Orange Wines

Andrew Wenzl, chief winemaker of Abacela Vineyards

Aitor Trabado

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22 December, 2016

Andrew Wenzl, chief winemaker of Abacela Vineyards

Originally published in miamigoelvino.com 22/12/2016.

Recently we have run a feature on the story of Abacela, an Oregon winery specialized in Tempranillo wines. Today we will talk to Andrew Wenzl, the managing winemaker.

Good morning, Andrew, and thank you very much for your cooperation. How long have you been working at Abacela?

Good morning Aitor and thank you for your interest in Abacela. I started at Abacela in the summer of 2003. The 2002 wines were in barrel, and the 2003 were hanging on the vine. With the 2016 wines freshly pressed that means I have worked with 15 different vintages of Abacela wine.

Did you have previous experience working with Tempranillo?

No, however I worked with several warm climate varieties from Southern Oregon (Malbec, Merlot, Grenache) during the crush of 2002 when I worked at Silvan Ridge/Hinman Vineyard. As a cellar worker my input was very limited. Before Earl Jones planted Tempranillo there wasn’t any in the state, on a commercial level, so no one really had any experience with Tempranillo. Fifteen years of working with the grape has now put me in a position to fully understand it and craft beautiful wines.

Judging by its result, we can say Tempranillo has adapted really well to Southern Oregon. Is there a difference in the way you work with this varietal and the way they do in Spain?

Not only has it adapted in Southern Oregon, it has thrived! Tempranillo has really gained traction over the years, to the point where now there are 57 wineries producing varietal Tempranillo and finding success just like we have. At its simplest most wine is made in similar ways, so we have looked to Spain for vinification techniques and wine styles. Depending on the clone of Tempranillo and which program it is most likely going towards I will do either manual punchdowns, or gentle pumpovers. I also do a lot of one ton small batch fermentations which allows me to make early selections for quality. For elevage, Abacela has a higher percentage of French oak in the cellar, although I do utilize a lot of American oak too.

Oregon’s Tempranillo is different from other more popular varietals in USA, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Zinfandel?

Tempranillo does not have as long of a history in the USA as other international varieties so only time will tell. To bring more attention to Iberian varieties Earl started TAPAS (Tempranillo Advocates, Producers and Amigos Society), as well as the OTA (Oregon Tempranillo Alliance.) This has gone a long way in educating our consumers as well as other winemakers. We have also demonstrated that well-structured Tempranillos age very well, on par with the finest ageworthy wines in the world.

How are your Tempranillo-based wines? What do they offer?

I have worked with nine different clones of Tempranillo across several rootstocks and numerous soil types. This lends itself well to craft four main Tempranillo wine styles. First is our Tempranillo Fiesta crafted to be lighter, less tannic, American oak, and ready for enjoyment upon release. While it can be enjoyed in its youth, it can also cellar for a few years. Next up the quality scale is the Tempranillo Barrel Select which is our flagship wine. Bigger structure and tannin, deeper fruit flavor, and some French oak influence. This wine benefits from cellar aging and many would consider a classic. Our Tempranillo Reserve carries block provenance, premium ripeness, and constitutes less than 10% of our production. This represents a true reserve level wine built for ageing. Lastly is our Paramour on par with the Gran Reservas of Spain. We consider this wine to be the pinnacle of winemaking. This particular wine is only made in exceptional years and is around 1% of our production.

How’s your work with so many different varietals. Red, White, Rosé, dessert wines…

Our vineyards are laid out like a patchwork quilt with different varieties planted with an understanding of the vineyard mesoclimes. There can be vast differences from south facing hillsides to the Northfacing hillsides. This makes it possible to grow a wide array of grapes with great success as has been demonstrated in all our 90+ point scores from major wine publications and best of class designations from international wine competitions.

During crush meticulous record keeping and great attention to detail is very important. The spectrum of varieties we grow makes the harvest season long but also very fun and rewarding. I take pride in the continuing success of all of our programs.

You also produce wines made with other red varietals? Which are the ones you prefer to work with?

There are several red grapes that are dear to me. Garnacha (Grenache) for both the rosé and red wines is a lot of fun to work with. Malbec makes wonderfully dark colored and aromatic wines. South Face Syrah grew a 95 point wine of which I am very proud, and the five Portuguese grapes we grow to make our Port (Tinta Amarela, Tinta Cao, Touriga Nacional, Bastardo, and Tinta Roriz (AKA Tempranillo). I have been making small quantities of Tannat for several years now and the potential to make a great wine is there as well.

Some of the varietals planted few years ago didn’t make it. What was the reason for it?

We have always taken great pride in matching the variety to the climate. Abacela’s vineyard is a work in progress. We removed plantings that didn’t meet our standards, and are in the process of expanding acreage of those that consistently produce world class wines. Grapes we have eliminated from our program include Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese, Refosco, Fresia, and Mourvedre.

What’s your preferred ageing process?

For our red wines I age them in 225L and 350L oak barrels. For the Dolcetto and Garnacha I use all neutral wood and bottle after 12 months, for the Malbec, Merlot, and Tempranillo Fiesta, I bottle at 15-18 months. For my “big reds” like Syrah, Tempranillo reserve, and Paramour I age 23-24 months.

How’s the elaboration of Paramour for being such an outstanding wine?

Earl had a dream to craft a Tempranillo based wine in the mold of Spain’s finest Gran Reservas. That dream was finally realized after the vineyard was 10 years old in 2005. It is not a wine that is made every year, on the contrary we wait for exceptional vintages when the vineyard gives us stellar fruit. That has now happened three times in the last 20 years. Quantity is very small, the bottles are sequentially numbered, and they can be purchased in a beautiful handmade 6 bottle wood box. It is truly an achievement that can cellar for twenty years or more. The 2005 Paramour is drinking very youthful right now, and our current release Paramour (2009) is just now approaching its drinking window.

Which part of your job you like more? The vineyards, the winery…

For me the estate vineyard and the winery are justifiably linked. It is incredible to follow the fruit through the growing season, then the winery, then bottling, and finally long term cellaring. I prefer the winery work, although I am especially fond of the harvest season which lasts for about 6 weeks.

What’s your winemaking philosophy?

Truly great wine is made in the vineyard. The best wines almost make themselves. Pick date is very important and I do individual berry analysis right before harvest. I ferment in very small batches such as 1 ton, 2 ton, and 3 ton. This allows for many cuts for quality along the process. Elevage is very important, and I have always believed in blending for quality, consistency, and house style.

What’s your personal touch to your wines? How you do you make the different from other Oregon wines?

From the very beginning the process is gentle. The whole vineyard is hand-picked, during destemming I very rarely crush the fruit so the whole berry component will approach 90%, and we are a gravity glow winery thus we don’t own a must pump. We perform punchdowns, and pump overs, and all of our red wines are pressed in a basket press. I like big but elegant wines, extracted but balanced.

We don’t work with Pinot Noir because our climate is too warm, so that makes us different. Also, who else in Oregon works with Tannat, Touriga Nacional, Garnacha, Malbec, the Portuguese grapes mentioned for our Port program, and of course Tempranillo?

How’s your kind of wine? The one you like to drink when you are not at work?

For Abacela wines I like them around 10 years of age so I am currently drinking the 2005-2007. I like to taste Tempranillo from other producers to gain more perspective and not gain a house palate. I like to experiment with odd varieties from lesser known regions. I also enjoy drinking sparkling wines with my wife.

