A Father's Day Look at Sequoia Grove

Text ©Bill Marsano

Napa's Sequoia Grove winery has a high reputation; many wine-lovers know of its well-regarded line, which includes Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Syrah and Rutherford Bench Reserve Cabernet. Few, on the other hand, have heard of its impressive young wine-taster. That's Sophia Trujillo, daughter of Mike Trujillo, Sequoia Grove’s winemaker. Sophia is four-and-a-half-years old.



Mike was born and raised on his family's ranch in La Jara, Colorado, and he studied architectural engineering in college. During spring break in 1981, he visited a family friend--Jim Allen, owner of Sequoia Grove. "Jim offered to put me up for a few days," Mike recalls. "In return I helped in the vineyard and winery operations." After about a week, Allen offered him a job. "I was 21," he says, "and at that age you have no clue what you want to do, really. But the money was good and the weather was great. so I said yes. My engineering training went into my first job, which was planting the vineyards that are now Domaine Carneros." Before he knew it, wine had "found me."

And, in Mike, Jim Allen had found a keeper. Mike is now Sequoia Grove's president and chief wine-maker--and father of Sophia. "My Uncle Joe always devoted some time to each of his three children individually, and I followed his lead. I began taking Sophia with me to the winery once a week, even when she was so young that her mother, Elizabeth, had to pack her into a bassinet along with her bottles and my lunch."



Mike's weekly version of Take Your Daughter to Work Day includes bank errands, vineyard visits and even lunch meetings with growers. "She very well restaurant-trained," Mike says, although she will occasionally visit other tables to find out what people are drinking. Then she'll say brightly, "My Daddy makes Cabernet!" Early on, Mike taught her a critical skill. "I was barrel-tasting one day and of course she wanted to do everything Daddy did, so I gave her a sip. It went right down the hatch, and I thought, not going to work. So I spent some time standing over a drain with her, teaching her how to spit. Now she spits like a Frenchman. She spits better than I do!"

Sophia has grown into her role as unofficial winery mascot. She likes to greet visitors to the tasting room, saying "Welcome to Sequoia Grove" as she opens the door. And she's a star of the cellar tours Mike leads for members of the trade. "She'll climb up on a barrel, pull the bung out and stick her fingers in for a taste," Mike says. "She'll say 'That's good wine, Daddy,' and when I ask what kind it is, she comes right back with 'Cabernet, Daddy!'" At that point Mike will send her off to the Merlot; Sophia will pull another bung, taste and proclaim it good. "Then I'll ask again what kind of wine it is, and she'll say 'Merlot, Daddy!' At that point, as if on cue, almost everyone on the tour will ask 'She can tell the difference?' And I'll say “Sure--can't you?"

Reviewing Brunello - Il Poggione and a few other thoughts

Fabrizio Bindocci, winemaker, Il Poggione (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

Last week, Alessandro Bindocci of the great Brunello producer Il Poggione entered a new post on his Montalcino Report blog that featured Antonio Galloni’s review of the 2004 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino. Galloni, the Italian specialist for Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate, labeled the wine as “awesome” and commented that this wine “stood apart.”

I’d like to comment on this review, as it is a notable one. First, it’s good that Antonio was so generous in his review of this wine, especially as this is such a great estate and the 2004 is a stellar wine. I praised the wine back in February when I first tasted the wine in Montalcino as part of Benevenuto Brunello (Alessandro Bindocci also was kind enough to post my review of the wine, which you can read here – thank you Alessandro!)

Now that Galloni has written his review, I’ve been getting emails from retailers bragging about their price for this wine and of course, they have included Galloni’s review. I understand this, especially in this economy, as retailers are doing what they can to move this wine out of the store and bring in some much-needed cash.

But where were these retailers a few years ago? As dozens, if not hundreds of wine writers in Italy and the United States have known for years, Il Poggione has been one of the leading estates in Montalcino for more than four decades; there aren’t many estates that can make that claim. But the way these retailers are pushing this wine, you’d think this was a new producer.

One thing that will happen with some of the customers who buy this wine is that they will purchase it because of a review, meaning it could have been any producer, not just Il Poggione. These people are called cherry pickers and are notorious in the business as they buy the top rated wines whenever they can. But where were these people in previous years? Probably buying such wines as Casanova di Neri, a Brunello that has consistently received scores in the upper 90s in The Wine Spectator.

