New Friends and Great Wines

When I first arrived in Tuscany back in mid-February, my associate and good friend Georgia suggested that I meet her friends Barbara and Guiseppe at Giuseppe’s family winery in Chianti. At the time, the two were in the States hosting dinners and wine tastings in the homes of their clients, a clever way to escape the wet winters in Tuscany.

When they returned I was delighted to receive an email from Barbara inviting me to spend an afternoon with them at their winery near Montevarchi. On the day of my visit I took the GPS system out of the box it had been sitting in for two weeks and punched in the address of the winery. There are hundreds of wineries in Chianti, so as I set off for the verdant hills and winding roads of Chianti, I have to say that I wasn’t focusing on the wine so much as the opportunity to make new friends.

When I arrived at I Selvatici and entered the tasting room, Barbara and Giuseppe greeted me as though we had known each other for years. I had been there only a few minutes when Barbara said “Wait, there’s a problem here! You’re not holding a glass of wine.” She led me to a table neatly set with three wine glasses lined up at each plate and when Giuseppe brought over a plate of various cheeses, I knew I was in for a treat.

Giuseppe Sala is a third-generation winemaker and the only one in his family to speak English. His grandfather bought their 30 acres of land and the 15th-century villa complete with its own chapel and wine cellar in the 1950s. It was Giuseppe’s idea to build the light and spacious tasting room where he hosts private tastings and events for his clients. Relative to other larger commercial wineries in Tuscany with extravagantly landscaped grounds, guided tours, lavish lunches and fully stocked shops selling their wines, olive oil and other products, there is a noticeable lack of pomp and circumstance at I Selvatici. It is all about the wine, and for good reason.

The first vintage Giuseppe poured was a 2007 Chianti, a blend of Sangiovese and another local grape called Canaiolo. As we sipped away Giuseppe and Barbara shared with me some very interesting facts about Chianti. Here are a few I jotted down:

- Chianti is actually a region, like Bourdeaux, not a grape.
- In order for a bottle to earn the right to wear the pink neck label, the grapes must have been grown and pressed in Chianti without any irrigation and the blend must be at least 75% Sangiovese.
- Chianti “Reserve” simply means the wine has been aged for three years.
- Chianti Classico is a region within Chianti, not a special reserve wine. Chianti Classicos are distinguished by a black rooster on their pink neck labels.
- There four other regions in Chianti are- Colle Arentini (around Arezzo) Colle Ferentini (around Florence), Colle Senese (around Siena) and Colle Pisani (around Pisa).

While Giuseppe began to pour the second tasting, a 1997 Super Tuscan called Cardisco (which means Sangiovese in Italian) comprised of100% Sangiovese into our glasses, his eyes lit up and he became quite animated. This was clearly a wine he as very proud of and as I swirled and sniffed the liquid then took my first sip, I could easily see why. Usually Sangioveses are a bit too harsh and acidic for my personal taste, but this wine was surprisingly smooth, especially when paired with a hard aged cheese like the Parmesean Reggiono we were enjoying it with.

I had always assumed that a wine made from 100% of the same grape was easier to make than a blend, but Giuseppe was quick to point out that blends are actually easier because you can keep adding a bit of this, a bit of that, until you get exactly what you are looking for. Whereas with a 100% Sangiovese, it’s pretty much all up to Mother Nature and you get what you get each harvest season. The real art for Giuseppe is determining how much time each year’s vintage should be aged in French Oak barrels after it ferments before it is transferred to steel tanks. Obviously he is very good at this part of the process because Cardisco has consistently earned a 93 rating from Wine Spectator and goes for about $200 for a bottle at restaurants in the U.S.

After a lunch that included bruschetta with some of the sweetest cherry tomatoes I have ever tasted, Giuseppe poured the grande finale- a 1999 Vin Santo. I have had my fair share of this traditional Tuscan dessert wine, which is usually served with biscotti for dipping. You wouldn’t want even a speck of biscotti, however, to fall into the sweet, sultry nectar that Giuseppe has created by blending Malvasia, Treppiano, Columbaio and a touch of Sangiovese which helps give it that rich amber color. There is no wonder that Wine Spectator has given this Vin Santo a 98 rating.

As I was savoring every sip, Giuseppe told me that Vin Santo is actually aged in an attic, as opposed to a cellar, where the heat and humidity work their magic. Each rib on the barrels is made of a different wood- chestnut, oak, juniper, Tuscan Oak, and another local wood called gelso. One day a few years ago, Giuseppe was rummaging through the attic in his home at the winery and discovered two barrels of Vin Santo that had been aging there for fifty years. He opened the cork fully expecting the wine to have turned, but instead he was greeted with a pleasant scent was so powerful that he knew something very special was inside. Three quarters of the barrels were sediment, and he and his father cut the remaining quarter which was a thick, heavy syrup, with Malvasia until it achieved the consistency of honey which they poured magic into small 3 oz. bottles which they sell for €600. Giuseppe let me taste a smidgen of this divine magic in a glass and there are simply not words to describe the exquisite taste and texture that lingered on my palate the whole drive home.

I am grateful to have become friends with Barbara and Giuseppe. While I enjoyed their wines immensely, I enjoyed their company even more. They are very special people and their stories, some of which I will share in future postings, are fascinating. Something tells me we are going to have many fun adventures together while I am living in Tuscany…