42 minute read
ITALIAN wine
The village of Vernazza, in Liguria
A whistlestop tour of Italy
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David Williams covers the length and breadth of Italy’s boot, picking out a few favourite wines from leading UK suppliers to add spice and interest to independent ranges along the way
Trentino-Alto-Adige: A trio of top co-ops
They may not always command the artisan glamour of the single small producer or the heavily bankrolled gloss and marketing budgets of the best of the larger private companies. But co-operatives still very much have their place in European wine and, from north to south, Italy has its share of some of the best run of this socially conscious breed.
Few parts of the peninsula have quite the same concentration of high-performing co-ops as the far north eastern regions of Trentino and Alto-Adige, however. This
spectacular, mountainous part of the world is one place where co-ops – or, at the very least, some of their wines – can claim without blushing to be part of the very highest echelon of local production. The Trentino co-op Cavit (UK agent Boutinot) is rightly considered a model of enlightened modern winemaking, skillfully mixing well-made, high-volume wines based on the region’s single mostrecognised variety, Pinot Grigio, with wellpriced indie favourites made from lesserknown local varieties such as Rotaliano, Lagrein and Teroldego that the co-op has played a significant role in reviving.
But if the above are the wines that provide the co-op’s 4,500 grape growers with their living, other parts of the portfolio give the co-op its soul. The premium tier of wines made from selected plots, often at high-altitude, offer quite remarkable refinement for their circa-£20 RRPs. Its Rulendis Pinot Grigio, Maso Toresella Chardonnay and Brusafer Pinot Nero are some of the best-value Italian fine wines around.
Much the same can be said of the offerings at star Alto-Adige co-ops Cantina Terlano (Astrum) and Cantina Tramin (Hallgarten & Novum Wines), albeit on a significantly smaller scale (Terlano’s 100 members share 150ha of steeply terraced, often very high-altitude vineyards, and Tramin’s 310 members have 260ha between them).
Both can trace their history back to the 1890s, and both are responsible for some of Italy’s very best white wines, produced from a typical Alto-Adige varietal mix that takes in the three Pinots (Bianco, Grigio and Nero), Lagrein, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Single-varietal wines predominate, but both co-ops have had success with white blends. Both Tramin’s Stoan (Chardonnay 65%, Sauvignon Blanc 20%, Pinot Blanc 10%, Gewürztraminer
Co-operatives still have their place in European wine, and Italy has its share of some of the best run of this socially conscious breed
5% in 2019) and Terlano’s top cuvées, Terlaner and Terlaner Grande Cuvée Primo (both roughly 60/30/10 Pinot Blanc/Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc), are gloriously tensile, shimmeringly complex and long-lived reflections of the region’s beautiful but back-breakingly hard-to-work mountainous terroir.
The affordable side of FriuliVenezia-Giulia
To borrow from the language of football punditry, in any battle for best Italian white-wine bragging rights, the various sub-regions of Friuli are always there or thereabouts. As the home of Gravner, Radikon and the rest of the orange wine/ skin contact crew, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia is arguably best known these days for being hugely influential in shaping global trends in white winemaking.
But there is far more to white wine in the region than the natural vanguard. Earlier waves of winemakers, such as Schiopetto and Lis Neris, had drawn up a Friuli trademark of pristine ripeness, with floral tones and graceful acidity in their Friulano, Sauvignon Blanc, Ribolla Giala and Pinot Grigio – characteristics that are still very much a part of the region’s attraction.
What have perhaps served the region less well, certainly in the parsimonious UK, are the prices: these are never going to be sub-£10 or supermarket wines. But producers such as the very impressive Friuli Colli Orientali estate Visintini (Lea & Sandeman) are proving that you can get that fluent spring fruitiness at a price that sits right in that independent sweet spot of around £15 a bottle.
Veneto – Cà dei Maghi and the spirit of Allegrini
One of the sadder stories to emerge from Italian wine this year was the death from cancer, aged 65, of Valpolicella leading light Franco Allegrini. The much-admired winemaker and creative driving force of the eponymous family firm did more than most to raise the level of winemaking in the region over the past 40 years, as he turned attention back to the vineyards (not least the family’s superb hillside plot La Poja) and the greatness of local variety Corvina, at the same time as bringing a much more rigorous and considered approach to the Amarone drying process.
Allegrini’s spirit lives on in the unfailingly consistent wines in the family’s portfolio, with their vivacious fruit and definition. But it can be found, too, elsewhere in the region, not least in the work of serial Wine Merchant Top 100 winner Cà dei Maghi. Another family-run estate producing high-quality wines in which the elaborate winemaking processes are as fastidiously
worked as the vineyards, and in which the influence of the drying process never obscures the quality of the fruit, Cà dei Maghi is one of the standout producers in the Vindependents portfolio, whether it’s making intriguing partially-dried Garganega, richly polished Amarone, or fragrant, compulsively drinkable Valpolicella Classico. Dirk Niepoort
Langhe v Lessona v Valtelina: The growing wonders of Nebbiolo
Pinot Noir lovers have seen it all before. Call it the Burgundy equation: finite vineyards + critical acclaim x increasingly diverse global fine wine market = no longer possible for mere mortals to buy any wines from the most famous sites.
