Santa Caterina Fontananera 2011 Liguria di Levante IGT Rosso - now that is a mouthful!

This wine was so reduced last year that I wasn't able to show it all . . . it was just too much sulfur in the nose and lots of funky notes of horses butt and it just was going to be so difficult to sell that I shelved the ten cases I had in stock for the year.

What a difference a year makes!  The wine has settled down and the sulfur has blown off and while it will always be a little horsey, at least now I can show it and not have to have the whole "do you like your wine funky-butt style or do you like it clean-as-a-whistle style conversation?

This way I can tell the story of the winery and this vineyard farmed following the philosophy of biodynamic viticulture.  The soil in this vineyard is sandy alluvial soil from and old riverbed and the blend of Merlot and Ciliegiolo goes through spontaneous native yeast fermentation.  It is bottled unfiltered.

Deep red in color, this wine just starts to open up in the nose and in the mouth after an hour or two of air.  Fruits of the forest in the nose (blackberry and boysenberries in particular) and a touch of cranberry as well with some warm and spicy woodsy notes as well.  Maybe camphor?  Maybe a touch of white pepper.  Salty from the sea so close by and also a little iodine or copper flavor, too.  In the mouth the wine is bright and fresh with medium brick dust tannins and a very long finish.  Does it finish funky?  Yes.  Is it good?  Yes.

It is the real deal.  If you are looking for a great wine to go with food, this is the wine for you.  If you are looking for a great red wine for meditation, this wine is also for you.  If you are looking for a wine to quaff before sitting down for dinner, this wine is not for you.

Email or call me if you want to find out pricing.

Cirelli Trebbiano d'Abruzzo with Mosha Nunley at G.C. Marketplace

Slow Wine San Francisco . . . good fun was had by all . . .

A whole bunch of wines from my portfolio were selected for the Slow Wine guide this year but it is pretty expensive for the smaller producers to make it over this way and to NY etc so usually it is just G.D. Vajra that decides to make it.  And frankly, it is better for me to just have one of my guys here as it would get really complicated otherwise.  But maybe next year I will have them all come over and we can put them all on one side of the room and see how that works out.  In the meantime, here below are some pictures from before the tasting.

Bringing out the big map!

You are not funny, Justin!

Slow Wine likes G.D. Vajra

2013 Dolcetto Coste e Fossati

2010 Barolo Ravera - first vintage and sold out!

2010 Luigi Baudana "Cerretta" tastes really expensive.

Freisa, Freisa, Freisa . . . G.D. Vajra Kye` 2011

It all started here, with the G.D. Vajra Langhe Rosso Freisa "Kye`".  I had the choice between two producers from Barolo to be the first wines in my portfolio and I was agonizing over the choice.

Should I go with the one that I had already met in Italy and tasted all of their wines (shall remain nameless) or should I go with the one that I had just talked with over the phone and had only tasted their Barolo. (G.D. Vajra)

What to do?  What to do?

I asked an old friend of mine in the business what he thought I should choose.  He is well known and has been around a long time and has a great palate so I was ready to listen . . . and he told me that he had recently been in New York and had tasted an older bottling, like 1995 or something, of the G.D. Vajra Freisa and how it had blown everyone at the table away.  That it was by far one of the most memorable wines he had tasted in awhile.  And that G.D. Vajra would be his choice.

And so it became my choice.

Now, five plus years later, after many vintages of Freisa under my belt, here is the newly arrived 2011 G.D. Vajra Langhe Freisa "Kye`".

Call or email me for your chance to taste the Freisa.

"In 2011 Freisa Kyè is surprisingly laid back and refined, with far less of the pure intensity and explosiveness it typically presents. Varietal notes are also a bit more in the background, at least today. Sweet herbs, mint, rose petal and orange peel are some of the notes that mark an especially elegant Kyè from the Vajra family." -- Antonio Galloni - Vinous

If you have never had a dry, savory Freisa of the first order, this is your chance.

Back label snafu . . .

When did I become an importer in Seattle, WA and when did Rinascimento Wine Company become someone else?  It is only 50 cs of wine with another importer on the back label . . .no big deal . . . right?  Hmmm, what to do, what to do . . . I think I am going to have to cover it up with a sticker . . . . (sigh) . . . that means a few days in the warehouse opening boxes for sure . . .

Favaro ROS

"La vigna è a 400 mt su terreno ripido e con tanti sassi di granito."
The vineyard is at 1200 feet on steep terrain and with lots of stones of granite.

"La vinificazione è fatta in tonneaux aperto e macerato per 3 settimane. Solo follature delicate e nessun rimontaggio."
The vinification is in open topped wooden fermenters and macerated on the skins for three weeks.   only delicate punch downs and no pumpovers.

"Poi rimane 14 mesi in barrique di 3 o 4 passaggi, nessun travaso."
Then it remains 14 months in three or four year old barrels, no racking.

"Messo in bottiglia senza stabilizzazione e filtrazione."
Bottled without filtration and cold stabilization.

"Un vino dove cerco eleganza e purezza."
A wine where I am searching for elegance and purity.

"Spero piacerà anche in California!"
I hope they like it also in California!

300 bottles made 

Camillo Favaro

Max and Taylor pronouncing Tre Monti . . .