Harvest 2017 at Praesidium in the Abruzzo . . . captions by Antonia Pasquale

6th October 2017 Cases ready for hosting the grapes still on the vines - the Sirente chain of mountains on the bottom 

Grapes in the cases on the tractor - The Morrone chain of mountains at the bottom

Harvest 2017 cases ready to be filled up with the Montepulciano  grapes 

Harvest in the old vineyard planted in 1973

Montepulciano grapes 2017 - the harvest occurred from the 2th to the 6th of October 

Ottaviano and Enzo in the Trebbiano vineyard

Our town Prezza on the right and the homonimous mountain- Sabrina with the hat

The crush-destemmer Michele- Massimo and Ottaviano

The grapes in the cases on the tractor- The Mountain San Cosimo 

The harvest in the old vineyard planted in 1973

2018 Slow Wine "Snail" producers . . .

Every year, the Slow Wine Guide awards the symbol of the snail to wineries that are aligned with Slow Food values and that manage their vineyards without any herbicides or pesticides while also maintaining exceptional quality at affordable prices.  Here are the awardees for 2018 in the new guide from my portfolio of wines.  Congratulations to all of them for their hard work and dedication and for making great wine.

Abruzzo

Cirelli

Praesidium

Friuli Venezia Giulia e Slovenia

Ronco Severo

Piemonte

G.D. Vajra

Trentino

Pojer & Sandri

Veneto

Montesantoccio – Nicola Ferrari

 

New vini from Praesidium, tasted at Vini Veri and arriving May 1st . . .

New vintage of the Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo had to be changed to a IGT because they used some vines that were out not approved for DOC status . . . uh oh!  Too bad, the wine is really good!

The new vintage of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva

from a special section of the vineyard and named after their grandmother who first worked that vineyard

All the new wines from the last container . . .

Tre Monti 

These are the new wines from Tre Monti above.  The Thea Bianco which will blow your mind is 100% Petit Manseng!  Who knew that it could create such a fantastic version in Emilia-Romagna?! The 2010 Tre Monti Petrignone Sangiovese di Romagna Riserva is back in stock.  This wine is tasting great right now.  And then there is the newest wine to the line-up, the "Doppio" Pignoletto Frizzante, a slightly sparkling wine that in Emilia-Romagna is paired with just about any salumi plate and is always the first thing you drink before dinner.

Oh, and the new 2013 Albana Secco "Vigna Rocca", just about the best mouthful of wine from this container.  And lastly, the "Casa Lola" Albana Passito, from air dried Albana grapes made in a late harvest style.  I actually haven't tried this wine as of yet so I hope that it is good.

Cirelli Trebbiano and Montepulciano are back in stock!

Cirelli Cerasuolo and Montepulciano 2013.

These new wines from Aia dei Colombi (the name means "are of the doves", so at one time maybe there was a dovecote in the area?) are going to become a staple for the Rinascimento portfolio.  The Falanghina is everything you would expect it to be.  Fresh and bright with a little prickle from being bottled early, it has that juicy fruit citrus flavor that you look for in Falanghina.  I am so excited.

Praesidium is a small winery in the mountains of the Abruzzo that produce only a tiny quantity of wine every year from five heactares of Montepulciano.  Current vintage is 2009.  They wines are aged for five years before release and can carry the designation of Riserva.  Two of those years are in tank, then the last three are in large Slavonian botte with a small proportion going into smaller, older French barrels. The Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo is truly a wine of power and even though it is a rose`, it will remind you more of a light red like Beaujolais.  Serve chilled.

I also bought a selection of the older wines from Praesidium.  The 2006 was a cool and long classic year and this wine is still showing primary fruit flavors and the tannins are just starting to integrate.

So far, this is my favorite of the older vintages.  Power plus finesse.  The tannins are totally integrated into the wine and the fresh fruit flavors of cherry and blackberry are slowly turning to more mature flavors while the acidity is still making the wine dance on the tongue.

And a blast from the past century, this is the 1998.  A wine that is ready to drink now.  

Nicola Ferrari is justly making a huge name for himself with his wines from Monte Santoccio.  I can't keep the Amarone in stock.  Here is the new 2010.  It is so over the top but at the same time, the acidity is bracing.  A true master of the Valpolicella region.

Four years in a row the Favaro Erbaluce has received three glasses from the Gambero Rosso.  The highest rating you can get.  Out of the thousands and thousands of wines tasted and rated every year, only a few attain the rating of three glasses.  The new 2013 is different in style than the previous few years because the weather was much cooler so the style of this wine is a little fresher than usual with lots of acidity.  It is going to be an Erbaluce that will age for a long time . . . if needed.  Most of it will be drunk soon enough!

