Trebbiano grapes from Tre Monti . . .

Trebbiano grapes from Tre Monti in Emilia Romagna. Just about to be harvested tomorrow. Vittorio Navacchia says that although so far it has been a rough lead up to harvest, they have worked so hard in the vineyards that it looks like they are going to get most of their grapes in sound condition and ripe. In bocca al lupo per la vendemmia!

Vigna Rio Trebbiano

Vigna Rio

The new single cru Barolo from G.D. Vajra - RAVERA

"It’s a true joy to introduce you to our new single vineyard bottling, Barolo Ravera. Ravera is a superb cru. Located in the southwest quadrant of the Barolo zone, the vineyard runs north to south across Comune di Barolo and Novello. It sits to the west, at the same latitude of Bussia and Ginestra in Monforte d'Alba and Falletto in Serralunga d’Alba. The dominant soil type here is “Arenarie di Diano”: a mix of clay and sands, which is especially rich in iron. This translates into a very vibrant yet dense Barolo that promises a fabulous evolution over time.

Our beautiful block is shaped like an amphitheatre. We have been farming it since 2001 and produced Langhe Nebbiolo until 2008. In 2010, fate and nature smiled on us and we decided that this must be our debut vintage. Only 3,000 bottles will be released from this initial harvest.

Antonio Galloni of Vinous, rated Ravera as an “Outstanding” vineyard, which means, “Sites [that] often produce wines of true personality and class.” - G.D. Vajra

I tasted the wine at VinItaly this year and was blown away.  Maybe it was because it was new, maybe because it was Ravera, maybe because it was 2010 . . . I am not sure.  But for whatever reason, this wine tasted fantastic.

It will be arriving in October and I would like to see how it tastes then.

The passing of Robin Williams . . .

I knew R. Todd Williams (Dr. Toad), Robin Williams' older brother, from the wine business. He used to call on me when I was a buyer at a shop in the Napa Valley a long, long time ago, when he first started his brand Toad Hollow. He was a great story-teller and raconteur and I loved when he came to show his wines because he was just a great guy. We had a laugh and he knew that I was from Marin County and had run across his younger, and "less funny", (according to him), brother a bunch of times growing up. And now he has been dead for many years but is still in my "Rolodex" and since he shared a birthday with a dear departed friend of mine they will forever be linked in my mind and in my heart and I am reminded of him every June 14th when their birthdays roll around.

We all seem to have great stories about Robin Williams, mostly involving his hijacking of people's conversations while on the payphones (remember those?) in the square in Mill Valley (whether we were actually there when the story happened or not is besides the point) and especially enjoyed his stand-up comedy specials on HBO, my favorite being the one from 1982, An Evening with Robin Williams, that was shot at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. My 15 year-old friends and I used to watch the video on VHS over and over and over at Todd Roberts' house ( Trevor Davis, Leah Glynn, Liz Carnevale, Brett Smith and who else?) and we could quote bits verbatim for years. My cheeks actually hurt from laughing so hard and I could barely catch my breath.

The last time my cheeks hurt that much from laughing and smiling was in 2002 when I saw him live at Bimbo's as he was trying out material for what would become the Weapons of Self-Destruction tour. It was epic and one of the best live shows I have ever seen.

I did not know Robin Williams as a person separate from his stardom but he has been a part of my life for over 30 years. Whether hearing about him from his dear brother, or watching him on television (in an effort to not swear around the kids, I have taken to saying "Shazbat!" about ten times a day) or in the movies, or live on stage.

He has taught me so much. He comedy informed me socially and politically and was a guide for my teenage years and beyond. If someone were to draw a line in the sand in front of him, he would barely notice it as he leaped over it into overshareland . . . and it was okay. The world didn't end. And I will never forget that. He made it okay to admit your weaknesses and to know that nothing is so bad that it can't be made fun of and made absurd and thus harmless.

He made me laugh so much . . . at him, at the world, at myself. I will miss him.

How to draw a kitty . . . and other ways to kill time while waiting for an appointment at Chez Panisse

While waiting to taste with J at Chez Panisse last week, the kids of one of the employees taught me how to draw a kitty and a dolphin. My week was made.

Diversity is key to a good import portfolio

Diversity is the key.  Italy has thousands of grape varieties so to try to get them all would be madness . . . but we can all dream, can't we?

Here are all the grape varieties I currently have from Italy.

Nebbiolo - G.D. Vajra, Luigi Baudana, Favaro and Davide Carlone
Dolcetto - G.D. Vajra and Favaro
Barbera - G.D. Vajra and Favaro
Freisa - G.D. Vajra and Favaro
Pinot Nero - G.D. Vajra
Chardonnay - Luigi Baudana
Riesling - G.D. Vajra and Luigi Baudana
Nascetta - Luigi Baudana
Moscato Bianco - G.D. Vajra and Musto Carmelitano
Erbaluce - Favaro
Croatina - Davide Carlone
Vespolina - Davide Carlone
Corvina - Monte Santoccio
Rondinella - Monte Santoccio
Molinara - Monte Santoccio
Corvinone - Monte Santoccio
Pinot Grigio - Ronco Severo
Sauvignon - Ronco Severo
Friulano - Ronco Severo
Ribolla Gialla - Ronco Severo
Refosco - Ronco Severo
Schioppettino - Ronco Severo
Merlot - Ronco Severo
Vermentino - Santa Caterina
Ciliegiolo - Santa Caterina
Canaiolo - Santa Caterina
Cabernet Sauvignon - Santa Caterina
Albana di Romagna - Tre Monti
Sangiovese di Romagna - Tre Monti
Trebbiano d'Abruzzo - Cirelli
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Cirelli
Pecorino - Abbazia di Propezzano
Passerina - Abbazia di Propezzano
Aglianico - Musto Carmelitano

Arriving on next container:

Falanghina
Fiano

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.”

Tre Monti!

"The heart of the winery lies in the center of the farm estate in Imola, where only estate-grown grapes are vinified. All of the vineyards are managed according the principles of sustainable viticulture, which mandates inter-row cover-cropping and the lowest possible use of chemicals. In addition, recent years have witnessed surprising gains as a result of considering the phases of the moon in relation to certain vineyard management practices (one of the doctrines in biodynamic agriculture), such as hedging, planting new vines, and, in some cases, the harvest itself. The winemaking operations too, watched over painstakingly by the experienced and talented Vittorio Navacchia, are animated by a philosophy of minimal intervention. Every step is carried out with full respect not only for the integrity of the fruit, but above all for the unique character of each growing year, so that Vittorio can ensure that the final wines fully expresses all of the conditions that gave it birth."

I met Vittorio and David (and their father Sergio) this year at VinItaly and we vowed to try to work together in some way as soon as possible.  And here we are.

I have been looking for a great Sangiovese based wine for the portoflio for by the glass placements and have been combing all of Tuscany to find an older style of wine that is more pointed towards sharing with food then as a beverage to be drunk on its own and it seems like all I needed to do was to look a little to the North!  Tre Monti Campo di Mezzo Sangiovese di Romagna is everything I was looking for; light bodied but with a long finish and true Sangiovese character of bloody iron and smoky meat.

And when I first tasted the Albana di Romagna, a varietal of wine I had never experienced before, I was blown away.  It has a taste I more associate with Chenin Blanc from the Loire than anything else.

We have limited stock on this first installment but will be getting more in the fall.

2012 Albana di Romagna „Vigna Rocca“
2012 Sangiovese di Romagna „Campo di Mezzo“
2010 Sangiovese di Romagna Riserva „Petrignone“
2010 Sangiovese di Romagna Superiore Riserva  „Thea“