Is something similar happening for Nebbiolo lovers trying to secure bottles of their favourite Barolo and Barbaresco? The success of recent vintages such as 2016 had many long-term fans of Piedmont’s great red grape struggling to get their hands on allocations amid rising popularity and prices all over the world.
Still, just as Burgundy’s ascendancy has led to a dramatic improvement in wines from the region’s supposedly lesser crus and villages – including Beaujolais – so the rise of Barolo and Barbaresco has led to a renewed interest in Nebbiolo from other
sources.
On one level, that means a healthy trade in the more affordable Nebbiolo produced as part of the broader Langhe DOC, which, led by impeccable bottlings from the likes of GD Vajra and Sottimano, have never been more approachably balanced, fragrant and polished.
But it has also led to a spike in demand for the very different styles available up country in Alpine Piedmont and over the border into Lombardy’s Valtelina, among other places. The graceful northern Piedmontese Nebbiolo of Proprièta Sperino in Lessona and the ethereal beauty
Harvesting Nebbiolo grapes
of La Spia in Valtelina are among the best examples of “mountain Nebbiolo”.
Central Italy: Sangiovese and Ciliegiolo
The story of Nebbiolo in modern-day north west Italy has plenty of parallels with the progress of Sangiovese across the country’s centre.
Certainly, lovers of what is often thought of as a distinctly Tuscan speciality are now spoilt for choice beyond the classic Tuscan appellations, with some of the most exciting examples being found in Emilia-Romagna and Umbria as well as Montalcino, Montepulciano and Chianti.
Among the most intriguingly drinkable Sangiovese The Wine Merchant has encountered recently are those made in Emilia-Romagna by the former wine writer Giorgio Melandri from sites on slopes above Modigliana. An altogether jauntier, fresher style that plays up the tang and rasp of just-ripe cherries, they “speak a
Reggio Emilia
different language”, as Melandri, quoted on importer Indigo’s website, puts it.
Still, there are plenty of different Sangiovese accents and dialects across Tuscany, too, from the concentrated intensity of Castello di Bossi Chianti Classico to the graceful depth of La Florita Brunello di Montalcino, to name two recent Wine Merchant favourites.
And if that’s not enough, there’s always Ciliegiolo. Once considered a minor player in Tuscany, this close relative of Sangiovese (although which is the parent and which the child nobody seems sure) is enjoying a renaissance in Umbria, thanks to producers such as Leonardo Bussoletti, who makes four very different, but equally delightful Ciliegiolo cuvées that range from the bright and floral to the more darkly earthy and spicy.
Tammy Nell, David Nieuwoudt and Alex Nell of Cederberg Sicily: Where the hype is justified
It is hard to think of a wine region anywhere in the world that has attracted quite the same level of hype as Sicily’s Etna in the past 20 years. The on-trend combination of rare grape varieties, recovered old vines and entirely distinctive wine styles with a genuinely extreme viticultural environment is understandably hard to resist. There would be a fine story to tell even if the quality of the wines themselves didn’t measure up.
That the quality has remained remarkably high even as more producers have begun producing Etna wines is testament to the fundamental quality of the region’s grape varieties – Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Capuccio for reds, and Carricante for whites – and their suitability for the surprisingly varied volcanic terroir. And with wines as exquisitely beautiful as Tuscan winemaker Andrea Franchetti’s Passopisciaro project’s Contrada wines, from individual plots of very old vines (which also includes an electrically charged Chardonnay), it’s hard to feel that the attention focused on Etna isn’t justified.
Still, the region’s irresistible rise shouldn’t obscure the progress made elsewhere on the island, as shown by such engaging producers as COS, Arianna Occhipinti or the ever-consistent panisland pioneers of modern Sicily, Planeta.
Nor should it overshadow another positive Italian island story. Sardinia’s quintessentially Mediterranean wines have never been better, notably in the windswept, salty, textured Garnacha (Cannonau di Sardegna) and Carignan (Carignano) made by the likes of Giuseppe Sedilesu, Santadi and Tenuta Soletta.
Erice in Sicily
THE WINEMAKER FILES // Paolo Bianchini
Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona
How did you learn your winemaking craft? Presumably your late father Giuseppe taught you a lot.
For the most part I learned what I know from my father, then I studied agriculture. Passion, however, remains fundamental: without this you cannot do this job.
If you had to explain your winemaking philosophy in just a few sentences, how would you describe what you’re trying to achieve with your wines?
We work respecting tradition and carefully following every little step. Our goal is to create elegant wines with a good structure.
You make wine in a beautiful setting. How would you describe your terroir and its benefits for your vines?
I feel lucky to be in a beautiful place but I am most lucky for the geographical position and microclimate. The property is on the south east side of the Montalcino hills, not far from Monte Amiata and not too far from the sea: this creates strong day-night temperature variations that help not only the vines but all the vegetation.
Tell us about Sangiovese Grosso.
It is a grape that is very sensitive to climatic variations and needs to follow a very specific seasonality. In recent years, the challenge is precisely this: to be able to ensure, through constant work, that this precious grape does not suffer too much from climate change.
Brunello di Montalcino is a world classic. But how does it maintain that status? Is the aim to make consistent wines that people can instantly recognise, or maybe evolve the style as the years go by?
