Vinitaly, Days 2 and 3

Domenico has finally sat down and emailed me a sketchy, breathless jumble of impressions of Vinitaly and more. Some of the stuff was in English, some in Italian, some of it in a some weird combination of the two.  And no pictures yet.  ("I forgot my cable."  Thanks, buddy.)

Since, like most Italians, Domenico tends to go for the predica lunga ("the long sermon," i.e., doesn't know when to shut up), I've distilled his comments as follows. Vinitaly is such a hectic and huge event, I can understand why it takes a while to organize yourself to write coherently about it.  He promises that he'll send something more substantial as soon as it's over.  The last day is tomorrow, Monday.

Anyway, here are some of the really interesting observations and tidbits:

§  There is a consistent "character gap" between the big names and the small producers of each region.  The small producers -- and I mean small, with 10,000 or even fewer bottles per year -- are making wine that is balanced, clean, well-made and distinct from even their nearest neighbors'.  Just in Abruzzo, for example, friends of Stefano Illuminati, whose own wines are terrific [Italiani, terrific vuol dire ottimi] introduced me to a couple of friends from his area. 

Domenico writes:

"These wines are beautiful, they taste handcrafted.  They are not big fat wines, they are not complicated wines, they are simply good wines made from the Montepulciano d'Abruzzo grape.  But they are so far above most Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wines, it's like they are from another variety completely."  I await some details from Dom about these interesting small producers.  Like their names, for example.

The only possible downside is that these wines show a fair amount of annual variation.  That's seems to be OK for the grand names of wine, but in a brand-driven world, it might mean problems.  I suspect they are for a niche of discriminating wine lovers who respect the work of nature.

§  Italy has hundreds of native grape varieties.  A relatively small number of them -- let's say a couple of dozen -- account for most of the wine produced.

The country also has thousands of producers ranging, by world standards, from medium to very small.  In an effort to create a distinctive product, a flagship product that, in effect, brands the winery, a number of them are doing R&D on rescuing "autochthonous" grapes from oblivion.  I have already reported on Albino Armani's rescue operation with the casetta or foja tonda variety.

Domenico tells me that others producers are quietly doing the same thing.  "These wineries are in different regions of Italy, from Alto Adige to Piemonte and Toscana and so forth.  Almost always the variety they are saving is red.  They seem to be a little rough, but that may be because the vines are new and the wine is just bottled before it's really ready, especially for Vinitaly."

This is exciting; I love tasting new varieties and seeing obscure grapes undergo a revival.  You have to wonder, though, how a crowded market will respond to yet more products from Italian winemakers.  It's too early to tell now, of course, because these initiatives are literally and figuratively years from bearing fruit.

§  Finally, for today, Domenico told me, in an almost incoherently joyous section of the email, about today's biodynamic tasting at Villa Favorita, near Vicenza. 

"I tasted not all of the wines by any means.  But I tasted enough.  I tagged with Aristide, your blogger friend Giampiero Nadali.  He was very nice about driving me all over and he told me I must not miss this event.  Talk about character!  These wines had it and how.  Even if I didn't like a certain wine I respected the purity and individuality.  The winemakers are small producers, of course, but they are leaders.  Real leaders, not bullshit media stars if you know what I mean."

Domenico, old boy, I do know what you mean.  Thanks for the news.

Domenico didn't go into much detail because he was running around before going to the cantina of the Albino Armanis, where he hoped to taste the honest, clean wines I have often raved about.  More tomorrow, he promises me.

Comments

[Fredric Koeppel]

don't tell me that Domenico is becoming a convert to bio-dy????? god forbid!

[Luca Risso]

Tanti saluti a Domenico da parte mia!

Luk

[Terry Hughes]

@ FK -- Domenico is a little cautious about the claims and some of the new age weirdness. But the proof is in the tasting.

@ Luk -- Domenico says ciao and it was a pleasure to meet you.

[Fredric Koeppel]

As opposed to the proof in the tasting of thousands of excellent wines that are carefully, thoughtfully, meticulously made w/out the ministrations of bio-dy?

[gabrio]

Tell Domenico to bring back some Vinsanto from Sangiusto a Renatennano

[gabrio]

Rentennano sorry

[Terry Hughes]

FK - No, dai, non rompermi le scatole. (Don't bust my chops.) I think Domenico meant that whether or not you go for all the new age hocus pocus, the wines are good anyway. Forbid I should become an ideologue of the bio-dy movement. Next thing I'd be wearing Birkenstocks and making nettle wine. (That's for those of you who remember the Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.)

@ Gabrio - troppo tardi. Fiera chiusa, Domenico scappato a Roma.