Atlantic Wine Project

The beauty of good Verdicchio is in its steadfastness.  Alongside the dramatic flavors of garlic and basil often a wine built on a foundation of minerals will pair seamlessly.  The Velenosi from the Castelli di Jesi is just such a wine.  Terry Theise once said that drinking great Mosel riesling was like shaking hands with a mountain, if that's the case then drinking great Verdicchio is like shaking hands with the beach.  The sandy soils of Angela Velenosi's vineyards hallmark for the region, make for a wine with terrific structure.  In the hands winemaker Attilio Pagli the restrained white flower, almond and delicate fruit tones are revealed in perfect balance. With the myriad of intense Italian flavors set against the neutrality of pasta, great Verdicchio is one which provides the mouth-watering counterpoint...just about perfectly.  Of those, Velenosi is the real sleeper...restrained, subtly filigreed but, above all, steadfast.

  Time spent with Ales Kristancic, owner of Movia is always special.  Despite the fact that english is not his first language, his ability to articulate the essence of winegrowing remains unmatched.   According to Ales, wine happens only when the passions of the plant kingdom meet the passions of the animal kingdom. By contrast, he states that water was already present on earth when man arrived, it was a given.  Wine is only here because vines need animals to proliferate and animals need the fruit of the vine in order to survive.  The magic truly happens when the fungi living on the skins of the fruit are introduced to the sugars within thanks to the "passions" of man.  Too often, this "Botany of Desire" as Michael Pollan calls it, or "Divine Gift" as Ales calls it, goes completely unnoticed and unappreciated.   For Ales, hailing from the family that has owned Movia for over 6 generations, it is a way of daily conversation, reflection, philos...

In 1889, the same year the Eiffel tower is built, Fernand Moureaux decides to create a unique aperitif using yellow gentian and other herbs. Gentiana lutea is an herbaceous perennial plant, native to the mountains of central and southern Europe. Sometimes referred to as ‘Yellow Gentian’, ‘Bitter Root’, ‘Bitterwort’, ‘Centiyane’, ‘Genciana’, and “The Devil’s Taint.” It is remarkable for the intensely bitter properties resulting from secoiridoid, glycosides, amarogentin, and gentiopicrin contained within.  Gentian root has a long history of use as a herbal bitter in the treatment of digestive disorders and is an ingredient in many medicines. In fact, the name is a tribute to Gentius, an Illyrian king who was thought to have discovered that herbs had tonic properties. It was also used in the Middle Ages as an antidote to poison. Moureaux was an ambitious promoter and Suze eventually weaves it's way into French culture.  In 1912 a bottle of Suze makes its way into a Picasso Painti...

Mitchell Pressman, former owner of the Chesapeake Wine Company, once said that great wine comes from beautiful places.  Perhaps no vineyard setting in the world of wine is more picturesque than the Val D'Aosta in the Italian alps.  It is in this region where the Charrere family run the Les Cretes estate.  They grow indigenous and cultivated vinifera varietals using natural methods.   Here you can find Petit Arvine,  and Tourette which are native to the region in addition to stunning examples of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They are true wines of place...pristine and pure while also showing great length and complexity.  Here are some pictures to prove the point: Coteaux La Tour...Winter Autumn with Alps in the distance. The Charrere Family The best wines are those which give a sense of where they are born.  In all of Val D'Aosta the wines of Les Cretes do that the best.  Look again at the place, there is a freshness, vibrance and purity to it...I pro...

 When word gets out about a great spirit hiding in plain sight somewhere the market, it's usually not long before it disappears.  Evidence Black Maple Hill 11 and 16 year old,  Gabriel and Andreu XO, the debut of Whistlepig etc., etc,... once discovered, these all vanished into the hands of happy sippers. I'm happy to report just such a spirit has quietly appeared into Bacchus' warehouse.  It is the Castarede Reserve de Famille 20 year Armagnac.   It is one of the most perfect spirits you will ever have regardless of price.  But speaking of price the fact that this wholesales for $65.00 earns it "Must-Have" status. The House of Castarède, founded in 1832, is the oldest of all Armagnac trading houses.  After distillation the spirit is placed into black oak barrels and aged in their famed cellars on the river Baise which just happens to be a perfect environment for aging Armagnac.  The Castarede House is now being run by Florence Castarede a sixth g...

