February
24, 2008
Italy's
Cult Staples
In This Issue
A Note from Sergio
I've been using the term cult wine for years, and to be honest, it
often throws people off. I can understand, though, how it can seem shocking
to equate a gorgeous and expensive Alzero with something as goofy as This
Is Spinal Tap or as gory as Faces of Death. But in my mind, I think
of certain wines like I think of certain cult films: Both the wine and the
film inspire such devotion in their followers that only the word cult conveys
the hardcore love of something so esoteric that one encounter changes people
forever.
Cult wines and films tend to inspire the same kind of diehard appreciation.
I often think of those films that play only at a local movie house on Friday
at midnight. I think of the films that I and my old friends watched over and
over and over again—those whose lines I can recite along with the actors.
I think of the film that I showed to a date, only to find that she didn’t
get it, and how I dumped the date because of it. Those films that inspire that
kind of single-minded devotion are cult films, and their audience is a lot
like the audience for the cult wines I’m featuring this week.
Look, not
everyone “gets” a cult hit. Not everyone is supposed
to. Cult wines—like cult films—are esoteric. They appeal to the
connoisseurs of strange beauty—the weird, the odd, the silly, and the
wild. Sometimes, a wine attains cult status because it had a very limited release
or simply has yet to be known to a wide audience. But find a group who gets
it—or finds it serendipitously—and you find a group whose devotion
is passionate, lifelong, and a source of bonding.
Cult films featuring monsters, killers, and gore—like Dawn of the
Dead, Evil Dead II, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Swamp Thing—bring
to mind the Quintarelli 1997 Alzero—a voluptuous, decadent, elegant,
and bold wine. However, the antic nature of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, the
surreal world of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and the
zaniness of Slap Shot make me think of a brilliant bubbly like the
Murgo 2004 Brut or a colorful and energetic Poggio di Sotto 2004 Rosso di
Montalcino. Both have the feel of a bike race in the mouth.
To me, nothing says cult film like something with hot babes and big guns.
Whether it’s Russ Myer’s Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!, Showgirls, Scarface, or Blade
Runner, I like to think of these movies playing in a drive-in theatre.
With their dark and dangerous characters, these movies also bring to mind a
wine like the succulent, tobacco-toned Tua Rita 2005 Redigaffi, or the brooding
Galardi 2005 Terra di Lavoro. But cult films come in many flavors. “The
Dude” abides, and so do many cult movies that inhabit the genre of “smoke ’em
up” rather than “shoot ’em up.” Films like The
Big Lebowski, Dazed and Confused, The Harder They Come, and Reefer
Madness, bring to mind Pianpolvere Soprano 1999 Barolo Bussia Riserva or
Quintarelli 1999 Valpolicella Superiore. Other cult movies are simply weird,
wild, and whacked. There’s no shame in loving a film as bizarre as Brazil, esoteric
as Eraserhead, or as strange as Stranger Than Paradise. There
is, however, a challenge in pairing a wine with one of these films. “What
goes well with The Toxic Avenger,” you wonder, and you’d
not be the first. I might suggest the startling, quirky, and decidedly earth-friendly
Valentini 2001 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, or La Castellada’s complex,
full-bodied 2002 Ribolla Gialla.
This journey into underground cinema in no
way detracts from my firm belief that the enjoyment of Italian wine absolutely
depends upon food. I’m
just using the analogy I find flickering on the walls of my mind when I think
of cult wines. I hope that in so doing, I will inspire you to try something
new, or perhaps help you to celebrate your individuality—no matter how
eldritch or odd—for it makes the world of Italian wines a truly wonderful
place to explore.
To cult films, cult wines, and those who “get” them,
I salute you.
