Bertani, Part 1

When we got into this business back in 1981 one of our suppliers was a wine distributor called MacKesson; yes, the pharmaceuticals company.  They had gotten into the wine business in a big way, owning the rights to sell exclusively in Georgia the wines of several premium California estate wineries.  And they failed miserably in the process.  America at large was not yet culturally ready for fine California wines.  So, for those of us savvy enough to pick up on what inevitably became regular dumps of fine wines at ridiculously discounted prices, it was manna from heaven.  

Earlier this year our Tenuta Santa Maria Italian wine vendor shared that his wine was actually the production of the historic brand, Bertani (est.1857), and that the actual Bertani brand on store shelves was now owned by an Italian drug company.  Weird.  

MacKesson quickly got out of the wine business, by the way, and those great labels of yore found new suppliers who knew how to market them effectively.  Here's the obvious backstory: Wine industry insiders know how to work with narrow profit margins.  Drug companies don't have the patience.  They're used to the H-U-G-E margins in their industry.

The Italian drug company has now owned Bertani for a dozen years and they've added parcels in Montepulciano, Montalcino, Chianti Classico and more recently, Marche and Friuli.  They appear to be quite successful.  How do they do it?

Three things:      

1. The wine culture in Italy is very mature so selling this product that is known to everyone should be relatively easy.

2. Georgia is a three tier state.  Maybe Italy doesn't have that extra expensive level of bureaucracy eating up profits.  AND the government over there is probably more supportive of the industry than over here.

3. The Bertani wines aren't what they used to be.  The drug company bought the Bertani name but not the best vineyards.  So there you go, they lowered their costs by sourcing from lesser vineyards to increase their margins.  

Rueda

Time to eat crow.  

We always thought the Rueda (roo-AY-dah) wine appellation solely produced wine made from the Verdejo grape, kind of like Picpoul in France, an entire wine appellation dedicated to a single varietal.  But we were wrong.  While Verdejo has been the signature grape of Rueda since the 11th century and currently 90% of the production there, some time back Sauvignon Blanc made its appearance there and more recently, Chardonnay and Viognier have been added.  As of 2008 red grapes have even been added, making up 4% of vineyard land currently.

Rueda is Spain's most famous white wine region.  All of the changes mentioned above actually began in the 1970s when the great Rioja house, Marques de Riscal, took an interest in the area.  At that time the sherry grape, Palomino Fino, was still widely planted there, a legacy of the Phylloxera debacle a hundred years earlier.  With all of the continental climate benefits we recounted in the previous post, Riscal was eager to invest in Rueda's fine wine potential. 

In the store currently we have two from Bodegas Grupo Yllera, a varietal Sauvignon Blanc and a white blended of 91% Verdejo, 3% Sauvignon Blanc, 2% Chardonnay, 2% Viognier and 2% of the indigenous Viura varietal.  Since Spanish wine law says a varietal wine must be 85% of that type, we don't know why this one wasn't just called Verdejo, except that the blend name may sell better, I guess.

Verdejo wine is aromatic and fruit-forward with flavors of citrus, grass, stone fruit, white flowers and fennel.  It is full bodied, structured, acidic and finishes with a little bitter almond amongst everything else.  Most of the white wines of Rueda are 100% Verdejo.  In a blend Verdejo adds fruit and a floral quality, which, if you think about it, meshes quite well with the tropical fruit and minerality of Sauvignon Blanc.  Whether as a varietal or in a blend,  Rueda Verdejo has always been a fave here. 

Nuevemeses

This is an inexpensive estate-bottled red blend from Bodegas Grupo Yllera of Spain.  Yllera is a formidable operation that markets wines from several appellations in Spain, all within the largest wine region of the European Union, Castilla y Leon.  This tract overlays the northern half of the Meseta Central plateau, one-fifth of the land mass of Spain, extending from Rioja to the east to Portugal to the west.  Nuevemeses is the entry level offering in what they call their classic line of red wines from Castilla y Leon.  

