Rising stars from historic estates: Alessia Antinori and Fiorano

On Monday, October 1, I attended a Winemaker's Dinner hosted by Italian Wine Merchants (IWM) and featuring the wines of Bodegas Chacra (Piero Incisa della Rochetta, winemaker) and Fiorano (Alessio Antinori, winemaker).  I discussed the tasting of the Bodegas Chacra offerings in a previous post and will provide the same treatment for the Fiorano offerings in the current.

The Estate

Fiorano, according to Eric Asimov (as cited in IWM Literature and Sergio Esposito's Passion of the Vine), is an estate located on the ancient Via Appia on the outskirts of the city of Rome and in what is today the Latium (Lazio) wine region of Italy.  The estate had been owned and farmed organically by a somewhat reclusive prince named Alberico Boncompagni Ludovisi who produced wheat, milk, cheese, and wine on the property.  The estate's wine production was initially limited to regional varietials but, in 1946, the prince ripped out the local varieties and replaced them with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Semillon, and Malvasia Candia, varieties which were non-native and unfashionable in Italian wine-production circles.

Upon the death of the Prince, the estate was caught up in legal wrangling but was eventually inherited by his three granddaughters -- who are also the daughters of Marchese Piero Antinori, head of the famed Florentian wine-producing family -- and they have endeavored to restore it in a manner that reflects operations as they were in the Prince's time.  The goal is to ressurect an organic farm that will produce wine, goats, sheep, and bread.  To date a tank has been built in the former stables and construction has begun on a house.  The current vine inventory stands at four rows each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

The Winemaker

Prince Ludovisi managed the vines of the estate to low yields which, in turn, allowed him to produce small quantities of concentrated, intense wines.  These wines were vinified and aged in large, numbered barrels and bottled unfiltered when a customer made a purchase (Alessia relayed to us that buyers were taken into a room where they paid for the wines that they wanted.  They were locked in that room while the money was taken elsewhere and counted.  Upon the Prince's satisfaction, the customer was then taken to another room where the wines that had been bought changed hands.).  The cellar and its contents were covered in a fine white mold which, the proprietor was convinced, contributed to the quality and uniqueness of the wine.  The Prince's consultant in his efforts was the noted traditionalist -- and famed winemaker in his own right -- Tancredi Biondi-Santi.

Alessia is the youngest of the three Antinori daughters.  In her youth she worked harvests at both the Chianti Classico (Santa Christena) and Umbria (Castello dela Sala) Antinori estates and graduated from the University of Milan in 1998 with a degree in oenology and viticulture.  She worked as an oenologist in the family business upon graduation.  Alessio is currently focused on expanding the reach of Antinori's branded products, with especial emphasis on Asia.  The Antinori daughters are working with Renzo Cotarello -- the Antinori wine director -- on the elaboration of the wine-related aspects of the estate, with a goal of eventually producing 5000 bottles each of primary red and white wines and a second-label red wine.

The Wines

The Fiorano Rosso 1988 Botte #30 and the Fiorano Rosso 2010 were paired with a Braised Lamb stuffed Agnolotti with Porcini Velouté.  The 1988 was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and, according to Alessia, there are only a few more bottles of this wine remaining.  The most striking characteristic of the wine was its youth on the palate when contrasted with the age on the label.  This full-bodied wine exhibited a certain rusticity and red fruits on the nose which was confirmed on the palate to accompany youthfulness and great depth.  'Tis a shame that I probably will not have the opportunity to experience this wine when it develops a few flecks of gray in its whiskers.

Alessia referred to the Rosso 2010  -- a Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot blend -- as an experiment.  The grapes are grown on 1/5th of an acre at Fiorano and only 250 bottles were made.  Alessia felt that while the wine has the structure of a Fiorano, it lacks its personality.  I felt that the wine was disaggregated and that the elements did not mesh well.  Alessia felt that when this wine comes into its own, it may be the estate's second wine.

The white wines -- Fiorano 1995 #45 Bianco and Fiorano #48 Semillon -- were paired with a selection of cheeses.  These wines had been vinified and aged in large, old casks and bottled upon demand.  They all have oxidative characteristics, both in terms of color and taste, which, according to Alessia, makes them well suited to accompany cheeses.  The wines had a certain earthiness and will be well-suited to the enthusiast who is partial to character-driven wines.

As I said in my previous post, a fulsome night, one that I would have been disappointed to miss.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Rising stars from historic estates: Piero Incisa della Rochetta and Bodega Chacra

On Monday of this week I attended a Winemaker's Dinner hosted by Italian Wine Merchants (IWM) and featuring the wines of Bodegas Chacra (Piero Incisa della Rochetta, winemaker) and Fiorano (Alessio Antinori, winemaker).  The material on offer at the event was extensive so, in order to do them justice, I will treat the winemakers and their offerings in two separate posts beginning today with Bodega Chacra.