If so, this would be highly ironic, as Casanova di Neri produces a very ripe, very modern, international style of Brunello while Il Poggione remains in the traditional approach of winemaking for Brunello. So many customers are buying a wine because it gets a high score, not because they think they’ll like it.

I’d like to stay positive, but I’ve been around too long and have seen this before. I hope that the “new” customers of Il Poggione based on Galloni’s review will seek out Il Poggione when the next few vintages are released. So of course do Alessandro Bindocci and hs father Alessandro the winemaker! But let’s see what happens when the 2005 and 2006 are released; as these are two very good – but not great – vintages for Brunello, will the cherry pickers be there to support Il Poggione or will they look for other wines (perhaps not even Brunello) that receive higher scores?

Producing wine is a long-term business and love affair; vintners don’t just release wines from great vintages (great is such an overused and misunderstood term), they must release them from virtually every harvest. Readers of my newsletter have known of my love for Il Poggione for years; I rated their bottlings from 2002 and 2003 – two less than stellar years - as excellent. It’s easy for any producer to make a very good wine in a notable vintage such as 2004 (if you can’t, as they say, find another job!). But to me one of the best qualities about a producer such as Il Poggione has been their track record with Brunello. As I wrote earlier, how may estates have been at the top of their game for more than 40 years?

So for consumers, retailers or restaurant buyers who might be tempted to purchase a bottle or several of the 2004 Il Poggione Brunello based on Galloni’s review, please do the Bindoccis a favor and buy the wine when the 2005 is released next year – you will not be disappointed!

A few final notes: Antonio, congratulations again on getting it right. While no score was published with this review, I can only make an educated guess, but I’m sure the score will be in the mid to high 90s. If so, this is in contrast to James Suckling of The Wine Spectator, who awarded the wine 91 points. Some of you might be saying, “wait, 91 points is pretty good.” Well there’s a big difference between pretty good and stellar. The 91 from Suckling is a shrug on his part, letting us know he admires the wine, but isn’t wild about it. No surprise here, as the Il Poggione Brunello is all about elegance and harmony; it isn’t flashy enough for Suckling’s tastes.

So how nice that a major wine publication awards Il Poggione as among the very best of Brunello. But Antonio, two things. First, this mention of this wine “standing alone” among the 2004 Brunellos. While I’m sure that the Bindoccis are pleased, there are a dozen or so examples of 2004 Brunello that are first-rate including Sesta di Sopra, Pian dell’Orino, Talenti, Il Palazzone, Fuligni, Caprili and Uccelliera (read my February post on vinowire here). I want readers to know that there are other estates that made an outstanding 2004 Brunello and have been at the top of the pyramid of producers in Montalcino for several years and that all of these estates including Poggio Antico and Ciacci Piccolomini are to be commended as well for their recent Brunello releases.

So, Antonio, I’d rather you didn’t write that one wine stood alone among the 2004 Brunellos. It’s this type of wine writing that gives the business a bad name. It’s as though there has to be a best. Il Poggione is among the very best and has been for years. Let’s celebrate that. But let’s also remember another dozen or so producers that deliver the good every year.

Finally, I do have one more bone to pick with Signore Galloni, one that is far more serious than the one I just wrote about. That is in regards to his text about the Il Poggione where he writes that the wine was aged in French oak casks. This is accurate, but why write this? All this does is open up a can of worms.

Let me explain. To the average consumer that reads this, French oak aging for a Brunello will probably signify that the wine is made in a modern style. But nothing could be farther from the truth, as Il Poggione is a traditional Brunello producer, through and through. Yes, the oak happens to be French, but the casks are the large ones called botti grandi, which are the traditional ones that have been used to produce Brunello for more than a century; Fabrizio Bindocci made the decision a few years ago to work with new coopers, so his large casks are French oak and not Slavonian. The modernists, who prefer flashiness and ripeness over balance and subtlety, use the small barrels known as barriques (225 liters instead of the botti grandi, which range from 2000 to 6000 liters).

So Antonio, what is important about oak aging with Brunello is not where the wood comes from, but the size of the casks. This is something you need to communicate to your readers; it’s your responsibility to be accurate. Certainly, Galloni has heard of the scandal in Montalcino, where some producers have been accused of bypassing regulations, by including grapes other than Sangiovese. The big picture here deals with tradition versus doing what some people feel is right for the moment. Given that, it’s so important these days to let people know about traditional producers and how they view their work. Il Poggione is a traditional producer and one of the best.

