italia, perché giusto o sbagliato che sia questo è il mio paese con le sue grandi qualità ed i suoi grandi difetti.''

Enzo Biagi

Above, a bust of Luigi Bartolucci in Piazza Garibaldi in Rome.  A picture I snapped last month during the preparations for the 150th anniversary memorial.

Arrivederci Roma...

Enjoyed a last dish of Bucatini All'Amatriciana at Trattoria Lilli on Tuesday before I left Rome...Once again... No matter how many times I leave Rome it will be sad and i will have to write about it.  Trattoria Lilli is always a must visit when I'm in the city, and they do the best Bucatini All'Amatriciana that I've had in a Trattoria in Rome. O' Guanciale mio.... They have a very small menu consisting of only 4 or 5 primi and secondi, but they are all done to perfection.  I still can't get over how perfectly al dente the bucatini are cooked every single time! I believe it is the first and most important thing when cooking a pasta dish.  No matter how good you can make your ragù, sugo, sucù, sauce, gravy or whichever ingredients, (quote me on this) if you fuck up the cooking point of your noodles you've fucked up everything.  For Lilli's wine list? No wine list.  But you can shlug down their vino della casa senza problemi.

A recent tweet from Alfonso about the over use of garlic and salt in U.S. restaurants made me think back to Lilli.  There we were served the local vegetable cicoria, without any garlic and hardly any salt.  Simple with a dash of olive oil and peperoncino maybe, but you really taste the vegetable in this style.  But it is like that everywhere in Italy.  Maybe it is the tasteless GM vegetables here in the states that makes you always reach for the garlic... who knows?

Trattoria Lilli
Via Tor di Nona, 23
Roma

Vajra and some Barolo tasted in Rome

The Barolo was flowing Sunday February 27, at the Hotel Quirinale on Via Nazionale in Rome for the Go Wine tasting of piemontese wines.  Above, Francesca Vaira of G.D. Vajra pours me some of their wonderful Barolo Albe 2006.

I woke up Sunday morning pretty shot and absolutely exhausted.  My roman days are coming down to their last and the late nights with old friends and la dolce vita finally caught up with me.  One last tasting to attend before a flight back to L.A. on Wednesday.  Especially since I saw G.D. Vajra on the list, and I've been wanting to taste their wines for a while now.

It was a pleasure to meet and taste with the very simpatica Francesca who had 4 vini rossi being tasted including the colaboration bottling of Luigi Baudana.


G.D. Vajra Langhe Nebbiolo 2009 14,5% 
Aged and fermented only in steel,  this was a drinking fresh and very bright.  Very refreshing on the palate and it felt good to taste the young expression of Nebbiolo.  But still containing some nice tannin that completes the mouthfeel of the wine.
Mcduff has a nice in depth post on the 2006 version here.

Barolo Albe 2006 13,5%
Aged 24 months in large casks (botti grandi di rovere di slavonia) and 5-10% barriques.
Vineyards: Fossati, Costa di Vergne, La Volta
This wine already expressing a huge bouquet, rose petals, beautiful red fruit and big tannins still.
Really complete and classic Barolo, One of my favorite at this tasting and I would love to taste it years from now.

Barolo Bricco delle Viole 2006 14,5%
Aged 24 months in botti grandi, coming from 50-60 year old vines from Bricco delle Viole in the comune of Barolo.  4,79 hectares.
This wine was also beautiful, showing a tiny bit more of a rugged earthy characteristic, still with similar gorgeous fruit and those big tannins. 

Luigi Baudana Barolo Serralunga d'Alba 2006
30-40 year old vines
This wine was the most closed at the moment.  Some big fruit emerging, wish I revisited this one.

G.D. Vajra Langhe Bianco 2009 13,5%
100% Riesling, and unoaked.
When I arrived I beelined it to the Vajra booth to wrap my lips around this Langhe Bianco.  Was stoked to finally taste this and it didn't let me down one bit.  I have tasted heaps of terrific white wines this month, and this was one of my favorites.
Showing beautiful white fruit, full and thick with full body mouth feel.  Great acidity, crowd pleaser.

The only other Langhe Bianco tasted this day was by Cascina Ballarin. Consisting of 75% Chardonnay, Favorita and Pinot Nero.  But, when it comes to drinking a Langhe Bianco it will be hard to steer away from the version made by G.D. Vajra.