For a profane in Oregon wines like me, what would be your advice for getting started?

My advice is go to the wineries, ask for a tour, and taste the full lineup of current releases. Buy what you like, drink what you like, and allow yourself the opportunity to be surprised!

Thank you very much, Andrew.

Photos © by Abacela Vineyards

Abacela Vineyards

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Lokanda Devetak, wine and food in Friuli

Aitor Trabado

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19 December, 2016

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Lokanda Devetak, wine and food in Friuli

Imagine there is this special restaurant you’ve been told the owner is a passionate wine expert and that he treasures a great colletion of wine in this place. Then imagine they tell you there is a chance for you of visiting the underground cellar. One of those cellars you immediately know it will be amazing because it is secured by lock and keys. And then you find yourself in a place you would want to stay forever. Well, my friend, that place exists and it is called Lokanda Devetak.

Located in San Michele del Carso, Gorizia, in Italia, Augustin Devetak is the owner of this great restaurant located in the middle of nowhere. You know you are arriving because the road comes from a two-lane highway to a one-lane backroad, then to a narrow single lane road to a really small side road fitting only one car. Both ways. Only two possibilities there: either the road ends and you have to go back or you have reached Lokanda Devetak.

The place is very charming and even thought is far from everywhere is very popular. You have to book well in advance because not only locals go there but also can be the place chosen for the presidents of nearby countries to get together in an informal meeting.

We won’t tell here about how much money can be in the cellar, but it is a lot. Augustin loves local wine from Friuli, and you can see the best producers around. From nearby Slovenia he has Klinec, Mlecnik, Movia or Simsic. Friuli winemakers such as Paolo Vodopivec, Josko Gravner, Marko and Boris Primosic, Sasha Radikon, Stefano Bensa of La Castellada or Marco and Livio Felluga. Then some of the best Amaronewines or Brunello di Montalcino. And if you love Barolos, this is your dream place. Augustin has magnums of Conternogoing back in time to the early 1990s. Some of these wines, not only Barolos but the rest, he doesn’t sell. He values them so much. Like a bottle of Rosso de La Castellada 1992 he opened recently and it was amazing, as he told us. He has a large vintage collection of Sassicaia as well, both regular bottles and magnums, and all the champagne and Burgundy wines you can ever think of.

So we went to this place and the first thing to do, after almost losing conscience in the cellar, was trying to hide ourselves in one of its corners but Augustin was very vigilant to our moves, so we went for dinner and asked him to choose the wines for us. And it was a great thing to do.

With the first appetizer, he served a glass of a Slovenian sparkling wine called Sinefinis Rebolium Brut MMXII, produced with the Slovenian version of Ribolla Gialla, a grape we recently discovered and got us deeply in love. After this one, with the second appetizer, a Malvasia 2013, DOC Isonzo Del Friuli, by Azienda Agricola Mauro Drius. Very good wine, very interesting Malvasia. With the first main elaborated with Pasta alle funghi and truffle we enjoyed a superb Malvasia 2013,DOC Carso-Kras, by Azienda Agricola Castello di Rubbia, a wine whose must stayed for six days macerating with the skins. Wonderful wine we became instant fans. Finally, with our main of Wild boar sirloin with polenta, a Refosco Del Peduculo Rosso 2011, DOC Friuli Colli Orientali, by Livio Felluga. Good wine, the best Refosco tasted so far, even if it is a variety we dont fully grasp.

Small chocolate dessert to keep up in shape, and wanting to stay with the Ribolla Gialla, a Grappa di Monovitigno Ribolla by Nonino using this variety.

Such a great dinner, such a great place. Thank you, Augustin, for the experience.

Lokanda Devetak

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Giancarlo Tommasi, the passion of the Amarone Classico

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15 December, 2016

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Giancarlo Tommasi, the passion of the Amarone Classico

Originally published in miamigoelvino.com 15/12/2016.

Recently we run a feature about Tommasi Viticoltori and another one about their Hospitality. We had pending a conversation with the winery’s chief winemaker. That position belongs to Giancarlo Tommasi, with whom we talk today.

Buongiorno Giancarlo and thank you very much for your collaboration. We enjoyed a lot our visit to Tommasi and were really impressed by the different sizes of oak barrels and casks: 225-, 500-, 600-, 2,000-, 3,500-, 6,500-liter and La Magnifica, with 33,300 liters. How is your approach to work with that many different capacities?

Different oak barrel sizes give us the possibility to manage different ageing period of the wines and then to govern the different characteristics of each vintage. Sometimes it’s really challenging and we have to oversee wine evolutions that can be very slow or very fast. Oak barrels are instruments that we have to use in the best way to have perfect wines and with different sizes we can play in advantage.

How’s the ageing process used for the Amarone Classico Riserva involving French oak barrels and Slavonian casks?

Amarone Ca’ Florian stays in new French oak in its first year of ageing and then three years in big Slavonian oak casks. The new oak is faster in the micro-oxygenation process and in the color stabilization phase. Sometimes it can happen that we need to put Amarone Classico in French oak (it depends on the vintage). In this case we use the French oaks in their 2nd/3rd year of use.

The latest release of Amarone Classico Riserva is 2009, marking your 50^thanniversary of Amarone vintages. Does Ca’ Florian produce every year high quality fruit for the Amarone Classico Riserva? Why it is so special?

We are very proud to celebrate our Amarone 50th harvest with such a good vintage as 2009. Amarone Classico Tommasi has remained “unchanged” over time, linked to roots of Valpolicella and mirror the dynamism of the third generation of my family. Amarone della Valpolicella Classico has elegance and sophisticated drinkability. The Ca ‘Florian represents the young spirit of the family fourth generation and my soul. Ca’ Florian is the perfect balance between past and contemporaneity.

The Ca ‘Florian Amarone Riserva is a classy wine, austere and at the same time intense with an enveloping power and elegance in harmony with complexity. Ca’ Florian vineyards are 25/30 years old, the yield per hectare is really short and then the soil composition and the sun exposure makes it really special. This is why we can expect great super quality bunches to press and to make Amarone Riserva. Also in “not good” vintages these grapes are better than the others.

We visited the three main vineyards behind the house: La Groletta, Conca d’Oro and Ca’ Florian. Which are the differences between them?

Groletta Vineyard:

Composition: medium with medium skeleton mixture: PH 7.5 – 8. It maintains a high pH value and good concentration of active limestone. The wines maintain a major structure and finesse of aromas, less femininity. Wines are more direct, frank and robust. It is ideal soil for the activation of typical aromatic precursors where the strength of the spice and the dark fruits prevail.

Conca d’Oro Vineyard:

Composition: medium texture mixed. Rich in texture depth. PH 7.5. The presence of the skeleton implies the active limestone presence that perfects the quality of the wines. That’s why this vineyard can be defined as one of the most prestigious.
The presence of limestone is essential to enrich the fragrant component in the wine, finesse and elegance with an exaltation of cleanliness and neatness floral sensations.

The WA value (water activity) is always constant, and therefore there are no situations of excess or deficiency. All characteristics that enhance the value of the structure, complexity and directness of aromas and fragrances. They are the best land from which you will get long-life wines destined only to improve with the aging in bottle.