Chilean Seafood and Sauvignon Blanc

Camarones de orilla, Hacienda Santa Cristina, Limarí Valley, Chile

Text and photos ©Tom Hyland


During a recent visit to Chile, I commented to my friend Hector, a native Chilean, that I thought his country has the finest seafood in the world. His comment was that France has better oysters, but otherwise he agreed with me.

I don’t care for oysters, sorry to say, but as far as just about every other type of seafood, Chile rates number one on my list. You may find a better abalone in Monterey or better clams from the Gulf of Napoli, but overall, no one – not even New Zealand - beats Chile. (A delightful woman I recently met from Hong Kong votes for her land, so maybe I’ll have to head there soon to see if I’ll change my mind – but for now, it’s Chile.)

Now it’s one thing for my Chilean friend to stick up for his homeland, but in this instance, he had a great reason to do so. He explained to me that Chile is the beneficiary of the Humboldt Current, which comes up the Pacific from Antarctica. This is a very cold current, meaning the fish that do reside in waters off the shore are hearty, meaty creatures.

A great example is mero, which I tried this for the first time three years ago at a winery restaurant in the Casablanca Valley. My host, Pablo Morandé, asked me if I had ever tasted it and when I told him I had not, he explained to me that this was the real Chilean seabass. He noted that many restaurants in Santiago and other cities in Chile serve seabass that was caught just off the coast; this is good, but not great seafood. Mero, however, resides more than 10 miles off the coast in colder, deeper waters and is much meatier. He was absolutely right, as this was an incredibly rich, full-flavored, tender piece of fish that melted in my mouth like butter. You don’t see Mero on many menus in America, but if you do, go for it, or else pay a visit to Chile for this remarkable dish. (By the way, any reports you may have heard about Chilean seabass – and some of that in America is actually from Alaska – does not refer to mero. This is not on any endangered list, nor is it being overfished).

Mero served atop a sushi roll stuffed with paella at Pablo Morandé winery restaurant, Casablanca Valley, Chile

On my trip in April, there were two great seafood meals I enjoyed. One was in the northern part of the country in the Limarí Valley, where I enjoyed a special type of shrimp known as camarones de orilla. These are river shrimp and are caught in the shallow rivers of the area and are often served at meals the same day. If you drive the main highway out of La Serena, you will see vendors waving these shrimp at cars passing by, selling the seafood they have just caught. We didn’t have time to stop and buy any from a local, but we did enjoy them – steamed – at a Hacienda Santa Cristina, a wonderful restaurant in the area.

Also at the outstanding Tanino restaurant located at the Casas del Bosque winery, my friend and I sampled two wonderful seafood dishes. He went for grilled mero with spaghetti, sauteed in arugula pesto and toasted almonds, while I opted for cannelloni stuffed with Chilean abalone and shrimp with a sauce of Chardonnay and Grana Padano cheese (like many Chilean restaurants, there is a major Italian influence in the cooking here at Tanino). Both were first-rate and great examples of the quality and flavor of Chilean seafood as well as the creativity of Chilean cuisine. I highly recommend Tanino when you visit the Casablanca Valley; this area has some of the finest restaurants in the country and this is one of the very best.

Cannelloni stuffed with Chilean abalone and shrimp with a sauce of Chardonnay and Grana Padano cheese, Tanino Restaurant, Casas del Bosque Winery, Casablanca Valley

As for the wines to accompany the various seafoods of Chile, my preferred choice is Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. For years, this was a category that was rather mundane (the use of plant material was the big drawback), but with the introduction of clones from France and California over the past ten years, the Sauvignon Blancs of Chile have become something of a revelation. Now that the vintners are seeking out cool climates such as Casablanca and Leyda Valleys for the variety, the wines display more complex aromatics along with lively acidity and the structure to age for as much as 3-5 years from the finest vintages.

Take the 2008 Sauvignon Blancs from Carmen or the Santa Rita Reserve, both from Casablanca Valley. Both wines offer beautiful spearmint and melon fruit with subtle grassy notes and have very good acidity. The 2008 Medalla Real bottling from Santa Rita is from Leyda, where the estate vineyards are only five miles from the ocean. This has more intensity in the nose (notes of pear and green pepper highlight the aromas) and slightly higher levels of acidity. Other very good to excellent examples from Casablanca include the 2008 Viña Casas del Bosque and the 2008 Morandé Reserva. What makes these wines even more attractive are the prices; all these wines can be found for $16 or less.