Brunello di Montalcino is certainly among the best-known wines in the world. I believe what makes this wine so famous is the dedication and care that every producer of Brunello di Montalcino puts into making it. From the first sip you can immediately understand that it is not just a simple “glass of wine”; there is a lot of work behind it, a story to tell that has often lasted for generations.
How important are Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and what role do they play in your winery?
At the end of the 80s we decided to plant these international grapes in our territory, just as small experimental productions. The goal was, and is, to see how international vines can evolve in the Montalcino area. We still produce a couple of wines with these vines.
Are you still a keen cyclist and do you enjoy cycling in Tuscan wine country? Does it give you a different perspective on the land you work with?
Biking in my homeland is definitely one of my favourite non-work activities. I can immerse myself completely in nature and see details that I had not discovered before.
Ranked as one of the greatest producers of Brunello di Montalcino, Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona was bequeathed to Giuseppe Bianchini, whose son and daughter Paolo and Lucia now run the business.
Paolo is a former pro cyclist with Italy’s Colnago team.
Wines are imported by Mentzendorff 0207 840 3600
mentzendorff.co.uk
What are the biggest challenges facing Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona in the coming years and what would you like to achieve next?
The biggest challenge is to remain what we are: always remembering where we started from, continuing to produce wines of great quality.
Rosso di Montalcino Rossofonte 2019
RRP £30
It’s our single vineyard selection for Rosso di Montalcino. A perfect companion to any meal but certainly a wine that stands out. We open it very often at home.
Brunello di Montalcino 2017
RRP £45
A Brunello di Montalcino that seems to be perfect and drinkable right now. That year was not easy from a climatic point of view, but it was certainly one of great harmony and balance.
Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2015
RRP £115
The Riserva is the wine for special occasions. Just last night I uncorked a 2015 to celebrate something special with my family: just fabulous!
THE WINEMAKER FILES // Francesco Illy, Podere Le Ripi
I fell in love with nature when I was very young, but I began as a nature
photographer at 34. I bought the books of most great masters and I learned to see nature with new eyes. Now I just look. It’s enough to fill my emotions. And when you arrive at Podere Le Ripi you cannot help falling instantaneously in deep, deep love with it. It’s like lightning hitting your soul.
In 1997, I bought Le Ripi from a
Sardinian shepherd. I had my house in Montalcino with 50 hectares of land with not a single vine: just sheep pastures. I bought a bulldozer, and began to prepare my soil and to plant it. I told myself: “I’ll plant the vines, I’ll grow the grapes … and then I’ll sell them. I’m too old to learn this job.”
All I knew came from being a wine
drinker. Not even a very knowledgeable wine drinker! Put it this way: I knew nothing about wine. But then 2003 arrived. First crop. Damned dry and hot; there was no way to sell those grapes. So, we made a wine, with my friend Jan Erbach as oenologist. Was it Jan or the soil? Today I would say both. But the wine was excellent. That’s how I, the almost ignorant wine drinker, became a winemaker. Learning by doing, with lots of knowledgeable friends as teacher: the years are long, and you learn a lot.
First you must learn. Then you must
innovate. My very, very young team come from very good schools; they’ve learned a lot. Put them in a classic environment, with a senior management, and they will repeat what they know. I’ve been putting them with totally junior, immature management, and creativity exploded like Champagne after shaking the bottle! How did I come to this? I just call it luck. Period.
When we make a biodynamic treatment, we always obtain the result we expect
from it. So: we know it is healthy, it works, and it does good to the soil, because our soils are alive. We believe that living soils have more complexity, and so we get more complex wines out of them. And the market likes our wines. So maybe we are right. But who knows?
I always say (so I wrote it on one of my
labels) “be crazy, my friend”. Why? Can you imagine how foolish one needs to be (talking about myself) to dream that, after 50 years in coffee, knowing nothing (almost) about wine, you will become an important winemaker at an international level? If you are just a bit sane, you should think: “impossible”. And this is the mistake! Now that I’ve done it, I know I am sane, but I also know that it’s been thanks to the courage to believe in an insane dream that it came true. Be crazy, my friend!
What does the future hold for Podere
Le Ripi and the wines we make? Crazy, innovative ideas; you’ll see. You’ll taste. Hahaha! Francesco Illy is heir to the famous Trieste-based coffee dynasty and an acclaimed nature photographer. After falling in love with an estate in Montalcino, he established a biodynamic winery, planted, in part, with what he believes are the world’s smallest vines.
Podere Le Ripi wines are imported into the UK by Jeroboams Trade 020 7288 8888
www.jeroboamstrade.co.uk
Sogni e Follia Rosso di Montalcino
We produce this from vineyards on the west side of Montalcino, that give us a light Sangiovese, compared with the east side, that we age for about 30 months in a big wooden tank and then for about a year in concrete, for a Rosso di Montalcino that can be enjoyed for many years.
Lupi e Sirene, Brunello di Montalcino Riserva
From a single vineyard on the east side of Montalcino, Lupi e Sirene was the original label of Podere Le Ripi. This vineyard, about 2ha, has a density of 11,500 vines per hectare and gives us a Sangiovese that, after just a few years in the bottle, has beautiful balsamic flavours.
