Distinctive Corsican White: Clos Nicorsi

Vermentino has many manifestations.  There are crisp, high pitched versions that that come from Liguria and other parts of Sardinia that show a little hint of the sea  There are the somewhat riper, rounder versions that seems to be popping up from Tuscany, and the somewhat steely versions from southern France (where the grape is called Rolle).  We have tasted many versions of all of them, but we can’t say we ever had one like this.

This is from a unique spot, situated on Cap Corse, a finger-like peninsula on the northern coast of Corsica. that juts northward into the Tyrrhenian Sea.  This rugged area is a distinctive display of seascapes and vineyards.  Located on the coast near the village of Rogliano, Clos Nicrosi has been cared for by the same family since 1859.  The story goes that one Dominique Nicrosi left the island penniless, made his fortune in the southern U.S. (Alabama to be specific), and then left the U.S. because of the coming winds of the Civil War.

Upon returning to Corsica, he bought a mansion on the coast that had some vineyards which he renamed Clos Nicrosi.  His grandson, Toussaint Luigi, took over the estate a century later.  The wine was ‘discovered’ and presented to the world thanks to a ‘scouting’trip’ led by Jean-Marie Peynaud (son of Lucien Peyraud of Domaine Tempier) and Kermit Lynch.  It was this wine that proved to importer Lynch that all of Corsica wasn’t just a bunch of nice vineyards producing rustic ‘plonk’.

Apparently Luigi’s wines enjoyed great popularity on the island, but were virtually unknown anywhere else.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Clos Nicorsi is now farmed by the next generations, Jean-Noël Luigi, along with his daughter, Marine, and son, Sébastien.  They farm 20 hectares of vines, half of which is located on the Cap Corse itself.

The Clos Nicorsi Coteaux du Cap Corse Blanc 2016 is made with 100% Vermentino from 15-20 year-old vines planted in shale soils from the Cap itself.  They do all the right things in the vineyard and in the cellar including controlled yields, hand harvesting and direct pressing.  The fermentation happens in thermo-regulated steel tanks with only native yeasts.

The Clos Nicorsi has the brightness, lift, salinity and minerality that connects it with all of the other manifestations of Vermentino.  Where it differs is in size, mid-palate volume, and palate authority.  This one has a more substantial mouthfeel, more like a Chateauneuf Blanc, but with the lilting spice notes of Vermentino and a certain subtle nuttiness to the flavors that makes this an intriguing drink.

It sure caught us by surprise.  A unique and classy rendition of this varietal and a superb choice with fish in particular.  It is still well under the radar as evidenced by the fact  that we found zero reviews in any of the major publications for any vintage.  But this stylish white definitely deserves a wider play.

LISTEN TO YOUR DIRT

We have told this story many times over the years.  But it is arguably the very best example of the point we are trying to make.  There was a family vintner that made Zinfandel in the Russian River area that we met at a ZAP tasting in San Francisco some years ago.  We liked his wines, and he had no regular distribution in Southern California. No problem, we said.  We can take down whatever it takes. To make this work.  It was classic Russian River Zinfandel with the tender ripe berry profiles of some of our favorites at the time, including the Deloach Zins that Mike Sullivan (now of Benovia) made when he was there.  Plenty of ravishing red fruits, plenty ripe but not overdone (usually sitting in the upper 14% alcohol range) and classic spice and pepper nuance, this was simply an engaging bottle of Zin that showcased the genre nicely.

We established a pretty good business with this vintner for several vintages, tasting new releases that fit the profile, then buying and selling a rather substantial number of cases.  Next year’s sample came, same story.  Then one year we anxiously opened the newest effort when it arrived, poured it and looked at each other quizzically.  The comment was something to the effect of ‘what the hell happened?’.   The vintage was a normal one for the region, devoid of any weather ‘events’ that might have explained this particular wine’s variance from the norm we had come to expect.  It was instead rather lean and somewhat short, with some green  streaks to the fruit and an alcohol level in the low 12% range.

