Category Archives: de oenographia

Love at first sight: the bloggers arrive in Friuli

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Picked up the COF2011 blogging team yesterday at the Venice airport (after a teary goodbye to Tracie P). For the next five days, I’ll be acting as their interpreter and liaison as they taste wines produced in the Colli Orientali del Friuli (the Eastern Hills of Friuli) and meet winemakers and visit wineries.

It’s a great group of folks.

I’ll be posting my impressions of the trip here at Do Bianchi and I’ll be reposting my blogger colleagues’s posts over at our aggregate blog COF2011.com.

Buona lettura, ya’ll!

The best Prosecco tasting ever…

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and the best tasting Prosecco ever…

In the canon of Italian wine writing, you often find tasters who express the emotion that a wine evokes. In Italian vinography, when a writer uses the descriptor emozionante, the term denotes that a wine was moving, thrilling, stirring, exciting…

Such was the case yesterday at one of the most extraordinary tastings that Tracie P and I have ever attended: yesterday, my friend Riccardo Zanotto, whom I first met back in 1992 when I was playing an American cover band in the Veneto, organized a “Prosecco Colfòndo” tasting with five producers of bottle-fermented lees-aged Prosecco — just for us.

Today, I don’t have the time to post my copious notes from the event but I will as soon as I have some downtime. In the meantime, as Tracie P and I head to Venice to celebrate our first wedding anniversary, I’d like to thank Riccardo and the other producers for what was truly one of the most thrilling wine events I’ve ever attended. In part, because I feel a deep connection to Prosecco, the land of Prosecco, the culture of Prosecco, and the people of Prosecco. In part, because the wines are truly OUTSTANDING. A remarkable and truly thrilling wine event for us.

Sauvignon Bianco: the basics

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Although Sauvignon Bianco (Sauvignon Blanc) is not an indigenous variety of Friuli, it had to be included here because of its prevalence and popularity in the region. I rarely reach for international grape varieties cultivated in Italy, but when it comes Friulian Sauvignon Bianco, I can’t agree more with Master Sommelier Bobby Stuckey, who likes to call Sauvginon Bianco “Friuli’s secret weapon.”

The following post is my abridged translation of the entry on “Sauvignon Bianco” in Vitigni d’Italia, le varietà tradizionali per la produzione di vini moderni (Grape Varieties of Italy, the traditional varieties for the production of modern wines) by Antonio Calò et alia, Bologna, Calderini, 2006. This is the second in an educational series on the grape varieties of the Colli Orientali del Friuli, posted in conjunction with the COF 2011 aggregate blog.

Synonyms (documented and/or otherwise plausible): Bordeaux Bianco, Pellegrina, Piccabon, Spergolina, Blanc Fumè, Fumè, Surin, Fiè, Sauternes, Sylvaner Musqué, Muskat Sylvaner, Fegentraube, Savagnin Blanc, Savagnin Musqué.

Erroneous: Champagna, Champagne, Marzemina, Sciampagna, Sèmillon, Spergola, Spergolina Verde, Tocai Friulano.

Origins (Historical Notes): Sauvignon is cultivated in Bordeaux, particularly in the Sauternes. It probably came from this region to Italy, where it is has found suitable growing conditions in many areas and where its cultivation has been favored by growers. There is no doubt that the name Sauvignon originally meant “wild plant” (Bonnier e Levadoux, 1950). And indeed, its traits are similar to those found in the Lambrusca family. According to Molon (1906), its French origins are not certain, even though it has been cultivated in France since the 19th century. In France, two distinct types of Sauvignon are grown: Sauvignon Grosso, also known as Sauvignon Verde, and Sauvignon Piccolo, also known as Sauvignon Giallo. The only morphological differences between the two are in the fruit. The Verde or green-bunch biotype is Sauvignanasse, which is as widely planted in France as it is in Italy. In Friuli, it is called Tocai. There is also a pink or red clone of this variety, noted for its intense aroma and grown in warmer regions like Chile.

