uncorked No Comments November 9th, 2015 Italy, Sicily Tour Visit Post, Wine Region Review

La Nave on Mt Etna

The latest addition to my Mount Etna wineosphere is the brilliant white wine from the winery Santa Maria La Nave: grown on the northern slopes of the mountain.

This exciting part of Sicily continues to capture and allure international writers and sommeliers. It has to be the elevation that these local indigeneous varieties enjoy. There is freshness and a joy in the mouth. Don’t miss it!

The darling white variety of recent tastes is carricante, and no Etnan white is more famous from New York to Buenos Aires than Benanti’s Pietramarina (2011) (USD 47) – grown at 1000 m in the vicinity of Milo, above Zafferana on Etna’s east side.

Benanti Pietramarina Carricante 2011

Other native whites like minnella are interplanted with the century-old, pre-phylloxera red vineyards. I have eaten it in Benanti’s Monte Serra vineyard, where it is harvested separately.

And Frank Cornelissen in Solicchiata uses grecanico dorato, carricante and coda di volpe in his Tartarci vineyard 1000 m pre-phylloxera blend of Munjebel Vigne Alte 2013 (USD 40). That is how the vines were planted long ago.

But my most impressive encounter is with Sonia Spardo Mulone and Riccardo Mulone’s rejuvenated plantings of grecanico dorato planted at 1100 m, by far the highest elevation for vine growing on the mountain, these on the northern-western side in Contrada Nave.

This Santa Maria La Nave Millesulmare 2014 Sicilia DOC is special in colour: it has luminosity in the glass, masses of quartz-green glints, excellent lustre of a wine with pearl shell gloss; it “winks” at you.

Santa Maria La Nave Millesulmare 2014 Sicilia DOC

The taste works a treat; and the aromas are not overt, just muted citrus and lemon rind; subtle, no more.

The citrus meet on the palate, and the sensation you find is one of linearity of acidity that goes on for ever. Note the acid succulence, respond to the salivary senses and detect the peak when the lemon essence and lemon grass acid flavours start fading. Should take ten seconds.

These vines have been around for some time but Riccardo is yet to tell me how long.

Now they are being curated and carefully propagated by massal extension, using the old process of burying one unpruned cane of an old vine into the next vine space to start re-growth. Some call the process layering.

So the vineyard must have gaps from vines which have died; now they are being replaced using a very meticulous plan.

These Etna whites have shrill acidity, and slim body, generally irrespective of the variety. They are naturally minerally, merely responding to their terroir.

Another I enjoy is Planeta’s Eruzione 1614 Carricante 2014 Sicilia DOC (USD 33); a more expressive white from the use of aromatic yeast and 5% riesling, the latter another cold climate variety noted for its light body.

Planeta, a bigger Sicilian operator and regionally-aware of the greater microclimates in the Island, is a very active participant in Mount Etna viniculture. Sciara Nuova, 870 m on the northern side in Castiglione di Sicilia is the Eruzione source.

Planeta Eruzione 1614 2014

Then I recently tasted Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Buonora Carricante 2014 Sicilia DOC (USD 23); back to the muted style of the Millesulmare grecanico, gleaming green, absolutely razor acidity and a delicious texture of the green mint acid taste style; also from Castiglione di Sicilia of vines planted in 2000.

Tascante Buonora Carricante 2014

Peter Scudamore-Smith MW visited Sonia Spado Mulone and Riccardo Malone in Milan to interview for this project; and served this Grecanico Dorato 2014 at the opening evening dinner of Uncorked and Cultivated Sicily Wine and Food Tour 2015 in Taormina. Uncorked and Cultivated Sicily Wine and Food Tour guests tasted Benanti carricante at Viagrande, Tasca d’Almerita carricante at Regaleali, and Planeta carricante at Lago Arancio in Sambuca di Sicilia.

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uncorked No Comments November 1st, 2015 General, Italy, Trento

Ferrari: flash fizz

Visitors to Italy often find themselves trapped in the well-worn sangiovese-strewn hills of Eastern Tuscany. But the Chianti wines are a product of a warm growing climate. What about cool?