Puzzled, we called the winery principal, whom we had gotten to know reasonably well after working with him for several vintages.  Our question was pretty direct.  Why was this Zin so different from all of the years previously?  His answer kind of shocked us.  “The wines were too ripe for me to enjoy with my dinner’, he said, “so I harvested with lower sugars in mind to make a wine more food friendly”.

Say what? The guy’s vineyard gave him lush, juicy, delicious Zin every year, and there was a ready market from ZInfandel buyers for his wines as they had been previously.  Why mess with it?  Zinfandel itself has its own quirks from a growing standpoint, including a tendency to ripen somewhat unevenly and for the sugars in the grapes potentially to jump quickly if it got a little toasty warm outside late in the season.  Also as a grape that didn’t reach physiological ripeness without a good bit of hang time and thin skin for a grape with such potentially high sugars, it presented certain challenges to the grower just by definition.

If you don’t get that physiological ripeness, however, you run the risk of green edges to the flavors, and a clipped, narrow flavor band.  In other words, you end up with not very compelling Zinfandel.   There is a point to this story, besides bemoaning the loss of a source of delicious, well-priced Zinfandel because of decisions we openly questioned.  As you probably guessed, we didn’t buy that vintage of Zin or any subsequent ones.

But the moral of the story is that the whole idea of terroir exists for a reason.  Certain grapes are presumably planted in certain places because it is presumed that those are the ones that will perform the best there given the soils, temperatures, diurnal shifts, winds, and a whole host of other things that define the difference between one place and another.   To us, the growers’ first directive is to listen to their dirt and understand what the vineyard is prepared to give them.  The next directive is to usher in what that dirt gives you as best you can.

Granted that way of thinking may be our problem.  We have an issue with trying to make chicken wings into pork chops.  There’s a reason you don’t see people trying to grow pineapples in the desert.  If the varietal and the place give you a successful beverage in a particular style suited to that combination, why would you fight and take extra steps to make it into something else that it wasn’t necessarily meant to be?  Farming is a dicey enough proposition without trying to superimpose a philosophy that may go against Nature outright.   More important, the results aren’t necessarily all that compelling when you do make that choice.

As to our Zinfandel growing vintner, he could have a vintage that is cold where the grapes don’t fully ripen.  Such are the risks of being a grower.  The grapes and the place go along way in mediating potential problems like that.  But for the grower to elect to do it, contrary to what the vintage and varietal are trying to give them in a given season, makes no sense to us.   That being said, you can probably guess how we feel about 11% alcohol nouveau Mourvedre, most ‘somm label’ reds, In Pursuit of Balance ‘early harvest’ philosophies, and any number of the other seemingly faddish, specifically intended concoctions we have seen lately.

It is hard enough to grow great grapes.  To take an extra step to try to impose one’s pre-conceived stylistic notion on something that is ultimately determined by Nature rarely ends well.  So our message to all of the ‘tinkerers’ out there that are trying to create wines to fit some sort of premeditated stylistic profile, listen to your dirt!  Guide the grapes through the process of doing what they are meant to do in a given spot.  You should worry about things like physiological ripeness and even ripening of the fruit, not some arbitrarily imposed alcohol or acid reading that may not fit with the typical profile of a particular vineyard or region.

We hate to sound like old-fashioned fire-and-brimstone preachers saying our Zinfandel vintner’s early-harvest effort was an ‘abomination against Nature’.  But, in truth, it kind of was.  Sadly, there is way too much of that kind of thing going on these days and California seems to be a particular hotbed for that kind of thinking.  We have had the good fortune of having conversations with a number of Europe’s icon vintners over the years.  They are keenly attuned to their vineyards.  You know how often this kind of “I’m going to harvest at so-and-so with a certain profile in mind” discussion comes up with them?  Never.