Ca ‘Florian Vineyard:

Composition: clay, dark plains, clay. PH 6,5. It is a mixed soil in which increases the concentration of iron and magnesium. They are primarily responsible for the darker color of the soil due to oxidations of the two minerals. This implies the production of aromatic precursors leading to very dark red fruits like cherries and blackberries. The wines made from here are particularly suitable for aging.

This cru is characterized by its simplicity and elegance with notes of cherry typical of the Marano valley, but also with sweet spices. It gives more structure and elegance, referring to the valley of Negrar, which allow, moreover, long aging.

You do employ two different systems for training the vines: Pergola and Guyot.

Pergola is the traditional and historical system and we’ll keep it here on the hill behind the winery forever. We have planted our main vineyards with the guyot system and with high density (6500 vines/ha) in order to have low yield per hectare and the best quality ever.

I do not have a real preference. It always depends on how much you take care of the vines. Pergola and Guyot need different kinds of attention. Quality comes from the terroir and from the work and dedication of the men.

You use Oseleta for the Amarone Classico but not for the Riserva. What this local variety brings into the wine?

Oseleta is not planted in Ca’ Florian vineyard. That is the reason why it is not in the blend. Oseleta gives tannin weave and color intensity. It is really important for our Amarone classic blend.

Amarone Classico and Valpolicella Classico wines are blends. Would these grapes work as single varietal wines?

For all the DOC and DOCG wines (Valpolicella Classico, Valpolicella Classico Superiore, Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico and Recioto della Valpolicella Classico) the wine laws require both Corvina and Rondinella as mandatory varieties, each of them has a minimum and maximum in percentage, and the winemaker choses the final percentage according to its vineyards and the style he wants to obtain.

Other “optional” varieties (such as Corvinone, Oseleta, Croatina and Molinara) can also be used if available, with a maximum of 15% in the blend.

Each grape variety is pretty complete but in the same time it gives something in particular to each wine. Corvina is the most complete grape; in fact we call it “the Queen of the Verona grapes” as it mainly contributes to body and structure but also color and tannins. Rondinella is mainly delivering color extractions but soft tannins, too. All the Valpolicella red grape varieties ripe about the same time, this is why historically and by “mother-nature” reasons, they are blended together to produce the local wines.

The blend is already made during the harvest, so that the grapes ferment together rather than fermenting on their own and then blend final wines. We think that the marriage between them is better to be made this way, so fermenting together from the beginning.

Finally, if you wish to produce a very good wine, which includes structure, color extractions, soft tannins etc., with one grape only among the local varieties, Corvina would be the only one to consider!

Do you use the same percentages of each variety every year or you change them?

On average the percentage remains quite fixed but we change it a bit accordingly to the vintage.

The Ripasso wine has a different blend than the Rafaèl, yet both are Valpolicella Classico Superiore wines before the Ripasso is being refermented again. How come they are different blends? Is not possible to do the ripasso process to the Rafaèl wine?

In theory yes, but our decision is to make two different Valpolicella wines, one straight from the Rafael vineyard, which blend in the wine is also due to the fact that such grapes and their percentages are in fact grown in the vineyards, and one from grapes that we pick from Conca d’Oro and La Groletta vineyards, and for this wine, before it is then re-fermented, we prefer to skip Molinara and have a bigger percentage of Corvina plus the addition of Corvinone that brings some extra structure to it.

Which of the local grapes is the most difficult to work with?

All Valpolicella native grapes are very sensitive, maybe Rondinella is the most vulnerable and for this matter the most tricky to work with.

How does your winemaking team work? How many people is part of it?

We are a good team of 4 people, 5 with my uncle Ezio, who is the wine one. He brings his expertise and clever suggestions to all of us.

Do you oversee the winemaking process in the other four Tommasi-owned estates?

Yes, I am the man in charge of the winemaking process in all our estates, but in each estate we have a responsible.

How’s your winemaking approach?

Full respect of the territory, maintaining the integrity of the terroir without overturning the soul of the land and making fine and elegant wines.

What is ahead for Tommasi in the near future? Adding a new estate to its portfolio? Maybe outside of Italia?

For the near future we have to consolidate all the investments made, work in the vineyards and renewing the hospitality in the winery. We have for the moment none project about new investments in Italy or abroad.

After 50 vintages of Amarone, which of the recent vintages of Amarone Classico wines are you most proud of? And Ripasso?

Regarding Amarone 2007 and 2009 and of course 2015.

About Ripasso 2015 with no doubts.

The 2009 vintage represents our 50th Amarone harvest.

2009 was a modern high temperature vintage of the sort that those who planted their vineyards 20 or even 10 years ago couldn’t have foreseen. Put simply, it is getting warmer; the temperatures greater than 30°C, which were once rare in the Valpolicella, have become common and extend up the valleys.

The higher temperatures result in much riper grapes with higher sugar contents and lower acidities, which in turn result in bigger, softer wines.

The winter was quite wet, and this allowed the accumulation of water in the clayier soils of the area, guaranteeing a supply of moisture to the vineyards that had them. Spring came early and was quite warm, resulting in two-week anticipation in blossoming with respect to the 2008 vintage, and this anticipation in the vegetative phases carried through to the harvest.

With Amarone the harvest is just the mid-point of the vintage; the harvested grapes are laid on mats to dry, and the winemakers fervently hope for cool dry weather that will make natural drying possible. Unfortunately, in 2009 the weather didn’t cooperate, and the wineries were therefore forced to turn on their dehumidifiers. Botrytis can play an important role in Amarone, but in the 2009 vintage the grape skins were tough enough that its influence was quite limited. By the time of pressing, in December, the grapes for Amarone were reduced by about 36%.

Pressing was followed by cold maceration and fermentation, which took on average about a month; we were told the average alcohol content of the newly fermented wines was 15.6%, and they did spontaneously undergo the malolactic fermentation, something that doesn’t happen easily in all vintages.

Vintage: 2007 Classification

It was an unusual vintage, with the earliest harvest in 70 years thanks to an unusually mild spring, with temperatures 2-3°C above normal on average, and a very warm April that caused bud-break to begin two weeks early. The summer was hot and dry, conditions that favored those who still train their vines to the Pergola system, which keeps the fruit much further from the (hot) ground, and also those higher on the hillsides, while drip irrigation proved a godsend for many.

Sugar concentrations, as one might expect, were quite high, approaching those of 2003, while acidities were rather low and PHs high.

The drying during the fall was good with the thickness of the grape skins resulting in little if any botrytis.

Which kind of wines do you like to drink when you are not working?

I love aromatic white wine and red burgundy.

Grazie mille, Giancarlo!

Weingut Roland and Alice Tauss, Styrian passionate winemaking

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12 December, 2016

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Weingut Roland and Alice Tauss, Styrian passionate winemaking

One of the many great things about wine is discovering new things and investigating about them. There is so much stuff about wine and so many different styles of wine that staying true to just one of them is like watching the same painting of Van Gogh day in and day out, not the rest of his body of work or any other painters.

When enjoying a new wine, the best thing is to know where it comes from, who is its producer… and many times, after doing this research, write about it.

When discovering Austrian Weingut Andreas Tscheppe and his wine, I continued to explore about Orange wines. Andreas is member of an association of five growers called Schmecke Das Leben (Taste of Life). This is a community of five Styrian winemakers. Five winemakers living their dream. They share an understanding of nature that it is transmitted into their wines. They are crafted by a respectful and sustainable treatment of soil and vine stocks.