Not too long ago I had the chance to visit Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson in Charlottesville, VA.   I was surprised to learn there that despite all of his worldly achievements what Mr. Jefferson desired most was a domestic existence at Monticello where he could pursue his studies of science, engineering and agriculture.  As amazing as the house and buildings are at Monticello, the gardens there are no less so. The gardens have been restored to show Jefferson's experiments in domestic crops of vegetables, cereals, orchards and vineyards.  It was clear that he was keenly focused on how best to utilize each acre of his land. Shortly after my visit to Monticello, I was in Italy visiting producers in Tuscany and upon arriving at Bibbiano in Castellina in Chianti I began to have flashbacks of Jefferson's Monticello.  You see Bibbiano is more than just another Chianti producer.  It is a rather large estate, a distinct "place" in the Chianti Classico with a lo...

“Not a Carmignano”,  I recalled telling Steve, my importer, when he mentioned the initial contact he had with Silvia Vanucci of Piaggia.  “ Number one-they’re never ripe, number two-Cabernet has no business being planted in Tuscany, and number three-they simply don’t sell” I protested not too delicately.  This occurred just about a year ago, right around the time I had the chance to attend the  Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchiere  tasting in New York.  It was here by coincidence that I met Silvia Vanucci, who was pleasantly standing behind her table pouring tastes of her ’08 Carmignano Riserva.  Wow, was I about to be schooled!  The wine was nothing like any other Carmignano I had ever tasted...ripe, seductive and richly textured.  It was nothing short of magnificent and far better integrated than many of the renowned Super-Tuscans I had the opportunity to try at the event.  I reached for my phone and called Steve... Perhaps the reason that a we...

Bruno Rocca, Ca del Re It's clear, when looking out over the vast amphitheater of crus in Barbaresco, that the parcels of Rabaja owned by Bruno Rocca have the most perfect exposures.  This perfection of site is equally matched by Bruno's perfectionist methodology in the cellar.  The cellar is immaculate and the wines we tasted from it all shared a common theme of suave elegance and polish with each wine reflecting its origins precisely.  Recently Rocca acquired vineyards in Asti where he is now growing Barbera.  Barbera in Asti has an important role because in Asti it is relegated to the best exposures whereas in the Langhe it is Nebbiolo which is planted in the top exposures.  Tasting Highlights: '09 Barbera D'Asti- Wonderfully fragrant nose with floral and spice tones.  Broad and expressive on palate with long, lush flavors and the classic supple textures commonly found in the wines of Bruno Rocca. '10 Langhe Nebbiolo "Fralu"- Brilliant redfuits and wild...

Perfect for the upcoming season are the hidden gems from the Giovanni Corino Estate in Piedmont. Today the small winery of Giovanni Corino is producing wonderful wines at incredibly fair prices.  Giuliano has improvised on his training from Altare to create wines which have the distinctive softness and perfume of La Morra while showing lovely focus and balance. A little history to clear things up.  Giovanni Corino arrived in La Morra in 1952.  He had two sons, Renato in '63 and Giuliano in '68.  During the 1980's they were mentored by their close friend, Elio Altare and began to lower yields, improve quality and bottle under their own label.  During this time their reputation grows, the Wine Advocate refers to the estate's style as being "Pomerol-like" and in 2005 the estate splits between brothers Renato and Giuliano.  Renato develops a new label and Giuliano retains the original label as well as the property near the classic Giachini vineyard (also t...

Row 95 is now working with Vinergia of Spain.  Vinergia, run by Ignasi Lopez and Robert Hunter, is a company that does just a few products, but they do them extraordinarily well.  The core of their portfolio is the "Campos (fields)" line.  This line is comprised of value-priced, estate wines which reflect the true essence of a few of the unique and distinct regions of Spain.   The combination of quality, authenticity and value are the stuff of retailer's and restauranteur's dreams. Take the Campos de Luz Garnacha for example.  The Campos de Luz (Fields of Light) is from the DO of Carinena, just downriver from Rioja where Garnacha thrives in the dry, sunny climate.  This wine, typically around $9.00 retail, is from a single estate with plots of 40-80 year old Garnacha bush vines with yields of less than 3 tons per acre.   No oak, no artifice, no misguided efforts in the cellar to get higher scores, ... just a pure expression of vibrant, sun-drenched Gar...

I just finished two days of in-store tastings at different retailers offering "dollar over cost" sales. Both stores were crowded and customers were loading their carts full of wines, beer and spirits. It was an alarmingly illuminating glimpse into what people are actually putting into their bodies these days when it comes to beverage alcohol. All Manner of Cakes and Jams, Chocolates, Barefeet, Flip Flops, Neon Colors (not on the lables, in the juice people), Honey this, Sweet that... and that was just in the wine department! Our pancreas is a complex and delicate organ. We do it no justice when we bombard it with high levels of refined carbs, alcohol and sugar. Just such behavior is what is responsible for the epidemic levels of Type 2 diabetes we currently have in this country. No wonder we continue have raging debates on health-care. I can't help but think that the conventional wisdom on the part of "Big Alcohol" goes something like this "Well the consume...