 

Spanish Immersion, Part Three: Jumilla Value ‘Home Run’

When we first started getting serious with Spanish wines in the mid-’90s, we learned a lot about the areas that previously had little presence in the U.S. market.  These places in the warm climes of southeastern Spain were new to us, and Casa Castillo was one of the definitive wines from the then-unknown (to us) region of Jumilla.  Their property looked a lot like the southern Rhône, with gnarly old vines sitting in a chalky soil, the vineyard covered in stones. Like most of the Jumilla producers we tasted back then and have come to know since, this bodega (what the Spaniards call a winery) had a gutsy, well-priced value wine that was impressive for its substance.  Casa Castillo has impressed ever since.  Even in Spain, it is hard to find something this compelling for this kind of price.

While their “Las Gravas” reserve offering gets plenty of media attention these days, it is the Casa Castillo Monastrell Jumilla 2016, essentially their everyday red, that moved us to write this piece.  There are two factors in play here.  Casa Castillo, the amazing little estate, is one of them.  They have been for a while.   But the 2016 vintage touched this part of the world in a way that made this wine even more impressive than usual (see also Piedmont, the Southern Rhone, etc.).

There is ample ripeness and a surprising poise to this wine that typifies the kind of work this producer does.  But as we have found with so many of the 2016s, there is a lift to the flavors and a tenderness and polish to the palate.  Simply put, we have been tasting Casa Castillo wines for a long time and this one just seems to have another gear over and above the long line of quality predecessors.  When you consider that this is an $11 wine, it was hard to believe what was in our glass.

The Casa Castillo Monastrell Jumilla 2016, not surprisingly, is predominantly Monastrell (the local name for Mourvedre), which performs in this region like nowhere else, along with an 8% blend of Garnacha and Syrah.  It is fermented with native yeasts and sees 8-9 months in neutral barrels.  The flavors run from dark berry and cassis with flecks of earth, stone, chocolate, wild herbs and a nicely proportioned ‘rotie’ character that is quite subtle in this version.

Luis Gutierrez of Wine Advocate was a fan as well, “…from a more continental, cooler and dry vintage. …Juicy, primary, incredibly fresh and with a vertical palate, longer than wider, like a hypothetical blend of 2013 and 2015, cool but dry. This is always a great value, even more so in 2016….91+ points”.

Amen to that.  Stylish and ample, even as consistently surprising as this little Monastrell has been for the money over the years, the 2016 stands alone.

 

Spanish Immersion, Part Dos: Ravishing Rioja

It is pretty easy to buy Spanish wines ‘by the numbers’ these days.  There seems to be no end to the parade of well-priced, aged reds from places like Rioja that are getting great notes from the media, and deservedly so.  But every once in a while one comes along that is so accommodating and delicious that reviews aren’t really a factor.  Simply put, we have an outstanding selection of Spanish wines that fall into that big score, little price category already.  We didn’t need this one, but bought it anyway with an eye to our own consumption.

The Lealtanza Rioja Gran Reserva 2010, is, by classic Riojano definition, the top traditional bottling from this house.  What impressed here, besides the obvious depth of quality to the fruit as expected from a gran reserva in one of Rioja’s benchmark vintages, was the plush, ample, velvety palate feel that was a cut above the crowd even for this typically crowd-pleasing genre.

The wine is packed with cassis, black raspberry and other dark berry fruit laced with cocoa, spice, a hint of pepper and a whiff of tobacco, all served on a bed of nicely ripe, mellow tannins.  But what really sets it apart is its fleshy sweetness on the palate, engaging roundness, and soft core of fruit as it rolls across your tongue.  Yes, Riojas aim to please.  But this wine simply does it a bit better.  The reviews will likely come.  We haven’t seen any yet.  But in truth, we’re already pretty smitten with this one.  Deliciousness trumps everything.  As Gran Reservas go, it’s pretty attractively priced as well ($22.98).  All the better.

 

Spanish Immersion, Part One: Alluring Albariño

Given how much enthusiasm we have shown for the white wines from this part of the world in 2016, it should not surprise anyone that it is a very good year for Spain’s West Coast and it’s classically styled Albariños.  Palacio de Fefiñanes has been one of the blue chips from the area, as well as a personal favorite, and the 2016 is quite the beauty.

