NORTHERN ITALY 3

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LE FRAGHE

The Veneto region where they make Bardolino is in the shadows these days, as it seems like it has always been, of its neighboring region where Valpolicella wines are produced.

Bardolino sits just east of Lake Garda and it's west of Valpolicella.  Perhaps the leading light of Bardolino is the dynamic winemaker Matilde Poggi who's been making Bardolino since 1984.  Her Le Fraghe estate sits about 13 miles northwest of Verona and about 40 miles southwest of Trento.  This is about 80 miles east of Milano (and we've made the drive regularly as Signora Poggi is a delight).


The winery dog:  Bardo.
And with the way Italians speak, the diminutive is "Lino."
Hence, he is Bardolino!

Matilde studied economics in school, but her family owned about 70 acres of vineyards and the fruit was sold to various producers, including her Uncle's winery.  She was curious about the wine world and in 1984 vinified enough fruit to make 400 cases of wine.  Bardolino is typically a light wine and its structure is somewhat like a French Beaujolais.  That means the wine is youthful and fruity, without much tannin and not in need of oak aging.

As a result, consumers looking for big, supposedly "important" red wine would have little interest in Bardolino.  And for various, so-called "experts," the standards for red wine are the wines need to require aging to be considered "good."  If you can drink a wine immediately and enjoy it when it's young, that wine would not "score" well on one of those 100 point rating scales.  Further, Bardolino has the color of Pinot Noir, not Cabernet, so you can deduct more points for that.  Really inky, dark-colored wines automatically get higher scores (and many Cabernet winemakers know this so they add a grape concentrate to their fruit as it's fermenting to add even more color).  You won't find inky-colored Bardolino.

On the other hand, tourists in Verona and Lake Garda routinely enjoy lightly chilled bottles of Bardolino when visiting the region and the wines are easily drinkable and quite affordable.

The vineyards for Le Fraghe wines are cultivated organically and Matilde is quite environmentally sensitive.
She also cultivates the vineyards for sensible, but smaller-than-allowed yields.  The wine has more character when the vines are not over-cropped.
Of course.

Here's a snapshot of some of her vineyards adjacent to the winery.

More properly farmed vineyards.

We took a drive to go have lunch on one of my visits and we stopped at a vineyard along the way.

As you can see, not every grower farms organically or with sensitivity to the impact of herbicides on the environment and the resulting wine.
That sign warns the vineyard is treated with poisonous products.

It's easy to see where the herbicide has been sprayed in this vineyard.
And those are NOT vineyards from which the Le Fraghe wines are produced.

The winery is quite simple and functional, so it is not a museum or showplace.

Matilde has been the head of a major winemaker's guild called FIVI.  It's the Italian Federation of Independent Winegrowers and you'll see their logo on not only the Le Fraghe wines in our shop, but on bottles of many good Italian producer's wines at Weimax.

An old label of her Bardolino and you can see the color of the wine is as it should be.

By the way, when you see that FIVI logo on bottles, the wines must be grown and vinified by the producer.  These vintners are not allowed to buy wine or grapes.  And the members of this organization are routinely cultivating sustainably, organically, etc.

Matilde studies the wine list at a favorite restaurant.  She's a student of wine and curious to taste wines from other wineries to have an idea of what neighboring vintners are doing.


We tasted a Soave that had spent 20 months on the "lieviti" (the spent yeast sediment after the fermentation was completed).

There's a nice range of wines at Le Fraghe.  Her Garganega is delightful and she makes a mildly fruity rosato.

But for us, the star of the show is the Bardolino.  She makes two, but we're fans of the entry-level bottling as it's more intensely fruity.

After many decades of making this wine, Matilde says she's now got a clear idea of how to achieve the best results.  So the wine is a blend of about 80% Corvina with 20% Rondinella, each fermented separately.  The maceration with the skins is about a wine, or so.  She wants to maximize the fruitiness of the wine and so this does not see oak.  It's kept in stainless steel tanks until bottling just a few months into the new year (following the September/October harvest season).