The Winemaker

Piero Incisa della Rochetta is the grandson of Mario Incisa della Rochetta, the creator and proprietor of Tenuta San Guido, the estate that is home to Sassicaia, the most iconic of the Super Tuscan wines.  Piero's uncle, Niccolo'Incisa della Rochetta, currently manages the family's wine business while Piero serves as US Brand Ambassador for the flagship product.

Piero has un undergraduate economics degree from Pepperdine University and a Masters from NYU.  His winemaking skills were garnered and honed during the years spent growing up on the family's estate in Maremma as well as managing day-to-day operations of two of his mother's Umbrian properties, Titigano and Salviano.

According to an interview he did with Lesley Trites (reported in Palatepress.com), Piero became interested in Patagonia after tasting a Pinot from the region while in New York. The wine impressed him as very Burgundian and led to him taking a plane down to Patagonia to determine the region's potential.  The rest, as they say, is history.

The Estate

The upshot of his trip to Patagonia was the 2004 purchase of the first of the Bodega Chacra vineyards, an existing, but abandoned, vineyard which had been planted in the Rio Negro Valley in 1932 by Italian immigrants (Piero describes this part of Patagonia as "essentially a desert with a river running through it").  The gnarled, head-trained Pinot vines were planted on their own rootstocks in an old riverbed of sand and clay soil peppered with high-limestone-content alluvial pebbles. Piero has grown the estate's potential by the subsequent acquisition of vineyards initially planted in 1955 and 1967 and planting of an additional 10 acres of vineyards on the original 1932 property.

Bodega Chacra is farmed organically and biodynamically (Demeter-certified).  For example, a horse is used for motive power in order to prevent soil compaction and they create their own compost using grape skins.  The vineyards are irrigated five times during the growing cycle and a single copper sulfate treatment is applied over that same period.

The estate's winemaking objective is to have the oak, fruit, and soil characteristics marry seamlessly such that the effects of the wood are not readily apparent and that the "vine and terroir are expressed to their fullest."  The Bodega Chacra Pinot Noir winemaking process is illustrated below.

The Event and the Wines

The wines were presented within the context of an IWM dinner.  Upon stepping into the IWM facility, the attendee was welcomed and registered and then given a glass of Montenisa NV Brut Rose Franciacorta.  A Full Monty of the wines to be tasted that night was on display at a sideboard.

The actual sit-down dinner was preceded by an "Antipasti hour" which featured house-cured Salumi, regional Italian cheeses, assorted Antipasti, and fresh bread.  During the Antipasti hour, we were exposed to the 2009 Merlot Mainqué, the first of the Bodega Chacra wines.  This "affable, rustic Merlot" is the third vintage of this label and is sourced from biodynamically farmed vines that are planted alongside the 1955 vineyard. Winemaking in the case of the Mainqué is more traditional with maceration ( 5 days), and "plunging down" all a part of the process.  Malolactic fermentation and lees stirring occur in 50% new French oak barrels over a two-month period.  The wines are matured in barrel for 23 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. A total of 5000 bottles are produced.

This wine had good color intensity with blackberry, plum, vanilla, and chocolate on the nose.  Great acidity on the palate to accompany a good body and a long, drying finish which softens up over time.  I expressed my love for this wine by buying a case.

Upon completion of the Antipasti hour, we were directed to IWMs event area which has an excellent, fully furnished, fully staffed kitchen along the western wall and two long dining tables located in sequence to the east of the kitchen.  The dining tables were appropriately adorned for a high-end wine dinner and seating was arrayed on both sides of each table.  Seating was pre-arranged with name cards informing each guest where he/she was located.  I was pleased to see that I was sitting obliquely opposite Alessia Antinori, in good position to interact extensively with her over the course of the evening (Midway through the dinner, Alessia and Piero switched places so that I had excellent access to both of them.).

After everyone was seated, Chris Deas, VP at IWM, welcomed us and said a few words about the event and the winemakers.  He happened to mention that (i) Piero was the Brand Ambassador for Tenuta San Guido's Sassicaia, (ii) that Fiorano was famous for its white wines, and (iii) that we would be tasting some of the newest Chacra vintages.  Upon completion of his remarks, Chris turned the floor over to Piero who introduced his wines. And then on to the dinner.

The Bodega Chacra Pinot Noir Cincuenta y Cinco 2010 and 2011 were accompanied by Wild Salmon with Pancetta and Leeks.  The presentation on this meal was immaculate with the concentric circles on the plate working in towards a small bowl in the center which seemed just barely large enough to accomodate the fare.  The dish was heavenly and paired extremely well with the wines.