The Prunotto Barolo 2006 normale was the most enjoyable out of the Prunotto wines for me.  Aged in Botti Grandi with a small passing in barrique.  This wine was quite swampy with a hint of burnt hair, some good fruit and interesting to say the least.  The Bussia Barolo was less enjoyable for me showing off a more fruit forward style.  The Barbaresco and Barbaresco Bric Tarut bottlings werent doing much for me.  I've enjoyed their Barbera D'alba in the past but it didnt show up at this tasting.

Cascina Ballarin Barolo Bussia 2005
This barolo of Cascina Ballarin was quite surprising.  Apart from the Dolcetto 2009 which overwhelming  candied fruit, these wines had the biggest expressions of terroir showing at the tasting.  The Barolo Bussia especially was really open, earthy and muddy.  I was also surprised to see these wines are barriqued (although I was told a mixture of things) and quite modern, but there was no overwhelming oak and I was digging the poop and fruit combo and how they were drinking on this day.

The Roberto Voerzio Barolo La Sera 2006 and 2007 were damn interesting and for sure standouts. Although there wasnt anyone to really explain the wines they remained a bit of a mystery.  I later researched a bit on Roberto (Vino al Vino) and discovered he is quite a mythical man and highly respected.  He founded his estate only in 1987, and has an extremely low production (one of the lowest in barolo) of around 40,000 bottles a year making 12 different wines (7 barolo) total.  Although considered a modernist, he is also referred to as the most traditional modernist.

I believe these two wines go through a traditional style maceration of 20 days and are then aged 24 months in barriques.  The 2006 had an incredible complexity, beautiful fruit and a lovely mint note that made it so unique.  Just a wine that really makes you say wow, and ponder for a few minutes. The 2007 which was just released was a whole different story still closed a bit, with a new shoe element, big cherry fruit and a very particular chocolate characteristic that made it so different from 2006.  Pretty cool to taste these two wines side by side....

The 2006 Barolo Bussia of Sergio Barale was brilliant.  An excellent traditional style barolo that was complex and complete in the mouth.  The first taste was shortly after the bottle had been opened and it was far too closed.  I waited an hour and revisited and it had opened up so nicely.  This wine should go the distance in the cellar and develop some lovely characteristics.

The traditional styled wines of Gabutti Boasso, which are aged 36 months in Slovenian Botti.  The Margheria 2007 was showing the best for me out of the Serralunga 2007 and Gabutti 2007.

Above, Emiliano Di Leonardo Sommelier for the ''Enoteca booth'' pours some Francesco Rinaldi.  He had the biggest booth and the hardest job throughout the day.

Some nebbiolo aftermath, as we throw in the towel and call it a day...

nothing like cleaning the palate with a fresh cigarette after a long day of nebbiolo.

 A last day in Rome will consist of trying to find a bottle of the Langhe Bianco, then a visit to my favorite roman dining spot, Trattoria Lilli....

Salute!

Movia Puro Rosè 2003... half disgorged?

Movia Puro Rose 2003
Was quite indecisive about my first bottle of Movia Puro Rose... to disgorge or not to disgorge?  I did some internet research and wanted to try it both ways... or maybe if you could half disgorge the bottle? Do Bianchi  recommended to me an undisgorged Puro... so why not..?  I had stored the bottle upside down for a week in case la sboccatura took place.  So I turned it right side up and popped the cork regularly for an attempt at an undisgorged style... what happened to my surprise is I essentially half disgorged the wine as a bunch of the yeasts and gritty floaters came rushing out while still leaving some behind. Best of both worlds?  Above you can see the smegma left behind on my hand, which was quite gritty and sandy in texture.

The wine was brilliant.. paired with some pan seared pork chops, patate al forno con olio e rosmarino.
Very thick, cloudy cidar like...strong nose full of yeast and cellar with notes of grapefruit and oranges. Nice acidity and mouth feel, and more complex than I had anticipated. 

My friend Nick Piovanelli captured the opening on film in the appartment in Rome... although very dark, you can get the idea....

the beautiful color of movia puro rose....

Here is the link to Do Bianchi's post on an Undisgorged Movia.....

Revisiting Ribolla Gialla in Rome....

Popped into this Il Roncal Ribolla Gialla 2009 that I copped from their Agriturismo where we were staying during the COF2011 trip.  I really enjoyed all of the Il Roncal wines, they were overall really consistant.  We didnt get a chance to taste their ribolla so I brought a bottle to Rome.  This wine had beautiful fruit and a really nice acidity with a full body mouth feel.

The above Spigole (Branzini in northern Italy) or European Seabass were a perfect match for the very fish friendly ribolla gialla.

