Monday, October 21, 2013

Tenuta Valdipiatta, Montepulciano - Food and wine series

In Italy the matching of food and wine is so important.
It is rare to have dinner (cena) without a glass of wine.
So we have decided to share with you what winemakers feel are perfect matchings for their wines.
The first in the series is Tenuta Valdipiatta in Montepulciano.
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Father and daughter Giuilio and Miriam owners of Valdipiatta.
They make superb wines including a Nobile di Montepulciano, a Cru Nobile, a Riserva and a Rosso di Montepulciano. Renowned wine writers have heaped praise on the families winemaking skills with Antonio Galloni describing the 2009 Nobile as the best for that year and James Suckling describing Valdipiatta as the best winemakers in Montepulciano.
Wine:
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Nobile di Montepulciano
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Made from Sangiovese (Prugnolo gentile) 85%, Canaiolo nero 15% the wine is a dark ruby red colour with medium to high intensity and clarity. It has aromas of cherry, chocolate, leather and licorice.
Combined with quality fruit, the tannins and acidity are impeccably balanced with a long finish. This is an outstanding example of a top flight Nobile di Montepulciano.
 Food:
Lamb with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wine
Lamb is a classic dish of Italian tradition that we find on tables especially around Easter time, but it is a great dish that you can prepare in all periods of the year and with different recipes. This is a simple but tasty way to prepare this type of meat. We recommend you to accompany this dish with baked potatoes flavored with rosemary.
Total preparation and cooking time: about 2 hours
For 4-6 persons
Ingredients:
800/1000gr of lamb
2 glasses of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wine
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
2 small sprigs of fresh rosemary (one for cooking and the other for garnishing)
2 garlic cloves
4/5 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper as needed
A few fresh mint leaves
Preparation:
To make this dish we recommend you use the part of the thigh or the shoulder, which is best suited to the recipe. Take your lamb and cut it into medium-sized pieces, then wash it with care. Clean and cut the carrot and celery (cubes are fine) and finely chop 1 clove of garlic.
Place the lamb in a bowl and season with salt and pepper and add the other ingredients previously cut. At this point, add the 2 glasses of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wine and let marinate for about an hour. After this time, drain the meat and strain the resulting liquid which you will use to finish the cooking.
Now you can proceed to the cooking of the meat. In a low, wide pan, sauté the remaining chopped garlic, and rosemary (possibly tied in such a way as not to lose the leaves during this operation) in the olive oil. Add the pieces of drained lamb and sauté for about ten minutes until it reaches a uniform color. Reduce heat and continue cooking while gradually adding the marinade liquid that you have kept aside.
Meanwhile, gently stir the pieces of lamb, without making them stick to the bottom of your pot. The lamb is ready when the cooking liquid will be reduced by half and the meat, piercing it with a fork, is tender.
Now you can serve: place the lamb, still warm in a serving dish and serve at the table with the reduced red wine sauce that is on the bottom of cooking pan. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and mint leaves.
Buon appetito

Saturday, October 19, 2013

San Carlo Brunello 2013 harvest


San Carlo is a great small family owned producer just south of Montalcino. They make very good wines including Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalcino.

We would classify this winemaker as a traditional winemaker, respecting nature and tradition.

They are in a very good location surrounded by forests which results in their wines having great layers and structure

Below is Giancarlo. He and his daughter Gemma run the vineyard.

 

SanCarlo is a family run enterprise in the south west side of Montalcino.

They have 3 hectares of Sangiovese grapes making Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino. The harvest of the grapes this year occured in early October.

Fulvio, Giancarlo and Gemma worked in the vineyards, Lucia was in the kitchen making a big lunch but.... this year there was also a new generation with them, Lapo (Gemma's new born son) did his first harvest!!!!!

So,the family had to celebrate the vintage and the new born......”Viva la vita!!!!!”

The quality of the bunches was really very good and the first fermentation commenced and almost finished.

Looks like an excellent vintage.







 
To buy San Carlo in Australia go to www.italianwineimporters.com.au
 

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Querce Bettina Brunello - Harvest 2013


Querce Bettina started to pick on the 28 September. It was the small wineyard called "Le Giuncaie"  about 5.500 square meters for 3600 kg of grapes estimate quantity of Brunello 2400 litres corresponding to 3,200 bottles. Alcohol obtained around 13.4% in line with their objective, strong aromas and perfumes, intensive colours. This will be their first cru.

The other vineyards matured later so the final pickings were on the 2 and 3 October.

The grapes were very healthy and the level of maturation was perfect: ph around 3.3 acidity around 7 mg/lt  sugar  220/235 gr corresponding to be converted in 13.2% alcohol. 

All this means that they will not need to protect their wines with strong quantities of stabilizers (sulphites or tannins).
 
At this moment Querce has finished their first fermentation and have already separated the skins and seeds.  Very good quality !!

Here are some pictures from the harvest


The grapes are ready,,,sangiovese at its best

 
 
 
baskets at the ready

 






They look good


 
The harvest



Roberto looks pained....sorry Roberto they look good to me



 
 
Available in Australia at www.italianwineimporters.com.au
 

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Villa i Cipressi Montalcino- The 2013 harvest has finished

Villa I Cipressi is a family run vineyard just outside Montalcino. They make outstanding wines (and also honey), including a Brunello Riserva (Zebras), a Brunello and a Rosso di Montalcino.

Let the harvest begin

 
Federico the winemaker
 
 

 
According to Dario (above), this vintage has produced outstanding fruit which augers well for the 2013 vintage wines.

 
All hands in the vineyard for the harvest
 
 
 
 

 
The last of the grapes hit the sorting table
 
Celebration

 

 

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Il Civettaio Montecucco sangiovese. The 2013 harvest has begun

Il Civettaio is a wonderful organic winemaker in the Maremma area of Tuscany.
 
Finally the sangiovese harvest has begun.
 
They had very bad weather in the last week but for the owner Gregorio, the grapes were not ripe enough, so he took the risk and waited.
Today was a wonderful autumn day, a bit of fog rising on the hills and the sun shining.
The grapes are healthy so everything seems good.
Vermentino and Chiu’ Rosato are fermenting slowly at 15 degrees; very nice nose!
The sangiovese fermentation is starting.