Bonsai IGT Toscana Rosso
To make a great wine, we need to wait till the vines become old, so the roots can go deeper and deeper trough many different substrates of soil. So we planted a hectare with a really high density: 62,500 Sangiovese vines per hectare, The result is Bonsai, and we make just 1,000 bottles.
East v west, in the south
In many respects, the progress of mainland southern Italy’s three most significant wine regions – Puglia on the east, and Campania and Basilicata on the west – is strikingly similar to that on the islands. It’s a story of the dawning realisation that the mezzogiorno’s role as the engine room of Italian wine had all but come to an end as domestic consumption dropped off a cliff in the 1980s and 1990s, and that finding ways to make smaller quantities of better wine was the only way forward.
For Etna in this scenario, read the various volcanic terroirs of Campania and Basilicata, and the graceful, mineral, complex whites, and intense, inky reds, made on them by producers such as Pietracupa, Ciro Piciarello, Donna Elvira and Luigi Maffini (Campania) and Elena Fucci, Battifarano and Vigneti dei Vulture (Basilicata).
But the successes on the west shouldn’t obscure the progress made in the east. Puglia may still have a knack with sweetly intense, densely satisfying but fundamentally good value reds, but its palette is considerably more diverse these days than is sometimes assumed. Producers such as Cantele, Masseria Li Veli, and Cantine San Marzano are adept at making interesting bottles from the underrated local white Verdeca, and unheralded reds such as Susumaniello, Malvasia Nera and Nero di Troia as they are conjuring Italian Zin-alikes from Primitivo and Negroamaro.
Puglia has a knack with sweetly intense, good value reds, but its palette is considerably more diverse these days
Sassi di Matera, Basilicata
Outstanding vintages, and better winemaking
Nicholas Moschi, director of buying, Liberty Wines
We have ahead of us a remarkable sequence of excellent vintages from regions like Tuscany and Piemonte, with 2019, 2020 and 2021 all showing great promise.
The 2019 IGTs, along with the single-vineyard Barbaresco, will be released this year, but with wines like Barolo and Brunello di Montalcino requiring longer mandatory ageing, it means we can look forward to new releases from these outstanding vintages until at least 2026.
Regardless of vintage, the most exciting element we are seeing across the length and breadth of the peninsula is the constant improvement coming from producers whose wines are already held in high esteem.
Significant improvements in viticultural practices are certainly playing a big role, as are less visible but very important refinements in winemaking.
Great experience, and better grapes, mean the producers can intervene less, something that has resulted in greater clarity of expression in the best Italian wines. It is this restless advancement that singles out the best, who continue setting new standards of excellence.
THE WINEMAKER FILES // Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi
The Colombini family has owned land in Montalcino since 1352, and Fattoria dei Barbi since the end of the 18th century. The property extends over 350 hectares of fields and vineyards in southern Tuscany, in Montalcino, Scansano and Chianti. The current owner is Stefano Cinelli Colombini.
Wines are imported to the UK by Enotria&Coe Telephone 020 8961 5161 www.enotriacoe.com
The estate has an amazing history. Is this something that is always in your mind or are you focused entirely on the present and the future?
How can you build, or plan, a future if you ignore the past? Even the most futuristic skyscraper is built on very deep foundations. Therefore, the present and future of my estate are rooted to a very strong past.
How would you say the style of winemaking has evolved, due to things like technological improvements, climate change and changes in consumer behaviour?
The only non-mutable thing in the world is death; climate, technology, consumer tastes and the economy are always changing and we must change with them. This is the reason why agriculture is more an art than a science.
Tell us a little about the Sangiovese grape and what it’s like to work with. What challenges does it present and why does it thrive in your terroir?
Sangiovese is basically a medieval hybrid between the Tuscan Canaiolo and a grape from southern Italy, called Calabrese. Together with Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo and Nerello Mascalese, it lacks an entire family of antocyanines, the acylates. This makes its colour less intense but adds an elegance and finesse. It is a very productive grape, but when the quantity increases, the quality decreases. So you must do a lot of pruning to control the yield. Sangiovese changes from hill to hill. In Montalcino, Sangiovese has found its perfect weather: dry, windy and sunny, but quite cold during the summer nights.
How important is the UK market to you and why do you think Italian wines have such success here, especially in the specialist independent trade?
Brunello was the favourite wine of King William III, but after the 18th century it never found the favour of English wine lovers. Who knows why? Maybe the English taste is more based on French standards than any other in the world. It is really funny: among the major export markets, the UK has always been the worst for Brunello and the best one for Lambrusco and Prosecco. That’s why I appreciate even more the effort of the independent trade that supports high-quality Italian wines.
Do you think more consumers want to drink their wines earlier now and if so, have you adapted your winemaking style accordingly?
I believe that consumers want to drink good wines. Some wines are better when young and some are not. Probably in future we will sell Brunello Riserva after seven years or more, and our “No Sulphites” [Senza Solfiti] Sangiovese after seven months or less.
What do you hope to achieve at the estate in the coming years and how might the wines change?
This strange new weather is a disaster for sure for many grapes and crops, but it seems to fit well with Sangiovese and Montalcino. In the cold 60s we had two five-star vintages (1961 and 1964), in the icy 70s just one (1975) but in this warm and dry decade we had 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019 and then 2020 and 2021. We’ve never had so many good vintages in a such short time, due to weather which is a major problem elsewhere, but not for Montalcino.