My best,
Sergio Esposito
For more accounts of Italian wine, food and life reserve my new book:
Passion
On The Vine: a Memoir of Food, Wine, and Family in the
Heart of Italy
Cult Collectibles Sampler
 The
ability to say that you have tasted many of these wines puts you among a privileged
few. This sampler represents IWM’s rarest collection and truly captures
the breadth and supremacy of Italy’s cult genre, encompassing some of
the category’s most coveted names in the artisanal, traditional, and
iconic realms. These offerings derive from several regions, thereby affording
a range of diverse expressions. What brings them all together is their exceedingly
low production: The demand for these wines is so out of proportion with supply
that the wines often incite a frenzy upon release. Such is the case with Valentini's
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Quintarelli's Alzero. The former’s Montepulciano
is one of Italy’s most sought-after wines; it's a wild and provocative
translation of a grape that belies its reputation of making a wine solely for
casual drinking. Quintarelli’s Alzero does something quite similar with
Cabernet Franc, taking it to a place far beyond the grape as we know it.
Not all selections compel their followers with this dramatic allure. Others inspire
with their astute renderings of terroir—like the late Valentino Migliorini’s
Pianpolvere Soprano, an esteemed Piemonte cru that is regarded as one of the
Nebbiolo grape’s most profound and astute interpreters. Piero Palmucci’s
Il Decennale is, in effect, a viticultural thesis of a quest he began in the
late eighties to produce his conception of the ideal authentic Brunello. It’s
the only one of its kind—a Tenth Anniversary homage to what’s become
a life-defining passion.
If your weakness is unbridled opulence, however, it’s the icons you'll
keep vigil for, particularly one of those riveting Merlots that gives Toscana
a place right next to Pomerol for its achievement with this noble varietal. Like
the great Château Le Pin, Le Macchiole’s Messorio belongs to a class
of extroverted Merlots that revels in Dionysian bliss. Galardi’s garage
wine of Campania, Terra di Lavoro, became an overnight sensation with the first
vintage, acquiring a religious following whose fervor doesn’t allow for
many new members.
This sampler is a utopia for the collector—extreme access to wines that
just don’t come on demand.
Italy's Cult Collectibles Sampler:
Poggio
di Sotto 2001 Brunello Il
Decennale…$151.25
Galardi
2005 Terra di Lavoro…$99.00**
Pianpolvere
Soprano 1999 Barolo Bussia
Riserva…$170.50
Edoardo
Valentini 2001 Montepulciano
d'Abruzzo…$199.95†
Le
Macchiole 2003 Messorio…$229.00†**
Quintarelli
1997 Alzero…$357.50
Italy's Cult Collectibles
Sampler…$1,207.20
** Indicates prearrival
† Only available through purchase of sampler
Poggio di Sotto
Brunello 'Il Decennale'
Poggio
di Sotto 2001 Brunello Il
Decennale…$151.25
Il Decennale is the first and last of its
kind; it won’t be made again, and more
importantly, with a case production numbering
a mere 815, it simply won’t be around
for a second offer. Crafted as the
culmination of Piero Palmucci’s first
ten years as a craftsman of
limited-production artisanal Brunello, Il
Decennale represents Poggio di Sotto’s
premier grape sources—vines that have
attained a pinnacle stage in their
expressiveness and refinement. It also
constitutes the estate’s Riserva for
2001, as it was aged in accordance with the
stipulations governing the Riserva
designation. Known for being an inexorable
perfectionist, Palmucci rejects over half the
fruit cultivated, observing standards that
allow for only minute production levels. He
pursues a tradition-oriented paradigm,
conducting fairly lengthy maceration periods
and aging the wines in Slavonian oak barrels.
His ideology receives a visual complement in
the glass: Upon release, Palmucci’s
garnet-toned Brunellos implicitly reject and
question the legitimacy of their purple-hued
regional counterparts. Even at this early
stage in its development, Il Decennale is
enjoyable with only a few hours’
decanting. Aromatically riveting on the nose,
it creates a paradoxically harmonious tension
on the palate, carrying its rich fruit with
an intuitive elegance. It is not merely a
quintessential rendering of the ’01
vintage; it is one of this year’s most
profound achievements. (read
more…)
Also Available:
Poggio
di Sotto 2001 Brunello Il Decennale…$309.00 (1.5L)
Galardi 2005 Terra di
Lavoro
 Galardi
2005 Terra di Lavoro…$99.00**
Terra di Lavoro debuted on the market as a
modest $30-garage wine (1994 vintage).