There are two special Chilean Sauvignon Blancs I want to mention as well, as these are among the very best I’ve had from the country. First is the Maycas Sauvignon Blanc from the Limarí Valley, which I tasted for the first time on my recent trip when I enjoyed the river shrimp I mentioned earlier. Maycas is a realtively new project of Concha y Toro and based merely on this one wine (there are also bottlings of Maycas Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, all from Limarí), I’d say this is a great project. I tasted the 2007 that day and was blown away by the wine’s aromatics and intensity. From the first smell and sip, you realize you’re dealing with a serious Sauvignon Blanc; the wine offers deeply concentrated aromas of fennel, asparagus and green pepper along with ripe melon and grapefruit- it’s an amazing set of perfumes. Medium-full, the wine has great depth of fruit and striking acidity.

Maycas Sauvignon Blanc

2007 was a great year and sadly that wine is now all but gone from retail shelves. But I am pleased to report that the new 2008 is virtually the equal of the 2007. It’s less herbaceous in character, but with more fruit notes in the aroma and it’s slightly less powerful on the palate, but in terms of complexity, flavor and ability to age (3-5 years), it’s right there with the 2007. These two wines are great evidence that the Maycas Sauvignon Blancs are among the very best Chile has to offer. (Retail price in America is $23, a bit higher than the previously mentioned bottlings, but the Maycas Sauvignon Blanc is worth every penny.)

One other estate I want to focus on regarding Sauvignon Blanc is Casa Marin, owned by Maria Luz Marin, a dynamic woman who has spent many years working with other wines estates in Chile before establishing her own. Her estate is in the San Antonio Valley, a small sub-zone of Leyda; located extremely close to the ocean – one of Marin’s vineyards, Cipresses, is less than two miles from the Pacific; this is a razor’s edge climate.

Laurel and Cipresses Vineyard Sauvignon Blancs of Casa Marin

Some thought Marin was a bit crazy to try and plant vineyards so close to the coast, but she has proven these doubters wrong. She is producing lovely bottlings of Pinot Noir, Syrah (espcially elegant and supple), Riesling and Gewurztraminer, but her best wines year in and year out continue to be her two single vineyard offerings of Sauvignon Blanc, Cipresses and Laurel. The former, as it is from a vineyard closer to the sea, has more herbal, bell pepper and gooseberry notes, while the Laurel is a bit more tame, if you will, with flavors of lime and grapefruit to accompany the peppery notes. The 2008s are out now and they are outstanding wines with vibrant acidity and the structure to age for 3-5 years. These are priced higher than most examples of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc – around $30-$35 a bottle – but they are outstanding examples of how great this country’s white wines have become!


P.S. One other note on the Maycas and that has to do with the labels, which are some of the most creative I’ve ever seen. Maycas is a word from the language of the Quecha people meaning “ariable lands”; the Quecha were the foundation of the Inca Empire, one of South America’s most powerful civilizations. Along with having a beautiful font design, the label is a recreation of a calendar used by the Quecha in which a 10-day week known as a Junka was used as a measure of time. The label features drawings of turquoise counting stones that mark the length of time from grape harvest to final bottling. Neat concept!

Vitigno Italia - Highlights from Campania

Castel dell'Ovo, host to Vitigno Italia

Text and all photos ©Tom Hyland


In mid-May, I headed down to Napoli for a excellent wine show called Vitigno Italia. While there are several dozen wine fairs in Italy throughout the year, this one is special, as it is dedicated solely to wines made from indigenous Italian varieties. So while you won’t find any examples of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Chardonnay here, you will be able to taste some glorious wines made from Greco, Fiano, Aglianico, Nero d’Avola and hundreds of other local varieties.

I attended this event three years ago when it was held in a modern, efficient campus on the outskirts of Napoli. I enjoyed it then, but this year the show was on a much grander scale as more wineries participated; primarily a showcase for wine estates of the south and especially Campania in its first few years, there are now more exhibiting wineries from other regions of Italy, including Friuli, Marche, Veneto and Tuscany.