I believe that our wine has a great future, and this idea is so widespread that more and more top investors and top wine producers are trying to buy in Montalcino. Luckily the vast majority of the land is owned by local small producers, who are absolutely determined to stay as their ancestors did for many, many centuries. They will not sell, so Brunello will remain truly Tuscan.
Stefano’s range highlights
Brusco dei Barbi is the Tuscan character in a glass.
Senza Solfiti is the exuberant fruit in a glass.
Brunello Fattoria dei Barbi
“blue label” is like the Greenwich meridian: it is the standard for whoever loves Tuscan wines.
CAMPAGNA FINANZIATA AI SENSI DEL REG. UE N. 1308/2013 CAMPAIGN FINANCED ACCORDING TO EU REG. NO. 1308/2013
Three reasons why we’re excited about Italian wines
Alex Aldersley-Hey, brand manager, Armit Wines
• Return to Sangiovese – this quintessentially Italian grape variety has certainly been dealt a rough hand with low-quality Chianti or over-oaked “international” styles dominating perceptions in recent history. But there are an increasing number of producers returning to the purity of fruit and terroir focus that this wine can provide. The variety has so much intensity, class, and complexity, we’re delighted to see more and more wines that champion its inherent varietal character. This has resulted in bright, more vibrant wines, often with a single-site focus. Querciabella, for example, have finally released their Single Vineyard Chianti after 10 years battling appellation bureaucracy!
• Native whites – in a similar vein, native Italian white varieties are having a great moment in the sun. Complex, textural Fiano, or ageworthy, laserlike Trebbiano d’Abruzzo are really grabbing attention in the trade. Even Pinot Grigio is shaking off its reputation as bland and basic, with Alto-Adige in particular offering some incredibly exciting highaltitude wines.
• Low intervention winemaking – although it’s a pretty traditional country with regards to winemaking, we’re enjoying Italy’s response to the global low-intervention movement. You get some first-wave diehards like Marina from Punset making funky wines that wouldn’t be out of place at a natural wine fair, but more generally you see a huge variety of styles and prices from organic and sustainable practices. Certification isn’t as common due to expense and lack of flexibility, but it’s a growing and welcome part of the producers’ outlook.
The Marco Felluga winery is based in the fortified citadel of Gradisca d’Isonzo, while the Russiz Superiore estate is located in Capriva del Friuli. Representing the sixth generation of winemakers of her family, Ilaria Felluga has now taken the reins of the business, under the guidance of her grandfather Marco.
Wines are imported to the UK by Enotria&Coe Telephone 020 8961 5161 www.enotriacoe.com
Broadly, how would you describe the winemaking style and how it differs across the two estates?
Both the Marco Felluga and Russiz Superiore estates belong to the Collio DOC area. This has a huge impact on our winemaking style. Each hill in this area has its own microclimate, but they all have a common denominator: a unique type of soil. It’s called ponca, in the Friulian dialect, or flysh in Italian, and it is made of a stratification of marl and sandstone.
The soil is rich in minerals and it lends sapidity and minerality and is ideal for white varietals. Because of this, the Friulian wine tradition leans more towards the production of white wines: our production is roughly of 80% white varietals and 20% red varietals.
However, our red wines are quite remarkable too. They are characterised by a peculiar structure and unique balance, and they can age for a long time. The vinification process varies for the two wineries as well. The vast majority of Russiz Superiore white wines undergo a vinification process in which 85% of the must ferments in stainless vats and the remaining 15% in oak barrels. On the other hand, most Marco Felluga white wines are fermented exclusively in stainless steel vats.
Your father Roberto has been described as one of Fruili’s brightest stars. What will his legacy be and how will his work live on through the wines?
I was really moved by all the support I received. I know how valuable the work of my father was and my goal is to continue what he had started.
Some of the cornerstones of his wine philosophy were innovation, sustainability and environmental protection, the high quality of the products, constant research and respect of the land, its history and traditions.
It’s by following these principles that he started producing white wines that can be appreciated both when they are young and after some years of bottle ageing, when they have developed notes of ripe fruits and an interesting mineral complexity.
This idea led to one of my father’s most important projects, the creation of three Riserva white wines: the Collio Pinot Grigio Riserva Mongris Marco Felluga, the Collio Sauvignon Riserva Russiz Superiore and the Collio Pinot Bianco Riserva Russiz Superiore.
My father continually told me that taking care of what surrounds us is essential to ensure a future for us and the generations to come. Well, I completely agree with him and that’s the main reason why we have taken many steps in that direction.
Ribolla Gialla variety. Do you share that enthusiasm and if so, what makes the grape so interesting?
I think it’s just in our blood. There is a lot that makes this variety so interesting. It has an intense aroma with a floral and fruity background of exotic fruit, grapefruit and apple. I love how pleasant and balanced it is in the mouth, with its interesting extractive body and excellent freshness.
What ambitions do you have for the business and how big a task is it to assume responsibility for such an admired wine producer?
Well, of course it’s a huge responsibility, but I feel very lucky. I have many trusted collaborators by my side and, above all, my grandfather Marco, who guides me and is an endless source of knowledge. And, as I’ve said, my father was the best mentor I could ask for.