It didn’t stay that way for long.
Before its second vintage, this
limited-production wine—roughly between
300
and 750 cases, depending on the
vintage—was well on its way to cult status.
Now one of Italy’s most sought-after
and hard-to-acquire labels, it shares Campania’s leading wine position
with Silvia Imparato’s Montevetrano.
(Significantly, both are the sole
productions of their respective estates and
have been crafted by the famed
yet controversial consultant Riccardo
Cotarella since their inception.) Certain
terroirs in Campania—most notably
Taurasi and Taburno—emphasize
Aglianico’s tannins, but
Galardi’s northcoast positioning marries
those tannins with a lush blackberry
dimension, a quality that Terra di Lavoro
is renowned for maximizing. Aged for one
year in new French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered, a
“textbook” Terra di Lavoro
affords compelling accessibility upon
release, yet its complex layers will continue to
embellish and work out their splendid
orchestration with significant cellar age, generally
extending two decades beyond the vintage. It is the wine that
showed Cotarella what Campania's native grapes
were made of—and it has shown many
more since. (read
more…)
Also Available:
Galardi
2003 Terra di Lavoro…$160.63**
Galardi
2002 Terra di Lavoro…$127.10**
**Indicates prearrival
San Giusto a Rentennano
2004 La Ricolma
 San
Giusto a Rentennano 2004 La Ricolma…$145.03**
If you’ve been scanning this e-Letter
for signs of Masseto, cease and
desist right now. Save yourself the
futility of searching tomorrow for La
Ricolma—San Giusto’s
pure-varietal Merlot bottling. With a production
level of 420 cases, the '04 simply won’t
be here. Then you’ll miss
out on this audacious, extreme provocateur
that has committed Masseto drinkers
seeking pleasure solely in a bottle of La
Ricolma. Like its portfolio counterpart,
the monovarietal Sangiovese Percarlo,
La Ricolma is known for delivering an immersion
course in heady opulence that remains
grounded in the virtues of structure.
The 2004 La Ricolma is redolent with this
Merlot’s signature
aromatics—blackberry,
minerality, and smoke—and the palate
mirrors this in waves of concentrated
layers. The ’04 handles its weight
with a grace that somewhat eludes
’03’s
dramatic persona, because in 2004, that drama somehow finds a place alongside
the tannic structure, which places the fruit in context. (read
more…)
Also Available:
San
Giusto a Rentennano 2004 Percarlo…$132.55**
San
Giusto a Rentennano 2004 Percarlo…$292.25 (1.5L)**
San
Giusto a Rentennano 1997 Percarlo…$281.80**
** Indicates prearrival
Pianpolvere Soprano 1999
Barolo Bussia Riserva
 Pianpolvere
Soprano 1999 Barolo Bussia Riserva…$170.50
If Barolo ever established a cru system, this
wine would be one of a few to merit
a Grand Cru Classé rank.
Pianpolvere has long been regarded as
an exceptional site for Nebbiolo, with Renato
Ratti and Bruno Giacosa among its
foremost admirers. Giacosa, in fact, believes
that it possesses one of the region’s
foremost terroirs, going so far as to place
it above his own esteemed Falletto
cru. Founded by Paolo Fenocchio, it is
currently under the ownership of the late
Valentino Migliorini’s Rocche dei
Manzoni estate. Valentino purchased the
vineyard in 1998 with the intention of
cultivating a Barolo of substantive longevity.
The 1999 marks the first vintage in which
Valentino was involved in all phases
of production. It will also be one of the
last, given his recent passing in December
of 2007. The vintage in and of itself is also
distinctive, for it afforded Valentino the
perfect context in which to realize his
ambition of creating a wine of longevity.
