Tag: wine

The wine of the week: Soave Classico Ca ’Visco 2018 Coffele – Italian Cuisine

A great white wine that comes from organic vineyards, in one of the most suited crus of the Soave appellation

As I walk along a path to reach the vineyards, I hear a cheerful piece of music that comes from a stable. "We always keep the radio on for the donkeys, so they do not suffer from loneliness ”, Chiara Coffele reveals to me, who, together with her brother Alberto, who is in charge of production, continues the winery founded by her parents Giuseppe and Giovanna in 1971.

Soon I will discover that they are not the only animals that meet during a visit to Coffele. There are the big ones horses of the Norica breed, which are used for work in the vineyard, and the goats that graze the grass, keeping the rows in order. An idea, the latter not only winning from an ecological point of view (all Coffele wines are organic certificates), but also interesting for its social implications. "We joined the project Cascina AlbaTerra that, through cultivation that respects the environment and breeding animals, promotes the reception and integration of people in difficulty ”, Chiara tells me.

We are in the classic area of Soave and the vineyards are in the cru Castelcerino, one of the most suited in the area; but the company also has a very nice sales point, in a XVII century building, inside the medieval city walls that gives its name to the name.

With grapes garganega the Coffelas produce three whites, a Classic Method Millesimato Brut, a sweet Spumante method Charmat and a passito, bearing witness to the great versatility of the vine.

From the last tastings, the wine that convinced me the most was without a doubt the Soave Classico Ca ’Visco, good in youth, but irresistible after a few years of aging in bottle. His name is a tribute to the family of the mothers of Chiara and Alberto, those Visco who produced the Bianco Soave with the grapes of Castelcerino already in the mid-nineteenth century. In this case, a 25% trebbiano di Soave was added to the garganega and the wine matures only in steel. It opens with intense aromas of tropical and peach fruit, with notes of citrus and elderflower; when tasted, it is initially soft, then stretches towards more savory and mineral scents, becoming a great ambassador of the territory.

Why now: it is a very versatile wine on the table, which goes well with fish dishes and lighter meats.

As did: the Trebbiano di Soave is harvested in September, the garganega in October; vinification and aging take place in steel at a controlled temperature. After the assemblage of trebbiano and garganega, the wine rests in the bottle for at least a month.

To combine with: raw fish, seafood, baked fish, white meats.

Serve it at: 9-10 ° C

Price: 14 euros.

coffele.it

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The wine of the week: Pas Dosè Classic Method 1865 2014 Conte Vistarino – Italian Cuisine

A bubble capable of telling so much about the Oltrepo and which takes its name from the year in which the first Italian dry sparkling wine was created. The work of a great-great-grandfather, who transmitted passion and much love for Pinot Noir

Do you remember those nobles who live in idleness without ever having worked a day in their lives? Here, forgettable. Because the protagonist of this story is the exact opposite and if you wanted to give her a gift, she would probably be happy to have days with a few more hours.

Ottavia Giorgi from Vistarino has been taking over the family business for three years, a boundless estate of over 800 hectares, of which about 200 of vineyards, among the few in Italy in which some colony contracts still exist; it includes 25 farmsteads, in which sharecroppers lived with their families, around 450 people, and then the splendid villa Fornace, which hosted nobles and crowned heads from all over Europe, whose photographs and various memorabilia survive. Passing from one room to another, Octavia tells stories of hunting, lunches and parties organized by her parents who still live here. The photographs of the past parade on the shelves next to precious porcelain and the park, designed by Achille Majnoni, architect of the king of Italy Umberto I, surrounds the villa as a green and quiet backdrop. All around the vineyards, which include the classic Oltrepo vines, even though Pinot Nero is definitely the lion's share and occupies a special place in the heart of Octavia. "It was my great-grandfather Augustus who imported Pinot Noir from France in Oltrepo in 1850, which here has found the right climate and suitable soils, calcareous, mixed with clayey marl; today it is produced in red, white and in the classic method version, both white and rosé ”. And there is more, because since Ottavia entered the company, she has tried to enhance Pinot Noir, bottling the vineyard grapes by vineyard, just like they do in Burgundy, and giving life to three crus Pernice (my favorite), Tavernetto and Bertone. Atri will follow in the future, since Octavia took me to see the new plant of the San Silvestro vineyard, dwelling in a cold and always well ventilated area.

But the Rocca de ’Giorgi estate boasts another record: it was born here, in 1865 the first Italian dry sparkling wine, produced by Count Augusto with the help of Carlo Gancia. That date today gives the name to the most representative sparkling wine of the company, the Pas Dosè 1865 Classic Method, a wine that combines momentum, elegance and territoriality. The aromas range from white flowers, to ripe fruit, to candied citrus fruits; when tasted, it is striking for its creaminess and structure: the material is there but it is well supported by acidity and the persistent finish is fresh and saline. It works great, from the aperitif to the fish dinner by the sea.

Why now: goes very well with fish dishes; the ideal is to uncork it on vacation, by the sea.

As did: it is a pure pinot nero, vinified in steel and then aged in the bottle on the lees for at least 48 months before disgorging.

To combine with: first and second courses with fish, shells and shellfish, white meats

Serve it at: 8 ° C.

Price: 27 euros.

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The wine of the week: Valdobbiadene Dosaggio Zero Vigneto del Faè Canevel – Italian Cuisine

In the Venetian dialect the caneva is the cellar. The canevel is a small space, where the most precious wines are kept. Like this Zero Dosage, to be tasted with fish

The history of Carlo Caramel's company began in 1979, exactly 40 years ago, when his father Mario, who already worked in the wine sector as a merchant, decided to produce Prosecco in Valdobbiadene. "At the time there were two categories of producers," recalls Carlo; "Those who pressed grapes and turned it into wine, that is winemakers, and those who bought wine and turned it into sparkling wine, that is the sparkling wine producers. My father had the intuition of follow the entire production process: following the entire supply chain he rightly believed that he could have a higher quality product; began to buy grapes, to vinify it, then to sparkle it and then to bottle it: it was a half revolution, received with skepticism. I remember that people gave my father's business a life expectancy of six months; plus he came from outside and his wines cost almost twice as much as others. Fortunately in those years, people began to approach wine in a different way, looking for quality ".

The purchase of the first Canevel vineyard dates back to 1994, 15 hectares in the area of Refrontolo, with clayey soil rich in minerals. "Here we can make wines with less scents but more structure," explains Carlo. The Valdobbiadene Dosage Zero Vigneto del Faè, one of the few Prosecco Superiore without sugar residue, is also born from a particularly suitable parcel of Refrontolo. "It is a new product for the territory but, at the same time, it is part of tradition of wines with the bottom, dry and common in the area, before the advent of sparkling in autoclave ”.

With its scents of flowers, almond and rennet apple and the slender and refreshing palate is a Prosecco Superiore very suitable for the table. Carlo recommends it with the fish cichéti, the small bocconcini of the Venetian aperitif: "Try it with polenta croutons with cod, sarda in saòr, folpetti, ovetto or peppers with anchovy and mixed fritturina" .

Why now: it is a fresh and low-alcohol wine that goes well with fish recipes.

As did: after the vinification of the glera grape, the foaming takes place in autoclave with the Charmat method.

To combine with: seafood first courses, cod, savory pies with vegetables, fish and vegetable risottos, mixed fry.

Serve it at: 8 ° C.

Price: 12 euros.

canevel.it