My biggest ambition right now is to carry on my father’s work, especially what he has done with his Riserva white wines and for the environment.
SOAVE IN FOCUS REACHING FOR THE SKY
Giuseppe Inama probably didn’t consider himself a visionary. But the land deals he struck in the 1960s and 1970s, which added a string of vineyards on Monte Foscarino in Soave Classico to his family wine business, now look particularly shrewd.
Giuseppe didn’t bottle his own wine: the juice was sold to bigger players in the Veneto region. It was only when his son Stefano took over as winemaker in 1992 that the Inama name started to appear on labels. Now, with a third generation involved, the family is redefining what Soave Classico can be, making wines that express variations in terroir that few even realised existed.
This is a volcanic landscape, and Foscarino’s soils are characterised by basalt and tufa, but also clay, providing a patchwork that can be interpreted with the region’s versatile Garganega grape.
“My grandad really understood that the grapes from certain hills were so different from each other,” explains chief executive Matteo Inama, grandson of Giuseppe, pictured right. “He started to focus on the Foscarino and now we have 20 hectares there.
“If you have plain soils with a lot of fertilisers, Garganega becomes quite neutral. It’s not super-high in acidity or super-fruity. This means that it does not have a really strong varietal character. So it’s a variety that is really able to express, through its florality and through its elegance, the place where it’s grown.”
About seven years ago the Inama family began employing the services of specialist viticulturists and a technical director to help them take their winemaking to the next level, and the rewards of this work are now hitting the market.
It took a lot of extra effort to get to this point. “We’re dividing vineyards more, we’ve doubled the number of batches we work with; and we decide later what to blend and how to get the balance in the blend,” says Matteo.
Inama’s two Soave Classico wines are proof of how varied the wines can be.
In 2020, the local consorzio introduced a cru system of Soave, Unità Geografiche, which is making it easier for producers like Inama to achieve success with wines from prized terroirs.
Carbonare comes from a very cool, sheltered spot halfway up a basalt hillside, with water flowing just under the surface of the rocks. “It’s a wine with tension and citrus aromas,” says Matteo. “We use no barriques, only stainless steel, and no malolactic, so there’s a lot of freshness and purity in the wine. It has exactly the same sensation that you feel in the grapes.” Foscarino, meanwhile, is grown on a drier and windier site, facing south east. “With Carbonare we do three hours’ maceration; with Foscarino it’s six to 12 hours,” says Matteo. “So the wine is a bit more golden and more oxidative in style. It’s richer, with a more leesy sensation; there’s more batonnage. It’s a super-gastronomic wine.”
The new classification has also paved the way for a grande cuvée wine, I Palchi, from the terraces of Monte Foscarino, and even more premium launches are imminent – not just under the Soave banner, but from Inama’s red wine collection, grown on the nearby Colli Berici.
Organic and biodynamic winemaking are now central to the Inama philosophy. “We’ve worked so hard and invested so much money in the vineyards to create more sustainable viticulture,” says Matteo. “And finally, after five or six years, we’re able to look back and say, wow: the wines have changed so much.
“It’s a lot of fun, actually. There have been sleepless nights and nervousness, but I think now everything is running so smoothly and the staff are super-excited and whoever had doubts doesn’t have doubts anymore. They have ideas.”
The Inama family always knew that Soave was capable of varied and complex expressions.
Thanks to a radical overhaul of their winemaking, it’s a point they are now proving, to the delight of their customers.
Feature sponsored by Inama and Winetraders Ltd.
inama.wine winetradersuk.co.uk
RETURNING TO RIESLING
As the trade prepares for the 31 Days of German Riesling promotion, Nigel Huddleston considers the variety’s unique position in wine industry lore – and why consumers are rediscovering a classic style
It’s perhaps stretching things a bit to call Riesling a Marmite grape variety. It’s not that everyone either loves it or hates it, more that they either retain an almost evangelical zeal in singing its praises or are completely indifferent towards it.
The home of Riesling is Germany, of course, where almost 60% of the world’s supplies of the variety are grown, where northern altitude, rocky soils and sleep slopes provide the optimum growing conditions to achieve minerality, acidity and backbone. Some 77% of the vineyard area of Rheingau is accounted for by the grape, and almost two-thirds of Mosel.
It’s reasonable to assert that Germany, like Riesling, hasn’t featured in the most in-vogue wine nations in the UK market for several decades now. But while other countries have been cutting their cloth to suit the shifting tastes of export markets, Germany has been sticking to what it does well – and modern trends now seem to be tilting back in its favour.
Wines of Germany says the country’s wine exports to the UK increased by 62% in value during 2021, and that Riesling increased its share of all white wine consumed in the UK from 15% to 16%. A tendency towards wines with relatively low alcohol levels plays to the trend for moderation, while its high acidity makes it, for many, the perfect match for spicy, Asian cuisine, tapping into major food trends of recent years.
Add in its unusual ageing potential – for a white wine – and a versatility that makes Riesling equally at home making dry, off-dry, sparkling or dessert wines and it clearly has a lot going for it.
All of German Riesling’s positive attributes have at some point featured in the campaigns of retailers taking part in Wines of Germany’s 31 Days of Riesling promotion, which returns again this year.