The current "rules" for Bardolino state that the wine must be at least 35% Corvina with a maximum of 80% of that variety (though up to 20% of those percentages can be the Corvinone variety).  Then 10% to 40% must be Rondinella.  There is no minimum for the Molinara grape, though its usage is capped at 40% of the blend.  There is a provision allowing for a maximum of 20% of "other" red grape varieties which are not aromatic (so no Brachetto, Malvasia Nera or Black Muscat, for example).  And of that 20% "other," you can have no more than 10% of a single particular variety.  

We appreciate having this wine when it's young.  The cherryish fruit is delightful and we like serving it lightly chilled with all sorts of foods.  It's low in alcohol typically (under 13% usually) and it pairs beautifully with salumi, simple pasta dishes and roasted chicken, pork, sausages and mild red meats.

Matilde, always interested in experimentation, makes a Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc blend.  She calls it Quaiare.  We've suggested another name which we think is appropriate:  Bordolino.
She has resisted using that name for the wine.

Currently in stock:  2020 LE FRAGHE BARDOLINO  $16.99

There are a couple of small apartments available to rent if you're spending a couple of days (at least) in the area.
CLICK HERE if you'd like to check out the agriturismo at Le Fraghe.

 

NINO NEGRI

The Valtellina is probably one of the least-known wine areas of northern Italy.  It's in Lombardia and is a mountainous region north of Milano.  

The main grape variety is Nebbiolo.  If you can read the town names on the map to the left, you'll see one is called Chiavenna.  To confuse unsuspecting American wine drinkers (and even those who might actually be suspicious), they change the name of the Nebbiolo grape here to Chiavennasca. The name is said to be a corruption of the dialect words "Ciu vinasca," translating to "the best for wine."   

The most normal bottlings are "Valtellina"  while a step up gets you "Valtellina Superiore."  The best of these take a site-specific name such as Grumello, Inferno, Sassella or Valgella.  One of the most prestigious wines of the area is the powerful Sfursat or Sforzato wine.  This is the Valtellina's version of an Amarone.  The wine is made of dried grapes and has higher-than-normal alcohol.  

One of the most prominent, if not the most important cellars in the Valtellina is Nino Negri.  It's no longer owned by the Negri family, but the place is in good hands and run with an eye towards quality.

This old advertisement is displayed in the courtyard near their offices and cellar.


We made the pilgrimage to visit the Nino Negri winery and were greatly impressed by the terroir of the region and the dedication to excellence.

Lots of "inox" (stainless steel tanks)...


Large, neutral cooperage.


This is quite a showplace, but it's far from a museum.

That's an oak barrel adorning the wall in the cellar room.

The cellar full of small French oak has a wonderfully spicy and woodsy fragrance.
Yet, when we tasted their famous, lavishly-oaked "Cinque Stelle" Sfursat, the wine was not woody!  The Nebbiolo character took center stage.

 

Paolo Bombardieri pours several Nino Negri wines.

 

A view from the hills looking at the Valtellina vineyards.
Nino Negri's grapes are often ferried to the winery during the harvest by helicopter!






We typically have Nino Negri's "Inferno" wine in the shop.   This is a nice example of Nebbiolo and has more interest (to us) than many costly Merlot wines made north of the border in Switzerland.  I am often surprised at how many people actually know this wine.  It's a step above their entry level bottling and carries the name "Mazer" on the label.  "Mazer" translates loosely to "amazing," but more precisely "good" or "pretty"  (the locals say it translates to 'buono' or 'bello').

The Inferno wine takes its name from the steep slopes and rocky soil...the rocks reflect the heat and make the place rather hot.   In the grand scheme of things, Inferno is a small production item and not something most shops or restaurants in the U.S. would even bother carrying.

Negri's Mazer displays a light garnet color with a hint of rusty brown/orange on the robe.  It's a bit leathery in fragrance and has a mildly tannic 'bite' on the palate.  This is a traditionally-styled red wine, so if you're looking for a "gobs o' fruit" sort of bottle, this won't be a good choice.  On the other hand, a plate of a wild mushroom pasta or grilled sausages and you're living right!

