April
19,2008
Campania:
Aglianico to Pallagrello
In This Issue
A Note from Sergio
Naples is my birthplace. Even though my
family left Naples in 1974, I still
feel inextricably attached to
Naples—and to Campania. The rolling land;
the ancient and turbulent history; the
food—with the immediate Pavlovian and
Proustian responses it incurs—the
incomparable
light; and, of course, the wine, are all
a part of me. Southern Italy is in my
blood.
It’s not surprising, then, that I chose
to bookend my memoir, Passion
on the Vine, with stories of Southern
Italy; it is a place that is both
my beginning and my touchstone. The
following excerpt comes from the tail
end of "The Two
Sicilies." In this chapter, I write
about the trip I took through Sicily and
a dinner I shared with my friend
Teodoro Nadei, the person who wine people
consider “the man to know in
the South.” After an amazingly
beautiful dinner of Southern Italian
dishes, a meal as steeped in history as
the land outside, I drove with Teodoro.
Here’s my description:
I looked out the window to see the hills
speeding past, lit by the moon. These
hills were famous. Italy was considered by
the ancients Greeks to be the land
of wine, the near-mythical Enotria. It was
the most
perfect place
on earth for growing grapes—so many
varied exposures, so much sunlight,
so much air flowing from coast to coast.
The ancient Romans had their pick
of any wine around, and they picked
Falernium, a sweet, dark, highly alcoholic
wine made from grapes grown on the slopes
of Mount Falernus in Campania. They
practically worshipped the wine, paying
homage to it in their literature. When,
during Naples’s boom in the late
1700s, Pompeii was excavated, archaeologists
found what seemed to be a part of an
ancient bar: marked on the wall were the
prices for wine, categorized as
“normal,” “good,”
and “excellent.” And
then there was Falernium, priced three
times higher than the most excellent
wine.
We may have been on a slick highway, and
Mount Falernus may have been surrounded
by little brick houses with buzzing
dishwashers, but this was the same
terra—the
same geography, the same spot. The history
of the south was long, the legacy
great. Perhaps at this particular moment,
we were emerging from only a comparatively
minor rough patch. What had come before us
was truly grand, and that was why
Teodoro and I kept searching for a sign of
it, for things to circle back around.
How could we, in good conscience, ignore
such a dazzling past?
My book hits the stands next week, and
I’m doubly pleased to share this
particular excerpt because this week,
Italian Wine Merchants is featuring the
wines of Campania. In my mind, one of the
great beauties of wine is its ties
to the past. And for me, nothing
illustrates this ineffable connection as much
as the wines from my homeland. I’m
eternally grateful that I get to share them
with you
through my work.
Enjoy!
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
Aristocratic
Fiano: Done the Ancient Way
Bruno
De Conciliis 2004 Fiano Antece…$35.75
Bruno De Conciliis closed the textbook on
the standard description of Fiano—Campania's most significant white revered
for its ageability—when he wrote
his own interpretation in his limited
production Antece (roughly
310 cases). But then again, De Conciliis has
never been one to follow the
Campanian prototype for the model Fiano,
which many believe is the provenance
exclusively of the Avellino zone, where it
typically delivers distinctive notes of
hazelnut and a slight smokiness. Situated
far from
Campania’s heralded northern
ground in the relatively unknown outpost of
Cilento, De Conciliis has been
authoring his own revival of the ancients
since 1996, privileging a Fiano that’s
denoted by distinctive minerality, honey,
and herbs. With Antece, he’s
gone farther outside the mainstream than
usual—seeking to position Italy's most
aristocratic white in the fitting and
inspiring context of
wine's mystical past.
It is here, in this radical philosophical
ground, that De Conciliis boldly
translates Fiano’s ancient persona,
opening up texts long closed.
Most whites are in and out of the
maceration period in no time. Not Antece.
It’s in it for the long
haul—relatively
speaking—of seven days, the duration
of which is conducted on the skins.
The nose immediately signifies that
we’re far outside both Fiano as we
know it and De Conciliis’ standard
alternative. The nose is redolent
of cider, a flavor impression that
continues on the palate, underscored by
a penetrating minerality.
