A Note from Sergio
This music I listened to growing up has become so much a part of me that sometimes when I'm drinking a wine, it reminds me of a song. For example, Quintarelli's Rosso del Bepi makes me think of "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights," the epic rock ballad. Like "Paradise," Rosso del Bepi has intense structure--and it shifts just when you think you've got it pegged. "Paradise" surprises you by switching genres, pure honky-tonk to tinkling disco funk to powerful and operatic rock (plus Phil Rizzuto calling baseball plays)." Rosso del Bepi is similarly kaleidoscopic, an ever-changing palate that catches you pleasantly off-guard. "Paradise" is a conversation, a negotiation, and ultimately a lament, and Rosso del Bepi embraces those harmonies, that overt sexuality, that emotional honesty, and even the confidence of the girl in the song who asks of her would-be seducer, "Will you love me forever?" Drinking this heady, disorienting, gorgeous wine is the closest you'll ever get to actually being in the middle of that frantic rock ballad.
Other times, a wine does something a little different than embody a song. Sometimes the relationship between a song and a wine is one of explanation, and that's the case between Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino 2000 and Led Zeppelin's "I Can't Quit You, Baby." The 2003 scandal Brunellogate (or Brunellopoli) was a sad time for Montalcino winemakers and Brunello lovers. When winemakers are suspected, investigated and indicted for adulterating wine, it lowers consumer confidence, but it also shows the size of a wine explosion if people are willing to take those risks. It's tough for those of us who really love Italian wine. But then there's wine like Poggio's, a great, classic Brunello that with one sip makes you remember how seductive, how elusive and how amazing a Brunello can be. I may feel hurt by the way that scandal "messed up my happy home," but wines like this one make me remember that I don't have to quit Brunello.
This week, I'm glad to be offering both Quintarelli's rock opera Rosso del Bepi and Poggio di Sotto's life-affirming Brunello--along with a selection of other great value wines. Enjoy a bottle with someone and see how it brings you back to the fundamental truths of youth, love, pleasure, and, above all, joy.
My Best,
P.S. You can now follow me on Twitter: @iwmse.
Featured Wines
Giuseppe Quintarelli
Rosso del Bepi 1999, 750ml, $199.37
Imagine being able to buy a Picasso for a couple hundred dollars because he'd called it a "doodle" rather than a "line drawing." That renaming is essentially the scenario of this wine. Quintarelli is the Master of the Veneto, and as such, he holds himself and his wines to impeccably high standards. When he has a vintage that he doesn't meets his aerie idea of an Amarone, he declassifies it as an IGT wine, and that's exactly what he did in 1999. Make no mistake about it: this '99 Rosso del Bepi is a highly collectable, gorgeously drinkable wine that shows all the earmarks of Quintarelli Amarone: fistfuls of ripe fruit grasped in the texture of a velvet glove, an expansive palate, and Amarone's ineffable quality of richness, lushness and opulence. Drinking now to 2019, to celebrate your most artful moments.
Poggio di Sotto
Brunello di Montalcino 2000, 750ml, $98.33
Like the way that the Jaguar XK has the look of a '60s grand tourer but all the modern technology of twenty-first-century car, so too does the Poggio di Sotto Brunello have the style of a traditional Brunello but the sleekness and stability of a modern one. This gorgeous garnet wine has a strong tannic structure and a complementary bright acidity--a skeleton that's all the better to show off its medium-body of ripe blackberry, dark cherry, and underbrush. A beautiful, classic Brunello made with extraordinary care, this '00 is drinking now to 2025.
Everyday Wines Under $50
Rocche dei Manzoni
Bricco Manzoni 1996, 750ml, $42.00
Let's just put it on the table: this is a gorgeous, food-loving red from one of Barolo's most iconic producers, Valentino Migliorini, who died in 2007. Migliorini inspired Piemonte winemakers to rethink Barolo and to move beyond Nebbiolo; Bricco Manzoni, a blend of Nebbiolo and Barbera, embodies both those ideals. Dark purple, lively and charming, the '96 Bricco Manzoni might be the ultimate dinner companion. Delicious brambly fruits mix with white pepper, sage and underbrush, while tannins and acids coexist in peaceful harmony. Drinking now, wonderfully.
Vietti
Roero Arneis 2009, 750ml, $22.99
There are value wines, and then there are wines you value. This one happens to be both. Arneis, a grape indigenous to Piemonte, was nearly extinct until it was rescued by two producers--Vietti and Bruno Giacosa--and it's now enjoying a renaissance. It's a fabulous grape that makes a splendid white wine. This vintage shows lots of tropical fruits, a bright and bouncy acidity, charming complexity and a lovely finish. At under $23, this is the little white that could. Yummy with food, and drinking now.
Bartolo Mascarello
Dolcetto 2009,750ml, $27.83
Dolcetto, the "little sweet one," has amassed a fan club for its simplicity, acidity, and easy-going character. Though Mascarello's Barolos steal the limelight, the estate holds its Dolcettos to the same exacting production standards, so what you're getting in this bottle is a fantastic every-day drinking wine. This Dolcetto's robust fruit rests on a complex framework of exciting aromas of bright Kirsch and dark. Expect food-happy acidity that merges with blackberries, tumbles into a healthy finish, and makes this Dolcetto a contender. Drinking now, and how.
|