Waking up during sunrise at Il Roncal.  (I was staying in the Ribolla Gialla room by the way....)

 After our Branzini and Ribolla dinner, we went down a block to the neighborhoods local enoteca.  Ombralonga Vinerie - Via Oderisi da Gubbio, 41.  I noticed they had a bottle of Zorzettig Ribolla Gialla 2009.  We stayed with the theme and downed a bottle over a game of scopa. 

During the Friuli trip the ''magnificent six'' dined in the home of Annalisa of the Zorzettig estate.  Annalisa served the 2009 Ribolla Gialla with the local bean and barley soup in this case served inside a bread bowl.  They went together swell and a drizzle of the rich zorzettig olive oil over the soup was brilliant.

above, Mcduff snaps a photo of Annalisa and I at the end of the meal enjoying a much needed grappa.

We made many visits to different producers houses for dinner throughout the trip.  I noticed many had corn hanging outside of their entrance, which apparently dates back a few hundred years and has become a tradition here..

Oddero Langhe Nebbiolo 2005 in Magnum, spot on...

Oddero Langhe Nebbiolo DOC 2005 (Magnum)
(Maceration lasts 15 days, aged in Slovenian and French Oak for around 1 yr. 1-5 yrs.)
From the second of being uncorked, this wine's nose is open and for the palate....spot on.  Beautiful dusty red fruit on the nose, with cleaner fruit on the palate, nice cherry notes and acidity, bold tannins but not overwhelming.  Tasted with some Bresaola and Pecorino di grotta.  Went with both beautifully.

Not too often does a wine hit me in a way that I have to run and write about it.  But this beaut' gave me everything I wanted in a Langhe Nebbiolo... delicious wine right here, ever since the Oddero Barolo 2004 Brunate blew me away, I have been on a search for their wines....
I stopped into Trimani here in Rome the other day and picked up a few bottles of some shit I've been trying to get my hands on for a while.  After last weeks Friuli extravaganza, it was nice to open a wine, taste and enjoy it slowly in a calm meditative state...

Feels good to chill in my old appartments kitchen with old friends on oderisi da gubbio, in Rome!  Cheers... hope your all drinking some good nebbiolo.

A stop into Er Buchetto

A simple lunch at Er Buchetto, with a glass of vino bianco.

So many times I have tried to put into words that feeling you get in Italy.  That midday buzz after washing down your lunch with a light and refreshing vino sfuso.  That bounce in your step that makes everything around you feel different.  That is the exact feeling I get everytime return to Er Buchetto for lunch.  The only thing they serve here is Porchetta.  You can have it in a sandwich (as shown above), or in a portion with bread on the side.  If your lucky you can find a plate of artichokes or some olives.  But porchetta is their thing and they have been doing it since 1890.  Just cheap, honest, simple, delicious stuff served quite literally in a hole in the wall (''Er Buchetto'', is the little hole in roman dialect).  This is the first place I ate in Italy, where I was reccomended to come here for lunch back in 2004.  I return everytime I'm in the city.

Er Buchetto di Alessandro Fioravanti
Dal 1890
Via del viminale 2F Roma 00184
06. 48.83.031

Er Buchetto, Dal 1890

Una Porchetta intera

These spouts on the left is where the white wine comes from.  Very drinkable and light, makes for a perfect lunch wine.

Frascati spotting in Albany

Was psyched to see Frascati on the wine menu at Caffè Italia, in Albany NY the other night in occasion of my mothers 50th birthday party.  I am very sheltered from certain wines when in western Massachusetts, even from some of these mass produced ones.  Frontana Candida produces 8 million bottles of Frascati a year of which 6.5 million are exported.  It is a classic ''supermarket wine'' in Rome, costing about 4 or 5 Euros, and is very nostalgic for me.  Seeing this label I instantly remembered the hot summer days spent in Rome drinking Frascati and cooling off on our noisy ass terrace overlooking busy and chaotic streets.


Frascati: terra di principi, vino di papi e poeti.
Frascati is a very small and historical town, which is part of the Castelli Romani located southeast of Rome.  The wine has been a staple of roman culture for over 2,000 years.  Frascati is made up mainly of Malvasia, Trebbiano, and Greco.  There are three styles of wine produced: Superiore (dry), Cannellino (sweet), and Spumante (sparkling).

Marino, a nearby town in the Castelli Romani holds a sagra di uva in the fall, you can peep wine coming out of the fountain in the main piazza.  A true shit show, where all come to fill their cups with the flowing wine free of charge, and then watch the local teens puke their guts out not too long after...

