Good Things From Italy - Le Cose Buone d'Italia

DOC and DOCG Map of Marche

Via Mariano Pallottini

Today, I had the privilege of driving through lesser traveled roads of Italy and through the mountains to a beautiful pottery shop and vineyard. The first destination is situated in the panoramic hills of Fratte Rosa, Italy called Terrecotte.

Going along with the traditions of the area, we headed to a Winery called TerraCruda. [...]

Via Mariano Pallottini

Tenuta Musone cultivates 30 hectares of hillside vineyards (some up to 1400m/ 4600ft), which are all dedicated to the region´s signature grapes Verdicchio and Montepulciano.
Whereas the Marche region has had a certain winemaking tradition, it experienced a real renaissance – especially with sparkling wine and its distinct and autochthonous varietals such as Verdicchio – over the last years.[...]

Via Mariano Pallottini

The award-winning wines in the 27th edition of the Gambero Rosso Italian Wines unmissable appointment with the excellence of Italian wine
After the extraordinary success of previous editions, Gambero Rosso and Vinitaly show for the third year, the largest wine tasting prize winners of the 2014 Wines of Italy.
Wines of Italy is the most authoritative and popular guide to Italian wines in the world. He made his debut 27 years ago with the 1988 edition, and since then has earned an international reputation thanks to its completeness and reliability of judgment. It 'made by a team of over 70 experts, led by the curators Marco Sabellico, Fabrizio Gianni and Eleonora Guerini , and it is spread all over the world thanks to the translations in German, English, Chinese and Japanese in 2014.
27th edition of The Currency productions of 2360 companies, and recensisce one by one over 20 thousand wines. Among these, 415 have got THREE GLASSES , the highest award of the guide. [...]

Via Mariano Pallottini

Marche has 11 DOC zones and one IGT designation, Marche. Its most famous wine is the white varietal wine, Verdicchio (ver-deek-kee-oh). The region’s two most renowned reds are Rosso Cònero (rohs-so coh-nae-ro) and Rosso Piceno (rohs-so pee-chae-no). The fact that many people outside of Marche still haven’t heard of these two fine reds is evidence that Marche has quite a way to go in promoting its wines.

The following sections bring you up to speed on Marche’s top wines and recommend some producers to seek out if you’re interested in trying them. [...]

Via Mariano Pallottini

Enoteca online Fazi Battaglia: Dadaismo. Confezione da 4 bt litografato: 1 le moie, verdicchio dei castelli di jesi doc cl. sup. fazi battaglia 2012 - 2 passo del lupo, conero riserva

Via Mariano Pallottini

Appelation: Marche, Red, Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT)Grape varieties: MontepulcianoColour: Deep ruby red.Bouquet: The subtle nose recalls red berry jam, wood, leather and dark chocolate.Taste: The attack on the palate is tannic and delicate. The wine is well structured on strong tannins but without any roughness. The long and persistent finale reminds us of the chocolaty, almost licorice accents. Let it sit in a carafe for a good hour before serving at 18°C with a grilled rib steak in a dark chocolate demi-glaze sauce.
Via Mariano Pallottini

Learn about the 5 major styles of dessert wine, from light and fizzy wines like Moscato d’Asti to rich and age-worthy vintage Port. This guide offers examples and flavor profiles to describe the 5 categories of dessert wine.

Via Mariano Pallottini

Pecorino Sparkling wine Brut Cherri is obtained from a selection of grapes from the ancient Pecorino vine. A wine with a cool, fruity, acidulous palate, good density and body with lasting sparkle. Hay-yellow colour, with hints of apple, pineapple and broom.
It is suitable for a whole meal. Recommended on the Ascoli olives and salted aperitif.
Serving temperature 8-10°C.
Alcohol 11,5%.
Type of glass tulip.
Bottle in flat boxes of 6 bottles.

Via Mariano Pallottini

Villa Taurini Verdicchio, Matelica, Italy 2012 (£5.49, Tesco) Most of us will find ourselves caught amid the trolley-rage and Slade of the festive supermarket at some point in the next couple of days, stocking up on random condiments and party nibbles we've suddenly convinced ourselves are essential even though we've only come in for a packet of Paxo. Chances are we'll also be looking to grab some wine with the five spice duck balls and piccalilli, so this week I've come up with a handful of my favourite supermarket bottles. First up, a pair of budget standbys for filling the gaps between the big set-piece meals. Tesco's clean and snappy Villa Taruini Verdicchio has a lot more nutty and citrus character than you'd normally find in a white at this price, and is made for frutti di mare. Even better value can be found at Sainsbury's with the vibrantly juicy, deeply plummy and softly spicy red of Bodegas Juan Gil Pasico Old Vine Monastrell-Shiraz, Jumilla, Spain 2012 (£5.99).

