Bollina Corte Medicea 2015 'Cletus' Toscana IGT, Tuscany

Super Tuscans break the mold. Can “renegade” Italian winemakers deliver a superior white Super Tuscan?

Red And White?

Super Tuscans are supposed to be red, aren’t they? Some of the world’s greatest wines are red wines of Italy’s Tuscany region that “break the rules” and use international grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

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Hold the phone! Tuscan winemakers produce white Super Tuscans also. We recently uncorked the 2015 Cletus Super Tuscan from the Bollina Vineyard.

Cletus is is complex blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. Quite a change from the often unremarkable Pinot Grigio which gush forth from Italy.

Verdict Of The Glass

These are three grapes you wouldn’t normally think of joining together, but it works splendidly. Tuscany’s glorious sunshine brings out the best in the fruit. The body of Cletus is medium, which is more substantial than many whites. The flavor profile is bouncy, with bright green apple and melon notes being woven together with a lively acidity. This is  a luscious mouthful.

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We picked this bottle up online for a mere $14.99, a steal for this high quality white which usually goes for about twice the price. Super Tuscans typically give winemakers more leeway to be creative, since they are not regulated by the rules of the regulating counsel of the wine region. We’re happy to say that this white wine lives up to the “super” title.

del.icio.us Tags: Italian wine,Super Tuscan,Tuscany,wine,wine tasting,wine lover

Ca’Marcanda Delivers The Art And Style Of Italian Wine

Ca’Marcanda winery is named for the seemingly endless negotiations it took to purchase the historic estate. The name has come to represent the best in modern Italian winemaking.

Bolgheri: Italy’s Best-Kept Secret

Italy is home to amazing world-class wines. But it wasn’t always so.
In the decades before the Italian wine renaissance, regions like Chianti had restrictive regulations that handcuffed the creativity of winemakers. The best wines sometimes had to be released as vino da tavola, table wine.

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Modern Italian wine began to take shape in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Super Tuscan movement was launched near the town of Bolgheri, with the introduction of Cabernet-based  Sassicaia. (A Super Tuscan is considered a Tuscan blend made with Cabernet Sauvignon or other international varieties.) Other wines based on international grape varieties followed.

Angelo Gaja, the owner of Ca’Marcanda winery, was instrumental in the introducing revolutionary winemaking practices in Italy, such as the planting of French grape varieties and the use of malolactic fermentation and oak barriques. His pioneering spirit is embodied in the Ca’Marcanda winery.

Super Super Tuscans

During a recent Wine Studio education session, we had the chance to explore three outstanding wines from Ca’Marcanda. Each features international grape varieties and only one includes a small quantity of a signature Italian grape.

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Bolgheri is located along the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in an area known as the Maremma. The climate, with hot days, cool nights and brisk sea air, is ideal for the growing of premium red grapes. Today Bolgheri is its own officially recognized DOC wine region.

Any discussion of Ca’Marcanda would be incomplete without mention of its two types of soil. The rich dark “terre brune” is primarily loan and clay. The “terre bianche” is light soil, primarily clay and sand,  rich in limestone and filled with abundant stones and pebbles.

The 2015 Ca’Marcanda Promis was our first taste. It is 55% Merlot, 35% Syrah and 10% Sangiovese. Promis (pronounced proh-MEES) means commitment, expectation, fulfillment and hope. We enjoyed the bottle with a dish of spaghetti.

Promis grapes are grown in the terre brune. This wine is supple and elegant, with the Merlot providing a silky texture. There is a mix of black fruit and a savory note. The wine is aged in slightly used barriques for 12 months. Promis retails for $48.

The middle wine in the Ca'Marcanda trio of reds is the 2015 Magari. Magari means “if only it were true.” The wine has been produced for 20 years. Starting with the 2015 vintage, the blend will be predominantly Cabernet Franc. The composition is 60% Cabernet Franc, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot.