A couple of those winemakers are Roland and Alice Tauss. They run Weingut Tauss. They produce three different orange wines as well as others you’d never think (or at least me) they are produced in an Austrian area close to the border with Slovenia. When thinking about Austria, cold and snow half of the year always comes to mind, yet the Tauss elaborates charming wines employing varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Chardonnay.

The Tauss make wines worth discovering. In the white wines they produce four different styles: Line Opok, with single varietals Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and two local varieties: Welschriesling and Weissburgunder. The Line Hohenegg offers a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc. The Orange wines are elaborated with Sauvignon Blanc, Roter Trainer and Grauburgunder. Finally they produce a Sekt wine, a Rosè sparkling one.

The red wines are both single varietal and blends. Line Opok offers a single varietal Blaufränkisch and a sulphur-free Blaufränkisch. In the Line Hohenegg they also produce the Blaufränkisch and the sulphur-free Blaufränkisch plus a single varietal Cabernet Sauvignon and a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Blaufränkisch blend. They also have a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend.

Weingut Tauss has six hectares of vines organized in three parts with exposure to the south and southwest on an altitude of 390-480 meters. There is a vineyard called Hohenegg (-H-) named after a chapel that overlooks the area from the top of the hills. The soils are lime marl, a calciferous, sandy argillaceous land with diverse minerals such as biogenic materials or mica. It is also called “Opok”, a term that is colloquially derived and that means “packed together”.

There are 2,500 to 5,000 vine stocks on each hectare of land; the yield per hectare is approximately 3,000 kilograms.

We will talk to Roland about his winemaking philosophy but we will say now that he has a deep passion for biodynamic and organic farming and minimal intervention by his hand, just accompanying the wines as they grow and prosper.

The Tauss allow Energies being present in their wines: Fire represents liveliness and strength of the wine. Earth represents the soil; Water stands for the mental change, purity, clarity and depth of the wine (psyche) and finally Air stands for the solid structure of the wine that derives from the depth of the soil.

Weingut Tauss is also certified as biodynamic agriculture winery by Demeter International, the largest organic certifier. The name Demeter refers to the Greek goddess champion of harvest and fertility. The Demeter Biodynamic Certification is used in over 50 countries to verify that biodynamic products meet international standards in production and processing.

More information about Taste of Life here: www.schmecke-das-leben.at

Partner organizations:

Sepp and Maria Muster www.weingutmuster.com

Andreas and Elisabeth Tscheppe www.at-weine.at

Ewald and Brigitte Tscheppe www.werlitsch.com

Franz and Christine Strohmeier www.strohmeier.at

Photos © by Weingut Roland and Alice Tauss

Weingut Roland Tauss

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Karl Wicka, the author of Turley Dusi Vineyard Zinfandel

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8 December, 2016

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Karl Wicka, the author of Turley Dusi Vineyard Zinfandel

Originally published in miamigoelvino.com 08/12/2016.

We recently spoke about Californian winery Turley Wine Cellars and its superb Zinfandel wines. We will talk to today with Karl Wicka, winemaker of the Paso Robles wines.

Good morning, Karl, and thank you so much for talking to us. You are working for Turley Wine Cellars as winemaker in Paso Robles for the last 16 years, meaning you’ve been there for every single vintage of my favorite Dusi Vineyard Zinfandel. Zinfandel is a less known variety in Spain. What makes it so special in California?

It is California’s heritage variety. In Burgundy they have Pinot Noir, in Australia they have Shiraz, and here in California we have Zinfandel. It is grown (and has been grown) in all of the viticultural areas and produces wines that reflect those areas. It is special because it has more historical value than any other variety.

Do you make one label out of each vineyard? It must be a big challenge every year to be able to work with that many different plots.

It is quite a challenge to keep track of all the wines that we make, but it is necessary to achieve our goal of showing Terroir through Zinfandel. In other words, we make Zinfandel wines in the exact same style, harvested at identical maturity levels, the only difference is that the grapes are grown in different areas of California and the wines are different from one another for that reason alone.

Do you have processing facilities in each area? Paso Robles is far away from the vineyards in the Napa Valley.

We do have different wineries. The original winery in St. Helena in the Napa Valley is responsible for around 60% of our production, with the remaining 40% being divided between our winery in Paso Robles and our winery in Plymouth.

Do you process each plot separately? Do you do different treatments with them?

Yes, we ferment each vineyard separately. In fact, most vineyards will have several different sub-lots (we did 5 different Zinfandels from Dusi this year). We try and treat each the same, so that it can fit our model of showing terroir through Zinfandel.

Do you experiment with particular plots to see how they work?

Absolutely. At the Paso Robles winery this year, we brought in Zinfandel from three new vineyards to evaluate the juice chemistry of the fruit and the resulting wine quality. We will blend these wines with other experimental vineyard wines made in Plymouth and St. Helena for a bottling that we call Juvenile. If a vineyard consistently produces an exceptional wine vintage after vintage, then we will begin to bottle it as a vineyard designated wine.

Can we say that we can taste as many different characters of Zinfandels as labels Turley Wine Cellars produces?

Yes. No two zinfandels are the same, as they all reflect the place that they were grown.

How is the average process for Zinfandel in Paso Robles?

We hand-harvest each vineyard followed by a hand-sorting of the clusters prior to de-stemming. Each lot then has a 5-day cold soak followed by a seven to fourteen day native yeast fermentation. Ageing is for fifteen months in 20% American oak and 80% French oak 225-liter barrels, 25% of which are new. The wines are bottled un-filtered.

You run here four Zinfandel vineyards, what’s the main difference between them?

The main difference is the soil that they are grown in.

Do all of them are ready for harvest around the same time?

A normal year will have us starting around the first week of September and finishing around the third week of October. We will normally make thirty different wines from the four different vineyards, as different exposures ripen at different times – Some sooner, some later.

Do you like to tier them, as one serving as the easiest one to drink and another as the more complex one?

Not exactly. Some are more approachable sooner, so we release them with only four months of bottle age. Others (Pesenti, Ueberroth) are slower to evolve, so we bottle age those for ten months before we release them.

What’s the difference between one of your Zinfandels and others of Turley Wine Cellars? What’s your personal touch?

My personal touch is to ensure that each wine is stable and able to be bottled unfiltered with the least amount of intervention possible. That is the goal of our entire winemaking team (St. Helena and Amador included) so that each wine is a true expression of its site, not a creation of winemaking tricks.

What do you look for in the vineyard to be translated into the bottle?

Soil, vine age, exposure to wind and heat, vineyard health, proximity to the Pacific Ocean, etc.

Do you have a preferred vineyard?

No. They are like children, you must love them all.

You also run a Petite Syrah and a Red Wine. How do they compare to the Zinfandel?

The Petite Syrah is much easier to make than the old vine Zinfandel. Although the winemaking protocols are much the same, Petite Syrah does not suffer from the complications that are common with making Old Vine Zinfandel.

Six total vineyards in Paso Robles. Where do you think Turley Wine Cellars grows its best Zinfandel? Here in Paso Robles, maybe Howell Mountain?

I think that all of the areas that we grow Zinfandel in have their strengths and I honestly don’t have a true favorite. I do, however have a special place in my heart for the Pesenti Vineyard because it’s where I come to work everyday.

Thank you very much, Karl.

