[from the Letters archive] Classic Wines of Italy Autumn 2004 In the autumn of 2004 Incanto hosted a series of wine dinners celebrating the classic red wines of Italy: Barolo, Brunello, and the dried-grape wines of Amarone and Sfursat. Below we've included information about each dinner. If we didn't see you at the dinners, we hope to see you at one this year! __________________________ Borgogno Barolo Vertical Dinner Monday October 25, 2004 Bartolomeo Borgogno founded his winery in 1761; for the next 200 years the winery was operated by his direct descendants, surviving the perils of two centuries of political, climactic, technologic, and economic upheaval that Europe experienced from the 18th, through the 20th centuries. Among the many highlights during this time, in 1861 Borgogno Barolo was served at an official state banquet celebrating the unification of Italy and, some years later, it was also served at a banquet honoring the state visit to Italy of Czar Nicholas 11 Romanov of Russia. In 1954 the Borgogno winery and cellars underwent a complete restructuring and expansion. The next year, in 1955, the French Institute of Appellations filed a lawsuit filed seeking to block the further use of the name Borgogno because of its similarity to the French word Bourgogne, for Burgundy. The house was in grave danger, but a clear victory was achieved thanks to the fact that 21-year old Eugenio Giuseppe Borgogno had in 1848 signed a contract to provide wine to a boarding school for the sons of army officers (Esercito Sabaudo di Racconigi) in 1848. This was the first legal document in which the firm is cited and it established a clear precedent for naming rights that stood up to the French legal onslaught. On October 20, 1967, Cesare Borgogno, who years previosly had been knighted by the Italian government as a Cavalliere della Repubblica, began a transformed the winery administration and renamed it "Giacomo Borgogno & Figli." However, he was not able to oversee the completion of this corporate transformation before he was stricken by a fatal disease, and passed away on July 7, 1968. His wife Maria Chiavassa Borgogno took over control of the company, assisted by a board composed of Ida Chiavassa Boschis, Franco Boschis, Corrado Borgogno (son of Cesare's brother) and his wife Maria Luisa Garau. They pursued the transformation of the company, modifying policy by ceasing sales in bulk (which up to that point was the major share of the company's business) and dedicating production to bottle sales only.  In July 1976 Maria Chiavassa Borgogno ceded control of the company to her neice Ida and Ida's husband, Franco, though Maria continued to play an active role in the company until 1994. Eventually the shares of Corrado Borgogno and Maria Luisa Garau were ceded to the Boschis family as well.  Today, the children of Franco and Ida - Cesare, Margherita, Chiara and Giorgio - run the company, carrying the centuries-old Borgogno tradition forward into the new millennium. ____________________________________ The Borgogno winery owns over 20 hectares of vineyards, planted exclusively with Nebbiolo (subvarieties Michet and Lampia), Dolcetto and Barbera. The training system used is a trellis method of girapoggio, with wood poles used at the start of rows followed by 4x4 cm cement poles every 1.5 meters, with five zinc-coated iron wires running across. When the vines are very young a cane is also used (to avoid deformation), though later removed to facilitate working of the soil. The planting method calls for a distance of three meters between each row and from 90 to 120 cm between each plant in the row according to the vine and the soil type. The modified Guyot pruning method is used, with the fruit-bearing brand curved onto the second wire and brought back up to the first. The annual working of the soil includes an autumnal aeration, following harvest (20/30 cm deep), which allows for the weather's natural influence on the soil and facilitates other manual work such as cultivating in spring and late summer. All vineyard work is done by hand. The vinification of Borgogno's Barolos is the traditional method; crushing and de-stemming, fermentation on the skins with a long maceration that allows for best extraction of complex tannins and pigments that, together with alcohol and acidity, are fundamental factors for long aging. Fermentation takes place in tanks of reinforced cement entirely coated. There are two key phases:  1) Violent fermentation, during which the sugars are transformed into alcohol, lasting about 15-20 days. A cap is formed and immersed, pumped over twice daily, at a controlled temperature of 20-25 degrees Celsius. 2) Maceration with submersed cap; follows violent fermentation in oak with the grape skins immersed in the newly formed wine. The duration of this phase is variable, lasting anywhere from a week to a month, according to the structural characteristics of the wine. An attentive and constant control of its evolution allows for optimal selection. Following fermentation, the wine is stored in other tanks and augmented with a light pressing of the grape skins. It remains in these tanks for about a week followed by a first decanting to remove the majority of lees that have formed. This eliminates the risk that the lees will have a negative effect on the wine if left too long. The wine is then transferred for a second resting period of about a month, after which a final decanting removes all the deposits and impurities of vinification. During this period the malolactic