In January of this year, before the lockdowns began, I made my last trip to Italy (on behalf of my client Ethica Wines, an importer). My visit to the Castello di Brolio and the Ricasoli winery and tasting room in the heart of Chianti Classico was one of the highlights.

That’s a portrait of Bettino Ricasoli (1809-80) above: the “Iron Baron,” the second prime minister of united Italy (1866-67), and historic champion of Sangioveto (Sangiovese). Not only did he transform and elevate Sangiovese into Italy’s quintessential red wine, but he was also one of the earliest Italian growers to favor native grape varieties. He was arguably Italy’s most influential winemaker and the impact of his studies and experimentation still shapes Italian wine today.

The Ricasoli family and winery hold a special place in my heart. More than a decade ago, Francesco Ricasoli (the current generation) and his father Bettino received me at their Castello di Brolio to discuss my then ongoing research into their namesake’s famous “Chianti recipe.”

Francesco’s father pointed me to an archive where I could find a transcription of the “recipe,” a letter published in the late 19th century. See my translation, the only English-language version of the “recipe,” here.

He also treated me to a wonderful tour of the castle and estate.

At one point, he recounted how he was embedded with British soldiers as they tried to re-take the castle from the occupying German forces toward the end of the Second World War. It was incredible to retrace his movements with him as he described the final battle: because of his intimate knowledge of the castle’s design (he was born within its walls, after all), he was able to provide the British with a layout of the structure’s battlements. Amazing!

I’ll never forget that day and visit. I felt like a 12-year-old kid watching his favorite movie. We ate tripe and drank Sangiovese at lunch.

Here are some photos from my visit. I’ll be hosting Francesco Ricasoli at Roma restaurant, my client, this Thursday for our weekly virtual wine dinner. Francesco is one of the most magnetic and engaging winemakers you’ll ever taste with. We’re expecting this event to sell out. See menu and details here. I hope you can join us!

The Ricasoli family chapel. Magical.

A view from the castle. It’s hard to take a bad photo in Tuscany.

Renaissance garden. Note the vineyards that practically touch the castle’s walls to the right in the image.

Francesco’s studies of Chianti Classico soil types are astounding and extremely useful. Note the ancient sea shell, a trace of ancient seabed, a red thread in many of the world’s greatest appellations.

The Iron Baron greets King Victor Emmanuel II at the Castello di Brolio. The two statesmen were eager to compare notes on their viticultural studies and findings.

The night before my winery visit, I drank the Ricasoli 2012 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Colledilà (single-vineyard designate) paired with creamy veal spleen and chicken liver crostini at a forgettable trattoria in Greve in Chianti. It was one of the best wines I drank this year. Highly recommended.

Above: grape grower and winemaker Piero Mastroberardino joined us last night for a virtual tasting in Houston.

What an incredible night of virtual tasting last night with Piero Mastroberardino!

Piero was our guest yesterday at the fortnightly Zoom event that I host for Roma restaurant in Houston, my client.

Over the course of tasting current vintages of his Greco di Tufo NovaSerra, Lacryma Christi, and Taurasi Radici, Piero talked about something truly remarkable in the world of wine today: A wine-growing region not affected by climate change, Irpinia.

That’s not to say that Piero is a climate change denier. By no means.

He, too, remarked on the remarkableness of the climatic situation in Irpinia, an ancient volcanic plateau east of Naples where some of Italy’s most famous wines are raised.

It’s hard to explain Irpinia’s stunning landscape without actually being there.

As you drive up the highway toward the mountains from Naples, your ears begin to pop because of the rapid change of altitude. Once you make to Irpinia’s edge, you are greeted by a view of a green valley in the sky surrounded by mostly extinct volcanoes.

Above: Irpinia, a photo from my 2016 trip there.

There’s really not much reason to go there except for the extraordinary wine growing. No Michelin-starred restaurants or resorts, no industry besides winemaking. Just ancient hilltop towns and vineyards and vineyards as far as the eye can see.

And as Piero explained yesterday evening, it’s perhaps the only place on earth where grape harvest times still align with the rhythms of his parents’ and grandparents’ generations and even beyond.

Regardless of the causes of climate change (and I, for one, believe that the scientists are right in their thesis that human industry is the primary motor), grape harvests have been accelerated across the world in recent decades.

“I harvest much earlier than my parents did” is something that you hear European growers nearly without exception.

Most famously in Italy, Piedmont growers point to the string of vintages that began to take shape in the early 1990s as an example of this. More than a decade ago, a famous Rhône grower echoed a Piedmont grower when he told me that “climate change has made me a very wealthy man.” He was referring to the fact that he, like his Italian counterparts, no longer have trouble attaining higher alcohol volumes in their wines now that rising temperatures deliver the necessary sugar levels in the fruit. In another not-so-long-ago era, European growers — both continental and Mediterranean — considered themselves fortunate if they had one vintage per decade where they could achieve the desired alcohol.

Above: all the wines showed beautifully last night and the Taurasi was spectacular. But the show-stopper for Tracie and me was the Greco di Tufo NovaSerra. What a fantastic wine!

As guests asked Piero about the elegant minerality and balance in his wines, he ascribed the savory character and freshness to the fact that he, like the generations that came before him, can ripen their grapes over longer spans of time, in other words, more slowly than winemakers in other parts of the world.

Just ask a grower in Torrenieri or Verduno if they still pick in the same month as their parents or grandparents did. They will both tell you that where their parents harvested in October, they now gather their grapes in September. Piero picks his fruit as late as November — because he can.

Wine knowledge is truly encyclopedic in its breadth. Last night was an example of how just when you think you know everything about wine, you realize that you’ve just scratched the surface of its wondrous and boundless mosaic.

Thank you, Piero, for sharing these super wines with us (at 2:30 a.m. your time!). And thank you Shanon, Roma’s owner, for believing in our campaign to bring Italian winemakers into the homes of wine lovers!

Call me a “kid in a candy store.”

Tomorrow night, I’ll be welcoming one of Italy’s greatest winemakers, Piero Mastroberardino (above), for a virtual wine tasting of three of his family’s wines, including the Greco di Tufo Nova Serra — one of my favorite Italian whites.

And then on Thursday, we’ll be joined by Gianluca Garofoli whose family produces another one of my all-time favorite Italian white wines, the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Podium.

Both events are hosted by Roma restaurant in Houston, my client.

For Piero’s virtual wine tasting event, $119 sends you home with three bottles of wine — the Greco, the red Lacryma Christi, and the Taurasi Radici — and light bites from Chef Angelo.

For Gianluca’s virtual wine dinner event, $119 sends you home with three bottles of wine, including the Podium, and a traditional Marche menu for two. Chef Angelo is from Marche so this is a special one for him.

Chef, you had me at “homemade passatelli with mushrooms”!

Please just shoot me an email if you’d like to attend either virtual event (in the comfort of your own home!).

Why is there a photograph of a bee at following this message? Join us Thursday to find out! Thank you for supporting local businesses, including my own, by eating great Italian food and drinking great Italian wines with the people who produce and love them.

Image via the Garofoli Facebook.