Having such a traditionally-styled red, I was totally unprepared for their white wine blend called "Ca' Brione."  The name comes from a vineyard site in the Fracia zone within the village of Teglo (like you're going to remember this and recite it for guests at the dinner table!).  The wine is based on two, maybe three, familiar grape varieties.  Most well-known are the Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  But they pick these early and dry them a bit...a process which would horrify most U.C. Davis-trained enologists.  Then, when they're ripe, Nino Negri harvests its Nebbiolo (yes, the red grape Nebbiolo plays a supporting role in this show) along with the grape known as Incrocio Manzoni, an old hybrid from the Veneto.  It's a cross (incrocio) of Riesling and Pinot Bianco.  The wine is fermented in French oak and spends more than half a year following in wood.  

We have not had this wine in the shop for a few vintages...and we recently purchased a bottle of the 2019, having skipped having this in the shop since the 2013 vintage.

Happily the 2019 is exceptional!
The aromas are complex with some citrusy Sauvignon Blanc up front and backed by a mildly toasty, woodsy element from its maturation in oak.

The importer or distribution company seem to bring in, these days, a token quantity of this exceptional wine.

And the 2019 is exceptionally good.

I served this with an antipasti plate and it was superb.

 

 

The "Cinque Stelle" (5 Star) Sfursat that's in the shop is from the 2013 vintage.  Where to start?  Nebbiolo, 100%.  A long fermentation period on the skins, so the wine has plenty of structure and can age well.  It spends about a year+ in new French oak.  It's as intense as a good Barolo, but there's less tar and more 'sweet' notes.  Clove spice, vanilla, violets, etc.   

This is now in the same price neighborhood as many Amarone wines and it's as costly as a good number of Barolo and Barbaresco wines.  This will probably come as a shock to old-timers (of which I am one), since these didn't use to cost an arm and a leg.  

Deep, rich, mildly jammy and showing a touch of oak, you'll want to pair this with some sort of rich cheese or a regal roast of lamb or beef.  Be sure to give the wine an hour in a decanter...that's ideal.
We opened a bottle of the 2004 in early 2018 and it was showing beautifully...a touch of wood spice...medium-bodied...very elegant.

These age handsomely and they're rather showy upon release.

 

 

 

"Quadrio" is a lovely example of Valtellina Nebbiolo.  It's 90% Nebbiolo and we understand they blend in a really obscure variety called Merlot.  This may sound strange, but Merlot is actually a fairly common variety in northern Italy and in Switzerland's Ticino region.  
The wine takes its name from a castello which is named "Quadrio di Chiuro" and was owned, some 500 years ago, by the governor of the Valtellina region.  
We found this to be a nice expression of Nebbiolo...I couldn't detect, frankly, that there is some other variety in the wine.  It's medium-bodied and mildly tannic, so pairing it with red meats or a slow-simmered meat sauced dish would be ideal.  

 

 

There's also a really good example of traditionally-made Sfursat.  We have the 2012 vintage and this is showing quite nicely.  Fairly full in body and ripe, mildly jammy notes on the nose.  

Currently in stock:  2013 Sfursat 5 Stelle  $86.99
2019 CA' BRIONE Terrazze Retiche di Sondrio White Wine  $39.99
2013 INFERNO  SALE $25.99
2012 Sfursat (List $60) SALE $49.99

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIDOLI ~ FORNAS

Back in the 1980s we met the Bidoli family from Friuli.

Dad was still alive and his young son Arrigo was working in the cellar.  Daughter Margherita was handling sales and administrative issues in the office.

Dad passed away a few years back, but his "kids" are still making delightful wines with modest price tags.  

 

They purchased a new facility.  Well, new to them.  It's an old brick factory, so many of their wines wear the label "Fornas," a reference to the old brick furnace.