Photos © by Turley Wine Cellars

Turley Wine Cellars

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Tenuta San Guido, masters of Supertuscan wines

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1 December, 2016

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Tenuta San Guido, masters of Supertuscan wines

Originally published in miamigoelvino.com 01/12/2016.

I’m very fond of Italian wines for a long time now. I’ve been able to travel many times to Italy and every time I have tasted a lot of their wines, from the more common Chianti Classico to Brunello di Montalcino to Barolo and Barbaresco, to small wineries in Friuli Venezia-Giulia to some interesting Sicilian wines. I like powerful wines, and Tuscany is my favorite place for that. I have enjoyed many bottles of Tuscan wines, the aforementioned and also Morellino di Scansano, Rosso di Montepulciano, etc. but among them, there is a style of wines I really love. They are not easy-to-drink wines, especially because of their price, but those wines known as Supertuscan are simply great. They are wines outside DOC rules, normally employing grapes not allowed by the DOC or just doing things on their own. We talked a few months ago about a tasting of Tenuta di Biserno. I was really impressed by those wines and also by a bottle of Tignanello I had few years ago.

There is a Supertuscan wine I’m dying to taste and that one is Sassicaia. It is one of those wines every time I see it in a wineshop I want to grab and take home. Sassicaia is one of those emblematic and iconic wines representing this style known as SuperTuscan. It is produced by Tenuta San Guido,a winery named after the Saint Guido della Gherardesca who lived during the XI century. It is located on the Tyrrhenian coast, in Bolgheri, between Livorno and Grosseto, in Maremma an area made famous by Italian Nobel prize winner Giosuè Carducci, and it stretches for 13 km from the sea to the hills.

Tenuta Di San Guido has been given its own DOC, the DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia, the first, and so far only case in Italy of a DOC contained in one estate.

Inside the Tenuta San Guido estate there are some historic buildings: Castiglioncello di Bolgheri, and the Oratory di San Guido are among them. The first one was supposedly built around 780 A.D. The Oratory was built by Simone Maria della Gherardesca in 1703 in honor of Saint Guido della Gherardesca.

We will talk now about the wines they produce, but first we have to mention that traditionally in Tuscany the wines were made using Sangiovese and other native varieties like Trebbiano, Ciliegiolo, Colorino, Malvasia, etc. (and to a lesser extent Nebbiolo). A big change was made here when they decided to start using Cabernet Sauvignon due to the fact the soil was similar to that of the Graves area in Bordeaux. Thus, Sassicaia (D.O.C. Bolgheri Sassicaia) was born, though in its early days it was a wine not too well appreciated, therefore it was mainly for family consumption. Time passed, the wine as also kept stored and it started to offer its full complexity. Years later, in 1968, it began to be commercialized. Over the next few years, the cellar was moved to a temperature controlled location, steel fermentation vats replaced wooden vats and French barrels were introduced to the aging process.

Sassicaia’s vineyards are planted in plots with different characteristics, very rich in limestone and also rocks and clay. Their altitude is between 100 and 380 meters with a West/Southwest exposition. The coupage for Sassicaia is Cabernet Sauvignon 85% and Cabernet Franc 15%. The wine is aged in French oak barrels for 24 months.

The second wine of Tenuta San Guido is Guidalberto (Toscana IGT). It was created in 2000 as a wine that included Merlot in its coupage and also as a wine that could be enjoyed younger than Sassicaia. Guidalberto is made with Cabernet Sauvignon 60% and Merlot 40%. The vineyards are much younger than the ones used for Sassicaia but they are grown in the same terroir and are still handled in small plots. The ageing process is done in French and American barrels for a period of 15 months.

In 2002 another wine was introduced, this one using Sangiovese in its elaboration. Le Difese (Toscana IGT) is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Sangiovese. It is aged for 12 months in French and American oak barrels and for a further three months in the bottle.

Soon we will talk to Tenuta San Guido’s winemaker to know about the elaboration of their wines and the creation of an icon such as Sassiacaia.

Photos © by Tenuta San Guido

Tenuta San Guido

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Weingut Barzen, the power of Riesling in Mosel

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28 November, 2016

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Weingut Barzen, the power of Riesling in Mosel

Originally published in miamigoelvino.com 28/11/2016.

I like white wines. I know I write a lot about red wines and I normally prefer a full-bodied red wine rather than a white one, but mostly because the typical Spanish whites are not too appealing to me. Of course I’m talking in general, as there are a few great Spanish white wines I love. I have also talked about them here, but normally they are produced with foreign varieties: The Viognier of Vallegarcía in Toledo or the Gewürztraminer of Luna Beberide in El Bierzo. I also like the Albillo Real of Orly Lumbreras and the Sauvignon Blanc of Daniel Ramos, both produced in Gredos, Ávila.

But one white variety I really love is the Riesling. I have enjoyed many bottles of wine produced with this grape. One or two from Spain, but mostly, from Alsace in France and especially, Rheingau, Pfalz and Mosel in Germany. Many years ago I discovered my first Riesling wine produced by a small winery in the banks of the Mosel River. Since then I have been taken by this grape and these wines. Weinhaus Barzen is the winery I found and Alexander Barzen is the owner and winemaker. With his help we will explore about the Riesling variety talking about the wines he produces.

The Riesling variety gives a lot of possibilities when it comes to winemaking. You can make a bone-dry wine or an extremely sweet one. Alexander produces all of them. DOC Riesling in Germany is divided into two main categories based on quality. The basic wines are called Qualitätswein. They are light-bodied wines, dry, fruity and refreshing. The other category is Prädikatswein. Depending on the level of density of the must before being processed, from low to high, they are called Kabinett (Trocken), Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese. These last two wines are sweet wines made with grapes that have been attacked by the noble rot (botrytis cinerea). The Auslese can also be produced with grapes affected by botrytis. Then we have the Eiswein, a wine produced harvesting the grapes when they are still frozen so the water is not used, thus the grapes retain more flavors.

In the Mosel river area, the Riesling produces light wines with notes of green apple and tree fruit. The alcohol content is not as high as in other areas like Rheingau. It is also to note that normally Riesling bottles in Mosel are green while in the Rheingau are brown.

The family-owned Weinhaus Barzen has a tradition of over 500 years in the Mosel River Valley, an area known for the great quality of its wines. The family owns a special vineyard that was planted back in 1886. Alexander produces a wide array of wines using the Riesling grape:

The Riesling Quality Dry (Qualitätswein trocken). Vineyard with slate soils, these wines are from the most recent vintage. The lightest and most delicate wine.

The Riesling Dry Vintages (Spätlese trocken) and the Riesling Dry of Old Vines (Alte Reben trocken). Elegant mineral wines with delicate and crisp acidity.

The refinedly dry Riesling Vintage Spätlese Feinherb is an intense and flavourful wine.

The Noble-Sweet Rieslings are:

The Riesling Auslese which means selected from the harvest. Overripe, late harvested grapes, selected cluster by cluster, often fermented in the fruity style with residual sweetness.

The Riesling Beerenauslese (berry selection) even topping the “Auslese”, the berries are extremely overripe, selected one at a time.

The Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese (dry berry selection).

Then Barzen elaborates two more Riesling wines. The Riesling Eiswein (Ice Wine). A rare dessert wine, made from overripe grapes that have frozen on the vine and are being pressed while still frozen thus only extracting concentrated grape juice, the water still frozen stays in the press. A very concentrated wine given its nobility with racy acidity.

