[wine] S. Italy at Arezzo TOnight

Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 20:50:12 -0600 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: [wine] Italy, S. of Rome, at Arezzo Greetings, Auriga was very good. Last I heard, we're doing "Italy, Sourth of Rome" at Arezzo. Anyone know if Bob was able to make the reservation? Bob has negotiated a $5 per person charge in leu of corkage. Menu is on line. Wine list is not on line.... Prices are reasonable, w/ $10-12 pizza and most entrees (Primi) under $20. Bob Lori Betsy Annette S Russ Warren/Ruth/Steve Jim Maybe (aka Team Proseco!) Sue Louise Guesses (Team in-comunicado) Bill Janet Karin Nicolai Arezzo Ristorante 612 285-7444 5057 France Ave S, Minneapolis, 55410 www.arezzo-ristorante.com S. Italy. Sardinia Sicily Salice Campomarino Augusthronicle's Top Bargain Wines of 2005 - W. Blake Gray, Leslie Sbrocco Thursday, December 29, 2005 2002 Alamos Mendoza Malbec ($10) Bodega Catena Zapata, which makes this wine, is one of the most prestigious wineries in Argentina. Laura Catena, vice president and a winemaker, is also an emergency room physician at UCSF Medical Center. There's no conflict between the jobs, because high-altitude Argentine Malbecs are said to be particularly high in resveratrol, a naturally occurring antioxidant in grapes that studies suggest helps prevent heart disease and cancer. Protect your heart while enjoying this juicy, full-bodied wine's intensity, complexity and quaffability. Click to View 2002 A-Mano Puglia Primitivo ($10) Primitivo is genetically identical to Zinfandel, though some believe it was imported to Italy from California, rather than making its way there from its birthplace in Croatia. In any case, this earthy yet fruity red from the Adriatic coast in southeastern Italy is made in a New World style by Mark Shannon, an American winemaker who now lives on "the boot." 2002 Capcanes Montsant Mas Donis ($10) The Montsant wine region of Spain was created in 2001 when the larger Priorat region was broken in two; Montsant is shaped like a doughnut that encircles what is now called Priorat. The idea was to focus international attention on now-trendy Priorat wines, which have gone up in price. Accordingly, Montsant wines are like "second-growth Priorats," which can mean good value. This blend of mostly Grenache with Syrah is dense and layered, showcasing wild berry character tinged with smoky notes. Click to View 2004 Covey Run Columbia Valley Riesling ($8) Washington state's Covey Run Winery is one of about 27 quadrillion wineries now owned by Constellation Brands. Oddly, Covey Run is lumped by the company in the same subsidiary -- Canandaigua Wine -- with very low-end products including Manischewitz and Wild Irish Rose. This rich, sweet wine raises the standards of the portfolio with flavors and aromas of honey, ripe pear, Meyer lemon and white peach with strong floral accents. It's a good example of how delicious Washington Riesling can be. Click to View 2004 Dry Creek Vineyard Clarksburg Dry Chenin Blanc ($10) In 1991, California had more than 30,000 acres of Chenin Blanc, representing more than 17 percent of the state's white wine grapes, according to the California Agricultural Statistics Service. By 2004, total white wine grape plantings were up slightly, but Chenin Blanc had dropped under 12,000 acres because it lost favor in the industry. Most of that Chenin Blanc goes into jug wines, and few California wineries still produce it as a varietal. This wine shows why wineries shouldn't give up on it, with floral and ripe fruit notes that pair with zesty citrus flavors. Click to View 2004 Falesco Vitiano Umbria Ros� ($8) The Falesco wines are made by Riccardo Cotarella, Italy's most sought-after consulting winemaker, and his brother Renzo, general manger at the prestigious Marchesi Antinori winery in Tuscany. This wine is made by vinifying a portion of the juice that comes from quickly crushing the same grapes -- Merlot, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Aleatico -- that go into Falesco's red blend. Watermelon and strawberry aromas waft from the glass, and a spicy kick finishes each sip. Click to View 2004 Geyser Peak California Sauvignon Blanc ($9) The Australian-born leaders of Geyser Peak Winery's winemaking team have always believed in unoaked, crisp styles of white wine, even when big, creamy, oaky whites were all the rage in California. This bottling