A big change this year was the fair’s new locale, the historic Castel dell’Ovo right on the shores of the Gulf of Napoli. Not only was this more convenient for most importers and journalists attending the fair, this was also an important change for the overall goal of the fair, founder Chicco de Pasquale. The evening before the event began, de Pasquale gave a number of us a pep talk as he told us how important it was to communicate the emotion of authentic Italian wines. He mentioned how he had traveled to many other parts of the world and had tasted the local wines, only to find so many of them tasting the same. He believed that if the message of the uniqueness and history of Italian wines was to come across, the fair needed to be in a historic venue. Comparing the old location with the new, it is clear that de Pasquale succeeded in his quest. Not only was this a more appropriate setting to taste these wines, it was also a slice of everyday life in Napoli –a nice side benefit!

As this is still an event that focuses on Campanian wines – and as these are among my favorite of all Italian wines – I will focus on some of the best I tasted at the fair. Let’s start with Terredora, a great family estate owned by Paolo and Lucio Mastroberardino. One of Avellino’s most consistent estates, they delivered again with their new 2008 whites. This is an excellent vintage, a bit lighter than 2007, but with fine depth of fruit and beautiful structure; highly recommened are their new bottlings of Greco di Tufo “Loggia della Serra” and Fiano di Avellino “Terre di Dora.” (Vias is the national importer.) Another winery in this area that offered beautiful whites was Villa Raiano, with a lovely aromatic 2008 Greco di Tufo and a stylish 2008 Falanghina with pinpoint acidity.

Continuing with wineries from the province of Avellino, Feudi di San Gregorio is always one of the estates I look to for monitoring this area’s quality. Among their best releases this year are the 2008 Greco di Tufo “Cutizzi,” with a nice touch of minerality to go with its gorgeous aromas of acacia and kiwi and the 2007 Campanaro, a blend of Fiano and Greco that is an oustanding white with great concentration, lush fruit and a rich, lengthy finish. This is a white that will drink well with all sorts of seafood for 5-7 years. (Palm Bay is the national importer.)

Vinosia is an ambitious project near Avellino founded by brothers Mario and Luciano Ercolino, formerly of Feudi di San Gregorio. They produce more than a dozen wines and I like just about every one, in particular the 2008 Falanghina, the 2008 Greco di Tufo and the the 2002 Taurasi Riserva, one of the best examples of this wine from a less than outstanding vintage. I also loved two reds for their price/quality relationship, the 2008 Negroamaro from Salento and the 2008 Aglianico (Irpinia DOC). Both of these wines are rich, ripe and in a word – delicious! The former wine retails for about $12 with the Aglianico selling for $14 on average. How nice to see such quality wines as this for such reasonable pricing! (These two wines will be arriving soon in the United States and are imported by Domaine Select.)

Mario Ercolino, winemaker, Vinosia

I also tasted wines from several estates in the province of Salento, just south of Napoli. One of this area’s great producers is Luigi Maffini, who specializes in Fiano; the 2008 Kratos sports lovely aromas of pear and acacia and has the structure to age for 3-5 years, while the barrel fermented Pietraincatenata from 2007 is deeper in color with notes of honey and almond with a light touch of minerality. His best wine at this event for me was the 2004 Fiano Passito, an incredible dessert wine with such wonderful concentration and such lush fruit, yet so incredibly delicate. This is truly one of the very best examples of a passito wine I’ve tasted from Italy!

From the Amalfi Coast, three excellent producers: Tenuta San Francesco, with a beautiful 2008 white, blended from local varieties Biancolella, Falanghina and Peppella along with an excellent blended red called Quattro Spine, made from Aglianico, Piedirosso and Tintore. From Giuseppe Apicella (imported by Wine Emporium in Brooklyn), several first-rate efforts including the 2008 Tramonti Bianco, named for the town where his vineyards and estate are located; one of my favorites examples of rosé (rosato) from Italy – the 2008 is made from Piedirosso and Sciacinoso and is dry and very rich – and his signature wine, the A’Sciappata Rosso. This was the 2004 release; a blend of Tintore and Piedirosso, this offers excellent concentration with black fruit and tar notes, firm tannins and beautiful acidity. This is a great representation of local terroir; it should offer drinking pleasure for 10-12 years.

