Let's Talk Vino

It has been a very long time since I've done a wine-focused blog post.  Once again it's a holiday weekend and movement is restricted to essential travel (i.e. work, food shopping, medical, etc.).  So it seems like a good time to write a blog post and I thought it would be fun to do a wine post.

My last blog post was about books keeping me sane in 2020.  Well I know one other thing that probably bonds us all in 2020 and that is alcohol.  We all probably imbibed a bit too much.  Living in Italy, I have certainly been drinking more than usual for 3.5 years.  But you toss in lockdown and the numerous challenges of 2020...I was having a drink nearly every night.  Although one of my co-workers laughed at me when I talked about how much I was drinking.  She said she was drinking a bottle every night!  

So tell me...did you drink more in 2020?  Which camp were you in?  A glass a night or a bottle a night?  Inquiring minds want to know.  To rein it in a bit I did two dry months during the year. 

I'm not sure what our latest number is on the total number of wineries we've been too.  I do record them all in my journal so I'll have that for future reference.  Our wine collection is nearing our goal of 1-thousand bottles.  Which is right around where we wanted to be before we move back to the States.  

For obvious reasons we didn't go to any wineries last year between March and late June but we still got to a healthy number of wineries during 2020.  28 to be exact.  Nine of which we had been to before but the rest were new to us.  That's way too many to highlight here but I'm going to share a few standouts and also share a few stories.  I need to start doing it more again but I do share photos and information about wineries we visit on my Instagram page.  Here is the link if you want to follow me.   

January 2020 started with us in Calabria.  The region of Italy that is the 'toe of the boot'.  Tom attended a week-long charcuterie course at the Italian Culinary Course.  While he was in class I took our rental car out on daily adventures.  It was a great time to be there because it wasn't tourist season so it was relatively quiet.  I found a few wineries within an hour of the school so I was able to arrange visits to Cantine Lavorata and Dell'Aera.  

Cantine Lavorata are fifth generation wine makers.  Up until 1958, the wine was sold in bulk to neighbors and locals but they've been bottling it now for over 60 years.  There are 12 DOC wines in Calabria among them Ciro and Bivongi.  Cantine Lavorata ages some of their wines in Chestnut wood from the region, which I thought was cool.  Tom and I typically ask what type of wood wineries choose to use for aging.  

Dell'Aera is a fairly young winery in comparison.  Their vines date back to 1975.  They bottle about 20-thousand bottles a year and keep their focus on producing good quality wine.  I was able to buy some bulk wine here that I contributed to one of the group dinners back at Tom's school.  

Gotta love bulk wine!

In the fields at Dell'Aera. January and they were just pruning.

All our food goodies from Calabria. 

In 2018 and 2019 we attended the annual Vulcanei Wine festival.  Wineries from across the country participate and it's specifically focused on wines produced from vines grown in volcanic soil.   At the festival in 2019 I found a couple different wineries I really liked and hoped to eventually visit.  Well, while I was burning up my 'use or lose' leave just before the holidays I was able to arrange visits to two of them: Caferro and Ca'della Vigna.  

Caferro's Noir is the wine I wrote in my notes as a favorite.  I learned that they make this wine in the style of Valpolicella's Amarone.  Drying the grapes.  Probably explains why we both liked it.  Caferro's also has a lot of good drinking wine.  The Cabernet in particular.  In the cellar we have wine designated as 'going home' wine and then we have our drinking wine.  We are always looking for wine we can enjoy now and Caferro is a winery I'd visit again.  

Ca'della Vigna is a very small producer and young winery.  2015 is their first vintage.  They were sold out of several wines when we were there so we were limited on what we could buy.  I love the aesthetic of this winery.  Everything from the building to the tasting room to the labels to the wine.  It's all about beauty.  They just have white wines right now but they are very good at what they do.  We had a very nice experience with Willem and Catia.   

Caferro has it all - sparkling, whites and reds

Caferro Noir - the wine that got our attention

The beautiful Ca'della Vigna

Catia painted the inside of the box.

Ready for a tasting!