The key wine grape of the region is Tempranillo.  Nuevemeses is 91% Tempranillo with the remainder being some combination of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.  The wine has a cherry red color with purple highlights with a complex nose featuring red fruits, plum and chocolate.  On the palate darker berry flavors emerge with pepper, vanilla and toast.  In the mouth the wine is soft, round and elegant.

Castilla y Leon has a two thousand year history of winemaking.  Its continental climate features hot dry summers and sharp cold winters.  The region is sheltered by mountains from the temperature-moderating Atlantic Ocean so the diurnal effect of day/night temperature swings is in full effect.  This temperature swing maximizes the inherent grape aromas and minimizes oxidation in the rich red wines of the region.  Night harvesting of grapes captures those grapes at their best.

What makes Nuevemeses a red wine worth trying?  Aside from what we've already said above, the winemaking includes an extended fourteen day maceration with daily pumping before undergoing malolactic fermentation in stainless steel.  Then the wine sees time in American oak barrels before further aging in the bottle.  Folks, when considered with what we know of the region, this bespeaks quality winemaking.  Enjoy this one with your steak, hamburgers or really anything you would like.

The Finger Lakes

It's been ten years since the release of Jancis Robinson's acclaimed American Wine book.  That much anticipated tome justifiably covered the established west coast industry, as you would expect, but also surveyed the rest of the country.  In the book she acknowledged what wasn't exactly a secret - The Finger Lakes appellation in upper New York State deserves its due as one of our finest wine venues.

The very first vinifera wine grapes to be planted in America arrived in New York in 1647 courtesy of some well meaning Dutch colonists who, of course, knew nothing of the appetite of the American phylloxera aphid.  That short lived experiment set New York winemaking back almost two hundred years, essentially conceding the industry to America's native labrusca grapes.  French-American hybrids followed in the 1950's before America's tastes finally shifted to finer wines.

What makes the Finger Lakes AVA (American Viticultural Area) so desirable?  It has the cooler continental climate wine grapes love and gravelly (fast-draining), nutrient-poor slate soils that force a taproot deeper for sustenance.  Trace elements of this and that then find their way into the fruit yielding a clean, fresh, minerally wine with high acidity.  These are white wines in particular we are talking about and by this description you know they would be delightful if enjoyed by themselves.  But that acidity is also perfect at mealtime for cutting through fatty meats and fishes and standing up to spicy cuisine.    

The Finger Lakes fine white wine claim to fame is the versatile Riesling grape which may be made into wine styles from very dry to strictly-for-dessert.  The typical flavor profile may include some combination of green apple, citrus and stone fruit flavors accompanying a floral component along with the acidity and minerality mentioned above.  

Riesling is one of a handful of noble wine grapes and the coolness of the Finger Lakes growing conditions are ideal for it.  Forty years ago in what may have been my first blind tasting, we tasted five Rieslings from distinct locales across the country.  Surprisingly I correctly identified each with the Finger Lakes wine being memorable for its soft round mouthfeel.

Las Lilas Vinho Verde Rose

This delightful dry rose comes from the Adega Ponte Barca winery (est. 1963) in northwestern Portugal.  Specifically, this is the Vinho Verde wine appellation we're talking about, home to the lightest white wines you will find anywhere.  While that is the pride of the region, the roses shouldn't be overlooked.   The Lilas is a lightly effervescent, fresh, floral and crisp quaff with cherry fruit notes.  Food affinities would be seafood and salads.

The hand harvested Las Lilas fruit comes from twenty year old mountainous estate vines lying between the Lima and Vez rivers and since we're talking about Vinho Verde here, the Atlantic Ocean maritime influence is real.  

Adega Ponte Barca is a modern winemaking facility that does everything in stainless steel.  After an extended maceration with little fining or filtering the wine is left on the lees for two months, accounting for much of its character.