The wines for this course were sourced from the estate's 1955 vineyard and represents the estate's attempt at a more "feminine" expression of Pinot Noir.  The 2010 is seen by the estate as proof that concentration can be achieved without over-extraction and high alcohol levels (11.4% abv) while the 2011 exhibits riper fruit, the result of a warmer vintage.  The alcohol in the 2011 vintage is 13%.

I found these wines to exhibit ripe red fruit on both the nose and the palate with great engagement on the attack and the mid-palate.  The roundness of mouthfeel may become more evident as the wine is allowed to evolve in the glass.

The final Bodega Chacra offerings of the evening were three vintages (2008, 2009, 2010) of the Treinta y Dos to accompany a Pan-Seared Duck in Duck Jus over Autumn Root Vegetables.

This was another immaculately prepared and presented dish and was shown off to good measure by the accompanying wines.  This is the flagship wine of the Chacra stable and its "masculinity" and "angularity" will reward the patient drinker with classic Burgundian characteristics.  I found these wines to be variations on a theme of ripe red fruits (strawberries, cherries) on the nose with red fruits, good acidity, and spiciness on the palate adding to an overall perception of complexity.  Definitely more power than exhibited by the Cincuenta y Cinco.

Overall this was a great event.  It presented the winemaker and his wines in a favorable environment populated with great food and enthusiastic, committed vinophiles.  I enjoyed this event and will be following the fortunes of this estate closely as it continues to make great wines at the bottom of the world.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Italian Wine Merchants Tasting

Recently, a small group of wine enthusiasts gathered at the home of WineORL to be introduced to the portfolio of Italian Wine Merchants (IWM). IWM is based in New York, and is the brainchild of long-time wine professional Sergio Esposito, with partners Chef Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich (son of Chef Lidia Bastianich). IWM also has sister companies in Hong Kong, as well as IWM Cellars, specializing in cellar management services.

Representing IWM at the tasting were Ms. Tina Rusiecki, IWM's Florida representative, and Mr. Chris Deas, Vice President of IWM. The tasting began with introductions, a bit about IWM (as noted above), and a framework for the tasting to follow.

The first wine was the Roger Coulon Premier Cru Brut Champagne. Situated in Montagne de Reims and covering 10 hectares (22 acres), the estate consists of 70 distinct parcels, all of which are Premier Cru. The wine was bright and crisp, with aromas and flavors of green and red apple, roasted pear, and some yeasty, nutty notes. Somewhat of an oddity, this wine is composed of equal parts of Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir.

The next wine, a 2000 Gravner Ribolla Gialla, piqued my interest when I saw it in the tasting line-up. Josko Gravner is a winemaker in the Fruili region of northern Italy. Ever the innovator, Gravner has stood white wine making on its ear utilizing first stainless steel fermentations, then abandoning that for long-term barrique fermentation and aging, and in 2001, fermentation and aging in clay amphorae. The wine we tasted was the last of the "barrique period," spending up to seven (7) months fermenting with skin contact. The wine is almost orange in the glass, with notes of lime zest and cooked fruit, and what I likened to the aroma of Coca-cola syrup. The wine was not really showing well early in the tasting, and I stashed a glass for later. After several hours, there was dried apricot, butterscotch, and caramel to complement the citrusy notes.

Switching to red wines, we moved onto the 2006 Bodega Chacra Pinot Noir from Patagonia, Argentina. The wine is the project of Piero Incisa della Rocchetta, the grandson of Mario Incisa of Sassicaia fame, and the founder of the Super-Tuscan movement in Italy. Piero Incisa della Rocchetta purchased the first of his holdings in Argentina in 2004, with a then-abandoned Pinot Noir vineyard originally planted in 1932 on its own rootstock. The wine is very New World in style, and masculine in structure. The nose is dominated by aromas of smoked meat, black fruits, and cola notes from the barrels, and these aromas follow through to the palate.

Next up was the 2006 Aldo Conterno 'Cicala' Barolo. Regarded as the "King of Barolo," Aldo Conterno continues a tradition that extends back more than five generations in the Piemonte region of Italy. A relative baby, and from an outstanding vintage, this wine probably needs 10 years of evolution in the cellar. This wine showed a great nose of roses, red fruit, and just an ever so slight hint of menthol green-ness. I would look forward to an opportunity to re-visit this wine when it was really ready to be enjoyed.