 

 

When you walk into the building, you'll see an old photo of three generations of the Bidoli family, Arrigo, his grandfather and his dear old Dad...

Their wines are not fancy and they don't cater to trophy hunters.  If you're looking for 90+ point wines, they don't make them.  And you know what?  They don't care.  

Actually, though, Arrigo and Margherita  DO care about their customers and they make some really good little wines.  But they work for "wine drinkers," not "collectors."  Most of their wines are probably consumed within 18 or 24 months of the vintage.  

I always liked their Pinot Grigio and Cabernet Franc.  We bought those wines back in the 1980s and early 1990s.  

Years later I'd suggest the Bidoli wines to various importers.  Most had no interest, since they were searching for wines to sell to stores and restaurants for whom "points" matter.  It's easy to say "I've got a 92 point Chianti which costs $160 a case.  How many cases do you want?" More difficult selling is to approach a buyer with something like "Say, please try this dynamite Cabernet Franc that's bargain-priced, ready to drink and see what you think."

I dragged some importers at Italy's circus-of-a-wine-fair, VinItaly to show them these are good wines and they're inexpensive, delicious and will find repeat customers.

Well, one of the importers I'd introduced and who'd said he wasn't interested went back to taste.  
"You know," he told me as though he'd discovered these on his own, "those wines are really good and they're great for such a small price."

Really?  Ya' think?


In 2011 I brought a friend who's the buyer for a Southern California shop.  He was blown away buy the wines we'd tasted, doubly so when he heard these sell for about ten bucks a bottle!

 

There's a cellar for some reds...but the wines we buy don't see any oak.


They have a modern, fancy bottling line.


Arrigo Bidoli...he's one of Italy's best, "unheralded" winemakers.

 

We have a crisp, light, fruity and dry Pinot Grigio.  It sells for all of $9.99.  Bidoli owns no vineyards.  They've been buying grapes from good growers for decades, so producing a fresh, crystal clear wine is easy for Arrigo.

They make a Cabernet Franc, too.  This is a fairly common grape in Friuli, along with Merlot.  But they don't seek to make an "important" wine from this fruit.  Instead, the Bidoli crew produce a simple, easy-to-drink "picnic wine."  It's the color of a fresh Beaujolais and nearly as fruity on the nose.  On the palate, it's a medium-light bodied wine with virtually no tannin.   This is the sort of red wine you serve lightly chilled.  
The winery is only a few kilometers from the town of San Daniele and this wine is wonderful with the famous, locally-made Prosciutto.
We've found it pairs well with chicken, pork, red meats, pizza and pasta, too.

If you have a ten dollar bill in your pocket and are looking for satisfying and simple vino, keep the Fornas name in mind.  

Currently in stock:  2019 FORNAS Friuli PINOT GRIGIO $9.99
2010 FORNAS Friuli CABERNET FRANC Sold Out

 

 

NOELIA RICCI

 

NOELIA RICCI

Emilia-Romagna remains well in the shadows of Italy's top tourist places.  It doesn't attract the volumes of tourists that flock to Tuscany, Rome or Venice.  And yet it's somewhat the gastronomic heartland of Italy.  You'll find top Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  There's exceptional Prosciutto di Parma (and its cousin, Culatello di Zibello).  Don't forget Aceto Balsamico!  The Balsamico di Modena can be remarkably delicious.  We should also mentioned the Mortadella that hails from Bologna.  While there are famous pasta-makers all around Italy, you can find some exceptional Tagliatelle to pair with the famed Bolognese meat sauce that is copied all over the world. 
And then there are Tortellini...the towns of Bologna and Modena argue over which is the birthplace of tortellini.

The region is also a hub of Italian motor sports.  The Ferrari company has its test track in Emilia-Romagna and there's a splendid museum which tells the amazing story of this company.  But there's also a Maserati museum and one for Lamborghini, too.

Bologna, by the way, is home to what is said to be Europe's first university, the school having been established in the year 1088!