We’ve been working with Albariños in general for probably two decades or more and have seen all kinds of incarnations…aged ones, barrel fermented ones, etc.  To us, Albariño is best served naked with all of the freshness, subtle tropical fruit, pear, tangerine and hint of honey flavor profile, great tension between the high-pitched fruit and the bright acidity, and that whiff of the sea and hint of salinity to the finish.  Any other aspect that man introduces gets in the way of that core personality.  Keeping it simple allows the wine to shine and deliver mouth-watering sip after sip that plays beautifully with seafood or merely as an eminently quaffable beverage on a warm afternoon.

Of course, as we have discussed many times, when a wine is served naked, you have to live with whatever Mother Nature gives you.  Albariño, in a way resembles Viognier, though it is a much crisper beverage.  If it is too ripe, it lacks the zing that makes it such a lively quaff.  Without enough ripeness you’ve basically got a lean, acidic wine.  Fefiñanes is usually one of the consistent stars of the region year in and year out.  But like everyone else, they can only work with what they were given, which is usually pretty good.

In 2016, Nature was very good to them.  The Palacio de Fefinanes Albarino Rias Baixas 2016 strikes the perfect balance with a certain tenderness to the expressive fruit, enough mouthfeel to engage the palate, and then the perfect cut of refined acidity.  Fefiñanes is usually a ‘go-to’ in good vintages but this effort is a cut above and  reminds us fondly of some of those brilliant efforts from this region in the last benchmark vintage, 2010.

MAYACAMAS-HISTORY RETOOLED

Anyone that has been a part of the California wine scene has heard the name Mayacamas.  Purchased by Robert Travers in 1968, it was a visible member of the first wave of boutique California wineries.   Under Travers, the winery gained international fame, particularly for its Cabernet and its legendary longevity.  Arguably this was the first important ‘mountain Cabernet’ as Napa Valley moved to make its mark on the wine world.  There were some distinct aspects to the winery, not the least of which was Travers own dry wit as a part of his winery missives.

While Mayacamas was still generally considered ‘top drawer’,  the luxurious ‘trophy style’ became the style that dominated the review boards.  As the preferred style leaned more towards pandering fruit and lots of creamy oak, Travers always stuck to his guns and the more ‘traditional’ style of Mayacamas Cabs rendered the label considerably less topical.  The respect was always there, just not the buzz any more.

While very ‘mountain’ and very honest in their presentation, the wines were also often a bit chewy and perhaps a tad rustic.   Eventually Bob got to the point where it was time to retire, and the property was purchased by a partnership of former Screaming Eagle owner Charles Banks and retail entrepreneur Jay Schottenstein in 2013.  The timing of Banks’ well publicized legal problems took him out of the game relatively quickly, leaving the winery under Schottenheim’s supervision.

The winery now points to 2013 as the beginning of a new era, and the 2013 Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon clearly demonstrates that there is a new sheriff in town.  Bringing in husband and wife team of former Screaming Eagle winemaker Andy Erickson and Annie Favia has had an immediate impact and we dare say this is the most impressive effort from Mayacamas we have ever tasted.  This is not your father’s Mayacamas.  This one has structure, yes, but a purity and tenderness we can’t recall from these Cabernets in the past.  Rich but also refined with a fleshy wrap of red and black fruits flecked with wild herbs, graphite, and cocoa coating the fine tannins.

The 97 point review from Antonio Galloni is a good jumping off point for the new Mayacamas with comments like, “The flavors are dark, bold and incisive, with potent tannins and a real feeling of gravitas to back things up. Black cherry, game, smoke, gravel and licorice add to an impression of brooding intensity. In many ways, the 2013 reminds me of some of the great wines of the 1970s in its dark, imposing personality.”

As to the quality, we agree wholeheartedly.  This Cabernet knocked us out.  But we differ on the comparisons to those ‘70s Cabs because this one is far more cohesive and harmonious and, given this particular winery’s history, much more engaging in its youth.  If you’ve got the fare, this is something special.

 

Pinot Noir auf Deutsch?  Sehr gut!