Loved Ashley's "Will Remove for Wine" mask

On our very first trip to Tuscany in October 2011, we happened upon a wine shop in Montalcino that featured the wines of Piombaia.  We sent a couple cases of their 2006 Brunello home to Arizona because Tom was getting ready to move back.  In July when we were driving home from a trip to Central Italy - where we got to visit the villages where Tom's paternal grandparents came from - we stopped in Tuscany and visited Piombaia.  

We really enjoyed visiting the actual winery after feeling a connection to them for nearly 10 years.  Being our first Brunello and all.  We only have one bottle of the 2006 left so we took this opportunity to stock up again.

We appreciate all of our Italian winery friends who welcome our boys too!

Horses graze in the vineyards - a gentle way to keep the grass down.

Despite travel restrictions in 2020, Tuscany is somewhere we were able to visit a couple times.  Over my birthday weekend in September, we went to Tuscany with some friends and stayed outside of San Gimignano.  I lined up a winery for us to visit each day since this was our first time in this part of Tuscany.  A type of wine that is specific to the region is the white wine Vernaccia.  White is not what you typically associate with Tuscany but this is a very nice white that is capable of putting on some years.  

The stand out visit for us was Il Piano winery, which is on a hilltop and has a stunning view of San Gimignano.  We had a great tour and tasting experience with David, a British national who has been living in Italy for years.  Our tasting included a different snack with each wine.  I still think about the Tuscan beans and have tried to recreate them a couple times.  We were there on a gorgeous day and our whole group was together.  I think everyone really enjoyed it and I would highly recommend visiting.

Il Piano Wines

Look at that view!

Il Piano's below-ground cellar.

I keep trying to recreate David's excellent Tuscan beans.

Our wine stash after four days.

On our way home I spotted a sign from Melini.  This stood out because a couple years ago Tom picked up a Melini wooden box in an antique store that had some bottles in it from the 1980s.  I'm not always the most spontaneous person especially when we are heading home after a trip.  But I suggested to Tom that we go find the winery.  It was only about 10-15 minutes away.  

Turns out Melini is a HUGE winery.  It was founded in 1705 so they've been making wine longer than there's been a United States.  They bottle about 6 million bottles a year.  Similar to a blended scotch or whisky - where they try to reproduce the same flavor profiles year after year - that is kind of what Melini does.  They are known for a particular style and taste and that is what they aim for.  Selena gave me a great tour of the facility while Tom stayed in the tasting room with the boys.  I later sent Selena, who is the wife of the winemaker, photos of our box and wines from the 80s.  I'm glad we made this detour but Melini is a bit big for us.  We'll continue to keep our focus on the smaller, family-run producers.  

Hanging out

Chianti is a favorite for Tom but a bit dry for me.

Learning about the winery from Selena

Another gorgeous day and view!

Our vintage Melini box and 1980s wine.

I'll go ahead and wrap this post up with my favorite find of 2020.  Also in September, fellow wine lovers Matt and Ali invited us to join them on a day trip to Valpolicella.  They took us to a new-to-us winery called Corte Fornaledo.  This winery run by two brothers produces about 18-thousand bottles a year.  It's rare I like every single wine at a particular winery but I liked EVERY single wine.  Corte Fornaledo is now right next to Villa Crine, as our favorites in the region.  

Fortunately for us the two families know each other and we are already planning to have them do combined shipments when we need resupplies sent to Arizona.  I took my girlfriend Christina to the winery in October and she's now a fan too.  

Christina learns about the winery from Giacomo

The brothers regularly age their wines past what is required to ensure the quality is just right before they sell it.  There is no rushing here and it pays off in the wine.  They also have an Amarone Riserva that spends 8.5 years in the barrel.  2009 is the first vintage of Riserva and I got us a magnum.  Yum!  

Another cool aspect - the wine labels are also in braille.  The brothers have an uncle who is blind.  I thought that was a very nice touch too.  

EVERY single wine is good here at Corte Fornaledo

So there you have it.  Some highlights from our 2020 wine adventures.  We won't be getting to any new wineries in the next couple weeks but hopefully once this latest lockdown is over we'll be able to get out and about a bit.  

When we were in Tuscany in September there were some vineyards by our B&B where I'd walk the boys.  I don't know that there is any more perfect photo subject than grapes on a vine.  Here are some of my favorites.  Stay safe and healthy.  Wear your masks and drink responsibly ;-)  Cheers everyone!

No better way to start the day than in wine country.