And so what about wine to pair with the grand cuisine of Emilia-Romagna?   Most wine guides gloss over the wines from this region, much like the area is by-passed by tourists.  Emilia-Romagna's two top appellation wines, if those garnering the DOCG designation are considered prestigious, come from white grapes:  the Pignoletto used for the "Colli Bolognese Pignoletto" and the Albana grape used in the Romagna Albana wines.  

Of course, the enological ambassador for Emilia-Romagna over the past half-century would be the Lambrusco wines.  Many years ago the mass-produced plonk of the Riunite and Cella brands were wildly popular and often described as the "Coca Cola of Wines."  These days we have easy access to "real" Lambrusco and these can be delightful accompaniments to a salumi platter.  

 

There are numerous grape varieties cultivated in Emilia-Romagna...you'll have difficulty thinking of some grape that isn't grown there!  Fiano, Friulano, Garganega, Marsanne, Grechetto, Riesling and Müller-Thurgau can be found in the region. So can Syrah, Dolcetto, Cabernet, Petit Verdot and Montepulciano for reds.  

Our friend Valentina Davide explains the northwest area near Piacenza is where you can find a typical Emilia wine called Gutturnio, a blend of Barbera with Croatina (or Bonarda if you prefer to use that name for the grape).  In the areas around Bologna, she explains, you can find many of the "international" grapes being cultivated.  As one heads southeast, you come to the "Romagna" area and this is where she says "Sangiovese is king and the Queens are the Albana and Trebbiano Romagnolo grapes."

But Sangiovese might, one of these days, distance itself from the rest as a specialty of Emilia-Romagna.

There are well more than a hundred clones of the Sangiovese grape.

The University of California at Davis identifies two major types of Sangiovese, one being "Sangiovese Grosso" (typically found in Montalcino where it produces the famous Brunello wines, along with the Chianti regions) and Sangiovese Piccolo (which they say is the Sangiovese di Romagna).

Most wine drinkers who enjoy Italian reds will have had some experience with Sangiovese Grosso wines, having tasted Chianti, Vino Nobile or something such as a Rosso or Brunello di Montalcino.

Less well-known is the Sangiovese di Romagna and that's what we have from the Noelia Ricci winery.  UC Davis indicates this is "Sangiovese Piccolo."  
The great and studious grape guru, Ian D'Agata points to old writings about the grape, one in 1877 distinguishing between the Sangioveto of Tuscany and the Sangiovese di Romagna.  He states that some vintners contend that Tuscany's version should be called Sangioveto, while the grape grown in Emilia Romagna (and everywhere else) should then be called simply Sangiovese.  
Good luck with that!

This is a small, family-operated winery located just north of a little city called Predappio (south of Forli and 45 miles northeast of Florence in Tuscany. It's approximately 42 miles southeast of Bologna.)  It's in the Valle del Rabbi di Predappio to be precise.

The Ricci story begins in the city of Forli, though, with Giuseppe Ricci back in the 1930s, as we understand things.  He ran a little hardware store and happened to sell "LPG," Liquid Petroleum Gas, amongst other normal items.  He was a smart businessman and made a nice living it seems.

In the early 1940s he purchased the Villa Pandolfa which has history going back to the 1400s.  Ricci had enough resources to buy two neighboring estates, so there's plenty of land for growing grapes, olives and a range of fruit trees.

 

Ricci became quite wealthy as the founder of a company called Ultragas and now his great-grandson runs this small winery.   Noelia Ricci was Giuseppe's daughter and the winery is named after her, in honor of her vision of the site being a potentially good one for wine production.

Noelia's daughter, Paola Piscopo, runs Ultragas today and co-owns the winery with her son, Marco Cirese.

They actually have two brands, the Pandolfa property or brand as well as the Noelia Ricci line.

There are some 9+ hectares of vineyards for the Noelia Ricci brand which are in the process of being totally converted to organic viticulture.  By the 2023 harvest, all of the Noelia Ricci wines will be from organically-farmed vineyards.