The Riesling Sekt Brut, a sparkling wine made of 100% Riesling, produced following the Champenoise method.

Outside the Riesling wines, Alexander also produces a Gewürztraminer wine and a Grappa (Trester) matured in barrels, from the village distillery.

This is definitely a producer worth knowing his wines and we will speak with him about them and about why is this area of Germany so special for Riesling wines.

Photos (c) Weinhaus Barzen

Weinhaus Barzen

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Tommasi Hospitality, the heart of the Amarone Classico

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24 November, 2016

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Tommasi Hospitality, the heart of the Amarone Classico

Originally published in miamigoelvino.com 24/11/2016.

When we visited Tommasi Viticoltori two months ago, we had such a pleasant experience with them we decided to share it as it was something that can’t go unnoticed. We have to say that we are writing this article because we want to do it, not because they asked us to. We are so grateful to them and the way they treated us that this is the least thing we can do to show it.

After our visit to the winery we enjoyed the second show of Tommasi Hospitality. It came through Borgo Antico, one of the restaurants located in the Hotel Villa Quaranta, in nearby village Pescantina. We had a great dinner there, enjoying also a glass of sparkling wine as aperitif that led us to the main wine of the dinner: Dionysos, Primitivo de Manduria Riserva, a splendid wine elaborated with Primitivo, the Italian cousin of the American Zinfandel. Really good round-body wine from Masseria Surani, in Puglia. With dinner we had Gnocci, Spaghetti and Meat. Also some great Panacota. Well cooked, well presented, and of course, well eaten.

Couple of days later, we visited Hotel Villa Quaranta. The hotel is located in a XVI Century villa in the heart of Valpolicella. It is really more than a hotel. Luca Carrara, the general manager, led us to a tour showing us first the Congress Center, well equipped for any need anyone can have and with a capacity of up to 450 people. Then we moved on to the Wellness Center and SPA Terme della Valpolicella. Amazing place, including a gym, five pools and any service one can require in a place like this, like Hairdresser (I asked what was it but I didn’t find out what was that for), therapeutic center, etc.

Near the spa we discovered a small Romanic church property of the family where the local community celebrates Mass every weekend.

Then we went on to check the incredible gastronomic offer. After seeing the outdoor pool restaurant, we went to visit the Bottega, a cozy restaurant with some six tables and a nice atmosphere. Here they offer cuisine lessons for learning to cook local recipes.

Oh Bacchus, I finally found you!!!! You go down a flight of stairs and your will find the jewel of the hotel:Cantina in Villa, an amazing underground ristorante where you can enjoy all Tommasi wines and then some more with your meal. The atmosphere is impressive with brickwalls and its decoration with wine bottles and wine accessories makes it a paradise for winelovers. Luca had to take use out from there against our own will. We were holding ourselves to everything we could use so as not to leave the place.

Thank you so much to Luca and his staff for the visit. This is a hotel worth going if only for a weekend of relax. But you can stay there as much as you may want. No need to go outside. Well, only for visiting Tommasi winery, that is.

In our last day in town, Annalisa advised us to visit another restaurant in Verona. And who are we to say no? Tommasi Viticoltori is part of a group of wine families called Amarone Families – Famiglie dell’Amarone D’Arte.They run a ristorante in Verona, Botegga Vini. Here you can come for breakfast, lunch, dinner and never leave. The wine list is an old book with leather covers and big as a newspaper. It has 159 pages full of wines not only Italian, but for all over the world. You check for a country in the index, they have it. You can go to the website and you will find there the wine list. Luca Nicolis is the one in charge and he fixed us with a great lunch. The food here is really good. And the best kept secret? The underground cellar you access behind the bar. If you like wine, that’s Disneyworld for you. Ali took us around and explained us about the cellar. There you can find old vintages of some of the most important wines around the world. They have over 3,000 bottles, with vintages going back in time more than 60 years. They have bottles of Bertani Recioto, for example, from 1959 and also many 1960s vintages. I couldn’t check everything, of course, but two things caught my attention: a few bottles of La Tache 1972 and Romanée-st. Vivant 1974 from Borgougne, and especially, an incredible collection of Penfolds Grange, the Shiraz from Australia. One bottle from every single vintage since 1963. Amazing. That would go for thousands of euro in a wine auction.

Unluckily, it was time for us to go back to our regular daily duties, but we are sure Tommasi offers a lot more of their incredible hospitality. We need to go back there more often to keep on enjoying with them.

You can watch the video of the Botegga Vini Cellar in this link.

Tommasi Viticoltori

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A conversation with Renee Ary, winemaker of Duckhorn Vineyards

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21 November, 2016

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A conversation with Renee Ary, winemaker of Duckhorn Vineyards

Originally published in miamigoelvino.com 21/11/2016.

Recently we talked about my passion for Merlot wines and a great Napa Valley winery that masters the wines they produce with this varietal, Duckhorn Vineyards. Today we will talk to its winemaker Renee Ary.

Duckhorn owns seven estate vineyards in Napa Valley, spread over different areas as Carneros, Yountville, Rutherford, St. Helena and the much coveted Howell Mountain. They have almost 200 different vineyards lots and once harvest is done, the wine is barrel-aged by separately vineyards. If this seems to be a challenge, aging the wine like this to later proceed to its blending, keep in mind that they use 25 different types of oak from 13 different producers.

Good morning, Renee, and thank you for your cooperation. It seems like a huge challenge to combine that many vineyard lots and then processing them through 25 different oak barrels.

Blending can certainly be challenging, but it is where the art of winemaking comes into play and it is a creative and exciting process. When we source fruit, we source for a specific program based on varietal, site, and style, among other factors, so that we have a general idea of where that fruit is going to go. With that being said, since we keep everything separate through fermentation and aging, there is a lot of room for blending flexibility. In the end, a particular lot may end up working better in a different wine than it was originally intended for. The key is to taste often so that we know our wines extremely well. The blending process starts in January, and goes all the way to July, so it takes time to finalize the blends. In the end, though, it’s exciting to see how they evolve into a harmonious, finished wine.

In all the vineyards you work with, where do you think the Merlot offers its best character?

Our Three Palms Vineyard. Three Palms is without question one of the New World’s great vineyards. It is a wonderfully unique site, and I am continuously impressed with the character, complexity and distinctiveness of its Merlot.

Is it very different from one vineyard to the next?

Yes. There can be substantial differences in Merlot expression from one vineyard to the next and that is directly related to differences in soil and climate. Our Howell Mountain Merlot is very different than our valley floor Merlot and likewise, our south valley Merlot takes on a different feel than our up-valley, warmer-climate Merlots. They are all still Merlot underneath, but they offer different expressions of the varietal, which is something that has always fascinated us here at Duckhorn Vineyards.

You do your blend by instincts and tasting rather than using formulas. How do you do this?

We have an amazing portfolio of vineyards to work with and because of this, I let those vineyards do the talking! When I sit down to a blend tasting, all of the wines are evaluated in a blind setting, so each wine can be individually assessed without bias. After each tasting is complete, we refine the blend based on our findings and eventually it evolves into a fully finished wine. It’s a process, but a fun and creative one!

How’s your work in the vineyards?

We have an exceptional estate farming and grower relations team who I rely on to mind the day-to-day operations in the vineyards. With this being said, it is 100% collaborative and we work together to make sure we are all on the same page and working to achieve the same goals, which is to make the best wines possible. I spend the most time in the vineyards during harvest, when I very closely monitor every block, both to determine when the fruit is ready to pick.

