Tag: wine

The wine of the week: Franciacorta Non Dosato Grande Cuvée Alma Bellavista – Italian Cuisine

Francesca Moretti signs her first Franciacorta with the enologist Mattia Vezzola. And it creates a wine that is very similar

"In the family they call me 'The German', because I am precise and direct," he tells me Francesca Moretti, while tasting together a glass of the new born of the house, the Franciacorta Non Dosato Grande Cuvée Alma. From the farm's terrace, the view extends over the vineyards and it's easy to see why this hill is called Bellavista. Founded in 1977 by the entrepreneur Vittorio Moretti, today he sees in command his daughter Francesca, who takes care of all the family wine estates (it also includes Contadi Castaldi, in Franciacorta, Sella & Mosca in Sardinia, Acquagiusta, Petra and Teruzzi, in Tuscany).

"This is the first Franciacorta I sign working with our historic winemaker Mattia Vezzola and I wanted it to be a wine that resembled me as much as possible; I am satisfied with the result: I love naked wines, real, as if they were a mirror of reality ”. In fact, this new Franciacorta resembles little other Bellavista wines, it is more direct, contemporary, with less frills and more terroir. Of course, we understand that it belongs to the same family, but belongs to one new generation. The aromas are very fresh and play with all the nuances of flowers and white fruits, while the sip is striking for its precision and flavor.

"We entrusted Chardonnay with the task of dictating finesse and freshness, with a little help from Pinot Noir, which gives elegance, while the reserve wines and the passage in wood of a small part of the base wines add body and roundness and make from trait d'union with the other Franciacorta di Bellavista ”he says. Now all that remains is to wait for the next wine that Francesca has already put in the pipeline, a Rosé that will come out in a couple of years and that will complete the Grande Cuvée Alma line.

Why now: it's a novelty and is the first Franciacorta Non Dosato by Bellavista.

As did: the cuvée (90% chardonnay and 10% pinot noir) is made up of about 80 basic wines from the 2016 harvest, with 9 vintages of reserve wines. The wines mature for 85% in steel and 15% in small barrels. It refines on yeasts for about 30 months before disgorging.

To combine with: finger food, risotto, seafood, lake fish.

Serve it at: 8 ° C.

Price: 35 euros.

bellavistawine.it

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The wine of the week: Oltrepo Pavese Pinot Nero Giorgio Odero 2015 Frecciarossa – Italian Cuisine

Best wishes to Frecciarossa, who turns one hundred years old and is in splendid shape. Like his great Pinot Noir, one of the reds symbol of the Oltrepo

There are goats that keep the forest clean and cows that provide manure to fertilize the vines. And, then, a crowd of dogs, beehives with bees, orchard, vegetable garden, cured meats hung to age in the cellar, along with cups and pancetta. Frecciarossa is a historic company of the Oltrepo – this year turns 100 years old– but here you can't breathe that ancient and somewhat snobbish air that is found in many noble wineries. The wines were among the first to be exported abroad: "We have the license number 19" tells me the owner Valeria Radici; He even knew them Alfred Hitchcock, who was crazy about our Sauvignon ”.

The company's history begins with the great-grandfather of Valeria; Mario Odero lived in Wales, where he worked in the coal branch; World War I forced him to return to his homeland, but he did not want to stay in his hometown of Genoa. After a trip to Oltrepo, he remains so impressed by the landscape that he decides to sell everything he has to buy the Frecciarossa estate. But it is his son Giorgio who gives great impetus to wine production, after a trip to France, a country from which he brings back ideas and techniques to make quality wines and the passion for Pinot Noir. His daughter Margherita, one of the first to continue women in Italy to deal with wine, until, after a life lived in Paris, Valeria also feels the call of this land. "As a child I spent summers here and it's the only place I've always felt like home."

Speaking of his wines, he told me that “Carillo is the most essential version of Pinot Noir, it is fresh and focused on the fruit, without superstructures; it is the wine in which I recognize myself more, together with the Anamari, the red with the native grapes of the Oltrepo, which we have resumed to produce ". But the wine that best represents the great history of the company is undoubtedly the Giorgio Odero Pinot Noir that among other things, and rarely happens in Italy, can be purchased in the company of well six different years. Produced on the first hills of Casteggio from a single vineyard, it is a wine that needs time to give the best of itself; this is shown by the 2015 vintage, the son of a hot vintage, which is already able to show off a great class and perfect territorial adherence. The aromas are those of small fruits, Rossana candy and red orange; to taste it is juicy, refreshed by balsamic notes. 2014 is more subtle, ready and "Nordic", the son of a cold year with an elegance that brings it closer to Burgundy.

Why now: it's always the right time for Pinot Noir.

As did: fermented with indigenous yeasts in steel tanks at a controlled temperature; maceration lasts about 15 days, followed by aging for 12 months in 25 hectolitre wooden barrels, then six months in steel and, finally, at least one year in the bottle.

To combine with: is very good with recipes based on birds, from pigeon to duck, flat pirmi with meat sauces, roasts and cut.

Serve it at: 16-18 ° C.

Price: 27 euros.

frecciarossa.com

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The first school in Italy to learn how to cut sparkling wine is born – Italian Cuisine

The Sabrage Academy inaugurates its courses that will tell the world of bubbles, starting from the secrets to open a bottle with the spectacular sciabolata

The secret is all in the gesture. And yes, even in love for the bubbles quality. There is no alternative that takes, the sabrage – for friends "The sciabolata" – it is without any doubt the most suggestive and scenographic method to open one sparkling wine. The saber caresses the neck of the bottle, back and forth, back and forth, until the decisive moment in which the click of the wrist finds the exact point where the blade and the glass must meet: it is then that the ring and the cap come off suddenly, and the magic of this fascinating ritual it takes place between toasts and collective applauses.

Yes, but learning to manage everything, in total safety, and without wasting bottles on bottles to proceed with various attempts and errors, can prove to be a bit difficult. For this reason, thanks to the idea of the journalist, writer and wine tutor Francesca Negri, the very first is ready to be born Sabrage Academy Italian: a traveling school that will take care not only to teach the secrets for the perfect slash, but also to give its students the basics to make their way in the fascinating world of bubbles. "Sabrage Academy is born from the desire to divulge the sabrage ritual, to understand its meaning and value, in a historical moment in which saber has become more of a show, if not a freak", underlines Francesca Negri.

Here then is that with the participation of a team of industry professionals, including also Manlio Giustiniani, professor FIS (Italian Sommelier Foundation) and great Champagne expert, lesson participants will be able to learn more about Franciacorta, Trentodoc and other European excellences on the sparkling wines front, discover the secrets to best serve a glass of sparkling wine, learn the differences between the Classic Method and the Martinotti Method (already, the one with which prosecco is produced). In addition, of course, to deepen the history and technique of the sabrage, with a lot of practise.

At the end of the intensive course, of a total duration of about 2 hours and with a cost of 250 euros, participants will receive a Sabreur diploma, a saber-printed saber "Sabrage Academy" and a pair of gloves to perform the ritual even at home with elegance and maximum security. The very first lesson is scheduled at Trento for September 5, and then away, with a full calendar of dates throughout Italy that will be gradually communicated on official website of the initiative.