Designer Constantin Bolimond designed a bottle based around the concept of wine as the blood of grapes. The striking form is themed off a human heart to reference the fruit’s origin – France. the product is realized in black and white finishes, featuring a simple inverse typeface to communicate the wine’s label. The design brings a new meaning to the devil’s nectar… Via www.designboom.com
Cantine dei Colli Ripani Passerina “Ninfa Ripana”, 2004, Marche
Verdicchio has been the shining star of white wine from the Marche since Fazzi-Battaglia hit the market with its fish shaped bottle over thirty years ago.Lesser known whites were pushed even farther into the background.
The Offida zone in Ascoli Piceno province is a relatively new DOC, having attained that status in 2001. Here, those once forgotten grapes are given their due. Passerina, the local name for the more widely planted Biancame, has risen from blending obscurity to join the ranks of authentic and interesting native varietals. It is bottled in both dry and passito styles and some producers use it for Brut and Vin Santo.
This version combines the smoothness and mildly bitter nuttiness of Verdicchio with the hazelnut-dewy pine- resin of a Fiano from Campania. Neither of those stalwarts has the buzzy acidity, pinpoint flavors and minerality of this eye opener from the Ripana hills. Its texture and lively mouthfel make it a suitable companion for salty antipasti, shellfish, or fish-based soups.
Enzo Mecella Verdicchio di Matelica “Pagliano”, 2006, Le Marche
Verdicchio is the sole white varietal of note in a region whose lush, well crafted red wines are slowly garnering adherants.
Of the two DOC zones producing Verdicchio, Castelli di Jesi hard by the Adriatic is the more recognized, having come full cycle from a decades long funk of mass produced plonk. The lesser known interior area around Matelica benefits from a continental climate that allows for a later harvest, with grapes that are more aromatic and concentrated.
Sampled in concert with a Verdicchio from Jesi, Mecella’s exhibits a striking intensity and definite structure. The varietal fingerprints of herbs, green fruit, and a mildly bitter nuttiness are evident, but with an edginess and texture that seem more “red”. Floral notes and the faint hint if citrus round out the profile.
This is another example of a distinctive white that gives off attitude and finesse, an antidote to the rivers of insipid wines rolling out of northern Italy.
“Buon vino fa buon sangue”
An old Italian phrase that translates loosely as “..good wine makes for good cheer.” Which aptly describes the other night’s Cru Club dinner at neighborhood fave L’Oca, where chef Luca Garruti’s four course menu was enhanced with a palate challenging array of wines…and the bonhommie generated by lively conversation that ensued.
Arneis, Erbaluce di Caluso… a duet of Langhe Nebbiolos, one from Mombeltrano..Borgo Convento’s Friulano… a wildly flavorful Salento Primitivo…2000 Tignanello and a Montevetrano…a smooth as pecorino Brunello…a pair of ’97 Barbarescos…Kerner – unique, flavorful, aromatic… classic examples of Soave…and other examples of the diversity of Italy’s vineyards that, quite frankly, most of us were too overwhelmed by the shank of the evening to remember.
The only thing that would have made the festivities more noteworthy would have been having us all teletransported to the terace of a hilltop villa among the vines at dusk. Can’t blame an old aficianado for dreaming, can you?
Antiche Vigneti di Cantalupo “Primagenia” 2005, Piemonte
The Colline Novarese DOC is located in the smaller cluster of designated zones in northern Piemonte that includes Gattinara and Ghemme, two familiar names for devotees of Nebbiolo. The regulations for both allow for the inclusion of Vespolino, a blending grape that also shows up with Bonarda in the Oltrepo Pavese region of Lombardy.
Wines from the Novarese area are noticeably smoother, softer, and able to be consumed earlier than their Langhe cousins. There is less earth and tar and the floral aspects more subdued. This Nebbiolo-Vespolino blend from Cantalupo in the town of Ghemme is indicative of its origins…fresh, food friendly, more cherry and raspberry than typically woodsy Nebbiolos from farther south. The tannins are already mild, the acidity keeping the fruit bright throughout.
Like Chiavennasca from Valtellina this is another version of one of Italy’s noble red grapes that illustrates the diversity of Italian wines and serves as a point of comparison to more renowned Nebbiolos.
Epikur is a magazine about food and drink, with a focus on our hometown of Philadelphia.
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