Pinot Noir has been a hot topic for some time now.  And the usual discussion about whether the pricing and performance is currently more exciting in California’s Central Coast or Russian River, or in special vintages from the Motherland (France), is the norm.  But with global warming, there are new considerations to the Pinot discussion, particularly in a juicy vintage like 2015.  Like …Germany?

No, we are not talking about some leafy tasting, brownish Spätburgunder that garners little interest outside of Deutschland itself.  We are now talking about extremely appealing examples of German Pinot Noir these days, wines that are competitive on the world stage.  At the top of our list in that category is today’s selection from Meyer-Näkel.

This player is no surprise either to us any more, though we must admit our surprise from our first trip to the region more than a decade ago.  We have sold several vintages of the Meyer-Näkel wines  since that time and they only seem to be getting better.   Werner Näkel himself is credited with putting the Ahr on the map internationally back in the 1990s and nothing has changed, other than the Pinots have taken on a deeper fruit component and a more tender mouth feel,  while never losing the lift, clarity and purity that make them special.  The Ahr Valley has a long history with the varietal and is only elevated by the current weather trends.

Yes there are easier things to sell than German Pinot Noir, but the quality at Meyer-Näkel has earned them the right to be included in any serious discussion about the varietal.  As you might have guessed, the 2015 vintage that was a watershed for the Rieslings was also very kind to Pinot Noir.  So the Meyer Nakel Spätburgunder (aka Pinot Noir) Estate 2015 has a bit more flesh and sweetness on the palate, making it perhaps the most ideal ‘crossover’ Pinot they have made.  Yet it still speaks of the unique micro-climate in this river valley.

Lively cherry and red berry fruit is accented with some smoky tones, cinnamon, slatey minerality, and a whiff of damp forest.  The fruit takes hold on the palate but there is a perfect tension that keeps everything bright and expressive.   For under $30, it can hold its own in any arena, with the personality best pegged as somewhere between Oregon and the Cote de Beaune, but with its own spin.  A must for Pinot lovers.

2016 ITALIAN WHITES: MAKING A POINT (plus three more winners)

The more we taste examples from the 2016 vintage in northern Italy, both red and white, the more wonder we experience.  Wine after wine shows a clarity of purpose, purity of fruit, and uniquely expressive nature unlike anything we can recall in recent times.  Are these wines really that good?  The more we experience, the more inclined we are to say ‘yes, they are!’

It wasn’t that long ago we were pretty gaga over the 2010 whites from this part of the world.  The fruit had substance and power, there was plenty of zip and verve and, in short, they were everything that you could expect n Italian white to be.  We remember the 2010s fondly, and were using them as the ‘benchmark’ for  everything that was special about Italian whites.  The 2016s are all of that and more, with everything that the 2010s had plus an undefinable ‘presence’ and harmony that sets the 2016s on another level.  That being said here are three more outstanding examples to make our point:

Filippo Gallino Arneis 2016–The story here isn’t extensive, just a committed producer that consistently makes very good wine and doesn’t charge a lot for it.  With a ‘naked’ grape like Arneis you can’t really tweak it in the cellar with wood and have to be very careful with extended lees contact as both can negatively affect the desired freshness of the wine’s profile, you get what Nature gives you.  Wines like this really are made in the vineyard and those that farm meticulously are the successful ones.

Sure there are slightly more exotic aromatics with some of the big dogs labels that cost a lot more.  But this one presents all of the fresh floral nuances and apple-skin aromatics and the lively fruit driven palate that are the essence of this genre.  The 2016 simply has more energy and fruit weight than past versions, which makes this one a killer deal.

Inama Soave Classico 2016– As we have remarked, even the little wines are noticeably better in 2016.  Somehow they have a little more punch, a little more lift, and a surprising degree of harmony that forces you to take notice.  Inama is a staple around here, and we buy it almost every year.  But there’s just ‘more’ to this wine than any that we have tasted in recent memory.