from the Geyserville winery is in the New Zealand style, with flavors of gooseberry, pineapple and a hint of Meyer lemon. It's only moderately grassy, with additional aromas of dried apricot and pineapple, and is delicious with practically any kind of food. Click to View 2004 Heron California Chardonnay ($10) Laely Heron's parents were hippies who traveled the world in a Volkswagen van, taking her to live in places including Algeria, Morocco, South Africa, Botswana, Thailand and Malaysia. She studied winemaking in France and began her winemaking career with a Merlot from France's Languedoc region that she still produces. But her winery, Heron Wines, is based in San Francisco, and most of her wines -- including this one -- are made from California fruit. Tropical aromas leap from the glass; the flavors are lemon, lemon marmalade, passion fruit and mango with a touch of vanilla on the medium-length finish. Click to View NV HRM Rex Goliath California Pinot Noir ($9) Don't wait to buy this wine. The brand was purchased in September by industry giant Constellation Brands, which changed winemakers. Because it's nonvintage -- which means grapes harvested in more than one year are blended -- it's not going to be possible to tell when the old regime's wine runs out and the new stock comes in. Ben Dollard, president of Constellation subsidiary Pacific Wine Partners, says the goal is to maintain quality while increasing production. Nonetheless, it was tempting to leave this wine off the list because of its uncertain future, but this year's release richly deserves the honor because it's a $9 wine that offers the soft fruit and complexity of a much more expensive Pinot Noir. Its aromas and flavors of cherry, cherry tobacco, red plum, tar, soy sauce and vanilla would merit a recommendation even if the wine cost three times as much. And it's named after a legendary 47-pound rooster, making it the heavyweight champ of this year's menagerie of critter wines. Click to View 2003 Jakes Fault California Shiraz ($10) There are probably more good bargain Shirazes on the market than any other red varietal, but they tend to be bold and simple rather than memorable. Moreover, bargain Syrah is often not easy to match with foods because of its big body and high alcohol. The 2003 Jakes Fault California Shiraz ($10) stands above its many peers because of its juicy, food-friendly fruit character and relatively restrained 13.5 percent alcohol. This is a delicious, complex wine, with flavors and aromas of ripe black currant, raspberry, black mission fig, earth and herbs. The tannins dry a bit on the medium-long finish. Jake, by the way, is supposed to be you, the consumer, according to the Allied Domecq Wines U.S.A. Web site. So if you don't love this wine, whose fault is it? Click to View 2004 Kono Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($10) Kono is a food and beverage brand of Maori-owned Wakatu Inc. of Nelson, New Zealand. This wine takes advantage of the fact that the world center of great Sauvignon Blanc is now that country's Marlborough region. In its cool climate, the grape develops strong, pungent aromas and flavors of tropical fruit and fresh-mown grass that were shocking 20 years ago to fans of the more austere, mineral-driven wines made from Sauvignon Blanc in France's Loire region. Lately, those strong flavors have become the expectation, and sadly, few Sauvignon Blancs from Marlborough can be had for $10. That's what makes this wine such a find. Its strong aromas and tangy flavors of passion fruit, pineapple, fresh-cut grass, white peach and white pepper are pure Marlborough, and they linger on the medium-long finish. Click to View 2003 The Magnificent Wine Co. Columbia Valley House Wine ($10) Charles Smith of K Vintners in Walla Walla is one of Washington state's hottest and most eclectic vintners; one of his Syrahs, priced at $40, was chosen earlier this month as The Chronicle's favorite from the entire state. This down-to-earth blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc is packed with rich, dark fruit flavors. It's a successful attempt by Smith to make a wine that people can have every day without being bored -- in other words, a "house wine," hence the name. Click to View 2003 Montevina Amador County Barbera ($10) The Italian varietal Barbera is perhaps the most underappreciated grape in the United States. It's widely grown but often ends up