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October's Indigenous Arrivals
Cost:
$283.18
Item
#SP0110 |
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About
this Six-Bottle Sampler
These new arrivals might seem to have
nothing in common other than timing. But if
you go a little bit further, you’ll
find that not only do they share the
distinction of being unique,
limited-productions, each goes against type,
defying their accepted persona to do the
unexpected, the unusual, and even the
somewhat defiant. It’s not every day
that you’re brought to a new place in
wine, but these will take you
there….and you just might not want to
come back.
Vestini
Campagnano 2005 Kaja Nero…18.99
(Pallagrello Nero, Casvecchia, Aglianico,
and Pizzutella)
This is one of the best values to hit IWM.
While the varietals that comprise this blend
are relatively unknown, the wine possesses a
youthful
disposition, which can be likened to
Quintarelli's Primofiore and France's
Beaujolais.
Vestini Campagnano was essentially founded as
a refuge for Campania's lost grapes,
Pallagrellos Nero and Bianco and Casavecchia.
It didn't merely provide these phylloxera
victims with a sanctuary, however, it devoted
itself to giving them a modern, vital career.
While the iconic Mastroberardino was reveling
in the
success of its own recovery story (starring
Aglianico), Vestini began working exclusively
with these
grapes and showcasing their intrinsic value
in opulent, vibrant, ageworthy bottlings. Now
with a few cults to its credit (Connubio, in
particular), Vestini's a little more relaxed
and assured, and the easygoing Kaja Nero
captures that comfort and sense of arrival.
While predominantly a blend of the salvaged
Pallagrello Nero and Casavecchia, Vestini's
gone so far as to allow the input of the
charmed Aglianico here, as well as a
little-known Campanian white by the name of
Pizzutella. Though its name signifies "dark
wine," this is anything but the brooding
sort, borrowing from Nero's earthy
quality and Casavecchia's rustic elegance,
yet delivering them in an accessible,
medium-bodied wine that knows it can be
devastatingly seductive without much
effort.
La
Sala 2006 Chianti
Classico…$24.75
(Toscana—Sangiovese)
Chianti Classico is always a popular pour for
every day, but these days, its
ever-increasing price point and quality keeps
it out of
the standard rotation. Coming in under the
$25 mark, La Sala's Chianti Classico makes a
strong case for becoming your next go-to
wine. It continues its self-promotion on the
palate, overdelivering—as many of these new
arrivals do—in its lush notes of cherry,
vanilla, and bittersweet chocolate.
Masut
da Rive 2006 Tocai ‘Vigna
Candida’…$24.95
(Friuli—Tocai Friulano)
With just 250 cases produced, this rare
single-vineyard Tocai makes an applauded
debut to the IWM line-up. As we've mentioned
in the past, Friuli's Tocai
Friulano, has its own share of ownership
issues, having been embroiled in an ongoing
dispute with Hungary for years over the right
to call itself Tocai. It may seem
inconsequential, petty even, but when you're
as endemic to the culture as Tocai is to
Friuli, it's understandable. The long-time
partner of the region's famed Prosciutto San
Daniele, Tocai also makes solo appearances,
literally from morning to night, starting out
as an AM quaffer for the hearty set and
serving up full-bodied, barrique-aged
versions that hold their own with regional
dishes such as stinco di vitello.
Masłt da
Rive's Vigna Candida eschews the attentions
of barrique, preferring to keep itself lithe
and lean for that prosciutto. To that end,
this single-vineyard artisanal production sees
only stainless steel, delivering an
unembellished Tocai that displays impeccable
balance in its intense ripe fruit
characteristics, bracing acidity and mild
herbaceousness.
Elena
Fucci 2005 Aglianico
Titolo…$54.99
(Basilicata—Aglianico)
Campania has long
claimed to be the original native ground of
Aglianico, although one theory credits
Basilicata with the patent. Indeed, if
Basilicata was first, its Vulture
DOC zone was likely the chosen terroir,
given the high concentration of black
volcanic lava in the soil
(pozzolana). This endowment,
coupled with the temperature fluctuation
provided for by the region’s high
altitudes (daytime heat delivers
concentration, while cool nights aid in
retaining acidity), produces wines of power
and aromatic complexity. Fucci simply revels
in pozzolana, crafting its limited-production
Titolo bottling exclusively from this
distinctive soil. Titolo’s spoiled that
way, though, also enjoying the benefit of
late-harvest grapes and the input of Sergio
Paternoster, who represents one of
Basilicata’s patriarchal families. The
intense graphite-streaked and spice-laden
Titolo may not win the paternity argument
for Basilicata, but those who follow this
limited production (averaging a mere 1,000
cases) will side with Basilicata all the
way.
Cascina
Ebreo 2001 Segreto…$71.50
(Piemonte—Barbera)
In the
realm of food and wine
pairing, Barbera might be thought of as Tocai
Friulano’s red counterpart, with its
reliable companionship to pizza and simple
pasta dishes. This rare IWM
signature big red of limited-production makes its
return appearance after five years, not as a
Super-Piemonte but as a
Super-Barbera—it has a new identity, with
Barbera acting as the star performer. If a
you are a fan of La Spinetta Braida, you will
enjoy this modern interpretation. Debuting in
1996 as a
Barbera-based blend (20% Nebbiolo), Segreto
has gone monovarietal for the 2001 vintage,
yet we’re hard-pressed to tell you
what, if anything, it has to do with Barbera
as any of us knows it. Aged in small French
barriques for a two-year period, followed by
a 15-month bottle maturation, the rare
Segreto keeps itself exceedingly scarce (400
cases), so many will never know how intense
and indulgent Barbera can be. You, of course,
know better now. Can you go back to that
accommodating, familiar Barbera?
Nicolis
2001 Amarone
‘Ambrosan’…$88.00
(Veneto-Corvina, Rondinella, Croatina)
An IWM favorite, the single-vineyard Ambrosan
returns for the new fall season. Nicolis'
approach includes placing harvested grapes in
small cases during the drying period (known
as appassimento) and the use of
Croatina grapes (which take the place of
Molinara, the regular third contributor to
the blend). The ‘Ambrosan’
achieves a rare and elusive balance,
delivering a graceful eloquence and sensitive
integration
despite Amarone’s inherently
opulent nature. The ‘Ambrosan’s
caught, in effect,
between the Old and New worlds,
and all the better for it, working with the
context of a structured vintage to elicit a
wine that
has found its place in not only in the
Amarone genre, but in IWM’s classic
repertoire.
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- Vestini Campagnano 2005 Kaja Nero
- La Sala 2006 Chianti Classico
- Masut da Rive 2005 Tocai 'Candida'
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- Elena Fucci 2005 Aglianico Titolo
- Cascina Ebreo 2001 Segreto
- Nicolis 2001 Amarone 'Ambrosan'
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