The Las Lilas Rose consists of 40% Vinhao grapes, 30% Borracal and 30% Espadeiro.  What does that actually mean for us, considering these types are not exactly household names?  If you go to the Wikipedia page called List of Portuguese Wine Grape Varieties you run smack dab into the miasma that is really old Old World winemaking.  Vinhao turns out to be two varieties that are currently being hashed out as to which may be the variety in this wine.  Espadeiro is a family of five grapes types that we couldn't differentiate.  Borracal goes by eighteen different names.  All we were able to glean from this mess is that in all likelihood Vinhao imparts color and rustic raisiny character while Borracal gives the wine a perfumy nose and tart acidity.  Espadeiro?  Heck if we know. 

Escudo Rojo Pinot Noir Reserva

Just like the previous post, we come by this wine via a vendor's choice placement in the store.  Eric is so reliable we let him mix up a few cases of wines he thought might do well here and as always, we're grateful for his acumen.

Escudo Rojo is Chilean Pinot Noir from the Baron Philippe de Rothschild organization, which not so humbly calls it an iconic brand in their promotional literature; which is tooting their own horn, I would say.  

The wine is a big business endeavor sourcing their pinot grapes from the Casablanca Valley, which does well with that variety.  They blend grapes from the flatlands of the Atlantic side of the appellation with those from the higher terrain eastern side to achieve the level of quality they need.  They say the maritime-influence and sandy soil of the western side provide freshness while the higher elevation eastern granite soils bring minerality and elegance.  The wine is then aged in new oak for six months before seeing a year or two in old barrels.

The result shows an inviting nose of fresh and complex forward red fruit and almonds followed by an attack of elegant, succulent tannins along with the fruit on the palate, then finishing with the fresh red fruits again.

All of the above text is derived from the Rothschild promotional material.  Here is what we would like you to know: Pinot Noir needs the savory side of the palette spectrum and that's what Chile does so well.  We all love fruitiness in wine and if a producer has great pinot fruit and wants to feature that without the oak then we're all for it.  Truly great pinot is a wonder to behold.  What is all too often the case though is that the pinot is mediocre and the winemaking adjustments meant to amend the problem only seem to make it worse.  That's where savoriness comes into play.  So much of pinot magic happens when the fruit meets savoriness.  That kind of complexity is to die for.

Tibouren Clos Cibonne

When this one came through the door I thought, WTF, a $45 rose?  How am I ever going to sell that?  Svetlana is aces as a wine supplier; so much so, I let her write her own orders and occasionally I end up with stuff like this.  It will be a hard sell, sure, but I need to take a deep breath and relax because whoever purchases this one is going to get a helluva rose.

Along with the wine's name across the top half of the front label, the words Cotes du Provence Cru Classe run across the bottom, which I concluded was just marketing.  To my knowledge there was no classification in Provence.  Upon googling the question, I was humbled to learn that yes, back in 1955 an official classification of the producers in Provence was created with Clos Cibonne (est. 1804) residing in the top tier. 

Tibouren is the grape variety, by the way, and it has its own story beginning around 500bc in Mesopotamia.  Greeks are credited with bringing it to Rome and, for all practical purposes, Provence became its permanent home.  Ninety-eight percent of the world's Tibouren grapes reside in Provence (2% in South Africa) with one half of Clos Cibonne's twenty-four hectares being planted in Tibouren.  The other half is some combination of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault.  

Tibouren is a black thin-skinned grape that makes full-bodied roses with a floral, berryish, earthy bouquet.  Garrigue is the name of the fragrant ground cover in Provence that wine makers believe imparts its aromas into the vineyard grapes which in turn become a part of the wines' aromas.  Jancis Robinson is the reigning wine expert of the world and she describes Clos Cibonne's garrigue aromas as intense. 

So why is the Tibouren grape so obscure in the current wine scene?  The answer is obvious.  It's difficult to grow.  It is a cultivar, a grape variety that is cultivated using grafts, clones and hybrids in order to maintain its desired characteristics.  That separates it from the greater world of grape types. 

If you are a rose lover and want to taste the best there is, stop in for some Tibouren Clos Cibonne.