Cabernet Franc ripens well in Bolgheri and the Ca’Marcanda Cab Franc is profoundly excellent. We are huge Cab Franc fans, and so this delicious wine was a treat.

In the glass the wine is a deep purple with a bright edge. On the palate the wine is rich and savory with luscious blueberry notes. The wine offers a pop of pepper. It is polished with a nice minerality. The SRP for Magari is $65.

Ca’Marcanda Flagship Red

The crown of Ca’Marcanda is its namesake wine. The grapes are grown in 100% terre bianche soil, which are ideal for producing long-lived wines.

To enjoy this special wine, Green Dragon prepared Filet Mignon and Truffled Mushroom Reduction. The entree was served with organic polenta with Pecorino Romano cheese and braised kale with onion, garlic and bacon.

The 2013 Ca’Marcanda is a blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Cabernet Franc. It was decanted for an hour before our meal, but continued to evolve in the glass until the decanter was empty more than an hour later.

In the glass the wine is a deep red and the aroma has layers of fruit. Ca’Marcanda has structured but relaxed tannins, nice minerality with core of dark cherry and blueberry. This is a wine to savor and sip while reflecting on the goodness of life.

Ca’Marcanda is only produced in exceptional years. All three of the grape varieties are fermented separately. After blending, the wine ages for 18 months in slightly used barriques and gets another year of bottle aging. Ca’Marcanda retails for $145.

Why settle for average, when you can enjoy “super?” Super Tuscan, that is. The sensory experience of modern Italian winemaking is at its best in Ca’Marcanda wines.

Technorati Tags: Italian wine,Super Tuscan,wine,wine and food pairing,Bolgheri

Capezzana 2010 'Villa di Capezzana', Carmignano DOCG, Italy

Chances are you are familiar with Chianti, one of Italy’s most famous wines. Time to broaden your Italian wine horizons with Carmignano, which once commanded a price topping any other wine in the country.

A History Worth Savoring

One of the great benefits of the rigorous studying to get the Certified Specialist of Wine designation is the introduction to scores of wines that were completely new to me. Carmignano is such an example.

Coming from a tiny DOCG (Italy’s top tier of wine regions) in Tuscany, Carmignano wines caused barely a blip on my wine radar. My attraction to this wine came when I learned that they were “Super Tuscan” before Super Tuscan was cool.

Super Tuscans are the product of rebellious winemakers in Italy who refused to conform to the traditional and stringent guidelines for grape growing and wine production in Tuscany. They wanted to produce wines with international varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot – strictly verboten by the regulatory council.

They pressed onward, selling their wine as “table wine” instead of the prestigious DOCG. They produced some modern classics, such as Sassicaia and Tignanello and eventually the Italian winemaking world buckled and created the IGT category for these popular wines.

Ahead By A Century

The first Super Tuscan, Sassicaia, was produced in 1968 and winemakers in Carmignano may have chuckled. They have been producing wine using international grape varieties for centuries. The roots of the wine can be traced to 1369 when a document mentions that the wine was four times more expensive than any other wine of that time. In the 1700s, Grand Duke Cosimo III de Medici established the Carmignano area as a grape nursery which included Cabernet Sauvignon vines from France.

Enter your time machine and set your controls for the present day (actually last month). I was responsible for selecting the wine for a board of directors dinner in Orlando at well known Italian restaurant Il Mulino. I locked in the 2010 Villa de Capezzana Carmignano for the red choice.

Carmignano is a dry red and it did not disappoint paired with a variety of entrees from pasta to steak. Carmignano is at least 50% Sangiovese and requires 10% to 20% of either Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc in the blend. Canaiolo Nero can also make up to 20% of the mix.

Tenuta di Capezzana is a winery with a long history in Tuscany and today produces more than half of all the DOCG Carmignano each year. That’s fine with me. The 2010 bottle was rich in fruit and powerful with blackberry and dried cherry flavors. It finishes with a drying sensation on the tongue.
The Capezzana 2010 Carmignano retails for about $26. That’s a bargain for a Super Tuscan with a boatload of history.