And in the winery for deciding the right blends every year?

Much of my job is a juggling act, but I spend a lot of time at the winery overseeing the daily cellar and lab operations. From fermentation and aging to blending and finally bottling, I am completely hands-on throughout the process, which allows me to make the best possible decisions. I spend the first half of the year getting to know each lot on an individual basis, which starts in the vineyards. We keep everything separate at the winery until we are ready to blend just prior to bottling, so the wines evolve on their own. It is then my job to determine how best to assemble the blends so they are consistent and the best representation of that wine in a given vintage.

The Duckhorn plots are scattered over a major portion of land. What kind of soils can you find?

The Napa Valley is one of the smallest winegrowing regions in the world, yet it is also one of the most diverse, which is what makes it so unique. There are numerous microclimates and soil types found throughout the valley, and because of this, we are able to grow many varietals in many different styles. For our estate vineyards, we have a wide range of soil types. Up on Howell Mountain, we have a mix of red clay and volcanic ash, also known as tufa. It is classic Howell Mountain and part of what makes the AVA so special. Our valley floor ranches range from extremely rocky soils (Three Palms), to slightly heavier, but deep and well-drained alluvial soils. Down in South Napa, at our Corktree Vineyard, you will find what’s known as a Haire loam. Haire loam is described as moderate to well-drained soils on old terraces and alluvial fans, which typically contain a clay sublayer. However, our Corktree vineyard has more of a cobblestone and gravel sublayer.

You are the winemaker, then you have working with you an enologist and a vineyard manager. How do you work together as a team in terms of the responsibilities for each of you?

Winemaking is a team effort and there’s no way I can do what I do without the help of my team. There are clear responsibilities, but the process is collaborative. We are all trying to grow and make the very best quality wines possible.

How do you work with independent growers to make sure their fruit is up to your required standards?

Through good communication, clear expectations, and well established relationships. We have long-term relationships with many growers in the valley and we value those relationships. They also value working with us. Good communication is key, and it allows us to work together to maintain the highest standards and to reach our ongoing goals.

What is your winemaking philosophy?

My winemaking philosophy has always been from more of a traditional approach. I don’t like to be too heavy-handed in the winemaking process. We make wines that show a sense of place and varietal character and too much manipulation can change that expression quickly. I like balanced, food-friendly wines that are expressive and timeless.

You’ve been working at Duckhorn since 2003. Has your approach to winemaking changed in this time?

I don’t think it has changed, but it has certainly evolved over time. I think refinement is perhaps a better term. I continue to learn about the vineyards and what they can do under different circumstances. We have Mother Nature to thank for vintage differences, which both keeps me on my toes and brings interesting new challenges and opportunities each growing season. Over the years, I have become more knowledgeable, more flexible, and I have a better understanding of what it takes to react to vintage differences.

What did you learn from the three winemakers who came before you at Duckhorn?

I have learned a lot from all three winemakers, whether that be directly or indirectly. I never worked with Tom Rinaldi but his influence here is strong and deeply rooted in our winemaking philosophy. Mark and Bill have taught me to be creative and how to balance the many aspects of my job.

Which vineyard plot are you most comfortable working with?

I am comfortable with all of our estate vineyards, but they are all a different and respond differently under different circumstances. The more vintages under your belt, the more comfortable you become. I just finished my 14th vintage at Duckhorn, so even though I certainly haven’t seen it all, I have experienced a lot.

And what about the varietals?

I am extremely comfortable working with all of the red and white Bordeaux varietals and I am becoming more and more comfortable with Chardonnay as we move into our fifth vintage making a Napa Valley Chardonnay.

Which is the wine you feel proudest of producing, a personal favorite?

I am proud of all of our wines. Our Sauvignon Blanc is one of my favorite wines to make and while sometimes people feel that white winemaking is easier, I don’t necessarily agree. White wines are less resilient and much more transparent. They will show all your flaws, so you really have to be on top of things. I love making our Three Palms Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot because that site is so impressive to work with, and yields such incredible wines.

Do you have a different approach to Merlot, rather than for example Cabernet Sauvignon, now that you mention it?

In the winery, every single lot is treated uniquely, whether it is Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc or Petit Verdot. All of my decisions throughout the winemaking process are done on an individual basis. They are like your children; each one has different needs and takes on a different personality along the way. With this being said, the overarching winemaking process is the same for Cabernet and Merlot. All of our reds are hand-picked, hand-sorted, cold soaked, pressed, racked, and barreled down, but the type of barrels, the length of cold soak, the press pressure, etc., will change with each lot. The same can be said for our approach in the vineyards. The general process is the same, however, the two varietals are treated differently with regards to their individual needs. For example, Merlot is a thinner-skinned varietal and because of this, we have a different approach on trellis set-up, canopy management, irrigation, etc.

Do you have a personal touch in your wines?

I am very committed to clean winemaking. While flaws are sometimes regarded as unobtrusive winemaking, to me they are a sign of laziness. It’s easy to be hands-off and lax on quality control. It’s much harder to stay on top of every little detail. I also have a lot of strong feelings about oak and what types of barrels I use on my wines. I strive for harmony between the fruit and oak.

Which wines you do like to enjoy when you are not at work?

One of the great things about working for Duckhorn Wine Company is that we have five other wineries I really enjoy drinking: Paraduxx, Goldeneye, Migration, Decoy and Canvasback. Outside of our Duckhorn Wine Company wines, I am a big fan of Hartford. They are focused and makes wines of place. I also like Stuhlmuller and Dutcher Crossing. I have spent more time in Washington lately and really like L’Ecole 41.

Thank you very much, Renee.

Duckhorn Vineyards

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Tommasi Viticoltori, the soul of the Amarone Classico

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7 November, 2016

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Originally published in miamigoelvino.com 07/11/2016.

Tommasi

It looks like an Italian name, and that’s exactly what it is. But behind this Italian last name there is a lot to discover. Recently I traveled to Veneto in Italia to do a wine course and decided to visit a local winery. When planning my trip I got in touch with a winery I had a special interest in visiting and Annalisa Armani, Director of Public Relationships and Communication of the winery was so kind organizing a great event. Before even being there, this visit started looking like it could be a different one. And different is a word that can’t really explain the experience waiting ahead.

In the heart of the Valpolicella Classico region there is a small village named Pedemonte. Tommasi Viticoltori (www.tommasiwine.it, @Tommasiwine) is located in this village. Here we can still visit the building where Giacomo Battista Tommasi founded the winery in 1902. Since then, the small vineyard acquired by Giacomo has grown to a big family estate that now includes five wineries in different DOs in Italy plus a fabulous and elegant hotel/spa/convention center, Hotel Villa Quaranta, in the nearby village of Pescantina.

Once we arrived in the winery, Annalisa showed us around and explained about the company. Tommasi family owns various wine estates around Italy: Tenuta Caseo in Oltrepò Pavese, Lombardia; Podere Casisano in Montalcino, Toscana; Poggio Al Tufo in Marema, Toscana; Masseria Surani in Manduria, Puglia, and especially Tommasi Viticoltori in Valpolicella, Veneto.