Via Mariano Pallottini

From my cellar, 2012 Collestefano Verdicchio di Matelica. IWC 94. Pale straw-green. Knockout aromas of quince, pear, white peach and white flowers are complicated by lemony minerality on the vibrant, captivating nose. Rich and broad on entry, then explosive in the middle palate, saturating the mouth with bright, lively floral and fresh citrus flavors that are intensified by penetrating acidity. Finishes extremely long and creamy-rich, expanding to coat the palate and teeth with lingering white peach and floral flavors. The bright acidity conveys an almost weightless mouthfeel to this seamless, rich, extremely concentrated wine. You can tell that owner Fabio Marchionni studied white wine in Germany. This is but one of many outstanding vintages for this wine. Let me be clear: I think it is probably Italy’s single greatest white wine buy. [...]

Via Mariano Pallottini

Vintner Peter Mondavi can be found behind his office desk at the Charles Krug Winery Monday through Friday, even some weekends, rain or shine.

Most working stiffs would say that’s no big deal. But they may not know that the wine family patriarch celebrated his 99th birthday two weeks ago and will be honored by family and friends at a big celebration at his family’s St. Helena winery Saturday night.[...]

Discussing his father’s start in the wine business, Mondavi noted that his father immigrated to the United States in the early part of the 20th century, settling in Minnesota as his brother and others from Sassoferrato and surrounding villages of Italy’s Le Marche region had done. When his brother was killed in the collapse of an iron mine, young Cesare Mondavi returned to his native land.

Once there, however, he decided he wanted to live in America, and asked a young woman he knew to join him as his bride. Seventeen-year-old Rosa accepted his proposal after her mother indicated it was Rosa’s choice to make.

Cesare and his young bride returned to Minnesota mining country, where they opened a saloon and a boardinghouse for miners. Rosa Mondavi “was a youngster when she started cooking,” her son points out, and she was well known in Napa Valley for her culinary talents. For several years, Rosa Mondavi kept house and cooked at least two meals a day for their 15 boarders, while her husband tended bar.

Eventually, “he sold the saloon and opened a grocery store,” Mondavi said. “That was when his friends asked him if he could get grapes for them so they could make their own wine. ... It was Prohibition and making your own wine was allowed.” [...]

Via Mariano Pallottini

Verdicchio is a very tipical wine in Le Marche region. A tour in its land is a mix of food, relaxing landscapes, historical cities and, of course,very good wine.

There are two kinds of Verdicchio: the Verdicchio of Matelica, made in the Macerata’s province around the Matelica city, and the most famous Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, made further north in the province of Ancona. [...]

Via Mariano Pallottini

Our friend Fabio has recently inaugurated a winery in Fano called Enoteca dei 50 (both Fabio and her partner Anna are, actually, in their 50s – hence the name – but dont’ say it too loud!).

The winery hosts a great deal of local wines, olive oil variety and a selected few food products... 

Falerio, Trebbiano, Pecorino, Passerina, Rosso Piceno, Bianco Marche: these are only a few of the wines from the Marche region available in the wine shop (both bottled wine and cask wine) together with excellent extra virgin olive oil as the famous ‘Cartoceto extra virgin olive oil’ – also known as the ‘gold from Marche’: the only high quality extra virgin olive oil in the Marche region with a ‘protected designation of origin’, PDO). [...]

Via Mariano Pallottini

Movimento Turistico del Vino organizes several events throughout the year. On the last Saturday and Sunday of May (24 -25), "Cantine Aperte" opens the Le Marche cellars to thousand of enthusiasts and wine lovers to discover the wine world and culture directly on-site.

Via Mariano Pallottini

This pasta dish is like so many that we call Italian, with its combination of pasta, aromatics, oil, tomatoes, cheese and vegetation. What wines would an Italian suggest to temper the tomatoes' acidity? To balance the salt from the cheese? Well, an Italian wine, of course, light red or white, with its typical combination of zippy acidity and dolce demeanor.

THE FOOD: Rigatoni and spinach [...]

THE WINES

• 2012 Villa Bucci Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore, Marche, Italy: A herald for the renewal of the verdicchio grape; the vintage is like the first: just peachy, in all sense of the English. $20-$22
• 2011 Angelini Pergola Rosso, Marche, Italy: A highly aromatic indigenous variety, pergola rosso is all rose petal, dried strawberry, baking spice and gorgeous carmine red hue. $16

Via Mariano Pallottini

Continuing our exploration of the Wine Month regions, we move across the border from Abruzzo, to its neighboring country to the north, Marche. It’s name is derived from marca or territory, refers to its long history of Royal feuds and Papal political battles. In ancient history, the Greeks, the Romans, and the French had all staked the land, because of its coastal capital city, Ancona and its access to the Metauro, Potenza, Tronto, and Nera rivers. Most of Marche is hilly and mountainous except for a narrow coastal strip along the Adriatic Sea, and has four main commercial and fishing ports in Pesaro, Fano, Senigallia and Ancona.