That said, however, the wine shows an
integration beyond its years that may inspire
current drinking. Nevertheless, you may want
to forgo doing so; the site, vintage, and
producer all suggest holding back a bit and
allowing this precocious youth to grow into
its majestic profile, deepen its aromatics,
and realize a Barolo innovator's legacy. (read
more…)
Quintarelli 1997 Alzero
Quintarelli
1997 Alzero…$357.50
Frankly speaking, when you’ve
established the benchmark for Amarone, what
more can you do? Reinventing Cabernet Franc
isn’t an obvious choice, but Alzero
makes it seem virtually preordained.
Quintarelli’s contribution to the cult
genre, Alzero also gives Cab Franc a rare
taste of this exclusive realm. With
production generally hovering below the
300-case mark, it’s not very easy for
the collector to enter this space either, where devotees for worthy reference
points—with Cheval Blanc and Port being
two of the most popular likenesses. But
really, this heady creation—vinified
through the appassimento technique
(drying of the grapes in single layers upon straw or
plastic mats)—is a thing unto itself, a
tantalizing production that exudes a copious
profusion of raisins and figs, cassis jam,
chocolate, coffee, spices, and minerality. The 1997 is of particular interest
because it departs from its Franc-minded focus, inviting Cabernet Sauvignon
to deliver an equal contribution and allowing Merlot to make a minor cameo
appearance as well. It’s
still all Alzero, though, a sublime evocation
of riches that simply doesn’t borrow
from any other wine’s style. (read
more…)
Also Available:
Quintarelli
1988 Alzero…$799.00
Amarone
Quintarelli
1998 Amarone della Valpolicella…$340.99
Quintarelli
1995 Amarone Riserva $565.00
Recioto
Quintarelli
1990 Recioto Riserva $750.00
Quintarelli
1993 Recioto Valpolicella $450.00
Quintarelli
1988 Recioto Valpolicella Classico $550.00
Quintarelli
1986 Recioto Valpolicella Classico $550.00
Tua Rita 2005 Redigaffi
 Tua
Rita 2005 Redigaffi…$269.00**
Some speculate that Merlot is actually
indigenous to Italy, and with its
line-up of cult Merlots—Masseto,
Galatrona, Messorio, and La
Ricolma—there’s
more than ample evidence to support this
contention. Perhaps none, however,
proves Italy’s way with Merlot like
Redigaffi does. The beloved and
unapologetically hedonistic red from the
small artisanal estate of Tua Rita, Redigaffi
is the widely acknowledged leader of the
second generation of Super-Tuscans.
If you’re looking for the one among
these cults that’s absolutely
ready to be approached now, Redigaffi is
the obvious choice. Vintage after vintage, Tua Rita is
ravishing and incomparable, making you wonder why some regions outside Italy
bother with Merlot. This kind of intensity is the work of
low-yielding, densely planted vines,
a lengthy maceration period of 27 days,
and a lavish new-barrique aging regimen
of 12 to 16 months. The ’05 is a
heady and intense concoction of luscious
black fruits, chocolate, exotic spice, and
vanilla. With a mere 680 cases available,
this offer—as with those for so many of
Toscana's Merlots—just won't be made
again. (read
more…)
Also Available:
Tua
Rita 2000 Redigaffi…$739.12**
**Indicates prearrival
Rare Values Sampler
Our sampler of cult values features labels that
are—just like the cult collectibles
above—limited production or
difficult-to-obtain.
The selection is also just as diverse as the
staples
collection, representing regions that you
wouldn’t normally associate with the
cult set.
Moreover, each appreciates by the vintage and
enjoys,
of course, a commensurate rise in popularity.
These choices still, however, offer the
thrill of being “insider
wines.”