But for the true fans of German Riesling, it’s a grape variety that is for life, not just July.
Amps Wine Merchants was the off-trade runner-up in last year’s promotion, for a strong social media campaign, and interest in German Riesling is definitely growing, says Philip Amps.
“It went through the doldrums but it’s now something that people are asking for as they grow in their wine drinking experiences,” he says.
“The older generation will just say it’s too sweet and won’t even look at it. But there’s a younger generation who are coming through and recognise it for what it really is.
“People used to just want ‘a dry white wine’ but now they’re looking for something a bit more fruity and are honest enough to say they like that in a wine.
“With the plethora of spicy food available there is now people are finding Riesling works extremely well with it. As more international cuisine is coming in, it’s a reason why people are turning back to German Riesling.
While many German producers may have stuck to their stylistic guns more than those in, say, Iberia or South America, the country’s prevailing Riesling character – in as much as it conforms to any generic trope – has evolved in some measure.
“As it’s moved away from the petrol, kerosene [style] to pure fruit flavours it’s been a distinct advantage,” observes Amps. “When people try the classic petrol-style Riesling, particularly from Alsace, they say, ‘ooh, classic Riesling’ and then they go and buy something else. People are actually looking for a more fruit-driven style.”
THE WINEMAKER FILES // Markus Molitor
Markus Molitor represents the eighth generation of his family to take charge of Weingut Markus Molitor. The business has vineyards on the steep slate slopes of the Mosel River, with Riesling the principal variety.
The wines, imported by Winetraders, are painstakingly made in a traditional way, with native yeasts and maturation in large oak casks.
Visit markusmolitor.com or winetradersuk.co.uk for more information.
My father Werner, who had owned the winery before I took over, lost his right
arm when I was a young boy. He needed support and help in the vineyard and cellar – so I became his right hand. He taught me all about viticulture and vinification and I spent every free minute with him in the winery. I did not only learn every single step of winegrowing and winemaking, but I also took over his passion and enthusiasm.
All of our vineyard soils are composed of slate, in nearly infinite
variations. The main difference is the colour: grey, blue and red.But there are huge variations from vineyard to vineyard. Slate is a very smooth stone that means that it can be very weathered.
The vines’ roots are able to grow through the stony soil down to 10 to
12 metres deep. They can collect many minerals through the different layers and transfer these into the grapes.
The wines vary from plot to plot. You may always recognise them as Mosel Riesling, but there are infinite possibilities from light to heavy, from expressive minerality to spicy fruitiness, from cool to warm character.
Year by year we face a new adventure.
This is what makes it so special, because no vintage is similar to a previous one. But this is also the hardest thing about working in the vineyards. We have to deal with freak weather conditions which could be really devastating: frost, hail, drought etc. These extremes are able to destroy our passionate efforts and the daily work of a whole season in just a few minutes.
As has been the case for centuries, the wines are fermented
only by natural yeasts and matured in large oak casks, with no fining, no enzymes, no cultured yeast, nor any other correctives. The old three-story deep cellar is carved into the slate rocks of the hillside and provides an optimal, consistently cool, and humid climate. Here, our wines can ferment extremely slowly and as nature dictates. After fermentation, our wines age on the lees for months to gain mellowness and body.
For me there is no other option than
using natural yeasts. In fact, I would never experiment with any of my wines. Imagine the hard work in the vineyards all through the year, which should find its highlight in harvesting the perfect grape. I would not risk this for something I am not convinced of.
I’m trying to help restore the wines of our Mosel valley to their former glory
by producing unmistakeable Riesling wines true to their individual vineyard identity. So nothing has changed since the beginning, except for the size of the winery. We currently own 120 hectares, planted with Riesling (more than 90%) and various Pinot varieties.
We harvest all of the vineyards by hand so we’re able to allocate every single
berry in its own category. This labourintensive work leads to 80 to 90 different wines per vintage, each one absolutely unique in its composition and taste.
It sounds like a contradiction but, to keep the traditions, we need to
progress. For example, climate change forces many challanges and it will have a significant impact on the work of all winemakers. We will be dealing with increasingly extreme weather phenomena: extreme hail, extreme dry or wet periods, extreme storms etc. And yet basically everything stays the same: year after year, or day after day, we have to adapt to the situations given by nature.
Where does gin go from here?
The category’s boom years have given way to a sales plateau. So how to keep consumers interested? As Nigel Huddleston reports, there are differences of opinion and in approach
Too much of a good thing can be bad for you. Premier League football, triathlons, Wordle … whatever your pleasure, the sheen starts to rub off after excessive wear. So it has seemed in gin for some people lately, with the joys of buying, selling and even drinking it devalued by the sheer amount of ginrelated stuff that’s out there.
Anecdotally, it’s led to some retailers declaring gin to be “over”, gazumped by rum or whisky. The data is inconclusive. WSTA figures show a drop in the number of bottles of gin consumed last year in the UK last year, but value sales nudged back into growth to pass the £2bn mark, heading back to the levels of 2018 before the pandemic took a chunk of the market. However, on-trade number cruncher CGA reported that in the three months to January, vodka overtook gin in the on-trade as sales of the latter declined.