 

The Noelli Ricci brand does not use any "international" grape varieties in its wines.  They're not interested in making Cabernet Sauvignon or blending that into wine made with their special, "local" grape, Sangiovese di Romagna.

The vineyards are in a special site called San Cristoforo at about 200 to 340 meters above sea level which gets sea breezes from the Adriatic, some 30 miles away.  They cultivate only autochthonous varieties:  Trebbiano di Romagna and the Sangiovese di Romagna.

Mr. D'Agata cites the T-19 Clone (T for Tebano) as usually being responsible for the best Sangiovese wines.  "But," he writes, "it is a diseased clone, virus-affected, and therefore planting it is not officially allowed.  Of course, that doesn't stop anyone in Italy.  Even more ironic is that both T-19 and R-24, another worthwhile clone, are of Emilia-Romagna origin which clashes a tad with those who uphold the superiority of Tuscan Sangioveto."

D'Agata later states "My hunch is that if the Sangiovese grapevines from Emilia-Romagna have such a poor reputation today, this has less to do with their intrinsic qualities than with a paucity of truly gifted winemakers in the Sangiovese di Romagna wine-production area."


We've tasted a number of Sangiovese wines from Emilia-Romagna and have yet to find one that's particularly complex.  Yes, it's easier to find more compelling Sangiovese in Tuscany.  

 

But we have high hopes for the Noelia Ricci winery, as they seem to be on the right track and perhaps one day will have a wine rivaling the top, "pure" (not "fortified" with Cabernet, Merlot or Syrah) wines from Tuscany.

 

The soils of Noelia Ricci are a unique mix of chalk, sandstone and clay.

Il Sangiovese...

Presently we have a young red called simply "Il Sangiovese."  It's an uncomplicated red, made without the use of oak as they seek to put Sangiovese di Romagna in the spotlight.  The label depicts a wasp from some old art work they found in an archive of 18th Century natural sciences materials and they explain its choice for this wine is because the Sangiovese has a mildly "stinging" quality (thanks to its acidity).  
This is not a "cocktail" red wine as some wineries make here in California.  They produce this with the idea it's going to be paired with food of some sort.  
You could pair it with a pasta & Bolognese Sauce, of course, but it can easily partner with a pizza, burger or grilled sausages.  It'll match nicely with a savory, well-seasoned roasted chicken.  Pork Chops?  Sure!  
We arranged a dinner in San Francisco in early 2020 of modern dim sum dishes and Signorina Davide suggests this Sangiovese could certainly have been paired with a number of those.

Serve this at cool cellar temperature and pour it into nice, big stemware and give it a good swirl in the glass...you'll see it opens nicely with a bit of airing.

A number of Weimax customers have returned for an encore purchase of this.  It's well-priced and has some character.

 

 

Currently in stock:  2018 NOELIA RICCI SANGIOVESE DI ROMAGNA "Predappio" IL SANGIOVESE $19.99

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ROCCOLO GRASSI

This is a relatively young winery owned by a part of the Sartori family, a famous name in Veneto area winemaking.  But unlike the other Sartori family which makes 15 MILLION bottles of wine annually, this little enterprise produces approximately 40-thousand bottles.

Located in Mezzane di Sotto, they have a couple of vineyard sites.  La Broia is devoted to the Garganega grape for the production of Soave.  Then the main red wine vineyards are on the hills of San Briccio and it's there you'd find a vineyard called Roccolo Grassi.  

Bruno Sartori's kids now run the place.  Marco is the winemaker  and his sister Francesca also works in the business.  They view their main job as taking care of the vineyards.  Small yields.  Volcanic soils for the red grapes.  Attention to detail.  


Perfectly maintained cellars...

 

And below ground, there's a cellar with wooden barrels and tanks.

We're fans of their Amarone especially, though they do make a wonderful and "important" style of Valpolicella.  