Poggio Verrano 2009 3 Super Tuscan, Maremma

This wine combines a trio of grapes. The delicious red blend is a perfect compliment to Italian food.

Not Your Typical Trio Of Grapes

This wine from the Maremma region of Tuscany combines equal shares of three grapes. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are not surprising in such a blend. The last part of the triad is Alicante. Alicante is known particularly for its deep, vivid color.
The wine is named to honor the synergy of these three grapes. Half the wine is aged in French oak for 12 months and the other half is aged in stainless steel to keep the flavors fresh. The wine is combined and ages for another four months in the bottle.
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A Big Hit At Carlucci’s In Rosemont

I selected 3 as our red wine during a board of directors dinner in the Chicago area. We dined at Carlucci’s, a great Italian restaurant in Rosemont. On the white side we had a crisp Arneis.
As appetizers we had pizza and when we sat down for our meal, bowtie pasta Bolognese was the pasta course. The 3 Super Tuscan was an almost too perfect combination.
The wine begins with some fruity notes upfront and then smoothes into delicious red berry flavors with a dash of pepper. It was a spot-on pairing with the rich tomato sauce of our pasta.
Winemaking regions tightly control the style of wine and grapes that can be produced under their DO (Denominacion de Origen) label. Super Tuscan wines allow the adventurous to break the traditional rules of Italian winemaking by using grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon.
Poggio Verrano 3 is a delightful blend that costs about $25 but can enliven any meal.
Rating: 3.5 of 5  Value: 5 of 5

Italian Winemaker Massimo Piccin Introduces Sapaio Super Tuscans

Massimo Piccin believes winemaking is a creative process with the focus on quality – not reproducing an industrial process. He brought his artistry and new releases to Corks Wine and Liquor in Rossford last week. 

Massimo founded Podere Sapaio in 1999 with the intent to experiment and find new expressions of Bordeaux style wine in the Bolgheri region of Tuscany. Sangiovese is the most famous of Tuscan grapes, and is front and center in wines from Brunello and Montepulciano. But the trio of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc dominate in the small DOC of Bolgheri. Unlike some other regions, the use of these Super Tuscan varieties conform to regulations in the relatively new (1994) Bolgheri DOC.

Massimo grew up in Venice and later moved to Tuscany where with the help of his father he began making wines. Sapaio is an 80-acre estate winery that stretches between Castagneto Carducci and Bibbona. His wines are imported by Specialty Wine Co. of Sandusky, which is owned by Claudio Salvador, who is also partner and winemaker at Firelands Winery.

The first Sapaio wine sampled was the 2009 Listra, a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 29% Syrah aged 10 months in French oak. The wine is made for Specialty Wine according to a blend determined by Claudio. The wine is an easy drinking red that sells for $22.

Volpolo is a DOC Toscana Rosso, which is a less expensive and lighter alternative to the DOC Toscana Superiore. This is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 15% Petit Verdot. The wine is aged 14 months in French oak with prominent notes of cherry and vanilla oak. This wine copped a 90 rating from Wine Spectator.

The flagship wine is Sapaio, a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot and 10% Merlot aged 18 months in used French oak. The flavor is concentrated, but with round tannins. On the tongue the wine is thick and lush with generous blackberry and coffee sprinkled with cherry. This wine not only has been praised by Wine Spectator (92 pts.) but earned the Italian Gambero Rosso Tre Bicheri award. This full bodied wine retails for $55.

“The focus is on artisinality,” said Massimo. “This is my idea of a contemporary wine. It is drinkable when released, but has a long life.”

Podere Sapaio wines have arrived in the Toledo area. Seek them out to enjoy an artistic glassful of Tuscany.

Technorati Tags: wine,Italian wine,Bolgheri DOC

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