Didn’t think that a white could be a cult? Well, to be honest, La Castellada’s
Ribolla Gialla drinks like a red in many ways—it's a rich, structured
wonder that derives its unique character partially from an extended maceration
(a portion of which is conducted on the skins). Fascinating, absorbing, and wholly
unique, it inspires contemplation, and with just 300 cases, it’s
a rare find. Quintarelli’s Alzero may inspire
fanatic devotion, but his Valpolicella
routinely wins over the crowd at IWM events,
with many believing it to be an Amarone.
Poggio di Sotto’s Il Decennale is the
estate’s tour de force production, but
its Rosso di Montalcino may very well be the
tour de force of the entire Rosso di
Montalcino DOC (though the fact it’s
mistaken for Brunello might disqualify it
here).
Those Tuscan super Merlots are pure
seduction, but maybe you’d prefer to
engage with a more classic interpretation. Dipoli’s Iugum (70% Merlot,
30% Cabernet Sauvignon)—from the region of Trentino—favors structure
over sleek design and shows that Italy has more than one way of succeeding with the
noble Merlot. Production of this exceptional find is a mere 600 cases. And
what about that Sicilian sparkler? Made wholly from Sicilia’s indigenous
Nerello Mascalese, it's one of those
little-known gems that's won quite a
following.
This sampler is an obscure collection for the
enthusiast, providing insider access to wines
that you wouldn’t readily find.
Italy's Rare Values Sampler:
Murgo
2004 Brut…$28.05
La
Castellada 2002 Ribolla Gialla…$52.97
Il
Macchione 1999 Vino Nobile Riserva…$55.00
Dipoli
2004 Iugum…$52.95
Poggio
di Sotto 2004 Rosso di Montalcino…$49.50
Quintarelli
1999 Valpolicella Superiore… $85.95
Italy's
Rare Values Sampler Offering…$324.42
*Free Delivery
in Manhattan
IWM Wine Experiences
 View
All of IWM's Upcoming Events...
Why Ratings & Drink Terms Fail: Taste the Reality
March 8, 2008 1:00–3:00 p.m., $75.00
Do you check out the rating of a wine before you buy it? Does a 90 or better
give you the go-ahead, while an 84 finds you putting it back on the shelf? This
approach to wine buying is undeniably widespread and popular—but not one
that IWM can really endorse, as we’ve found that it may dissuade wine enthusiasts
from some tremendous experiences.
Ratings, reviews, and drink terms are, by their very nature, limited by time
and circumstance. At IWM, we spend a fairly significant amount of time with an
individual wine, basing our impressions not only on our experiences as tasters,
but on the reception it receives at daily tastings and events. In the case of
cellar wines, we have the luxury of following their maturation closely, documenting
specific, nuanced changes. In this special tasting, we’re giving you a
rare and unique opportunity to discover instances wherein a wine was not evaluated
in either the appropriate context or phase of its evolution.
Take, for example, Quintarelli’s 1999 Valpolicella Superiore. Guests at
IWM events have been struck by this baby Amarone’s resemblance to a fully-fledged
Amarone. When they return to the ratings-conscious world and find that such a
wine merited, in one instance, only 85 points, they are stunned. Our exploration
will also highlight Mascarello’s 2001 Barolo, Gravner’s 2001 Ribolla
Anfora, Ruggeri's NV Prosecco, and a selection of other misunderstood and underappreciated
wines. Taste how the scores, reviews, and drink terms have been failing your
palate.
Participants Receive:
• Tasting Booklet that includes IWM’s proprietary notes
• Sampling of regional foods prepared by IWM chefs paired with each wine
tasted
To learn more about IWM's Studio Regionale Saturday Tasting Series or to make
a reservation over the phone, contact Michann Thompson at 212.473.2323, x106.
Frances Mayes on
Passion on the Vine
 “Esposito's glass is always half-full,
when not filled to the brim, and always with
something beautifully red and swirling and
passionate, as are his words in this
wine-adventure, story-memoir. His words are
like the vines he so ardently writes
about—earthy, deep-rooted; and the
wines—perfect on the tongue, with a long
finish.”
—Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun
Passion
on the Vine:
A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Family in the Heart of Italy
by Sergio Esposito
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