anonymously providing backbone for jug wines. When bottled on its own, it can be an outstanding dinner-table wine that combines two likable characteristics not found together often enough: a big body and palate-cleansing, food-friendly acidity. This Barbera by Montevina offers flavors of bright cherry with some earth and cherry tobacco and will pair wonderfully with pasta, pizza, red meat, pork and practically anything prepared with an Italian accent. You may not appreciate how good it is until you wonder why the bottle emptied so quickly. Click to View 2002 Parducci Mendocino County Pinot Noir ($8) The proprietors of Mendocino Wine Co., which owns Parducci Wine Cellars, were chosen as Winemakers to Watch by The Chronicle in 2005 because of the promise of wines like this one. Parducci is a good steward of the environment -- the company is converting its vineyards to organic farming and uses recycled and treeless paper on its labels and biodiesel in its trucks. This wine shows the company's vines are well worth nurturing. Its complex aroma would fool most Pinot-philes into thinking it costs three times as much; its flavor is of tangy cherry with some strawberry and soy sauce and musky hints. It's pretty amazing to get a Pinot Noir this good for $8. Click to View 2003 Pepperwood Grove California Cabernet Sauvignon ($8) Napa-based negociant Don Sebastiani & Sons is the most anonymous of the 10 wineries chosen by The Chronicle in August as our Best Budget Brands. The company made 1.5 million cases of wine in 2004, but none carried the family name. But wines this good earn names for themselves. The vanilla aroma is strong, indicating lots of exposure to oak, with additional scents of cherry and leather. On the palate, it's nicely balanced between cherry and vanilla flavors with notes of black tea and leather; more cherry keeps coming out on the medium-long finish. Considering the prices many California Cabernets fetch these days, quality this high for $8 is phenomenal. Click to View 2004 Raimat Costers del Segre Chardonnay ($8) The Raimat brand comes from the Raventos family that owns the Codorniu line of sparkling wines in Spain and Artesa winery in Napa. Manuel Raventos bought infertile salt plains abandoned by farmers in this semi-desert region of northeast Spain in 1914. It took the family 50 years of planting cattle fodder, pine trees and cereals before the soil was ready to become the vineyard that produced this wine. No oak was used in this wine, so it's fruity and vibrant, yet it will appeal to lovers of all types of Chardonnay because it has a creamy character gained from aging on its lees (spent yeast cells). Click to View 2003 Ruffino Libaio Toscana Chardonnay ($9) Ruffino is most famous for its high-end wines from the Chianti Classico region. Chardonnay from Italy is hardly traditional, but this one is quite refreshing, fruit-driven and crisp, smelling of Asian pear and sweet apple. Though no oak is used, this Chardonnay has a creamy complexity that comes from letting the wine rest on the lees for one month. This adds a layer of flavor to the wine while maintaining vibrant acidity. Click to View 2005 Simonsig Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc ($10) When Americans think of Africa, we tend to imagine hot, dry plains. For Stellenbosch, one of South Africa's best wine regions, that couldn't be further from the truth. Ocean breezes bring the average summer temperature of this beautiful area below 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool weather helps give this wine its crisp character and juicy pear flavors, which are enhanced by mineral notes. Chenin Blanc has been South Africa's workhorse grape for many years, and this bottling shows why. Click to View 2004 Walnut Crest Central Valley (Chile) Sauvignon Blanc ($7) This wine is shy about its homeland. You read Central Valley and think Fresno, but in this case it's a long valley running parallel to the Andes Mountains in Chile, just 50 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The country of origin is hidden in tiny type on the back label. Fortunately, this wine's aromas and flavors are the opposite of shy. Tangy pineapple and passion fruit jump from the glass, with notes of grass, apricot and white pepper. Sauvignon Blanc is still relatively rare in Chile, but this wine shows it has a bright future there. Click to View 2004 Wildhurst Reserve Lake County Sauvignon