There’s no big story here.  This is just Garganega, the classic grape of Soave, done in 100% stainless steel.  Sure it sounds simple enough.  But again this is a ‘naked’ wine which they can’t really mess with in the cellar of everything doesn’t go right, so there is a bit more to it.  All of the words matter.  To carry the name ‘classico’ the grapes must come from the hillside vineyards around the municipalities of Soave and Monteforte d’Alpone in the original and oldest classic “zone” of Verona established back in 1927.

Forget those over-produced, insipid Soaves that flooded the market 20-30 years ago.  This is nothing like those.  Advocate’s Monica Larner’s words are precise enough, “This entry-level Soave Classico delivers the elegant mineral definition and fruit sensation you should expect of the best Garganega grapes. The 2016 Soave Classico Vin Soave benefits from very favorable growing conditions in a classic vintage. The bouquet is refined and polished with stone fruit, citrus, dried sage and saffron.”  Driving and quite engaging for the fare.

Keber Collio Bianco 2016–No place does this kind of thing like the northeast  of Italy.  Riveting, purposeful blends of a mixture of white varietals make for some uniquely compelling whites with lifted fruit, plenty of sizzle, but also unexpected palate presence.  In that realm, Keber has always been one of the stars.  Their Collio Bianco can stand with the best in the region, but is much more attractively priced.

Maybe it was just a good day, but the 2016 Keber Collio is the best version of this wine we can remember tasting, everything the past efforts have been but with seemingly another gear.  The blend is 70% Friulano , 15% Malvasia Istriana, and 15% Ribolla Gialla.  The concept is Friulano for structure, Malvasia Istriana for its aromatic qualities, and Ribolla Gialla for
acidity. These varietals do very well in the so-named “Ponka” soil, composed of marl and sandstone, that naturally stresses the vines.  The grapes are whole cluster, soft-pressed to minimize oxidation during crushing. The juice is fermented and matured on the yeasts for 6 months in
cement vats. Twenty per-cent of the Friulano is aged in older, large barrels.

This wine, from a 10-acre estate near the Slovenian border, always has remarkable weight, body and a distinctive, super-minerally aspect typical of the region.  The estate produces just this wine but it is a constant winner.  This time around, it’s just a notch or two better, which is pretty sensational.

 

A Dandy Andezon in 2016

The Cotes du Rhone from Andezon has been on our radar for a long time.  It was on the front cover of our old printed newsletter at least once (maybe even a rare second time come to think of it).  So given our experience thus far with the ‘little’ 2016s in the southern Rhone, we were quite anxious to see how this Eric Solomon staple for more than two decades fared.

The brief background story for those that don’t know this one by now is as follows.  Back in 1994, Eric Solomon visited the Vignerons d’Estézargues Co-operative winery and met a young, passionate director/winemaker named Jean-François Nicq.  By the end of the day, they had decided on a custom bottling of old-vine Syrah (30-60 year old vines) from one of their best parcels, Andezon, that had been previously sold in bulk to a “very famous producer in the Rhone Valley”.  The rest, as they say, is history.

To repeat, unlike most Cotes du Rhones, the Andezon is predominantly  Syrah with a little Grenache (up to 10% depending on the vintage, though some will claim it’s all Syrah), unlike the typically Grenache-dominated cuvees from this part of the world.  It sees no oak, they use no cultured yeasts, no filtering, no fining and no enzymes during vinification or aging, and only add a small amount of SO2 at bottling. Les Vignerons d’Estézargues has begun to practice ‘natural winemaking’, for those interested in that sort of thing, and have to be one of the only co-ops in the world to do so.

As for the wine itself, the Les Vignerons d’Estezargues Cotes du Rhone Andezon 2016 is certainly the best example of this cuvee we have tasted, and that is saying something.  The signature of the vintage is here…deep, riveting fruit, uncommon richness yet with energy and lift.  We could go on but the prose of Wine Advocate’s  Joe Czerwinski certainly makes the point, “The 2016 Cotes du Rhone Andezon is 100% Syrah, aged entirely in tank. It’s a lush, medium to full-bodied wine bursting with ripe blackberries and blueberries. No, it doesn’t have the peppery spice of Syrah from the northern Rhône, but it does have enough cola-like spicy complexity to warrant an outstanding rating…91 points“

In closing, it is important to make another point we refer to as the ‘theory of relativity’.  When a vintage this spectacular comes along, there is a tendency for reviewers to calibrate reviews between wines, and not necessarily factor in the vintage itself.  That’s not necessarily a criticism, but it is a fact.  People don’t always account for the fact that the whole category is working far above the norm.