I recently ventured to discover the real heart that makes the classy end of Italian sparkling wine throb. The precondition of making metodo classico – Italian speak for bollicini made the same way as their cousins do in Champagne, is a cool or cold growing environment. There is much to be excited around visiting the bubbles-making region of Trento, Italy’s northern-most.

First it has to pass the cool test. No problem there.

Now this vintage, 2015, those people in Champagne finished their harvest before the Trentians. Although Champagne is the most northerly-orientated of France’s cool regions, and reaches to 270 metres, the Trento harvest at 500m starts later. Some feat. Must be good for the bubbles base wines.

Ferrari’s most commonly encountered wine is Ferrari Brut. It has no year designation, a normal feature of gulpable bubbles. This is decidedly fresh when made for the market containing 2 year-old chardonnays.

Ferrari Trento DOC Brut

Within a few minutes of meeting Ferrari’s soft-spoken chief winemaker Marcello Lunelli I was hearing graciously how this region supplies long cellar-aged, hence long-lived sparklers.

You see it’s all in the taste-that shrill acidity which sits in your mouth, ensures your first and last sensation is the tartness we call minerality. Or the acid gives a linear expression down the length of your tongue.

Ferrari Perle 2008, all chardonnay, is the goto wine to seek this minerality; zippy, citrussy, and the name sounds so charming-diamonds, glitter-in-the glass, low on sugar (4 grams) so the acid pirouettes in one swallow. It’s good. And it smells of honey sweet and white flowers: the good folks at Ferrari call it the honey aroma of the tiglio tree.

Ferrari Perle Trento DOC 2008

Trento is an ancient Roman town wedged between the two imposing side of the Dolomites Mountains; rugged and ugly monsters, clinging to the flood-sluiced banks of the Adige River. The vines clamber on the rocky slopes and terraces, barely planted on the narrow alluvial plains reserved for vegetables and apple crops.

Giulio Ferrari established the company in 1902 by planting chardonnay in the valley. He sold it to Trento wine merchant Bruno Lunelli in 1952 when without an heir. Subsequently Bruno bought an iconic chardonnay vineyard in 1964, releasing a hallmark wine only in seasons when the conditions smile, the first being 1972.

The current Giulio is 2004 is good, will age well until 2018; delicious, single vineyard fizz, lightly honied, high on minerality, nice gas and even nicer crisp tones of acidity. The wine the founder would drink.

For me the 1987 Giulio Ferrari, Reserve of the founder, Extra Brut (2.5 grams) smiled as I unpacked a bottle for my cellar; it was disgorged in 2011, living on its moribund yeast for 27 years.

Giulio Ferrari Trento DOC 1987

WHERE TO STAY IN TRENTO: Grand Hotel Trento, Piazza Dante, 20; +39 0461 27100; grandhoteltrento.com; a lovely old world style hotel, great breakfasts.

EAT IN TRENTO: Osteria Le Due Spade, via Don Arcangelo Rizzi, 11,; +39 0461 234343; leduespade.com ; established 1545, well-known and respected, has a top sommelier, inventive plates by Massimiliano Peterlana.

Peter Scudamore-Smith MW visited Ferrari Trento privately as Uncorked and Cultivated tours and travels.

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Brooke Billett No Comments October 28th, 2015 General

The art of buying and selling fine wine

Interested in selling your fine wine collection? For some, this is a thought tantamount to sacrilege.

But what if your cellar was overstocked and you needed to make room for some new releases? Or you could be thinking “What if that bottle of Romanee-Conti Uncle Art gave us for our wedding adds up to an overseas airline ticket?”

It might be time to cash in on some of your prized bottles because your taste for reds has changed. Give yourself a gold star for resisting temptation! This is where a fine wine auction house can help you realise your return on investment.

Wickman’s Fine Wine Auctions is always looking to buy and sell fine wine. Uncorked and Cultivated has a great relationship with this fine wine auction house, and has done since 2011. Master of Wine Peter Scudamore-Smith is often called upon to value wine collections, and to help Uncorked’s clientele realise decent prices for their stock through the auction system.