This central location isn’t the only reason that makes the rest of Italy “green” of the Marche region. The native Verdicchio white wine grapes, named “verde” for their green colored skin, produces that distinctive golden emerald color hue in white wines. [...]

Via Mariano Pallottini

TOLENTINO, Italy—Rising amidst the gorgeous landscape of the Macerata hills, is the gorgeous 16th century building that is the centerpiece of the estate of Il Pollenza winery, producers of exquisite and elegant wines in Italy’s Marche region.

• Cosimo Marche Rosso IGT 2008 $57 
• Di Di Marche IGT, also $17
• Porpora-Marche Rosso IGT 2012 $17

A brief note on the Marche. This is one of the great undiscovered (to those of us here in the US) wine producing regions of Italy. It is ideally situated between the mountains on the west and the Adriatic Sea to the east, which accounts for its exceptional growing conditions for all types of grapes, from the indigenous (and ubiquitous) Trebbiano and Verdicchio grapes to many international varietals. Besides producing spectacular, fruit forward still wines, the region is also becoming known for its delightful sparkling DOCG sparkling wine, Vernaccia di Serrapetrona.
Chief among the reds are the Sangiovese-Montepulciano blends. Other widely planted white grapes include Pinot Bianco, Malvasia Toscana, Pecorino and Bianchello. There’s no end to the blending possibilities and to the exceptional wines from the Marche, one of Italy’s best-kept secrets. [...]

Via Mariano Pallottini

January always means starting fresh as well as remembering what came before. So it’s time for my annual look at the best Italian wines of 2013, but instead of offering a complete list (that will be printed in the Spring issue of my Guide to Italian Wines, available to paid subscribers), I’m going to take a different approach and focus on just a few wine zones that were home to some pretty special wines, offerings that don’t get a lot of attention.

Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi - Speaking of grapes that are largely ignored, Verdicchio is at or near the top of this list. Here is a grape grown in Marche that has uncommon complexity and can age –  given the proper care at any particular cellar in the best vintages – for 7-10 years and even longer in some cases (I tried a 1991 Verdicchio from the excellent cooperative producer Colonnara a few months ago that was superb and still quite fresh). So why don’t you hear about this wine more often? Simply put, the major wine publications focus on red wines, especially in Italy, so Verdicchio is priority number 35 (or is it  number 36?) for their editors.

The best new releases of Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi I tasted were the 

2012 Umani-Ronchi “Casal di Serra”, the 2010 “Vecchie Vigne”2009 Umani-Ronchi “Plenio”2009 Villa Bucci “Riserva”Santa Barbara, the 2011 Stefano Antonucci “Riserva”2009 Stefano Antonucci “Tardivo ma non Tardivo” 

Read more about tese wines, click on the photo

Via Mariano Pallottini

The truth about oxygen and wine. New research has shown a 'sweet spot' for wine drinkers when it comes to aging wine in the bottle.

The Good
There is an obvious ‘sweet spot’ to the preferred level of oxygen in a bottle of wine when you drink it. Tasters prefer wines with no more than 6 ppm of oxygen (and usually less) in the bottle.
The wines at this level tasted better than other samples with too much or too little oxidation.

The Bad
Wines that had too little oxygen (reductive) tasted ‘foxy’, as in licking a dog. Over-oxidized had more cooked fruit flavors, were flat and lacked complexity.
The differences were more obvious (even to a novice) in white wine than in red wine. [...]

Via Mariano Pallottini

The Brut Passerina La Canosa is bright straw-yellow in colour, showing a nose characterised by a pleasant fusion of fruits flavours, more apple in evidence, and fresh herbaceous sensations of the and camomile. The palate is fresh and mineral, with a pleasant savoury finish with sprightly acidity.

Grape Variety: Passerina 100% Alcohol Content: 12% vol. Pairing: perfect with pasta dishes, risotto in particular, but also a good companion of home-made fruit tarts and biscuits. Serving Temperature: 6°-8° C. (43°- 47° F.) in flute long stem glass

 

Azienda Agricola La Canosa, C.da San Pietro, 6. Rotella (AP) ITALY. Tel. +39 0736 374556 - Fax +39 0736 375256

Via Mariano Pallottini

See an accurate picture wine bottle sizes for still wines and learn the proper terms for the most common wine bottle sizes.

Via Mariano Pallottini