Andrea Ferraioli, winemaker, Cantine Marisa Cuomo

The final Amalfi Coast producer whose wines I tasted was Cantine Marisa Cuomo. Marisa and her husband Andrea Ferraoili have been blazing viticultural trails in the Amalfi Coast for several years and their efforts have been recognized in local and international media. Everything they make – red, white and rosé - is first-rate and a few of their wines are outstanding. Particularly good this year are the 2008 Ravello Bianco, the 2008 Furore Rosso (Furore is the gorgeous coastal town where their estate vineyards and winery are located) and the 2005 Ravello Riserva. This last wine is a blend of 70% Piedirosso and 30% Aglianico, giving this wine great complexity, spice and structure. The dominant Piedirosso means this wine is approachable now, while the tannins of the Aglianico give this wine the means to age for 7-10 years more.

Their best wine – and one of Italy’s most famous whites – is the Fiorduva, this new example from the outstanding 2007 vintage. Produced from Amalfi Coast varieties, Ripole, Fenile and Ginestra and aged in barrique - the wine has enough concentration to stand up to the oak - this wine has it all: exotic aromas of banana and other tropical fruits, beautiful texture and great persistence in the finish. This has vibrant acidity and a light nuttiness on the finish; look for this wine to be at its peak in another 5-7 years, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see it age longer than that. (Panebianco in New York is the importer.)

Vines at Furore, Amalfi Coast

Two other recommended wineries, La Sibilla, from the Campi Flegrei DOC along the coast north of Napoli and Fontanavecchia from the Benevento province to the north and east. Owner Luigi di Meo specializes in Falanghina at La Sibilla; his regular 2007 bottling has the trademark vibrant acidity of this variety with attractive lemon zest aromas and no oak, while the cru bottling, Cruna deLago, also from 2007, is a robust Falanghina that takes things up a notch or two with explosive aromas of spearmint and thyme and a lengthy finish with loads of fruit – again no oak, but nine months of lees aging for a spectacular result! (Oliver McCrum in Oakland imports the wines of La Sibilla.)

Finally, Fontanavecchia is a specialist of Aglianico del Taburno. The wines made here are ripe and robust, yet always well balanced. The regular bottling from 2005 is quite elegant and is priced at less than $20 on American retail shelves, while the Vigna Cataratte Riserva from 2003 is full of the black fruit, mint and tobacco notes that makes these wines so distinct. Look for this wine to be at its best in 7-10 years. Finally, the Grave Mora, the best wine of the Rillo family that runs this estate, is explosive with deep concentration and excellent complexity. The new release from 2004 will be at peak in 10-12 years - what a fine choice with rich game or aged cheeses. (Wine Emporium in Brooklyn in the importer.)

That’s just a few of the wines I tasted at Vitigno Italia – and that was just Campania. Congratulations to Chicco de Pasquale and his staff for organizing such a excellent event!

Cose che mi piacciono dell'Italia *

Pergola vines in the town of Furore, Amalfi Coast (Photo ©Tom Hyland)


* Things I Love about Italy
I just returned from a two-week trip to Italy - this time focusing on Piemonte and Campania. I’ll report on the new wines I tried in upcoming posts, but for now I’m writing a special entry, as this was my 40th trip to Italy.

This is all about my love affair with Italian wines, food and its citizens in general, so here is a brief list of what I love most about these topics.


The people
First and foremost, I have to mention the generosity and friendliness of the wine producers of Italy as well as the rest of its residents I’ve met over the past nine years. There are kind people everywhere, but Italians for me are the most gracious of all. They’re always asking if you have a nice place to stay or you’ve selected a good restaurant for lunch or dinner; if not, they’re glad to recommend somewhere. This is not just from producers I know, it’s been my experience with total strangers as well. Italians just have it in their DNA to be friendly; it’s a basic as that.

Its beauty
From the dramatic hillside vineyards in Alto Adige and Piemonte in the north to the extreme viticulture along the Amalfi Coast in the south, Italian viticulture is among the most specialized and remarkable in the world. A simple drive on the main road from Alba to Barolo is a dream come true for any wine lover or even just a lover of nature.

View of Cerequio and Sarmassa Vineyards from Barolo (Photo ©Tom Hyland)


The restaurants of Cuneo
Great food is a constant in Italy, but nowhere are the more excellent places to dine than in the province of Cuneo in Piemonte, especially in and around the town of Alba. This includes the Barolo and Barbaresco zones, so given the quality of these wines along with the local products, it’s no surprise. Among my favorite dishes that are classics in this area are agnolotti al plin (small ravioli stuffed with meat or a vegetable such as spinach) or coniglio al brasato (braised rabbit). There are too many restaurants to name; a few include Le Torri in Castiglione Falletto, Bovio in La Morra, Profumo di Vino in Treiso and Trattoria La Libera in Alba.