Blanc ($10) Lake County, due north of Napa County, is a relatively new frontier for North Coast wineries, so its cachet isn't as high as Marlborough, New Zealand, and neither are prices for its wines. This wine, made in the Marlborough style, is fermented in stainless steel tanks to preserve its citrusy freshness, then blended with a dash of Semillon to add a bit of lushness. Best 10 bargains: He said, she said W. Blake Gray Whites 2004 Covey Run Columbia Valley Riesling ($8) 2004 Geyser Peak California Sauvignon Blanc ($9) 2004 Heron California Chardonnay ($10) 2004 Kono Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($10) 2004 Walnut Crest Central Valley (Chile) Sauvignon Blanc ($7) Reds NV HRM Rex Goliath California Pinot Noir ($9) 2003 Jakes Fault California Shiraz ($10) 2003 Montevina Amador County Barbera ($10) 2002 Parducci Mendocino County Pinot Noir ($8) 2003 Pepperwood Grove California Cabernet Sauvignon ($8) Best 10 bargains: He said, she said Leslie Sbrocco Whites 2004 Dry Creek Vineyard Clarksburg Dry Chenin Blanc ($10) 2004 Raimat Costers del Segre Chardonnay ($8) 2003 Ruffino Libaio Toscana Chardonnay ($9) 2005 Simonsig Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc ($10) 2004 Wildhurst Reserve Lake County Sauvignon Blanc ($10) Ros� 2004 Falesco Vitiano Umbria Ros� ($8) Reds 2002 Alamos Mendoza Malbec ($10) 2002 A-Mano Puglia Primitivo ($10) 2002 Capcanes Montsant Mas Donis ($10) 2003 The Magnificent Wine Co. Columbia Valley House Wine ($10) Page F - 4 URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/29/WIG99GE1IE1.DTL Sicily: Flavors of an Island, Easy to Enjoy By ERIC ASIMOV IN the 19th century the nation of Italy was created by joining regions that had maintained uncomfortably separate political existences. Depending on which Italian you ask, the union may or may not have succeeded. For understanding Italian wines, though, it's fair to say it is a failure. Too often, deep-seated regional differences among wines are lost as they are lumped together under the term Italian. While a love of wine and food may bind together Italians from Alto Adige in the north to those in Apulia in the south, the wines from each region are as different as the local grapes, soil, climate and culture. You may already know and love Amarones (from Veneto) or Chiantis (from Tuscany), but neither, as the Dining section's wine panel found out, will help you much in deciphering the wines of Sicily. We approached our tasting of 25 Sicilian reds with great anticipation. Few wine regions have undergone as thorough a transformation as Sicily has in the last 20 years, and few are as unfamiliar. For Florence Fabricant and me, along with our guests, Howard Horvath, the wine director at Esca restaurant, and Scott Mayger, a consultant who worked most recently at Barbuto in the West Village, the tasting was a chance to reacquaint ourselves with a category that we find in restaurants all too rarely. Even in ancient times, Sicily was known for producing vast quantities of wine. But in the last two decades the tanks of cheap blending wine have given way to wines that at their best are fruity and embraceable yet retain the character and personality of the island. It's not easy for a region that has been making wines out of the spotlight for centuries to give up the old ways, but in wine zones like Faro in the northeast of Sicily, Cerasuolo di Vittoria in the south and Contessa Entellina in the west, winemakers have modernized their farming techniques and improved their methods in the cellar. Occasionally, the urge to modernize has gone too far, and producers have eliminated their local grapes in favor of international varietals like cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah. These are not necessarily bad wines. We all liked a 2001 merlot from Planeta, one of the biggest Sicilian producers. It was well made and enjoyable, but not a wine with much soul. No, the most distinctive Sicilian wines continue to be made primarily with the traditional Sicilian grapes, most notably nero d'Avola, which makes deep, rich wines, and, to a far lesser degree, frappato, lighter and more aromatic, and nerello Mascarese, which is used primarily in the Faro zone. Some have speculated that nero d'Avola is related to syrah, and have even gone so far as to suggest that the name syrah was derived from the Sicilian city Siracusa. Perhaps, but that connection seems tenuous to