Environment and cultivation: Medium-low, dependable production. Slopes with dry conditions and stony soils are ideal for its cultivation. It thrives when pruning is not overly aggressive. Guyot and Cordone Speronato [i.e., cordon-trained, spur-pruned] are the recommended training systems for this variety. Because of its early ripening and hard-to-control acidity levels, temperate-cool climates are best for its cultivation where there is a higher synthesis of pyrazine and methoxypyrazine which are responsible for its elderberry and tomato leaf aromas.

Sensitivity to Disease and Other Issues: sensitive to peronospora, oidium, esca, very sensitive to botrytis and acid rot. It cannot tolerate spring freezes or hydric stress but has good tolerance for windy conditions.

Alcohol Content: 8.9-15%
pH: 2.6-3.6
Acidity: 3.9-9.3 grams per liter

Sauvignon Bianco makes a fine, food-friendly white wine, golden yellow in color with intense ripe fruit and floral aromas. Soft and velvety, lightly aromatic, warm, with good body, and delicate. Suitable for short-term aging. With the right conditions, it can be subjected to noble rot and late-harvested.

The variety is used exclusively for vinification. It is commonly grown in the Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia, and Lombardy. It is used in many DOCs, including: Alto Adige, Colli Berici, Colli Bolognesi, Garda, Oltrepò Pavese, Bagnoli, Breganze, Isonzo, Terlano, Colli Orientali del Friuli, Collio Goriziano, Trentino, Erice, Corti Benedettine del Padovano, Pomino.

Verduzzo Friulano Bianco: the basics

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The following post is my abridged translation of the entry on “Verduzzo Friulano Bianco” in Vitigni d’Italia, le varietà tradizionali per la produzione di vini moderni (Grape Varieties of Italy, the traditional varieties for the production of modern wines) by Antonio Calò et alia, Bologna, Calderini, 2006. This is the second in an educational series on the grape varieties of the Colli Orientali del Friuli, posted in conjunction with the COF 2011 aggregate blog.

Synonyms (documented and/or otherwise plausible): Verduz, Verduzz, Verduzo, Verduza, Ramandolo.

Erroneous: Verdisio, Verduzzo trevigiano, Verduzzo di Motta.

Origins (Historical Notes): An ancient grape variety of Friuli, cited by Acerbi (1825) who notes that a grape called Verduz had been cultivated in Friuli in the province of Udine for more than 100 years. It is mentioned in the 1879 Bolletino Ampelografico (Ampelographic Bulletin) as one of the white grape varieties of Friuli. In 1939, Poggi noted a distinction between two types of Verduzzo, a “green” clone which has all but disappeared and a “yellow” clone which was probably derived from the former. Besides these two clones, there is another found in the Ramandolo area (province of Udine) called Verduzzo “raçsie” with semi-loose [semi spargolo] clusters.

Environment and cultivation: Verduzzo is not particularly difficult to grow. It likes hillside vineyards with good exposure, low fertility, and dry climate. Production for this grape is high and constant. Medium-open training systems and medium-long pruning are ideal for this grape variety. It tolerates hail better than most.

Sensitivity to Disease and Other Issues: light sensitivity to powdery mildew, sensitivity to moths, high tolerance to botrytis thanks to its thick skin.

Alcohol Content: 9-15%
pH: 2.5-3.5
Acidity: 5-10 grams per liter

Verduzzo Friulano Bianco produces a wine that is rich golden yellow with a pleasant vinous aroma, relatively tannic, full-bodied, sweet, fruity, with honey notes. Two types of wine can be obtained using this grape: a dry white wine and a sweet semi-viscous dessert wine (Ramandolo) following exposed drying on the vine or drying in an enclosure.

The variety is used exclusively for vinification. It is commonly blended with other grapes to obtain a finer, drier, and more delicate wine. It is grown primarily in the province of Udine but also in the provinces of Pordenone and Gorizia. It can be used in the production of the following DOCs: Colli Orientali del Friuli, Friuli Annia, Friuli Aquileia, Friuli Isonzo, Friuli Latisana, Lison-Pramaggiore, and Piave, and it can be utilized in a variety of ways.