fermentation begins naturally, and is not induced; often this fermentation is interrupted by the cold weather and starts again to complete its natural cycle with the more mild spring weather. A third transfer at the end of spring removes any deposits left by malolactic fermentation. The wine is racked once a year while aging in casks of Slovenian oak and non-toasted barriques of French oak ranging in size and age (never new) for a period ranging from two to four years according to the characteristics of the vintage. The wine is bottled by gravity feed (the use of pumps is avoided so the wine is not disturbed); the bottles then remain standing for 24 hours to allow the pressures of bottling and corking to diffuse and the cork to set. When boxed, the bottles lay on their side. For the final stage of bottle aging, the wine is laid in a horizontal position in an ideal environment where it will remain for a period varying according to the type of wine and its age (from 1 to 6 months or more before release). It is part of the regular practice at Borgogno to leave the most appropriately structured, reserve vintages for prolonged aging of at least five years. This aging gives the wine exceptional roundness and balance, with tremendous development of the bouquet. __________________________ Brunello Dinner Monday November 15, 2004 Brunello di Montalcino is a relatively modern invention in a country that has been producing wine for 3,500 years. Interestingly, the wine results from the studies of one winemaker rather than a long-established, collective tradition. In the mid-1800s, Ferruccio Biondi-Santi began planting the Brunello clone of Sangiovese throughout his vineyards. Also known as Grosso, this sub-variety produces smaller berries, resulting in a lower juice-to-skin ratio. This characteristic results richer tannins and greater longevity. Biondi-Santi not only changed the grape for his wine, but he also broke tradition with consumers' taste preferences. At the time, Tuscans typically preferred their wines young and soft, even fizzy at times. In the Biondi-Santi fashion, today's classic Brunello boasts an intense ruby-red color that turns garnet with age. Intense and ethereal aromas emerge from a rich and elegant bouquet offering scents of sun-soaked cherries, violets, underbrush and spice. Dry and moderately tannic, the body is warm, robust and well-balanced by the distinct touch of crisp Italian acidity. Casanuova delle Cerbaie The vineyards of Casanuova delle Cerbaie are planted at an altitude of 300 meters above the sea level. The land itself dates back to the Eocene period of the Cainozonic era. Since then, the vineyards have expanded to the prestigious Montosoli hill and extend across the valley to the foot of the hill upon which Montalcino rises. The vines face the southwest, receiving the best solar light during the day and benefit from a particularly moderate climate. Northern and western natural barriers protect the vines and obstruct the icy northern winds or hot winds like the sirocco blowing up from the North African deserts. Calcareous, marly, clay and conglomerate rocks characterize the nature of the land in this area. In this enviable position, the Casanuova delle Cerbaie produces fruits with a surprising result. The well-known quality of this wine is the result of the scrupulous land work and the valuable intervention in wine cellar.  The wines produced here are created with the full respect of the culture of an ancient tradition. Villa Le Prata The winery was created around a villa constructed in 1862 for Count Carlo de Vecchi as a hunting lodge. Left to the church, it then became a summer home for the bishop of Montalcino. In 1982 today's owners came into possession and in the following years created a small winery; above all a result of the women of the family, constantly dedicated to the research of the quality of the product. The first hectare was planted in 1989. Today the winery has two hectares of Brunello in production and a third hectare that is to be planted. The terrain is widespread, some around the villa and others in the zone of Castelnuovo dell' Abate. Pertimali-Livio Sassetti The Pertimali estate lies on the northern flank of the town of Montalcino. The terrain is of Eocnic origin with marl and clay alternating with limestone, situated on slopes with sufficient inclination for water to drain off rapidly. Aided by his two sons, Livio Sassetti produces from his seven hectares of beautifully tended vineyards, Rosso, Brunello and Brunello Riserva of rare intensity and complexity, possessing a characteristic elegance almost Burgundian in style without betraying its Tuscan heritage. __________________________ Passito Wine Dinner Monday December 13, 2004 Passito-method wines are intensely flavored, complex wines made from partially raisined grapes. The production technique, involving either leaving the grapes to raisin on the vine or picking and then drying them (on mats of straw or reed, bamboo racks, or strung in bunches under the rafters), is associated with many of antiquity's most celebrated wines. This early flavor concentration technique continues one of the oldest traditions in the gastronomic world. Today's passito wines are made all over Italy.   