Gavi di Gavi, Gavi di Massimo, Cortese di Manu

By now one thing is clear, my house drinking wines for the first week in Europe are the Cortese grape based wines. The Gavi di Gavi Ru`, the Gavi made by Massimo Lovisolo and our Tati Cortese  are the quintessential wines to pair to our summer meals. The 2010 vintage is an absolute delight, crispier than the 2009 with lovely nose and superb citrus notes that leave your mouth so fresh you just can't stop drinking them. We had the Lovisolo Gavi with "Pasta alla Checca"using some of Oreste's tomatoes and the freshest mozzarella (Oreste is the "Master of our Vineyards" that many of you have met), his tomatoes are poetic, it's the only expression I can use to describe them.  Our local butcher prepares a deboned chicken drumstick that I made on the pan with olive oil, fresh rosemary and sage, the Gavi di Gavi RU` was perfect with the dish, and during the preparation of the meal our Tati Cortese 2010 was served as an aperitif with "prosciutto and melon", the bottle disappearing rather quickly. Our guests were pleased, I hope you will be too.

Cin Cin!

Manu

PS: if you need the recipe for the "Pasta della Checca" just ask me.

Bubbly? The love affair of Europeans with sparkling wines

I landed in Italy a couple of days ago and I got immediately confronted with the reality of the culinary life and all the things related. Wines being the part that we are personally more interested got me back to a phenomena I noticed already in the past few years and it's now getting stronger, the passion of Europeans and Italians in particular for sparkling wines. "Bollicine?" It's the first question a bartender or a sommelier asks you as soon as you sit down for your meal or for a simple aperitif, this is the nickname adopted by all Italians for sparkling wine.  Once dominated by the classic Prosecco or the more sophisticated Franciacorta now the novelty is to discover the use of the almost infinite, by industry standard,  types of grape varietals present in the Italian viticultural industry. In the first 2 days here I had a Cuvee made from Pinot Noir, Riesling Italico and Bonarda, creamy and elegant; a charmat obtained from Arneis and Cortese (outstanding!) and a sparkling rose` of Barbera which I couldn't stopped "tasting".

This is the real kingdom of sparkling wines, Europeans just cannot live without them and for good reasons, nothing set up meeting a friend or starting your meals better then them.

"Bollicine anyone?"

Cin Cin!

Manu

Ciliegiolo, the Lost Grape of Maremma, Tuscany

Recently we had a chance to taste our new arrival, the Ciliegiolo from La Selva, a byodinamic and organic estate from the Maremma area of Tuscany. La Selva sits near the charming town of Orbetello, the estate is owned and managed by a very dynamic German family, who moved in the area 25 years ago, specialized in local products and traditional Maremma varietals (I used to spent some amazing summers in this area during my college years but this will be a subject for another blog..)
I looked for a pure, 100% Ciliegiolo for several years and finally I got one that is really beautifully made. The Ciliegiolo is an indigenous grape of Tuscany, quite limited although almost every farmer had few vines in their vineyards, some making small batches for their own consumptions but never openly commercialized. The grape got its name from the very pronounced black cherry flavors, both in the nose and on the palate. I tried the 2007 vintage last year and really liked the wine, it was silky, soft with tremendous depth and elegant aromatics. This particular Ciliegiolo from la Selva,  is aged for 9 months in new, neutral, French oaks tonneau, the 2008 vintage was just released, it is still very young and in the developing phase, we discover that giving a proper aeration time, 2 hours or more, really helps the wine.

I hop you'll enjoy as much as I did.

Cin-Cin!

Manu

Wine Notes Coming Soon!

In July I am going to start posting what I am discovering in the world of wine as I begin my summer scouting in Europe. This should be helpful and hopefully fun for my sales team and office staff-- they can learn along with me as I discover some new varietals and wineries. I will also occasionally jot down some tasting notes and explanations on the wines that we carry in the Siema portfolio.  Feel free to encourage anyone interested in wine and scouting for wine and wineries to subscribe for updates. Clients, consumers, friends, and all my staff are welcome. I promise to keep it short, sweet and interesting!