The 2007 Amarone is currently in stock.  It's a fairly high-octane red wine, as most Amarone wines are...but despite its strength, you might not peg it as being as potent as it is.
The blend is something like 60% Corvina, 20% Rondinella, 15% Corvinone and 5% Croatina.  The grapes spend nearly two months drying before they set about making the wine...

The wine is vinified at a fairly warm temperature, as this usually brings out deeper color.  The length of skin contact is fairly substantial, too, typically the wine spending a bit more than a month on the skins with punch-downs and pump-overs.   Depending on the resulting wine, the maturation period in wood can be from 26 months to nearly 36, with 32 being the average.  The 2007 vintage was kept in wood for a shorter time period, though.  The wine is aged in small French oak and we like their handling of the wood...it's noticeable, but not exaggerated.

The 2007 is a showy wine now, in its youth and it can probably age well for another 5 to 10 years.  Pairing it with game or braised/stewed meats is ideal, though a grilled steak is not out of the question, either.  It offers hints of dried cherry and tobacco, with lightly woodsy, vanillin tones.  Quite complex...

Currently in stock:  2007 ROCCOLO GRASSI Amarone della Valpolicella   SALE $79.99

 

 

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CASA VINICOLA ALDO RAINOLDI

This smallish producer dates back to 1925 and they're one of the top producers in the Valtellina.  Of course, there are less than two dozen wineries in the Valtellina, so being amongst the top 25 is not difficult.

 

There's a mix of traditional wine production and a bit of modern winemaking here.
You can see the old school large tanks on the left in the cellar, while in the distance there are small oak barrels.

 

Nebbiolo, of course, is the focus at this cellar, but they're dabbling in white wine production and in producing a wine of Sauvignon Blanc blended with Nebbiolo that's vinified as a white wine.

The place is run by Giuseppe Rainoldi and his winemaker nephew Aldo.  They produce a modest quantity of wine, making about 17-thousand cases of wine annually (using American 12 bottle cases as a yardstick).  The firm owns about 7 hectares of estate vineyards and they rent nearly 3 more hectares in the area.

 

We tasted some interesting wines on our visit here...including a curious Spumante made predominantly of Nebbiolo, vinified as a pink wine with a small amount of Pignola and Rossola grapes...

Sassella and Grumello and Inferno wines are solid here, but the star standout of the Rainoldi line-up is their Sfursat di Valtellina called "Fruttaio Ca' Rizzieri."   We tasted a 2004 a few years ago...perfectly nice with some stony notes and a mildly leafy tone reminding me a bit of tobacco.
But the current release from the 2007 vintage is a serious wine.  There's still a hint of tobacco but the wine has more sweet fruit and woodsy notes.  It's a robust red and as they dried the grapes for a few months before vinifying them, there's a jammy theme to the wine.  Blackberries and dried cherry notes are on top of a cedary, woodsy quality.  It's pretty showy right now and we expect it to hold nicely, well-stored, for another five to ten years.

 

Giuseppe Rainoldi.

 

 

The founder of the house, Aldo Rainoldi.



Young Aldo, the winemaker, pouring their Brut Rose.

Currently in stock:  RAINOLDI 2007 SFURSAT DI VALTELLINA "Fruttaio Ca' Rizzieri" (List $70) SALE $59.99

 

 

 

SKERK

The Skerk winery is located a short toss-of-the-cork away from Slovenia, in what's called the Carso region.  From Venice, you'd drive an hour and 40 minutes northeast of Venice towards Trieste and you'd find the little hamlet of Duino Aurisina, home of a couple of prominent wineries.

Being so close to the Slovenian border, you'll notice the street signs are in Italian and Slovene.  

This is tough, rugged land if you're a grapevine and the rocky, hard soils force the vine to really struggle to survive. In fact, land there doesn't have much of what we'd call "topsoil," so if you want to plant some vines, be prepared to order truck-loads of topsoil to be brought in to allow you to put a vine in the ground!   Well, the wines made in the region tend to be fairly hearty souls as a result.

It's a region where historically those brave enough to make wine would ferment even the white wines incorporating the grape skins as somewhat of a measure for preserving the wine.  