Opulent Pallagrello: Two
Different Versions
 No one was looking for Pallagrello—not
even ancient grape specialist Lucio
Mastroberardino, who was busy making
Aglianico into Campania’s flagship
grape and assiduously resurrecting the
careers of ancient whites like Fiano and
Greco. It was assumed that this unique and
rare vine, one of few that produces
both white and black grapes, was lost to
phylloxera. Once the favorite grape
of Ferdinando IV, King of Naples, Pallagrello
had essentially been written off
Italy’s varietal roster. In a surprise
ending, it turns out the grape wasn’t
a casualty, but rather, the protagonist
of a survival story, having been
sustained by local farmers until its
discovery by lawyer Peppe Mancini, whose
grandfather’s tales of a vine called
Pallagrello very likely inspired its modern
sequel.
Often compared to the white varietals of
the Rhône, particularly Viognier,
Pallagrello Bianco is amenable to disparate
aging regimens, enabling the winemaker
to exercise an appreciable degree of
stylistic license.
Terre
del Principe 2003 Pallagrello Bianco Le Serole…$35.64
Think of Le Sèrole as Pallagrello Bianco’s B-type personality. Le
Sèrole isn’t shy about where it’s come from—specifically,
slightly overripe grapes that endow the wine with a rich golden color.This
visual cue finds its sensory complement in a heady nose that almost suggests
a liqueur. This visual cue
finds its sensory complement in a
heady nose that almost suggests a liqueur.
The lush, nutty palate of marmalade
spice and honey possesses an amplitude that
could be the work only of barrique
aging; however, in the town of
Sèrole, you’ll find a
seventeenth-century
threshing floor that’s still in use.
In its heyday, it was the site of
peasant dances—a festive history
that’s captured in this wine.
In Caiatì, we’ve got the A-type
Pallagrello, a transparent
reflection of this white’s inherent
elegance and depth. No barrique here—only
temperature-controlled stainless steel, leaving
the wine in a state of graceful poise.
However, don’t be fooled: this is not
an airy, wispy sort, for it
delivers surprising weight on the palate. The
nose offers a touch of honey, an
herbaceous dimension, and a note of pepper,
all of which flesh out on the palate,
becoming more intense with time in
the glass.
An impressive
minerality attends this intriguing
composition through a lingering finish.
Modern Aglianico: New Arrival
to Watch
Vinosia
2004 Marziacanale…$47.85
Aglianico is, in essence, the face of
Campania, a grape that in and of
itself could keep the region a vital
force on the winemaking scene. While
it initially rested its reputation
solely in Taurasi, it has shown itself
to be capable of excellence throughout
Campania, serving as an eminent conduit
of terroir. Formidably tannic in
Taurasi—the zone that is considered to
deliver
Aglianico's pinnacle expression—it relents
rather shamelessly in northcoast productions
(like cult sensation Terra di Lavoro),
delivering copious amounts of blackberry
fruit. Taurasi’s tannins lose a
bit of their forbidding verve when
compared with those of Taburno, which
can be downright hostile. Accessibility
is found once again, perhaps to
the
greatest extent, in the productions
of Salerno and Cilento.
Terroir doesn’t operate alone, of
course. Just like the Taurasi DOCG,
Mastroberardino used to be the sole
arbiter of style. Now, there is a host
of interpreters, many of whom, like De
Conciliis and Terre del Principe,
are approaching the ancients with a
creative mindset. Established in 2003,
Vinosia is quite young, but it certainly is
pedigreed, being the project of Mario
and Luciano Ercolino, whose parents
founded Feudi San Gregorio. While esteemed
for its traditional productions of
Taurasi and Fiano, FSG is also recognized
for its experimental bent, exemplified
in such treatments as its barrique
aging of both Fiano and Greco.
Vinosia's Marziacanale bottling delineates
the structure and restraint that are
hallmarks of Aglianicos from the northerly
positioned Irpinia DOC. However taut and
restrained, this wine’s persona frames
hedonistic, candied
dark fruits that ingratiate the senses in
fleshy and sweet abandon, embellished
for good measure by vanilla and spice.
Vinosia is clearly operating in the modernist
persuasion here, fashioning an Aglianicio
that captures the opulent soul of
Campania.
The Original Aglianico:
Value from the Master
Mastroberardino
2003 Aglianico Irpinia…$20.35
Very few wine regions can credit their existence to one solitary producer,
but in the case of Campania, all of the credit is rightfully bestowed upon
the Mastroberardino estate. This eminent producer not only salvaged the Fiano,
Greco di Tufa, and Aglianico varietals, but conducted extensive research and
analysis to determine the various amalgams of terroir and technique best suited
to the expression of each member of Campania’s indigenous catalogue. Its greatest accomplishment,
of course, is most palpably attested to in the vitality of Aglianico’s
modern existence. Mastroberardino made Aglianico what it is, and it continues
to refine its efforts, despite having already established Aglianico’s most
celebrated zone—Taurasi—and what is universally regarded as the apex
of this designation, the house’s 1968 Taurasi Riserva.