“Auctioneer Mark Wickman has been auctioning and valuing wine in Australia since 2003, and has been instrumental in helping Uncorked’s clients maximise their returns from wine investment,” said Peter Scudamore-Smith, founder and director of Uncorked and Cultivated.

“This is a fine wine auction house which has a bidder membership spanning Australia and Asia’s wealthiest private wine collectors, Masters of Wine, top restaurants, casinos, sommeliers, and commercial wine buyers. Wickman’s can guarantee you one of the most popular marketplaces in Australia to sell your wine, with clearance rates in excess of 70%!”

We asked Auctioneer Mark Wickman just how did your wine auction house come about? “In 2003 my 8 year old son wanted to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. One of the solutions was a charity wine auction. We raised $5000 that year and eventually created a commercial venture from those seeds”, said Mark.

And the most expensive bottle of wine you’ve auctioned? “That would be a 1962 Chateau Petrus from Pomerol in Bordeaux for $10,000. A buyer wanted it for a 50th birthday celebration. Funny enough, shortly after a case of the 1962 came up for sale in the US and sold for around $12,000 USD per bottle. After 2012 the price dropped dramatically, no doubt there was not so much demand for 51st birthdays!”, said Mark.

Wickman’s is one of Australia’s leading wine auction houses. If you have excess wine, or your taste has matured towards Brunello and would like to consider selling them in an upcoming wine auction, you will find information on how to sell wine with Wickman’s here.

Upcoming Wickmans Wine Auction Events

November Fine Wine Auction 9th November to the 16th November
December Fine & Rare Wine Auction 30th November to the 7th December

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uncorked No Comments September 19th, 2015 Italy

Amarone – Venetian fresh & dry

This might sound ridiculous but since the late 50s the good Valpolicella folk in one of Veneto’s wine capitals, have called these wines from dried grapes amarone.

And they are not a new idea, in fact it was a Roman trait to make their wines from shrivelled bunches (called appassimento) BC.

My lovely host Annachiara Zanoni pointed out these Valpolicella Classico Superiore vines face the modifying effects of the nearby Lake Garda, fed by three local rivers, the Negrar, Fumane and Marano.

I was lucky to visit at Masi in the middle of harvest of their three indigeneous red grapes; corvina, rondinella and molinara; where enthusiastic cutters were placing only the best bunches on small fresh white pine trays.

Afterwards they emerged into one of the 15 company drying towers which have hand-spread bunches on large bamboo trays to dry for 100-120 days (DOCG rule) in environments which emphasise a full red berry to concentrate to a withered, less-juicy, more flavoured little wine morsel.

This was fantastic to see happening as I slipped on the sugary floors watching a careful sorting bunch by bunch of glossy, sun-dusted, dizzy-ripened corvina placed on these flat and worn Masi-branded trays.

Masi-design bamboo-lined drying trays

Afterwards I had completed the fresh and dry experiment on visiting tasters: you see we sipped standard strength molinara (very pale wine, simple but acidic), rondinella (wild, rustic and tea-tannin like), then the preferred king , corvina (spiced, deep, delicious texture); as these three make a slim lined Valpolicella Classico Superiore called Bonacosta 2011 (12%).

In the drying these grapes grow in dimension; wine colour which results goes deeper, the high sugars and partial noble rot attack on the thinner-skinned corvina (up to 40%) cause the yeast to make glycerine, a smoothing texture agent so the wine slips on your throat.

Original large oak storage

However these wines are created very carefully, spending 24 months in big barrels (600 litre or fusto veronese) which do not give additional oak notes to a chocolate-coated wine brimming with sweet spice and deep baked plum tarts.

Corvina-the amarone god

Now I wish I could drink all Masi’s amarones together, forget the fresh and dry, keep the deep and flavourful; three single vineyard ones; Vaio Aramon (cherry wood aged also), Campolongo and Mazzano; or the beautiful Costasera (straight up or its Riserva) which are more widely blended.

The company’s latin motto nectar angelorum hominibus meaning nectar of angels to men seems eternal!

The author visited Masi Historic Vineyard Estates in Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella and Gargagnago on 18 September 2015.

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