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NORTHERN ITALY 3
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- 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.
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Paolo Bombardieri pours several Nino Negri wines.
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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 the 2006 and it's amazingly good. There are not many Italian
oak-aged whites I find to be sufficiently interesting to warrant forking over
much money...but this wine gets my commendation.
We had a bottle in September of 2009...tasted like a White Burgundy!
I served this with an antipasti plate and it was superb.
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 The
"Cinque Stelle" (5 Star) Sfursat that's in the shop is from the
2004 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.
"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.
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- There's also a really good example of traditionally-made Sfursat. We
have the 2004 vintage and this is showing quite nicely. Fairly full in
body and ripe, mildly jammy notes on the nose. It's at a special sale
price as the distributor was a bit over-stocked and needed warehouse space
for more banana-flavored vodka, apparently.
Currently in stock: 2004 Sfursat 5 Stelle $84.99
2007 INFERNO "Mazer" (List $35) SALE $29.99
2006 QUADRIO "Valtellina Superiore" $19.99
2004 Sfursat (List $50) SALE $39.99
- 2006 Ca' Brione White SALE $39.99
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- 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.
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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: 2010 FORNAS Friuli PINOT
GRIGIO $9.99
2010 FORNAS Friuli CABERNET FRANC $9.99
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- BOLOGNANI
 Diego
Bolognani runs a large winery, vinifying grapes from area growers and selling off the
wine, in bulk, to neighboring wineries. It is only in the recent past that they've
hit upon the notion of putting wine in a 750ml glass bottle, slapping a label on it and
selling the wine to private customers.  Located in Lavis between the main road
and the train tracks, this winery has a couple of interesting offerings.
The Bolognani family makes a special effort to produce a wine of Mller-Thurgau grapes
grown in their Trentino vineyards "Valle di Cembra," a terraced, old
viticultural area. Growers who continue to toil in this region have to drag the soil
from one terrace to the next after thunderstorms wash it away!
The winery is located
down below in the town of Lavis.
Bolognani also makes a fantastically sprightly and
bright
Moscato Giallo, an aromatic wine which teases with sweet, intensely fruity aromas, only to
be bone dry on the palate. We had a delicious bottle of this alongside a terrific
honey-dew melon over which Bob draped some sweet Prosciutto. These are delicious
wines and are best consumed in their youth.
- Currently in stock:
- 2006 Moscato Giallo Sold Out
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CANTINA PRODUTTORI BOLZANO
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The wines of this
terrific winery are not being imported currently...
The importer here in California (and for the US market) did not pay the
winery a year after purchasing and selling their wines.
What's even crazier, this fellow, an American, bought a house in Bolzano
where the winery is located, despite still owing them for a shipment of
wine!
Another importer did step up to the plate and is bringing in a few wines,
but the price has climbed from a reasonable $13-$14 a bottle to $20.
So much for that...
- This is, in some measure, a "new" winery. But in reality,
it's an old producer.
 Make
that two old producers.
Two old producers, the Gries winery and the Santa Magdalena joined forces a
few years ago, consolidating operations into one major cellar. Like many properties in Italy's Alto Adige, the place
has a couple of names, just to keep us guessing. As a result, you'll
find wines sold as "St. Magdalena-Gries" and some labeled Cantina
Produttori Bolzano. Why make things easy, after all?
Making it even more confusing is the winery down the street called
"Muri-Gries."
Located in the town of Bolzano, a rather major "hub" for the
region and the big city in the Alto Adige, this winery makes quite a
range of reds and whites. White wine, though, is a relatively new
feature here...until the early 1990s, most of the production was in rather
light red wine! In fact, this part of Bolzano, known as Gries, is
ideally suited to cultivating the red grape, Lagrein.
The winemaker is Stephan Filippi. He's the third generation
winemaker that's been at the helm for a couple of decades, having spent a
couple of years at the famous Lageder winery when he was a kid. Now
he's "taken over" the family business, so to speak.
The white wines are fermented in stainless steel tanks with temperature
controls...this is standard operating procedure these days in most of
Italy.
They have quite a nice old, underground cellar downstairs and though one
sees a lot of oak, I can't say I found any of their red wines to be woody.
If you go to Bolzano for winter sports or wine-tasting, do stop by this
place...they have a regular tasting room.
It's open Monday through Saturday.
We have been delighted with several of their basic dry whites.
Currently we have a Pinot Grigio that's delightful. In tasting through
their extensive portfolio on a recent visit, I found all the wines to be
well-made and a number of them to be really good examples of their
particular varietal.
Their 2007 Santa Maddalena Pinot Grigio was excellent. The wine
captures the pear and apple-like fruit notes of the grape and it's dry and
fresh on the palate. We also appreciated the honest pricing back
in the day....
- Currently in stock: 2007 Pinot Grigio Sold Out
Old labels tailored to the German-speaking market.
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