Trattoria La Libera, Alba (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

Gewurztraminer from Tramin
The town of Tramin in Alto Adige is the home of the Gewurztraminer grape. While there are other areas in this region that yield excellent examples of Gewurztraminer, the finest are from Tramin. There are three examples in particular: "Nussbaumer" from Cantina Tramin, "Kastelaz" from Elena Walch and "Kolbenhof" from J. Hofstatter. Each of these displays the gorgeous perfumes of grapefruit and lychee along with distinct spice and a lush, rich entry on the palate and are gorgeous food wines.


Campanian whites
The white wines of Campania are among the finest in all of Italy and are for me the best in terms of quality/price relationship. The most famous are Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino from the province of Avellino; look for the excellent new 2008s just arriving on the market. (You may still be able to find examples from the outstanding 2007 vintage, which should be in fine shape.)

Falanghina is becoming a big success story in several zones in Campania; this is a flavorful white with pear, lemon and quince flavors and vibrant acidity. Finally, look for the rare whites from the Amalfi Coast, which are usually intensely flavored and high in acidity.

A few recommendations: 2008 Mastroberardino Greco di Tufo “Nova Serra” (one of the best examples ever of this wine), 2008 Greco di Tufo “Cutizzi” from Feudi di San Gregorio, 2008 Fiano di Avellino Terredora “Terre di Dora”, 2008 Falanghina from Vinosia, 2008 Tramonti Bianco from Giuseppe Apicella and the 2007 Fiorduva from Marisa Cuomo (these last two wines are from the Amalfi Coast). Look for most of these wines to be in the $20- $25 price range, with the Cuomo retailing for about $45).


Nebbiolo
Grown most notably in Piemonte, this is the grape that is the sole variety used in several great red wines of that region including the famous Barolo and Barbaresco as well as Roero Rosso and Nebbiolo d’Alba. Unlike some international red varieties that scream of ripe black fruit and display deep color, a well made Nebbiolo has a garnet color and aromas of red fruit (cherry, currant) and notes of tar, orange peel and nutmeg. The aromas and flavors of Nebbiolo, especially as expressed in Barolo and Barbaresco take you to another level. Wines made from Nebbiolo are especially wonderful with ligher game or poultry. Try a Barbaresco from producers as such Produttori del Barbaresco or Rizzi for a true representation of this wine, while producers such as Elio Grasso, Marcarini, Giovanni Rosso and Ceretto are among the dozens that craft outstanding bottlings of Barolo that offer beautiful sensations of terroir.

Gianluca Grasso, winemaker, Elio Grasso, Monforte d'Alba (Photo ©Tom Hyland)


Brunello di Montalcino
This is the most famous example of the Sangiovese grape from Tuscany. At once charming in its cherry and cedar flavors and yet powerful in its capabilities to age for 20-25 years, Brunello is a singular wine. The bottlings from the excellent 2004 vintage are just being released; among those to search out include those from Pian dell’Orino, Il Poggione, Col d’Orcia, Poggio Antico and Talenti.


Vin Santo, Recioto and other dessert wines
There are so many wonderful dessert wines produced throughout Italy; sadly, these wines rarely get the attention they deserve (a common problem worldwide). Vin Santo, the lush, caramel, apricot, honeyed specialty from Tuscany is most famous, but there are also outstanding examples of Recioto from the Veneto region, including the delightful Recioto di Soave from Garganega and Recioto della Valpolicella, with delicious black raspberry fruit and medium sweetness that pairs perfectly with aged cheeses.


Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
This is a fine introduction to modern Italian red wines, offering ripe black fruit, spice and notes of tar, clove and tobacco. These are enjoyable, delicious wines that don’t cost an arm and a leg (most are in the $14-$16 range, while a few of the single vineyard or selezione bottlings can run up to $35 a bottle). Given the recent earthquake in Abruzzo, let's show our support for the hard-working abruzzese by drinking a bottle of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.

Worker in Abruzzo with just harvested Montepulciano grapes (Photo ©Tom Hyland)