Annalisa explained us that the vineyards are displayed in terraces, separated by stone walls called Marogne that they built in the past. Then Pierangelo Tommasi joined us. Pierangelo is the company’s Director of Foreing Sales. He guided us to an incredible tour. Pierangelo explained about the main three vineyards behind the building where they grow the grapes that are going to be part of the Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico, the Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico Riserva, the Valpolicella Classico Superiore, the Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso and the Recioto Della Valpolicella Classico, the five wines they produce here.

The names of these three vineyards are La Groletta, Conca d’Oro and Ca’ Florian. This last one is the vineyard that gives name to the Amarone Classico Riserva. La Groletta and Conca d’Oro are the vineyards where they grow the grapes for the Amarone Classico and the Valpolicella Classico wines. These vineyards produce grapes of the highest quality. The system in which the vines are trained is called Pergola. This method is more expensive as it requires more hand labor work and also due to the fact that it is generally more generous in yields than the more internationally known guyot, so it requires a green harvest at some point during early summer in order to leave fewer bunches to mature, thus guaranteeing the high quality of the grapes. This is also more the traditional way of training the vines.

After visiting the vineyards we went to the main building. We did a really nice tour through all the rooms. First we visited the area where they keep the grapes that will be part of the Amarone Classico and Recioto wines: Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara and Oseleta. Here is where the grapes go through a method called Appassimento. This method consists on the drying of the grapes. After the harvest, the grapes are laid down in two recipients: plastic baskets and bamboo racks called Arele. The grapes will stay in these arele and baskets for at least 100 days, according to the Amarone Consortium rules. After this period, they will initiate the process of fermentation for the Amarone Classico and Amarone Classico Riserva. Part of the grapes will stay in the arele for a few weeks more for reaching a higher sugar concentration. These grapes will be part of the blend for the sweet wine Recioto. For drying the grapes they employ two methods: when the weather is good they open all the windows of the room. If the weather is not that good, as it was the day of our visit, there are big fans moving the air while the big humidifier in the ceiling is functioning at its best. The color of the grapes, already in the process for two weeks, is amazingly blue.

There is a story about how Amarone wine was initially made. Way down yonder in time, one producer was elaborating Recioto, but he forgot about one of the barrels. Instead of the fermentation being stopped for the wine to keep its high levels of sugar, the fermentation process continued. When he opened the barrel to taste the wine, he realized that wine did not taste sweet anymore but it was bitter (technically it was drier) and this new wine was “big” in style and body so it was called AMARONE (amaro=bitter; one=big).

Then we moved on to the fermentation area where they keep the 2016 vintage Valpolicella Classico wines. An impressive room full of steel tanks with a capacity of up to 50.000 liters. Tanks are labeled “must to become Valpolicella Classico Superiore.” Here they elaborate two wines:

Using a blend of Corvina 60%, Rondinella 25% and Molinara 15%, they elaborate the Valpolicella Classico Superiore. This wine is named Rafaèl after the name of the vineyard where the grapes come from. After fermentation, the wine ages for 12 months in 6,500-liter Slavonian oak casks.

The second wine is the Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso. The process for elaborating the Ripasso is as follows: once the Amarone fermentation is finished and the wine is put into oak barrels (around mid-January), this blend of Corvina 70%, Rondinella 25% and Corvinone 5% is refermented in the remains of the Amarone grapes, hence the name Ripasso: passed again by the grapes for a period of around two-three weeks. The aging of this wine is 12 months in smaller Slavonian oak casks, of “only” 3,500 liters of capacity.

From there we visited the aging cellar. This is the room where the Amarone Classico wines are resting in oak barrels. The first thing that calls your attention is the different sizes of the barrels: a few 225-liter French oak and also 6,500-, 3,500- and 2,000-liter Slavonian oak casks. More than what you can count in a single visit. Then there is something very special: La Magnifica. An amazing 33,300-liter Slavonian oak cask.

They produce around 185.000 liters of Amarone Classico per year. After fermentation, this wine is spread between La Magnifica and the 6,500- and 3,500-liter casks. They rotate the wine every few months between casks to balance the aging. The wine stays there for three years before being bottled.

As for the Amarone Classico Riserva, in its first year the wine ages in the three-year-used small barrels, regular 225-liter French oak barrels. The around 9,000 liters produced annually spend twelve months in these barrels and another three years in the 3,500- and 2,000-liter casks before being bottled. Thus, the difference between both wines is the extra year in French oak barrels the Riserva spends.

We were overwhelmed by the amount of barrels, the amount of wines we could find all over the place, especially knowing the quality of the wines inside of them. And talking about wines, we went to the meeting room for our Tommasi wine tasting. We saw the lineup in the table and all I can say now is that I was speechless. First, Pierangelo mentioned Tommasi bought last year an estate in Montalcino, Podere Casisano, where they produce a Brunello di Montalcino and a Rosso di Montalcino. We mentioned our passion for Brunello wines and Pierangelo said: “Let’s go to it first before starting with the local wines.” And who I am to say no? Casisano 2011 is a superb Brunello. I found it very elegant and extremely smooth, as opposed to others Brunello I have tasted where the character of the Sangiovese is wilder. Casisano is an impressive wine, one of those you can drink the entire bottle while you talk for hours.

On to the local wines, we started with the Tommasi Valpolicella Classico Superiore Rafaèl 2014. I like a lot Valpolicella Classico wines but definitely they played in another different league. This wine is very good, smooth in the palate, full of nice fruit and very balanced as well. Then we tasted the Tommasi Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso 2014. This is a very special style of wine, and after my experience with Tommasi and other wines I have enjoyed in this trip I will say the Ripasso has turned into one of my favorite style of wines.

Then the big brothers came into play: Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2012 and the Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Ca’ Florian 2009. You may think I’m exaggerating but I had to pause for looking at the glasses before tasting them. I knew there were great wines, some of the best Amarone Classico wines you can find and when I tasted them it was something amazing. Wonderfully balanced wines. I could give here a full tasting note now that I have completed my wine course but I will just say these wines were simply amazing. The Amarone Classico grapes come from La Groletta and Conca d’Oro vineyards and the blend is Corvina 50%, Corvinone 15%, Rondinella 30%, and Oseleta 5%. The Amarone Riserva, coming from Ca’ Florian, has a blend of Corvina 75%, Corvinone 15% and Rondinella 10%.

The tasting was not over as Pierangelo opened a bottle of Recioto Della Valpolicella Fiorato 2013, their special sweet wine produced with a blend of Corvina 65%, Rondinella 30% and Molinara 5%, from Fiorato vineyard. After a period of up to four months in the arele, the grapes age for one year in 500-liter tonneau barrels. I will use the same words I used before. Incredible, amazing, wonderful wine.

The visit came to its end and we expressed our tremendous gratitude to both Pierangelo and Annalisa, as they had waited for our wine course to finish past 17:30 to guide us through this visit.

The visit was over but not our Tommasi experience as Annalisa drove us to Borgo Antico, the restaurant of the Hotel Villa Quaranta, also owned by the Tommasi family. We will talk about this dinner and the Tommasi hospitality soon, as well as an interview with Giancarlo Tommasi, chief winemaker of the winery.

I have turned into a die-hard Tommasi wines fan, but more than that, into a Tommasi family fan. My gratitude goes to Annalisa and Pierangelo, and also to their colleagues Luca Carrara and Luca Nicolis, among others, about whom we will talk soon. It is amazing when you find people like them, building together this important project.

Some photos @ by Tommasi Viticoltori

Tommasi Viticoltori

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