If you haven’t picked up on that by now, Sicily is my most beloved region: not just for oenological reasons, but above all because it’s where I was born, lived my youth and went through my school and university studies. You should know that every time I have a nice glass of Sicilian wine, I find it contains the perfumes, the colors, the flavors, the atmosphere, the very essence of my earth.
The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino vintage has been rated five-stars (excellent quality) by the Consortium of Protection. The bottles of this vintage are currently on the market, and there is the embarrassment of choice: we are still drinking and appreciating the many, exciting chalices of the 2010 vintage – Brunello, is the best of the third millennium – that 2012 also reached levels of excellence thanks to wines that represent the perfect fusion of texture and balance to taste. Definately Brunello 2012, in general, can be described in two words: great quality.
Last July I have had the opportunity to take part in an important national wine event. I have tasted about a hundred of Piedmont wines and thirty of the amazing Barolo DOCG. They were in good shape. However, only one wine has aroused the unanimous emotion of all of us tastes: the Barolo Pira Riserva 1996 of the company Roagna.You have to know that we all asked for an extra glass of wine to fix it better and remember what can become, greatly improving, a Barolo that comes from Nebbiolo grapes harvested 21 years ago.
Is it a given to think that a sour wine from the South is supposed to give off heat, colours, scents of fresh and tropical fruit, and intense flavours? Well, picture it in your mind and close your eyes: it actually is! There is an amber wine that emits intense and unexpected aromas that will please and delight you: in fact, you will feel like you’re sitting on a deck chair, on a beach on a small Mediterranean island, sipping your cool wine.
Today I’d like to tell you about a sparkling wine that really surprised and impressed me. It’s part of the Lessini Durello DOC typology and it is, of course, a Classic Method (Champenois). But first, it seems only fair to introduce the type of grapes from which this wine is born: it is the Durella, so called because of its thick and hard skin (“Durella” meaning “hard”).
The love for Brunello di Montalcino is unyielding: for us Italians is an unshakable certainty, considering it is our most famous and appreciated red wine (along with Barolo) all over the world. This type of wine has today reached full maturity of style thanks to its unquestionable quality, which reaches the highest levels. Among the many Brunello wines I have tasted, there is, however, one that I could define my “heart’s Brunello” simply because it was one of the first tastings of my sommelier course. It really was “love at first sip”, believe me!
The meeting of two diametrically opposed ideas might well result in an excellent, territorial, highly drinkable sparkling wine: in this case, in fact, it resulted in the Masetto Privè Trentodoc 2008, from the Endrizzi winery in Trentino. Before we start our tasting though, we should take a step back in time by 130 years.
There are some wines that should be drunk at least once in life. One of these is definitely Sassicaia, an authentic Made in Italy icon the world over, like Ferrari or some fashion brands. So every time I find a tasting of the “rocky wine” on a calendar, I try not to let the occasion escape for any reason in the world.
It can certainly be said that the Elvio Cogno Barolo was originally conceived under the sign of the purest tradition of vine, wine and land, never losing or compromising its identity over the years.
Elvio Cogno, founder of the family company, who died a year ago after decades of work in the vineyard and in the cellar, had a fixed goal in mind: to exploit the great potential of wines from the Langhe, and in particular the area of Novello, a town in in the province of Cuneo, Piedmont.
On the ground of Franciacorta it has breathed new air for some time. Companies consolidate and live the passage of the witness with the new generations. One of the brightest examples of this new road is Joska Biondelli, a young virginal who from the finance environment has returned to family lands to manage a family-owned wine-growing tradition.