Given the distortions of the pandemic it’s probably too early to make a real judgment on exactly where we are with gin, but clearly the category has “issues”. A tendency towards novelty in flavours and serves is one of them. Norway’s banana-themed Eurovision entry seemed like good fun at the time, but looked less attractive when compared with more authentic approaches a bit further down the line, if you catch my drift.
There’s also just a lot of gin around, with the mainstream press bombarding consumers with clickbait about “the raspberry gin from Aldi that you just have to try”, or some such, on an almost daily basis. The discounter currently sells 10 flavours of its Haysmith’s gin: great consumer choice, or a brand that lacks a clear and authentic identity?
Aldi’s selling this stuff at £15 a pop. And the cost-of-living crisis isn’t going to make it any easier for indies trying to flog artisan-made gin that generally comes in at between £30 and £50. The aptly-named Ginnie Taylor, head of marketing at Mermaid gin producer Isle of Wight Distillery, observes that “gin enthusiasts are still well and truly passionate about the category”.
No doubt many are, but there’s also ennui settling in among others who like the odd G&T but wouldn’t self-identify as “gin enthusiasts”.
So where does gin go from here, and what can producers and retailers do to keep it genuinely interesting?
Make juniper the star
John Hall, head distiller at Cornwall’s Trevethan Distillery, thinks the agenda needs wresting back to classic juniper-led gin and away from gimmicky flavours, and says that consumer thirst for knowledge
Some brands are stripping back the botanicals to focus squarely on juniper
shouldn’t be underestimated.
“True distilleries will have numerous tweaks and variations to their steeping, distilling and finishing process,” he says. “Give the consumer some insight into this; they are more interested than you think.”
Some have taken an extreme approach to the problem. Pinkster raspberry gin has taken the fruit out of its main product to market the core spirit as a stand-alone drink for the first time.
And Holyrood Distillery’s Height of Arrows has abolished all other botanicals in favour of a juniper-only approach. The distillery says it wants to show how flavourful gin can be created from fewer ingredients, the way whisky is honed from just barley, water and yeast. The only additions are made after distillation: a little salt as a flavour enhancer, as in cooking, and beeswax to create a smooth texture.
Some brands are stripping back the botanicals to focus squarely on juniper
Seasonality and limited editions
Tarquin’s, with its bottles with the distinctive blue wax seal, has been among the most popular gins in independents over the past decade.
“We always have an exclusive, seasonal, limited edition gin available for independent retailers,” says founder Tarquin Leadbetter.
“It keep things exciting, allows a point of difference from the high street, and helps push the boundaries of our innovation and experimentation as distillers.”
The latest creation from Portobello Road Distillery in London is its Special Reserve 101 gin that retails at £59.
It’s made with a potato base spirit, aged in oak, which gives a viscous, creamy texture. The botanicals are steeped for double the length of time than normal and the gin is then cut to bottle strength with Vichy Catalan, “the most mineral-heavy potable water in the world”. It is, says the company’s co-founder Jake Burger, “our attempt to make an innovative gin, pushing the envelope in every way we can, while remaining within the boundaries laid out in the London dry gin regulations”.
Local angles
Tarquin’s Leadbetter thinks “localisation and terroir will be more important than ever” in gin’s future, while Declan McGurk of County Fermanagh’s Boatyard Distillery, whose gin is distributed by Speciality Brands, adds: “Regionality now certainly seems to be a key purchase trigger as consumers seek and champion locallymade gins.”
Welsh spirits brand Foragers sources botanicals – heather, elderberries and sea buckthorn – from the landscape of Snowdonia and the north Wales coast for its Yellow Label gin. The sea buckthorn is, with juniper, one of only two botanicals in its Black Label gin which, thus, also fits into the authentic, juniper-forward category.
Cornish rum brand Mainbrace has expanded into gin with one distilled with lemon verbena harvested from St Michael’s Mount, and three different types of seaweed – kelp, dulse, and sea spaghetti – sourced from the Cornish Seaweed Company in Gweek.
To ease the shopping journey around local products – and those sourced from different countries or that just fit into various flavour profiles – McGurk at Boatyard urges curation of retail ranges rather than just lumping everything on the shelves at random.
“Applying the same mindset as wine and grouping gins by region can be a good way to guide consumers,” he says. “Gin producers need to support this through transparency, so that when consumers look at a bottle, they can identify where it is from, and the style of the gin.
“Whisky is a category that succeeded from this approach, but both gin and rum have some way to go.”
BELLINIPOLITAN
Exhaustion with the whole gin thing has swung the white spirits pendulum back in vodka’s favour. The Cosmopolitan cocktail dates back to postProhibition America, but it had its heyday in vodka’s last great wave of fashionableness at the end of the 20th century, when the launch of Absolut Citron wowed New York bartenders. This Cosmo/Bellini hybrid tempers the cranberry sharpness with a touch of stone-fruit sweetness and adds some bubbles for a summer’s day treat.
3cl lemon vodka 2cl triple sec/Cointreau 1.5 cl peach juice 1.5 cl lime juice Splash of cranberry juice Sparkling wine of choice
Put all the ingredients except the fizz into a shaker with ice and shake vigorously until cold to the touch. Strain into a Martini glass or large flute and top with the sparkling wine.