Fat cat Cernilli leaves Gambero Rosso marking end (?) of an era

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Above: Soon-to-be ex-editor of the Gambero Rosso Guide to the wines of Italy, Daniele Cernilli, as photographed by Christian Callec, who quotes Cernilli as asking “what is wrong with the use of new oak?”

Italy’s top wine blogger Mr. Franco Ziliani and I have posted the news over at VinoWire: Daniele Cernilli is stepping down as the editor-in-chief of the Gambero Rosso Guide to the Wines of Italy, the most influential rubric of Italian wines today (pun intended for the Italophone among you).

Rumors of his departure have circulated wildly in the Italian enoblogsphere for more than four weeks and while no one expects the editorial direction and ethos of the Gambero Rosso Guide to change for the better (actually, it will probably only get worse), the omega of his tenure there does mark the end of an era that saw the “international style” and international grape varieties dominate the worlds of commercial and fine winemaking in Italy.

I interviewed Daniele Cernilli in San Diego in 2008 when he came there to speak at the Gambero Rosso Road Show, traveling event. The event, originally scheduled for Las Vegas, was hastily detoured to San Diego that year. An insider told me that the sudden change of venue was due to the insistence of behemoth distributor Southern Wine and Spirits that Cernilli and his wife Marina Thompson present only wines distributed by Southern. Whether or not this is true (and I believe that it is), it does give you a sense of how Cernilli, his wife and publicist Thompson, and the Gambero Rosso Guide are perceived by observers of the Italian wine industry as a purely “pay-to-play” operation.

Here’s the video, directed by my childhood friend Charlie George and with music from Nous Non Plus:

Tocai Friulano: the story behind the EU decision to change the name

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In her 1913 poem “Sacred Emily,” Gertrude Stein wrote famously that a rose is a rose is a rose.

The best English-language account (that I could find) of the EU litigation that led to Tocai’s name change was posted by DiWineTaste here.

The bullet points are as follows:

In 1993, Hungary filed a complaint with the EU, petitioning the legislative branch of the European government to block Italy from labeling wines as “Tocai.” The Hungarians’s complaint was based on a common precept of trademark law: the Hungarians were the first to use the name Tokaji (a toponym and enonym and homonym of the Friulians’s Tocai) in commerce.

A protracted legal battle ended with a 2005 EU decision that the Italians could use the designation “Tocai” only on bottles sold in Italy (and not abroad).

The decision went into effect in March 2007, so technically the 2007 vintage was the first to fall under the restrictions created by the ruling.

Surprisingly, as Mr. Franco Ziliani and I reported at VinoWire, sales of bottles labeled with the new designation “Friulano” increased in Germany and the U.S. after the new labeling restrictions went into effect.

Maybe Stein and Shakespeare were both wrong: What’s in a name? that which we call a rose Tocai / By any other name would smell as sweet sweeter!

Tocai Friulano Bianco: the basics

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Above: “This is a 45-year-old Tocai Friulano vine that I have kept so that I could try to make a late harvest wine. We picked this vineyard in October. As you can see, there is some botrytis.” Sent to me this morning by my friend and Friulian winemaker Giampaolo Venica (Collio).

The following post is my abridged translation of the entry on “Tocai Friulano Bianco” in Vitigni d’Italia, le varietà tradizionali per la produzione di vini moderni (Grape Varieties of Italy, the traditional varieties for the production of modern wines) by Antonio Calò et alia, Bologna, Calderini, 2006. This is the first in an educational series on the grape varieties of the Colli Orientali del Friuli, posted in conjunction with the COF 2011 aggregate blog. Tomorrow, I’ll post an appendix to the present post on the EU litigation and resolution that led to the grape variety’s official name change (today, it can only be labeled as “Friulano” when shipped outside Italy’s borders).

Synonyms (documented and/or otherwise plausible): Cinquien, Malaga, Tocai bianco, Tocai italiano, Trebbianello, Blanc doux, Sauvignon à gros grains, Sauvignon de la Corrèze, Sauvignon vert, Sauvingonasse.

