Very good to meet importer Savio Soares in San Francisco this week and taste through his range of (mostly) low sulfur wines. Savio is our source for the excellent Jura wines of Annie et Philippe Bornard as well as a few of our top selling traditional estates from the northern Rhône like Bernard Ange in Croze-Hermitage.

I'm not going to open that huge can of worms over sulfur levels and what's natural and what's not. Instead, I'll just say that at this tasting I found myself gravitating towards the producers that Savio deemed “more conventional” like Franck Balthazar in Cornas. 

Entire blogs are dedicated to defining natural wine and how much–or how little–sulfur belongs in them. That sort of ideology has never been a part of our selection process and we reject many of the zero to 10 grams of sulfur wines that come across our palate. 

That said, we have a great deal of enthusiasm for our Beaujolais selections where the producer has decided to work with zero or very little sulfur. A wine of ideas is of little use to us but a wine of terroir will always have our attention.  

 

I asked Leonardo to explain his palate and his selections, bringing up that he has both Bruno Giacosa and Voerzio in his book. Leonardo: "I am looking for quality leaders in every region" and he added that "Voerzio to me is not modern Barolo".

2004 Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli
Single Vineyard with northwest exposure at 450 meters near Valdicava. Leonardo: very good 2003 from this site. In 2004 very dense, very black color, sweet black cherry. The DOCG rules allows up to 15 percent of Brunello from a different vintage. Lots of aniseed, very supple tannins. Still very closed, tight. Some producers who held back wine in 2002 really did well with 2003. The '02 wine added freshness to the '03. '04 was mostly aged in barrique and tonneau.

2007 Tia Rita Redigaffi IGT Toscana
From the Suvereto. The soil is really red. Incredible structure and minerality in these wines. A lot of ripeness in this vineyard. Parker's first 100 point Italian wine was 2000 Redigaffi. Very, dark, sweet nose. Leonardo: "Galloni is stingy with his scores". Sweet oaky vanilla, very textural and sweet. Round. Very big. Very sweet tannins. 100% Merlot.

2005 Rosso del Conte Contea di Sclafani
In the center of Sicily. Leonardo: "this is a property I really love. I grew up in Palermo. This property is starting again with Chestnut. The wines are more aromatic in Chestnut. More sweetness". This wine is made from Nero d'Avola with a sprinkling Pecarona. Combination of large oak and barrique. Sweet, dense, black fruit. Good definition and acidity. Firm tannins. Big wine with big alcohol.

Next two wines made by Riccardo Cotarella
2007 Montevetrano Big Colli di Salerno
Mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with Aglianico. Very deep, sweet black fruit. Licorice. Question asked, if Riccardo has a signature what is it? Leonardo: "Riccardo's obsession is with the vineyard and making big tannins silky. Silvia is a renaissance woman and a beautiful woman, Montevetrano is a ancestral property.

2008 Terra di Lavoro Big Roccamonfina
Leonardo: "one of the great Aglianico wines. Black color with some bright purple. Leonardo: here you really get the slate the graphite of volcanic soils. I bought the the entire production of the first three vintages". '89 was the first vintage.

2004 Roberto Voerzio Barolo La Serra
Much deeper, darker color than the Giacosa. Gorgeous, sweet perfume. Very floral and sweet. Actually very elegant on the palate. Firm tannins. Leonardo: "Roberto wants to push the yield question to the limit. 1/2 a bottle per vine. Fanatical". He has three wines that he only releases in magnums. His Torre di l'Annunziatta barbera he is aging at the winery for 10 years before release. Outstanding wine. Great, great, great!

2005 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Roche del Falletto
Wow! Blood and iron in the nose. "Most of Bruno's career he used purchased fruit. Falletto is Bruno's vineyard and Rocche is the top six or seven rows of the Falletto. Leonardo believes that the reason Bruno sold off 06 was a bad year for him (health) personally. This wine is way too young. Very pure, intense nose but closed.