2009 Borgogno Barbera  OK, I'll be honest, this producer is nostalgic for me. When I was a kid growing up in New Jersey, one of my idols was my Sicilian grandfather... Grandpa Lanza. Grandpa Lanza loved to cook, grow things and make wine. He lived in Staten Island and would host most of the important family gatherings. My love affair with food all started under his gentle guidance. While he drank simple wines most of the time, he would occasionally buy something special for the holidays. I distinctly recall one Thanksgiving Dinner where the turkey sat like a figurehead amongst caponata, sausage, baked pasta and other Italian delights. On the table that day was a bottle of Borgogne Barolo. The label today is unchanged from what it was in the early '70's. Back then it was among precious few serious Italian wines imported into the US. Borgogno is now with Domaine Select and representing them is somewhat of a coming full-circle for me. There is a little of the '09 Barbera t...

Understanding the Screwcapping Process Many of you know I have been working the El Libre Malbec very aggressively over the past couple months. I was amazed at the difference in how the wine shows after giving it the "Mollydooker Shake" before seeing customers. Here's why: WINE BUSINESS MONTHLY Product Review: Evaluating Your Stand-alone Capper Needs by CURTIS PHILLIPS "...most winemakers will want to remove as much of the oxygen from the headspace as possible. Since current cappers are unable to pull a vacuum while applying a screw cap, most screw-cappers on the market use inert gas to displace the oxygen-containing ambient air from the headspace as well as from inside the screw cap itself. For most systems, one or two jets of nitrogen are used. Additionally, liquid nitrogen dispensers are being used to purge the bottle headspace prior to capping. One could also use argon as a headspace gas. The second nitrogen jet, used to sparge inside the screw cap, is a recommend...

Many years ago I had the pleasure of spending a number of days in the Ribera del Duero with Allejandro Fernandez of Pesquera.  It was explained to me by his importer, Steve Metzler, a absolute scholar of Spanish wine, that great Ribera was rooted in the ability of a grower to blend Tempranillo from all of the complex microclimates in the DO in order to capture the true essence of what Ribera del Duero was truly all about.  That ability comes from a lifetime spent among those various subregions, tasting the fruit, learning the quirks that each plot has as a result of it's exposure, elevation or soil type. Often this is not the MO of other regions (the MO of other DO's), the best Burgundy comes from single vineyards and Bordeaux and the Rhone are often blends of varieties within an estate.  However, in Mendoza the Ribera approach is being met with great success.  And while I watch with great trepidation what some of the Big Brand wine companies are doing to Malbec, I b...

Felsina was added to the Row 95 portfolio last week. Andrea Bonivento, the Estate's new GM, was in town to give an update on happenings there. While we might expect to see a few tweaks to the Farnetella line up, there really isn't anything "new" going on there. The wines remain the same old incredibly soulful, balanced "wines of place", that they have been since the 70's...a concept that, only now, the rest of the world seems to be catching on to. The website, however, is new so check it out, it is filled with wonderful words and images of the Estate. See below: …From the Estate "Fèlsina’s Sangiovese is the result of an extraordinary variety of climates, landscapes and terrains. A combination of variants – different soils and clones – that constitute a unified asset to hand down to future generations. For this reason, since 1983, together with Franco Bernabei, we have proceeded with rigorous selections that have allowed us to conserve an important p...

The Pan-American Highway (Routa Sette) is a long gray scar running down the Central Plain of Chile bisecting the Andes and the Coastal Range. The Andes are majestic, seemingly endless snow covered peaks and while the Coastal Range is dwarfed by the scale of them, it is nonetheless formidable. It was unusual leaving the dusky, early fall colors of the Northeast US and arriving on this stretch a half a day later to find the vibrant greens of early spring shocked with brilliant pinks and whites of fruit tree blossoms. While the most well-known waves in Chile are located in the central and northern regions of the country, I decided to follow rumors of the uncrowded, lefts found in the cold waters of the South. I was not to be disappointed. Six hours south on Routa Sette from Santiago (a bit of a grind just after a 9 hour flight) and it was time to finally ascend the Coastal Plain and head for the sea. The elevation climbs gently from the plain and the landscape changes from verdant flatlan...