Erroneous: Sauvignon, Tocai, Tokai, Tokay, Tokaj, Furmint, Pinot grigio.

Origins (Historical Notes): grape variety cultivated in the Veneto and Friuli, principally in the provinces of Gorizia, Udine, and Venice. Professor Dalmasso was the first to propose the attributive Friulano to distinguish it from other possible synonyms. How it arrived in the Veneto is not known for certain. It’s possible that it was imported from Hungary (Perusini, 1935), although it bears no resemblance to the grape varieties of that region. According to documents cited by Dalmasso (1937), a grape called Tocai was cultivated in the Veneto as early as 1771. Tocai Friulano Bianco has recently been identified as Sauvignonasse, a variety that has all but disappeared in France but is widely cultivated in Chile (see Calò et alia, 1992).

Environment and cultivation: variety with high and constant production levels, susceptible to humidity but relatively tolerant of lack of water. It thrives in calcareous subsoils with median fertility and with training systems that offer greater exposure (Guyot, Casarsa, Cordone Speronato [i.e., cordon-trained, spur-pruned]).

Sensitivity to Disease and Other Issues: the bunches are particularly susceptible to rot, Esca, Peronospora, and powdery mildew. While the vines are not particularly sensitive to leafhoppers, they are sensitive to mites and moths.

Alcohol Content: 9.5-14.5%
pH: 2.8-3.8
Acidity: 4.30-7.40 grams per liter

Tocai Friulano Bianco produces a wine that is yellow and straw-yellow in color with greenish hints. Delicate, pleasant aroma, dry, fresh, softy, and velvety, typically with a slightly bitter note of almond and hay. It can be low in acidity and therefore is often blended with Ribolla.

The variety is used exclusively for vinification, for the production of wines intended for consumption within one year or with short aging times. The principal appellation for which Tocai Friulano Bianco is used are as follows: Bagnoli Bianco, Rosato e Spumante, Bianco di Custoza, Breganze Bianco, Colli Berini-Tocai Friulano, Colli Euganei Bianco, Colli Euganei-Tocai Friulano, Colli Euganie Fior d’Arancio, Gambellara, Garda Orientale Trebbianello, Lison Promaggiore-Tocai Friulano, Lugana, Piave-Tocai Friulano, Valdadige, Corti Benedettine del Padovano, Riviera del Brenta.

Translator’s Note: Oddly, Calò et alia omit the Colli Orientali del Friuli as one of the principal appellations where Tocai Friulano is used (an oversight?).

Merlot di Montalcino is almost here! Hurray! Not!

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Nearly 3 years after the story of the Brunello controversy broke in the mainstream media, after millions of liters of wine have been declassified, after guilty pleas and plea agreements and guilty verdicts and fines and sentences that included jail time for some… tomorrow the Brunello producers association is expected to approve new verbiage that will allow for up to 15% of grapes other than Sangiovese to be used in Rosso di Montalcino.

Italy’s top wine blogger Mr. Franco Ziliani and I reported the new language today over at the English-language blog we co-edit VinoWire.

Is the change a lesser of two evils? Yes.

Is it a shame? Yes, it’s a shame. It’s a pity and it causes me sorrow.

The fact of the matter is that when you add an alpha grape like Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot to a lighter-bodied grape like Sangiovese, the Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot will mask the nature of the Sangiovese — even when the former are added in small quantities. Most of the Chianti Classico that makes it to the U.S. these days is made in this manner.

Remember the other day when I was talking about paesaggio come stato d’anima (landscape as state of soul/mind) in Italian new wave cinema?

Antonioni’s 1957 Il grido (The Outcry) is a great example of this and it’s how I feel right now. Buona visione…

Ubi Raveneau, ibi beati

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In case your Latin is rusty, the title of this post means where there is Raveneau, there are happy, blessed folks.

I certainly feel blessed to have met and to know so many cool interesting folks through blogging, like la dérive, who also posted on the outstanding flight of wines we tasted together the other night in Chicago.