From the Piemonte, we moved south into Tuscany for the next two wines, both Brunelli di Montalcino. The first of two was the 2000 Case Basse di Soldera Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. Soldera, a former insurance broker from Milan, planted the 2 hectare Case Basse vineyard in 1972, and produced his first Brunello from the vineyard in 1990, when Soldera deemed it to finally be worthy. From a hot vintage, this wine was garnet in the glass with a hint of bricking. The wine is dominated by red fruit aromas and flavors, with a note of mint or basil, as well as extreme acidity and high levels of tannins. The second Brunello was the 2004 Talenti Brunello di Montalcino. The estate was founded in 1980 by Pierluigi Talenti, long-time winemaker at Tenuta il Poggione, and consists of 20 hectares of vines. The nose on this wine showed brighter, sweeter red fruit, leather, and an earthy, mushroom note. On the palate, the wine is softer and broader than the first, with flavors of cherries, berries, and baking spices like cinnamon and cardamom. There are granular tannins reminscent of "Rutherford Dust," and the wine seems to float across the tongue and take forever to dissipate.

We then moved on to a study in the expression of Bordeaux-style wines. First up was the 1995 Chateau Musar Rouge from the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. The work of Gaston Hochar, and then his sons Serge and Ronald, is nothing short of amazing given the turbulent history of the region. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, and Carignan, this wine is often hit or miss, as there have often been issues with storage and shipping conditions on the way to market. This wine had a hint of tomato on the nose (something I typically associate with Rioja and Chianti), and a nice assortment of red fruits. There was also a hint of Volatile Acidity; not enough to be off-putting, but enough to elevate some of the aromas of the wine.

Next to be tasted was the 2008 Guidalberto from Tenuta San Guida (home of Sassicaia) in the Tuscany region of Italy. Based on a different model than Sassicaia, the Guidalberto is composed of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, separately fermented and then aged for twelve months in French and American oak barriques. The wine was an opaque purple in the glass, and exhibited a massive amount of black fruit on the nose, balanced with some spice, vanilla, and cedar. On the palate the wine also shows some red fruit, and a pleasant balance of acid and tannin leading to a supple finish.

We then progressed to the 2007 Chateau Latour a Pomerol. The vineyards, which cover several parcels totaling 8 hectares in Pomerol (including one surrounding the commune's church), are composed of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc (although only one taster professed to sense any presence of Franc in the wine). The Chateau is run by the Moueix family (Petrus, among others) and the quality shows in this wine from a less than stellar vintage. Red and black fruit dominte the nose and the palate, with hints of earth, eucalyptus, and cedar. There was a moderate amount of acid, and the tannins were well disguised. It would be interesting to see how this wine progresses over then next 10 years, which is the usual amount of time for most vintages of Latour a Pomerol to reach their optimum.

The final offering in this category was the 2006 Rudd Estate Oakville Red Wine. Produced by Leslie Rudd (owner of the specialty food and lifestyle purveyor Dean and Deluca), this wine resulted in a considerable amount of animated discussion. The wine presented a massive amount of sweet vanilla, blackberry, black cherry, and spicy aromas on the nose, followed by black and red fruit flavors with hints of dark chocolate and roasted espresso on the palate, and satiny tannins and a moderate dose of acidity leading to a long, pronounced finish. Given the ripeness of the fruit and the structure of the wine, this could easily have been slowly sipped after dinner with some bits of dark chocolate as a substitute for dessert.

The final two wines of the afternoon were from the Veneto region of Italy. The first was the 2001 Valpolicella Superiore from legendary producer Giuseppe Quintarelli. Aged for six (6) years in Slovenian oak, this wine did not reach the marketplace until eight (8) years post-harvest, a massive amount of time for a Valpolicella. The wine is made in the Ripasso style, where the finished Valpolicella wine is passed through the pomace (crushed grapes, skins, etc.) from the production of Amarone. The wine was phenomenal, presenting a nose of flowers, dried fruit, dark caramel, and figs. The aromas carried over to the palate, with some hints of earth and licorice added for good measure.

The final wine of the event was the 2003 Nicolis 'Ambrosan' Amarone. The wine is 70% Corvina, 20% Rondinella and, rather than the typical third grape Molinara, 10% Croatina. The grapes are harvested, placed in wooden drawers that provide air circulation, and then are allowed to dessicate in special dry, well-ventilated areas for 3-5 months, after which they are pressed and vinified. The wine presented itself as the classic Amarone, with a nose of dried red fruit, prune, leather, and red berry, followed by a sweetness on the palate that seemed to persist for more than a minute.

It appeared that the wines and the knowledgeable and affable staff of IWM were well-received by the attendees. IWM has a unique portfolio of wines for wine enthusiasts of all levels but the company's offerings and programs are especially focused at the avid collector.