And today there's a lot of chatter, especially amongst those promoting so-called "natural wines," to make white wines which are given a period of skin contact.  Many of these are called "orange wines" as they tend to have a brassy, somewhat golden hue to them.  

Some are out and out schlock and some are rather intriguing wines.  And they're not for everybody.

I was at a tasting where a local wine critic asked what I thought of some wines from a famed estate near the border town of Gorizia.  My comment was "You know, when the Merlot and the Pinot Grigio have the same brownish color to them, Houston: We have a problem."

And yet some people seem content to pay ridiculous sums of money for this soft of dreck.  Others sing the praises, willing to remain oblivious to the flaws in the winemaking, finding a measure of beauty and pleasure in wines most people would flat-out reject as undrinkable.

Sandi Skerk and his family have about 6 hectares of vineyards in the Carso region.  They recently built or remodeled a winery close to the Skerk enclave where friends, family and customers gather to enjoy some wine and Mama Skerk's culinary artistry.  Much of the wine production is consumed right at the cellar door, as it were, by thirsty folks who come to eat, drink and hang out with the locals.


Mama Skerk has a bunch of Prosciutti dangling from the ceiling, along with a cooler full of various other salumi which are consumed with the Skerk wines at picnic tables in the courtyard of the family digs.

 

 

 

 

 

Take your pick of the language, but the prices are universal!

 

 

You can see the color of Skerk's "Ograde," one of the best "orange wines" you can hope to taste.

A photo of Sandi Skerk and his Pop (Boris) hangs on the wall...

The winery is just down the hill from their reception area and you can see the water towards the Adriatic from their little perch on the hill.

 

 

 

 

 

They have done a fair bit of work to have a well-appointed, somewhat modern cellar for the vinification and aging of the wines.

 

 

 

 

 

Not many wineries were selling bottled wine in the 1980s...this was a novel concept.
Most wine was sold in bulk or by-the-glass at the cellar door.
Skerk has a few old bottles in the "library."

You can see the remarkably rocky terrain of this area.  Imagine digging a wine cellar in such rock!
And then, imagine if you're a grapevine and have to plunge your roots into this subsoil...
Buona fortuna.

 

 

 

 

 

We're especially fans of Skerk's blended white wine called Ograde.  We understand the wine to be a blend of four varieties in roughly equal proportions:  Vitovska, Malvasia, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris.
The wine does get the typical fermentation-on-the-skins for so-called "orange wine."
But Skerk avoids the oxidation and spoilage elements of many of these currently-fashionable bottlings, producing a wine some may find "quirky," but others will find to be quite exciting and unique.
The 2018 vintage is spectacular.  The Malvasia is so beautifully aromatic it dominates this vintage.


If you're looking for a seriously good bottle of "Orange Wine," this is it.
Even if you're not looking for Orange wine, this is well worth drinking!



We prepared a starter course with polenta, tapenade and some smoked trout and paired the Ograde wine alongside Jermann's famed Vintage Tunina.  
Both wines were terrific, though the Ograde seemed to handle the olive oil and savory qualities of the tapenade and smoked trout quite handily.

At the Skerk cellar, tasting through the wines, I remarked how good the Ograde wine was showing, especially given its being one of those sort-of-orange-wine bottlings.

Mama Skerk, who clearly knew what I was talking about, remarked "Well, you know...my son knows how to make wine!"
Yes, indeed.

We also have Skerk's 2010 Terrano.  This is an appellation for wines made of a grape said to be identical to or related to the Refosco grape and grown in a delimited area of the Carso region.  It's a wine which tends to have a moderate level of astringency, so pairing it with steak or lamb is ideal.

Currently in stock:  2018 SKERK "Ograde" White wine Blend  $44.99
2010 SKERK TERRANO  Sold Out

 

A short distance from Skerk's village is the old Slovenian border crossing...I went over just to see the "ghosts" of those old days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old labels tailored to the German-speaking market.

 

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