I thought the Raveneau was stunning, however tight and in need of aeration. And I loved how la dérive called the Zanna “pure bottled sunshine with deep, earthy, dark fruit notes; but not heavy in anyway, just comfortable in it’s own skin.”

Check out his super cool post here.

And in Friulian news…

I think it was love at first sight for Swedish wine blogger Billigt Vin when he met Rosa Bosco (above) in the Colli Orientali del Friuli last year.

Billigt Vin is another friend I’ve made (virtually) through wine-related social media and although I can’t really read his blog, we often trade notes on tastings and impressions of Italian wines and wineries.

Check out his post here.

My favorite line was: “Rosa Bosco might be a fan of Bach but this aroma is pure Mozart.” Great writing, great wine blogging.

The wonders of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo: 1998 Illuminati Zanna

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In these heady days of single-vineyard Barolo and Barbaresco with designer labels, lieu-dit Brunello with astronomically impossible scores, and the coveted-by-conservative-elites and dreaded-by-liberal-populists Super Tuscans (if, in the course of my research for my upcoming Friuli trip, I come across the expression “Super Whites” one more time, I’m going to heave), we often forget an earlier chapter in the renaissance of Italian wines when grapes like Aglianico (ever tasted a 1968 Mastroberardino Taurasi?) and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo or Montepulciano Nero (1979 Pepe, anyone?) stood proudly side-by-side with their Tuscan and Piedmontese counterparts.

“Montepulciano d’Abruzzo,” wrote Burton Anderson in 1980 (Vino, p. 368), “ranks among the ten most prominent DOC wines of Italy.” (The appellation was among the earliest to receive DOC status, long before the DOCG-system was implemented, in 1967.) Two years later, in Italy’s Noble Red Wines, Sheldon and Pauline Wasserman infer (erroneously) that Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a clone of Sangiovese Grosso and classify it as one of Italy’s three noble red grapes, together with Nebbiolo and Sangiovese (see the opening lines of chapters 13 and 14).

Last week, on a freezing night in the Goose Island neighborhood of Chicago, at a dingy BYOB Cuban joint called Habana Libre, I met up with three men I’d met over the internet, each bearing fantastic bottles of wine (mamas, don’t let your sons grow up to be wine bloggers!).

Phil, Nathan, and Lars and I got to know each other through wine-related social media (and Lars actually saw my French band play back in Detroit way too many moons ago). And this was the second time the de facto tasting group convened when I was in town. Many fantastic bottles were opened that night, including a brilliant Vouette et Sorbée NV Champagne Extra Brut Fidèle, an incredibly savory Willi Schaefer 2007 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett, and a Raveneau 2000 Chablis Vaillons (!!!) — all thanks to my hosts.

But the wine that I can’t stop thinking about is the Illuminati 1998 Montepulicano d’Abruzzo DOC Zanna (above).

Phil had found a small and forgotten allocation of 98 Zanna at a local wine retailer and he wisely picked up as much as he could (at an obscenely low price). I’ve tasted a lot of Zanna in recent years and Alfonso made a point of taking me to meet and taste with his good friend winemaker Stefano Illuminati a few years ago at Vinitaly — great guys, both of them.

But, man, I’d never had the chance to taste a Zanna at 12 years out! This wine showed bright, youthful acidity (the secret to its longevity, no doubt) and rich layers of red stone fruit and crunchy, salty red earth. As I munched on my delicious stewed pork and my lightly breaded and fried flattened chicken breast, the aromas and flavors of this wine danced like wild beasts on my tongue, with sweaty horse and bramble notes, evoking, in my mind, an era when Abruzzo was one of the centers of the intellectual outdoorsman’s universe (did you know that King Frederick II of Swabia, emperor of the Holy Roman empire, named the the region’s capital “L’Aquila,” meaning the eagle, because of his love of the art of falconry?).

An unforgettable bottle of wine, thanks to these dudes. But then again, that’s what you get for making friends on the internet!

Phil, Nathan, and Lars: THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Alla prossima… (and ya’ll know what I’m talking about)…