Praesidium wines awarded high honors by the L'Espresso guide to Italian wines . . .

Harvest Photos from Praesidium in Abruzzo . . .

Antonia Pasquale sent us some great photos of the harvest at Praesidium.  Everything is hand harvested into crates.  The yield on these vines is tiny.  Looks like 2014 will be another good vintage. But we have to wait five years for it to be released!

Ottaviano Pasquale, winemaker for Praesidium with the fermenting Montepulciano and Cerasuolo in stainless
 

the grape must going into the basket press after fermentation 

Vini Praesidium from the Abruzzo . . . coming to our shores . . .

I tasted these wines first five or more years ago or so at ViniVeri, one of the shadow conventions that take place the same time as VinItaly in Verona.  ViniVeri producers are usually practicing organic or biodynamic but aren't dogmatic about it like the producers at some of the other upstart fairs.  

At the time, I was just starting to import Italian wine and these wines caught my taste buds because they weren't like any other wine I had tried before . . .  or since.  But at the time, I just couldn't swing a brand like this and I was already selling the famous and respected wines from Emidio Pepe through another portfolio I represented, so it just didn't make sense.  And I only had tasted their current vintages at that time and not any of the older vintages.

I stopped by this year to taste their wines again, fully expecting that someone else would have picked them up by now, and to my surprise, they were still free on the West Coast, and they had their current selections, 2009 Montepulciano and 2013 Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo . . . but even more fascinating, they had some older vintages, the 2006 and the 2001.

And they blew my mind.  

The 2006 was as fresh as most wines straight after the harvest.  The flavors were so strong and so primal that I thought I was tasting a wine that was much younger. It all started to make sense.  This is what Montepulciano can be . . . a certain style to be sure, and not the last word on it, but wow!

The 2001 vintage had so much balance and so much finesse but at the same time power.  The expression "the iron fist in the velvet glove" sprang to mind and I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth. It lingered on my tongue and in my soul.

The next day, I had the pleasure of crashing a retrospective tasting of Emedio Pepe wines to celebrate his 50th year making his iconic Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.  We tasted: 1967, 1975, 1985, 1993, 2001, 2003, 2007. The wines were lovely. Some, of course, better than others. The 1967 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo was the highlight.  A wine that had aged perfectly. 

Emidio Pepe- truly a lion of the wine business

But I must say, I couldn't get the Praesidium wines out of my mind.

Sometime your first instinct is the best instinct and I knew then that I had to have these wines for my portfolio.  Totally different from the wines of Francesco Cirelli which are made on the coast and are what I would call almost an avant garde representation of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, the wines from Praesidium are the exact opposite.  They need years to become accessible.  Years to open up and show their true character.  Years to blossom from something shy and awkward into something shining and true and good.

So here they are:

2013 Praesidium Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo                             
2009 Praesidium Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva
2006 Praesidium Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva
2001 Praesidium Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva 
1998 Praesidium Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva

The 1998 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva, the 2001 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva  and the 2006 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva, are older vintages, always kept in their cellar, hewn from rock in the mountains.  The 2009 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva is their current vintage, just released.  "Riserva" because it stays in the winery for five years before being released in the world. Two years in tank, two years plus in a mix of old slavonian botte and older barrique and then a year in bottle.

And of course, they make a Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo to rival all other Cerasuolos.  Bled off the fermenting Montepulciano after two days on the skins, it is almost too intense, more like a red wine than a rose` and will also reward a few years in the cellar.

From the winery: “We aim to create a true expression of the wine of this unique area using traditional and artisan methods in the vineyard and the cellar. We think that the wine, being a cultural product, born from the interaction between man and nature, has its own unique personality and it is necessary to allow the wine to express itself in the most spontaneous and natural manner. Our philosophy originates from the lifestyle led by our family since the beginning and passed down through the decades of farming work. In the vineyard, we have always tried to understand the needs of the land, by work that is aimed to assist nature, without forcing or manipulating it, and definitely without the use of synthetic chemical products. From having both the utmost respect of an area of land particularly appropriate for growing the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo vines, and the continuous research into the quality of the grapes, we reinforced the idea that the quality and the healthiness of the wine are strictly related. The artisan work in the cellar consists of reducing the operations to its essentials, which allows us to pursue our objective: produce, from the vinification of a single vine variety, a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine that is the most authentic expression of its native land.”