Remembering Frascati....a mid day picnic style lunch in Frascati with the freshest salumi, olives, wine bread and cheese served with local honey.  The wine served chilled on a hot summer day is one amazing way to refresh yo-self!

Nebbiolesco at Città del Gusto

Roma Wine Festival 8-9 Maggio 2010

Città del Gusto, Roma

er giorno nebbiolesco... tasted heaps of wines last week, but the nebbiolos were the funnest.
I was a bit disappointed in the 2005 brunellos, especially next to the 04's. although i didnt taste any of my favorite producers. i still must try il poggione's amongst others. 


Here is the 2004 nebbiolo tasting:  ''Roero, Barbaresco, Barolo. tre nebbiolo a confronto''.  In actuality it was more of a barolo tasting, comparing the styles coming from different zones/vineyards.  I tasted many beautiful 05's and 06's as well from the same producers but this was by far the most exciting.  Below is a lineup of the wines, consisting of a barbaresco, a roero and 6 barolo crus.

Middle photo: from right barbaresco, roero, barolo.

Above:  two true beauties, the schiavenza barolo broglio, and the oddero barolo brunate, my two favorite bottlings of this tasting. 

Paolo Zaccaria presented this tasting, he mentioned how he doesnt make notes on the colour of the wines...  ''if a wine tastes good it doesnt matter what colour it is!''

Here are some notes on the 8 piemontese wines.

sottimano barbaresco currà 2004

this wine aged in barriques, although not traditional, very elegant and no dominating oak whatsoever. quite appealing

nice fruits, very floral. the nose was a little closed still.

monchiero carbone roero printi 2004

this being a quite powerful wine we tasted it after the more elegant barbaresco...
a lot of things going on here.  paolo described una manciata di conchiglie (a handful of sea shells) along with sandy notes.  i picked up some iron, new shoe rubber, and after a few minutes in the glass some floral notes starting to come out.  chalky tannins on the finish.

massolino barolo margheria 2004

traditional barolo passed through botti grandi. this is one of the more elegant and softer expressions of serralunga. nose a tad closed still. small red fruits.  in the mouth soft, floral, chewy but elegant tannins.

luigi baudana barolo cerretta 2004

for coming from cerretta this is showing quite fresh. the nose a little more open than the massolino for me. fruits, flowers, less elegant in mouth though. meatier tannins.

schiavenza barolo broglio 2004

one of few barolos coming purely from broglio. beautiful nose, instantly i get a meaty, steak type of character.  a nice minerality, very serralunghiale and nebbiolesco. traditional, elegant, beautiful structure.

oddero barolo brunate 2004

bellissimo vino. coming from the epic brunate vineyard of la morra.  only 1,500 bottles produced, this was the most unique wine of the night in my oppinion. a wine that seemed to be opened in the moment, it was really fucking shining. bouquet jumping out of the glass, full of licorice and mint, a touch of black peper, very particular.

in the mouth silky, nice fruits, seductive licorice, perfect acidity and long gorgeous tannin. a really beautifully structured wine with notes that linger for time...

giovanni rosso barolo la serra 2004

nose of watery fruits, hint of red meat and alcohol.

very light in comparison to the others (also the case with the 2006 i have tasted)

less complex, less structured, doing the least for me out of these wines.

ettore germano barolo cerretta 2004

tasted this next to the luigi baudana cerretta, was a bit cleaner, livelier fruits, chalky chewy tannins

The oddero, schiavenza and massolino were my top three picks.

I originally put the schiavenza at the top of the bunch, but later changed to the oddero for it had an everlasting effect on me.  the licorice and mint notes stayed with me all day. 

like when you see a beautiful girl walk by, you fall in love, but she stays on your mind for the rest of the day... really hope i can taste this wine again one day.

 above:  label award going to baglio del cristo di campobello bianco sicilia igt

 above: the beautiful and flashy wines of piera martellozzo from veneto, friuli, and trentino, with a glass of the rosè spumante dry cuvèe linea 075 carati.

 Above: Astoria Fervo 2008 Refrentolo Passito DOC, an amazing wine, 100% marzemino, velvety, sweet, delicious.

Later I was tasting with head-winemaker Luca Veglio from Oddero (below to the left of me) he opened a corked bottle of barolo (which wasnt completely unappealing to me), he explained how nebbiolo wines are tough to tell when they are corked.  they are often mistaken for earthy or terroir notes... in a recent horizontal tasting, he noticed a corked bottle which had been served without anybody realizing the defect.

click for a video link ''lucci il vino'' from roma wine festival