11/16 Holiday Tasting
Overview
For the past few years I have been leading tailored wine tastings for an architectural and real estate firm in San Francisco. Attendee’s consist of a core group of 30 associates, who work hard together and share an appreciation of good wine. Over the years we have travelled all over Europe and the US together (Spain, France, Italy, CA, OR WA) without ever having to leave their spacious office on the Embarcadero. I love teaching such a diverse group of professionals, all with varied background and life experiences to bring to the table.
The theme was about how to pair Italian wine with the flavors of Fall/Winter. Through 8 wines, we travelled to Piemonte, Toscana, Emilia-Romagna, Alto-Adige, Veneto, Sicilia and Sardegna, diving into flavors and aromas dominating the season. From bright aromatic whites from the north, earthy orange wines in Sicily, peppery reds from Sardegna, to the mainstays Brunello and Barolo taking center stage, we conjured holiday meals and inspired pairings.
I love to blend history, cuisine and the culture of winemaking, all in an effort to connect with what’s in the glass. I pour and present against a backdrop of maps and tasty antipasto prepared by a local Italian chef, and we taste, discuss and evaluate the wines and how they fit into seasonal ingredients.
What made this particular class so interesting was its purpose. My typical office tasting serves as an appreciation gift to staff or clients. Depending on the theme, my aim is always to engage in a round-table style discussion on the experience in the glass, while also injecting some fun with trivia, stories and light competition. This year, the leadership committee decided to gift their most important clientele Italian wine from my shop. We devised a plan to knock off two agendas at once: lead an office tasting as a gift for staff, while at the same time present a range wines intended as future gifts for everyone’s clients. During the tasting, associates selected their favorite wines and those selections became the primer for a range of holiday gifts I will send out in December.
First Flight
To start the tasting, I give a rapid-fire presentation on Italian geography, climate and its history of winemaking, all while sipping on a cool white Lambrusco from Cantina della Volta in Emilia Romagna. This bubbly called ‘Christiano Bellei’ is a little softer on the palate than a Champagne, and spends almost as much time on the fine sediment giving a subtle creaminess. There happened to be a truffle-infused Pecorino cheese from Sicily on the table, which turned out to be the food pairing of the night. Great start! Next up where two whites, the first being a stunning Arneis from the maestro of Roero Giovanni Almondo. Located in Piemonte and originally a cherry orchard, the ‘Bricco di Cileigi’ is among Italy’s finest whites showcasing a Chablis-like quality from a sedimentary limestone unique to this particular land. Next up, a rare Kerner from the Cantine Valle Isarco, a cooperative in Alto-Adige. This wine is dubbed the ‘Aristos’ bottling, meaning a higher quality expression from a unique set of vines. I was allocated just a few bottles of this wine, so it was a pleasure to serve it while also providing an opportunity to search for other gifts with similar expression. Kerner is a fun grape of Eastern European origin and has this lovely cucumber and lime flavor, a rare partner to bitter greens and asparagus.
Second Flight
The third and fourth wines were by far the most controversial of the night. First to rock the boat was a very earthy orange wine from Sicily named COS Pithos Bianco (100% Grecanico). Lots of strong opinions on this wildly textured white aged in terra-cotta amphora from the village of Vittoria. This was follow by one of the most popular and obscure wines of the tasting: Garagista di Sogno ‘Monica’ from Sardegna. Made from the Monica grape indigenous to Sardegna, it resembled a peppery Pinot Noir with lots of bold aroma such as rosemary, peppercorns, tart rhubarb, etc.. Side-by-side, this mid course really rocked the boat and altered the energy in the room in a really great way.
Third Flight
Approaching the finale, I pulled out all the stops with gems from Veneto, Toscana and Piemonte. First, a Valpolicella Rispasso from Corte Sant’Alda, a winery I happened to visit recently. In this area of Italy known as Valopicella a distinct winemaking process has been utilized for decades called appasimento. This process essentially raisonates the grapes (shrivels) for fuller expression. Nowadays, producers tend to focus on retaining a little sugar to cater to a more international palate. With Sant’Alda, they prefer to fully ferment their wine, producing a Valpolicella with a supple balance of fruit, spice and dryness.
Next up, a Brunello Riserva 2012 from Podere Brizio, one of my favorite under-the-radar producers of Sangiovese in the village of Montalcino. Home to old vines originally apart of an historic estate, this Brunello was firing on all cylinders, becoming my personal ‘wine of the night’. I double decanted it about 4 hours before the tasting and it was showing such a range of aroma such as sage spice, forest floor, saddle leather, and some intensely spiced fruit. The final wine of the tasting was a 2013 Barolo ‘Monvigliero’ Riserva from Castello di Verduno. Monvigliero is considered a Grand Cru vineyard from the village of Verduno and is a mainstay for local legend GB Burlotto. I could fill pages talking about Monvigliero (top 5 wines of my life was Burlotto 1978 Mon.), the wine itself exhibited a big evolution from when I opened it at 10AM that morning, to when it was poured around 5PM. That right, 7 hours of slow oxidation. This time allows a wine of such strong character to unwrap itself and soften. It was full bodied with serious backbone, showing stewed fruit infused with alpine earth-driven aroma: forest floor, crushed rock, light cassis and intense culinary spice.
The Finish
My custom during these tastings is to surprise everyone with a digestivo as a finisher, helping to calibrate palates for the journey home. For this tasting, I poured a Vermouth from Monterosa, a producer in Cuneo who makes lightly sweet sipping vermouth from old vines. This is the only producer I know who dedicates an entire vineyard of old vines exclusively to the production of Vermouth. A perfect cap to a fun and immersive event!