The salient point is that better wines in lesser vintages often get higher scores than they should and, in outstanding vintages, the wines don’t necessarily get their due within the broader historical perspective.  Pull out this ’91-pointer’ and put it up against similar ‘performers’ from other vintages down the road and this will dominate.  The 2016s are that good, and this one will outperform the ‘number’ in the glass.  Good times, 2016 continues to look like one of the best vintages we have ever sold .

‘NATURALLY’ TASTY: QUERCIA GROSSA BATTIFOLLE TOSCANA 2014

You’d think after doing this as long as we have, we’d have the sense to be a little more selective of the topics we choose.  Sadly, or perhaps not, we are in it for the experience and to highlight wines that deserve attention from folks who love wine, famous or not.  It sometimes takes you in directions you aren’t necessarily expecting to go.  Quercia Grossa is one of those times, but the wine definitely made it worth the ‘trip’.

Located in the southern part of the Maremma, the warmer part of Tuscany, this wine has the distinction of being from a ‘genre’ that is no longer recognized as en vogue (super-Tuscan), made in a ‘natural’ style (definitely something that sends up reds flags to us because of how many sloppy wines hit the market under that banner), and from one of the most difficult vintages in the region in this century.  It would be very easy, simply based on the data, to just look past this one.  But the wine was simply too compelling and had an engaging, rather unique personality.

It starts with the farming.  In their words, “In the course of this venture, we recovered a number of old vineyards scattered around Roccatederighi in various small plots on the undertaking that they would be treated like a garden, in tune with the rhythms of nature.  Production is not forced in the vineyard, and, as far as possible, we use manual working methods in order to avoid using products that may be harmful to the plants and environment.  Respect for nature and the environment requires the absence of insecticides, botritycides, weed-killers and chemical fertilizers. Treatment in the vineyards is kept to the minimum.”

As to the harvest itself, “Grapes are hand-picked into small crates, so that they can be examined and sorted if necessary during the harvesting process. The grape harvest is a magical moment in which a symbiotic bond forms between man and the grapevines that have been trained and shaped by generations of loving hands. After the grape clusters have been picked and laid carefully in small crates, they are taken to the winery: an intimate, magical place. Here they undergo a delicate vinification process; the grapes give off an intense aroma and start to macerate in small concrete vats for a period of up to forty days. Fermentation takes place naturally with the aid of the indigenous ‘wild’ yeasts present in the grapes.”

“Achieving and preserving a harmonious balance between man, the grapevines and the surrounding countryside in keeping with the concept that “wine is made in the vineyard” is the key to creating a wine with personality: a wine produced by a local winemaker who treats the grape cluster with the utmost respect, applying a philosophy based on simplicity.”

If you have read enough wine writings, you have heard all of this kind of thing before.  The difference here is that, unlike all of the ‘natural’ folks out there that seem to use the process as an excuse for marginal winemaking, the folks at Quercia Grossa made a little magic when the odds were against them.  Of course, having former Cristom Pinot-master Tim Manning consulting and informing the wines with an extra level of elegance doesn’t hurt.

We aren’t trying to qualify the achievement either.  This tender, fruit centered, surprisingly ample wine is just plain tasty, with a uniquely appealing texture, plum, cassis and black cherry fruit with notes of earth and minerality, and gentle, unfettered tannins.  The Quercia Grossa Battifolle Toscana 2014, still presented under the indeterminate banner of IGT, is a blend of 40% Sangiovese, 40% Merlot , and  20% Cabernet Sauvignon , after which it is placed into 225 liter second and third use barrels with minimal sulphite addition.

For the guy who imported this wine, this is a labor of passion.  But this genteel, tasty red deserves an audience which is why we bought it.