[Editor's note - our intrepid wine reporter Glen Siegel wrote this piece in November but due to scheduling conflicts and our holiday break, we're just running it now. While the event has long passed, Glen offers some insight into the event and the wines of Italy that we think are worth sharing.]
The Wines from Italy Tasting on November 2nd was huge! It had to be to represent all the wines and wine producing regions of Italy. Italy has 350 authorized varieties of grapes in their 20 wine regions and another 500 documented varieties that are used to make wine for local or personal consumption. Italy is one of the few countries that produces wine in every region of the country and even if the regions are not household names, the wines are certainly well known. Most people have heard of Tuscany, the wine region, and Chianti, the wine, if only from the movie Silence of the Lambs. Other wine growing areas such as Puglia are less well known, although Mezzomondo’s Negroamaro is one of the best selling Italian Reds at the LCBO.
Despite this volume of grapes and wine, Italy was not the birthplace of wine making but it was responsible for creating the great vineyards of Europe. When the Greeks arrived in Italy around 800 BC, they found grapes growing almost everywhere and they introduced winemaking techniques and also several grape varieties of their own. Some of these grapes like Aglianico and Grechetto are still being grown in Italy today.
It took the Roman Empire to actually spread the vines around Europe. As the Roman Legions conquered area after area in Europe, they built roads and villages and, more importantly to us, they planted grapes. Roman soldiers had a daily wine ration as water was frequently unfit for consumption and wine was too bulky to transport so the areas around the legion outposts were planted with grapes and wine was produced for the soldiers.
Now you would think that any country with as over 800 varieties of grapes as Italy wouldn’t still be adding more but a small number of growers have planted international grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot to make Bordeaux style wines.
Tasting such a huge variety of wine needs some sort of strategy. In previous years I have tried tasting only Chianti or only Valpolicella. Last year I tasted only Barolos and Amarones. This year, I had a new plan. I tasted Chianti for an hour, Barolo for an hour, Valpolicella and Amarone for an hour as they are made from the same grapes and are from the same wine region of Italy. I then wandered around and tried a couple of other wines including a few sweet wines.
As usual, there was also a light lunch served and two cheese stations with a variety of Italian cheeses. I usually don’t eat anything at tastings as I think it influences the flavours of the wines that follow. At this tasting, I have to stop for a break part way through and eat something and drink a lot of water. Even with this break, I find my tasting notes towards the end day are less complete and coherent.
Here are a few favourites:
Chianti Classico DOCG Castellare 2007– Castellare Di Castellina
This wine is a blend of Sangiovese (95%) and Canaiolo (5%). The cherry jam aromas on the nose suggest a warmer area. The cherry and coffee flavours give way to a cherry and vanilla finish with slightly drying tannins.
Barolo DOCG Sarmassa 2005– Marchesi Di Barolo
Barolo is made from a grape called Nebbiolo. It’s a visually deceiving wine as it is frequently light in colour but big in flavour and tannins. This one showed a dark fruit and blueberry nose with some mint in the background. The red fruit flavours of strawberries, raspberries and plums lead to a medium length finish that showed the typical acidity of Nebbiolo. This wine is ready to drink now but it could stand a couple more years of aging.
Valpoliccella Classico DOC Superiore Ripasso 2006– Monte Del Frà
A blend of Corvina (80%) and Rondinella (20%), the nose of dark red fruit and chocolate lead to dark cherry flavours with a hint of chocolate in the back of your mouth.
Amarone Della Valpolicella DOC Bosan 2001– Gerardo Cesari – (LCBO 995225 - $84.00 – 750 ml)
Another blend of Corvina (80%) and Rondinella (20%) but this time in Amarone style, this wine has aromas and flavours of dried cherries, dried cranberries, chocolate and coffee with a medium length finish. The tannins are still firm. If I had the money I would buy 6 bottles and try one every year just to see how this wine evolves.