Notable examples include the Veneto's Amarone, which is presumably the ancestor of Verona's vinum reticum praised 2000 years ago by Pliny the Elder, Verduzzo of Ramandolo, Friuli's Picolit, Rosenmuskateller of Trentino-Alto Adige, Sfursat of Valtellina, Albana passito from Romagna, and Sagrantino passito from Umbria. In the South and on Italy's islands examples are too numerous to mention in detail but include a range of wines based on raisined Moscato, Aleatico, Malvasia, and Nasco grapes. Piedmontese winemakers were said to have practiced passito-method winemaking in the 14th century, but the practice disappeared by the end of the 17th century. In Tuscany, Vin Santo survives as an apparently unbroken passito tradition, still practiced by most of the best estates. While the technique of twisting the stems of grape bunches to deprive them of sap most likely originated in Crete; vinification techniques for dried grapes were perfected in Ancient Greece. In the classical world this winemaking style may well have evolved because of problems of wine conservation, particularly for wines traded and consumed outside their area of origin, semi-dried grapes naturally resulting in sweeter, stronger and therefore more stable wines. Making a passito wine requires grapes with maximum extract and sugars, which normally entails restricting yields. Such grapes may be picked before, at, or after full ripeness. Growers who harvest slightly before full maturation claim there is less risk of rot, thicker skins, enhanced resistance during drying, and higher acidity, all of which favor aroma, freshness, balance, and longevity and concentrate the grapes which remain on the vine. Most grape drying for commercial purposes takes place in a winery loft, where windows may be opened to let in plenty of air (essential against the development of rot and mold). Bunches are hung up vertically (on hooks, or on long strings), or laid out horizontally on neutral, dry materials. The main effect of drying grapes is loss of water and the consequent concentration of sugars. Crushing or pressing should ideally be as gentle as possible. The must of raisined grapes is so concentrated that it slows fermentation; an effect accentuated in cooler climates, especially where the long drying period may mean that the grapes are crushed in midwinter and the ambient temperature is naturally low. Passito wines tend to be particularly high in volatile acids, a direct result of high sugar levels. Many argue that high levels of volatile acidity are essential to the quality of such wines, and some maintain that false "passito" wines can be exposed precisely by improbably low levels of acetic acid. Passito wines may be divided into two categories: those in which the fresh primary aromas are retained (these tend to be younger sweet wines) and those in which primary aromas are sacrificed to the development of a more complex bouquet, such as Amarone and Sfursat. Amarone Amarone is produced from identical grape varieties and in the same production zone as Valpolicella, with the same distinction between the Classico zone, where Amarone Classico is produced, and an enlarged zone where simple Amarone is produced. No longer obliged to call itself Recioto Amarone, it has become one of Italy's DOC wines in its own right. The wine was once produced from the upper lobes or 'ears' of the bunches, but it is now made from selected superior whole bunches which are dried or raisined in special drying lodges or chambers. The length of the drying period varies from producer to producer, but in recent years there has been a tendency to shorten the drying period, in order to produce a wine less affected by botrytis. Ventilating systems, to prevent botrytis development during the initial phase of the drying process, are also now quite common among Amarone producers. Some producers now eliminate botrytis-affected grapes completely in order to produce a fresher, fruitier wine without the oxidized flavours which once characterized the wine. After the drying process is finished, the grapes are pressed and fermented dry, and the wine aged in oak. The finished wine easily reaches 15 per cent of alcohol and is rarely released until five years after the vintage, even though this is not a legal requirement. Sfursat della Valtellina In the northernmost part in Italy, in the Lombardy region, the Nebbiolo grape is called Chiavennasca and is cultivated in a narrow, steep-sided valley formed by the river Adda as it flows from east to west before emptying its waters into Lake Como. Despite its 46-degree latitude, the valley is protected to the north by the Alps and has a relatively temperate climate with a high percentage of sunny days during the year. Cultivating vineyards on heavily terraced hillsides supposedly built by ancient Ligurians from rocks brought up from the riverbed below, this tiny valley produces some of Italy's most interesting Nebbiolo-based wines. Drinking a Valtellina red is like drinking a more nervous, higher-altitude version of Barolo. The rosy aromatics and dried-fruit flavors of nebbiolo are all there, in a tighter, lighter package. It seems impossible that Nebbiolo would ripen at all at such a northern latitude, but in fact there is enough sun in the Valtellina to support tropical plants such as agave, which actually pop up here and there in the rocky Valtellina soils. Valtellina's Sfursat wines are passito-method wines in which the Nebbiolo grapes used to make the wine are dried before pressing to concentrate their flavors. This process produces a wine that is richer, softer, and ever-so-slightly sweet; a contrast to the sharp angles of a basic Valtellina Superiore. "Sfursat" means "strengthened" in local dialect, and these wines have some of the heft of Amarone while retaining the ethereal aromatics of Nebbiolo.