While the winery’s Irpinia bottling may be positioned in the casual, everyday
drinking category, it operates at a very high level there. The wine’s
dark blackberry fruit and flavors of vanilla and spice are amply proportioned,
enabling the fruit to hold its own against the firm, yet silky tannins.
Also Available:
Mastroberardino
1989 Taurasi Radici…$187.00**
Mastroberardino
1990 Taurasi Radici…$187.00**
**Due to the extremely limited availability of this offer, please contact
Matt Franco at 212.473.2323, ext. 107, in order to secure your exclusive Radici
collection.
Cultwise Campania: Aglianico
Meets Piedirosso
Galardi
2005 Terra di Lavoro…$99.00**
Top wine consultant Riccardo Cotarella personally validated Campania’s
ancient vines in what has become one of the region’s most definitive and
sought-after expressions, Terra di Lavoro. In Cotarella 's earlier efforts, most
notably Montevetrano (1991), he had been reticent to work with grapes that had
yet to establish themselves, preferring to keep to his standard (and proven)
Bordeaux set, making only a slight admission (10 percent) for Aglianico. In Terra
di Lavoro, he kept Bordeaux out of the picture, not only giving Aglianico the
lead (80 percent) but also sourcing contributing support from frequent partner
Piedirosso (20).
Now, of course, Aglianico is regarded as the region’s premier grape, having
built up a repertoire of styles that not only establish its virtuosity but distinctly
highlight Campania’s range of discrete terroirs. Piedirosso, which has
ties to Friuli’s prized Refosco, can’t quite claim such status, but
it provides an intriguing foil to Aglianico in its mild tannins and effusive
berry flavors. And no wine, perhaps, better captures the synergy between the
two than Terra di Lavoro—the ultimate garage wine success story that beguiles
cult seekers vintage in and vintage out. It’s certainly got Cotarella’s
trademark opulence, but the 100 percent new-oak aging doesn’t interfere
with its ancient persona, which is living out a modern fairy tale. Read
More About Galardi.
**Indicates prearrival.
Campania Sampler: Antiquity
and Opulence
With the warm weather upon us, it
is particularly fitting to head south for Campania’s
treasure trove of “archaeological varieties,” which
date back to antiquity. The romance of these ancient grapes,
rescued from near extinction, has brought well-deserved
attention to the region of Campania. Today’s bottlings
represent the exotic and opulent personality these wines
can display, from Aglianico’s jammy and peppery
profile to Pallagrello’s fleshy and honeyed characteristics.
Their bold and lush characters make them perfect for
the adventurous palate and Spring entertaining.
Campania Samplers:
De Conciliis 2004 Fiano Antece
Alois 2005 Caiati
Terre del Principe 2003 Pallagrello Bianco Le Serole
Vinosia 2004 Marziacanale
Mastroberardino 2003 Aglianico Irpinia
Campania
Five-Bottle Sampler…$169.13 (includes one of each of the above)
Campania
Ten-Bottle Samper…$338.26 (includes two of each of the
above)
Book Signing and Tasting
View
all of IWM's Upcoming Events.
Book
Signing and Tasting at Italian Wine Merchants
April 26, 2008 12:00–3:00 p.m.
Join Sergio and IWM as we celebrate the release of Passion on the Vine with
a book signing and complimentary tasting. Speak to the author and taste the wines
that inspired the book. Sergio will be on hand from 12 p.m. until 3 p.m. Stop
in and enjoy the festivities.
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.
Nantucket Wine Festival
|
Join Sergio Esposito and the
IWM Team in Massachusetts as we celebrate the
publication of Passion
on the Vine and pour some of Italy's
finest regional wines. |
| |
|
May 18
2:00–3:00 PM |
Nantucket
Wine
Festival
Location: Nantucket, MA
Taste
of Toscana: Brunello to Vin
Santo
As part of our fourth year
returning to the Nantucket Wine Festival, oft
considered one of the great wine festivals,
Sergio will be conducting a seminar
on the wines of Toscana—Brunello,
Chianti, Vin Santo, and Super-Tuscans—and
signing his new book, Passion on the
Vine
(complimentary with ticket reservation).
This is an opportunity to taste some
unique finds from the region and engage
in an exploratory discussion on the
changing dynamic of modern Toscana in
classic form. Click to Reserve Tickets.
|
|
