Terre di Nano. This is the name of a wine producer and agriturismo in Tuscany, about halfway between Montalcino and Pienza. They aren't exactly new, they're just new to the American winedrinker.
Danielle Pollack of Terre di Nano contacted me and asked if I would like to try a couple of the azienda's wines. She was coming to the States and was hoping to drum up interest among importers. Never one to turn down free wine, I said, "Sure." But I did tell her that I'd only write about them on the blog if I liked them.
Obviously, I did.
I took two bottles over to friend Courtenay's last Sunday evening, where she was having a dinner party for seven, including some dear friends from South Carolina. We were having a standing rib roast. It turned out to be an inspired match.
What can I say? The wines were a hit. A huge hit. We could have drunk more bottles, but I had wisely saved a couple for myself. I'm drinking one now, finishing off a bottle we actually opened last night. Some notes follow, but note that these are not Montalcino DOC wines. One (Quericalsale) is an Orcia Rosso DOC and the other, the more expensive and ambitious Maclura, is a Rosso di Toscana IGT. (Sole criticism: note the low-res photos. Why do wineries constantly post such crummy pix?)
The grape varieties are all local, however, with no Merlot or other such in the blend. Sangiovese predominates in both wines, with various amounts of softening Canaiolo and Colorino (in the Maclura).
Here are some notes made at dinner.
Quercialsale 2003 (14%)
Cherry, smoky, peppery and rather chewy.
Tannins not too assertive, oak in balance. A crowd pleaser when first
tasted. Not too complex but a nice long finish. I liked the acidity
and liveliness of this wine, and I like it now, the night after the
second bottle was opened and gratefully drunk with high-quality Italian
take-out. It's lost a little something overnight, but it's still a
couple of cuts above the run of everyday reds we generally suck up.
Maclura 2003 (14%)
At
first this far bigger and more ambitious wine seemed way too oaky for
me, especially its nose. But this impression subsided as the wine
aired, and its big bold extracted American-style flavor profile came to
the fore. Rich cocoa and chocolate with an appropriately sweetish
finish. It faded for a while, then came back with a somewhat
unexpected finesse, the richness balanced by a gentleness in the
tannins and an emergence of the acidity that had seemed lost on first
taste. Maclura was the 4-3 favorite at the table. I preferred the
little brother, Quercialsale, but I admit Maclura was winning me over
at the end. And it paired superbly with the standing rib roast and
fixin's. I have another bottle of Maclura, which I'll open well ahead
of dinner -- we'll see if the wow factor is still there.
These are lovely, rich, chewy wines, and they should be widely available in the US. Unfortunately, they are not. Importers wanted, nay, needed.
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