me, even if one of the wines we liked best, the 2002 Morgante Don Antonio Riserva, which was made entirely of nero d'Avola, reminded me of an Australian shiraz, though one with enhanced acidity that cried out for tomato sauce. When tasting a wide range of wines from an up-and-coming region like Sicily, you expect a fair share of clunkers. Although we did find a few bottles that tasted like assembly-line confections or of baked, over-ripe fruit, the overall quality was exceptional - "across-the-board drinkable," as Mr. Horvath put it. Our favorite bottle was the 2000 Nerobufaleffj (neh-ro-boof-uh-LEFF-ee) from Gulfi, made entirely of nero d'Avola. Like most of these wines, it was easy to enjoy. The Gulfi and four other wines in our Top 10 carried the designation IGT, for Indicazione Geografica Tipica, a term that gives government sanction to wines that meet less stringent rules regarding grape varieties or areas of production than required for wines that carry regional names, like Contessa Entellina or Faro. Many forward-looking producers opt for IGT status rather than be bound by the regional rules. But sometimes those rules encourage experimentation. Our No. 2 wine, the graceful 2002 Tancredi from Donnafugata, meets the standards for the Contessa Entellina designation, even though it is an untraditional blend of 70 percent nero d'Avola and 30 percent cabernet sauvignon. That zone was created in 1993, when blending experiments were well under way. As a result, grapes as diverse as cabernet, syrah and pinot noir can be part of the mix. Maybe the authorities were on to something, because the cabernet lends the Tancredi subtlety and an attractive cedary tinge. By contrast, Donnafugata's 2001 Mille e Una Notte, a big, inky, powerful wine that was No. 6 on our list, is 90 percent nero d'Avola and 10 percent other local grapes. It is also twice as expensive as the Tancredi. The Donnafugatas were not the only example of price not quite correlating with quality. Our No. 3 wine, a 2001 Cerasuolo di Vittoria from Valle dell'Acate, was our best value at $19. This wine, which gains freshness from the blending of nero d'Avola with frappato, outperformed much more expensive wines, like our No. 4, a 2001 Faro from Palari for $58. Not that we didn't like the Palari - it was dense and spicy, but also oaky. Palari makes a second wine, Soprano, that sells for half the price of the Faro. I have long liked this wine, which is generally full of fruit and mineral flavors, but a 2000 Soprano in our tasting did not make the cut. If Sicilian wines are going to succeed in making names for themselves, it will be because distinctive wines like the Gulfi, the Donnafugatas, the Palaris and the Valle dell'Acate force people to take notice. When they do, they will not imagine that these are great Italian wines. They will say, "These are great Sicilian wines," and that will be enough. Tasting Report: Big, Earthy and Rich With Fruit Gulfi Nerobufaleffj IGT 2000 $38 *** Big, balanced, earthy and concentrated; not complex but a pleasure to drink. (Importer: Selected Estates of Europe, Mamaroneck, N.Y.) Donnafugata Tancredi Contessa Entellina 2002 $27 ** � Subtle and light-bodied, though with plenty of fruit and an herbal, cedary aroma. (William Grant & Sons, New York) BEST VALUE Valle dell'Acate Cerasuolo di Vittoria 2001 $19 ** � Full of bright, fresh fruit flavors and cherry and smoke aromas; easy to enjoy. (Panebianco, New York) Palari Faro 2001 M $58 ** � Dense fruit and chocolate aromas, well balanced but a little oaky. (Panebianco, New York) Morgante Don Antonio Riserva IGT 2002 $30 ** Big and fruity, like a shiraz with great acidity. (Winebow, New York) Donnafugata Mille e Una Notte Contessa Entellina 2001 $60 ** Inky black with big, rich flavors and plenty of acidity and tannins. (William Grant & Sons, New York) Ceuso Scurati IGT 2003 $15 ** Big and brawny yet supple with balanced fruit and mineral flavors. (Vias Imports, New York) Gladiator Nero d'Avola 2002 $10 ** Jammy fruit and earth aromas; slightly candied. (Testa Wines of the World, Port Washington, N.Y.) Planeta Merlot IGT 2001 $38 ** Well-made and pleasing but lacks a sense of Sicily. (Vias Imports, New York) Abbazia Santa Anastasia Litra IGT 1998 $50 ** Tannic, with international flavors. (Empson U.S.A., Alexandria, Va.) -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 * ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *