@OddBacchus on Mazzoni Barbera by @BrunelloMaker
Above: Rob Frisch, author of a leading wine blog called Odd Bacchus, had dinner with Mazzoni winemaker Alessandro Bindocci a few weeks ago in Chicago.
“If you discover that wine from a certain nearby region is generally not to your liking, you can take a number of courses of action,” writes wine and lifestyle journalist Rob Frisch. “A normal oenophile would probably just drink wine from another region. A more obsessive/compulsive oenophile might doggedly keep trying wines from that region until she found one that agreed with her palate. But these solutions, in the end, are for amateurs.”
“If you’re a professional, like Alessandro Bindocci, you go to that region, rent a vineyard, and make the wine yourself.”
He’s talking about Mazzoni Barbera, a wine that seemed to impress Rob as much for its bold flavors and bright acidity as for the story behind it.
Wall Street Journal wine editor Lettie Teague recently called Rob’s blog Odd Bacchus one of five blogs she “really clicks with.”
We were thrilled to see Mazzoni winemaker Alessandro had a chance to sit down over dinner with one of the leading wine bloggers in the U.S. today!
Odd Bacchus: “a white Super Tuscan that smells like spring”
Mazzoni winemaker Alessandro Bindocci has been traveling across the U.S., leading guided tastings and wine dinners featuring his family’s wines. He’s also had a chance to meet with some leading wine writers in the U.S., like Rob Frisch, who authors the excellent wine blog Odd Bacchus.
Here’s what Rob had to say about Alessandro’s Mazzoni Pinot Grigio:
A white Super Tuscan… The wine smelled fresh and lively, like a green whiff of spring. On the palate, it exhibited focused and controlled fruit, prickly acids, some aromatic qualities, and a surprisingly lush finish. It was light but complex, and a fine value for the price. Sampled with a white pizza topped with arugula and parmesan, the food-friendly acids kicked into high gear, and the wine became juicier and rounder. A delight.
Meet Mazzoni winemaker Alessandro Bindocci in Seattle April 30 & May 1
One of the hottest tables in the United States today, Via Tribunali is named after one of the oldest streets in the historic center of Naples, Italy.
“We opened our first pizzeria in 2004,” write the owners on their website, “in the burgeoning Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. For months before we opened curious onlookers poked their heads in the former auto body shop, and outlandish rumors spread quickly throughout Seattle. One person saw a team of masons reportedly flown in from Naples to build a gargantuan wood-fired oven, someone heard that the bricks also came from Naples rich with Vesuvian ash, a reporter ran a story about a taxi driver leading our owner down a dark Neapolitan street to meet a talented pizzaiolo who was then whisked to an airport… As it turns out almost all of the tall tales are true.”
Today, the pizza at Via Tribunali (see photo above) is considered to be among the most authentic verace pizza napoletana in America.
We are proud to announce that Mazzoni winemaker Alessandro Bindocci, of the Tenuta Il Poggione (Montalcino, Tuscany) will be honored at two events to be held at the restaurant’s Capitol Hill (Seattle) location Tuesday April 30 and Georgetown (Seattle) location on Wednesday May 1.
Please email general manager Travis to reserve for the Tuesday event in Capitol Hill.
Or please email general manager Faith to reserve for the Wednesday event in Georgetown.
Both events include a five-course dinner and tasting of six wines with Alessandro.
Space is limited. $58 per person.
Springtime in Tuscany and budbreak in Montalcino
Here’s the latest, just in from the Tenuta Il Poggione in Montalcino, Tuscany, where Mazzoni wines are made:
Finally it feels like spring has arrived in Montalcino as well.
The temperatures are rising and today we have had the minimum temperature at 8° C. and the maximum at 18° C. and there are the forecasts of fair weather for at least seven other days.
The vines are opening their buds (see photo above) and we were are in line with the previous years.
A fantastic wine list in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Let’s face it: while big cities in the U.S. like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago have been experiencing an “Italian wine renaissance” for nearly two decades now, there are still many smaller cities where Americans’ unbridled passion for Italian wine and its mosaic of grape varieties has yet to arrive.
That’s just one of the reasons we were so impressed with the truly superb wine list curated by Riccardo Tarabelsi (above), a native of Florence, Italy who grew up in Boston and ultimately settled in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (population 156,592 according to Google, 2011).
Riccardo is the general manager and wine director at the immensely popular Italian restaurant Spezia (pronounced speh-TZEE-ah), one of the town’s top fine dining destinations.
“I have to be honest,” said Riccardo when we spoke to him yesterday by phone. “Many of our guests say to me, ‘don’t bring me the wine list. Just give me a Chardonnay.’”
“So I ask them, ‘would you like a Chardonnay from California or a Chardonnay from Italy?”
And that’s when Riccardo does his magic.
“They’ll ask me: ‘You mean, they make Chardonnay in Italy?’ And I like that because it lets me share my passion for Italian wine with them.”
Riccardo’s list has something for everyone, from the casual Pinot Grigio drinker to the heavy-hitting Brunello lover. And its aggressive pricing extends from the by-the-glass program to his top-priced Amarone, Brunello, Barolo, and Barbaresco.
But the thing we loved the most about his list is that he includes food pairings in the list itself.
“When you go to a region of Italy,” he explained, “you drink the wine that was meant to go with the food of the region. That’s the only wine they serve. But in America, the guest needs some guidance in how to pair the wine,” especially at a restaurant like Spezia, where the chef features regional foods from all over Italy.
Currently, Riccardo is featuring a “wine flight” of Mazzoni Pinot Grigio, Mazzoni Barbera, and Mazzoni Toscana Rosso.
“I love them all but my favorite,” said Riccardo, “is the Toscana Rosso, a classic Super Tuscan, with great acidity and a dry finish… the things that I look for” in great red wine.
Beyond being the wine director and GM at one of the hottest tables in town, Riccardo also authors a column for a local lifestyle magazine, etc. (click the link to read his most current article, a profile of Italy’s Cinque Terre).
We don’t have any plans to visit Sioux Falls in the near future but it might be worthwhile just to taste with Riccardo!
Top US wine writer John Foy profiles Mazzoni winemaker Alessandro Bindocci
This week, syndicated US wine writer John Foy profiles Mazzoni winemaker Alessandro Bindocci (below) and the Tenuta Il Poggione where Mazzoni wines are produced…
Brunello di Montalcino has gone through a sea change since the 1970s, but one of the anchors of this area and its wine is Il Poggione.
In the late 1800s, Florentine landowner Lavinio Franceschi trekked from his estate to the distant hills of the Montalcino area south of Siena. He wanted to see the land where his Shepard moved the flock of sheep for their regular winter stay, singing praises of the area’s beauty. After seeing it for himself, Franceschi purchased land in 1890 in Sant’Angelo in Colle, part of the Montalcino community.
Today, the property, named Il Poggione, is in the hands of Franceschi’s great-grandchildren Leopoldo and Livia Franceschi. They continue the mixed agriculture of vineyards, crops and animal-raising started more than a century ago by their adventurous and enterprising ancestor.
The region’s wine, Brunello di Montalcino has undergone a profound transformation. What was a locally consumed rustic red wine is now an internationally acclaimed wine of various styles. Some producers make New World-styled brunellos using overripe fruit and designer flavored yeasts, aging all the wine in new French oak barrels, and other winemaking tricks. Other wineries, such as Il Poggione, use modern technology but restrain the winemaking manipulation. They offer clean, fresh brunello di Montalcino that holds its heritage high.
Winemaker Alessandro Bindocci, 32, visited New York two weeks ago with his latest Il Poggione wines. Bindocci is following in the footsteps of his father, Fabrizio, who began his career at Il Poggione in 1976 as the assistant winemaker, and progressed to winemaker and director.
Mazzoni winemaker Alessandro Bindocci in the U.S. this week
Mazzoni winemaker Alessandro Bindocci (above) visited Houston and New York this week.
He was in the U.S. to pour the new vintage of his family’s Brunello di Montalcino at the annual preview of the wines, Benvenuto Brunello, which takes place in Montalcino, New York, and one other American city every year.
Back to work in the vineyards in Tuscany
It’s that time of year again when winemakers begin again to work in the vineyards, which have laid dormant during the cold winter months.
At the Tenuta Il Poggione, where the Mazzoni wines are made, they began earlier this month to prune the vines.
Click here to read Mazzoni winemaker Alessandro Bindocci’s notes on what kind of work they do during this period.
From time to time, we’ll be checking in with Alessandro as he chronicles a year in the vineyard in Montalcion.
A series on the historic wines of Tuscany by @BrunelloMaker
Buon 2013 a tutti!
Happy new year, everyone!
We thought we’d start the new year off by sharing a series of posts on the historic wines of Tuscany by @BrunelloMaker, otherwise known as Alessandro Bindocci, the winemaker at the Tenuta Il Poggione in Montalcino, where the Mazzoni wines are made.
Alessandro has been translating entries on Tuscan wines from a 1937 catalog of the wines of Italy.
Here’s the link to the series.
We hope you find it as interesting as we do!
Tenuta Il Poggione in the New York Times
Above: Winemaker Fabrizio Bindocci of Tenuta Il Poggione makes all of the Mazzoni wines. He was quoted last week in the New York Times.
On Friday, wine writer Eric Pfanner of the New York Times called Tenuta Il Poggione’s Brunello di Montalcino one of “the best wines I have tasted on a recent trip to Montalcino.”
See also his article, “Keeping Up With Tradition in Tuscany,” in which he speaks with Tenuta Il Poggione winemaker Fabrizio Bindocci.
All of the Mazzoni wines are produced on the Tenuta Il Poggione estate by Fabrizio.
Mazzoni Bianco di Toscana is here!
With the arrival of the Mazzoni Bianco di Toscana — a Tuscan white wine — the family of Mazzoni wines is now complete.
From the Mazzoni Pinot Grigio to the Super Tuscan Toscana Rosso and the Piemonte Barbera, the Mazzoni family of wines has a wine for every palate and for every meal.
While many wine lovers will reach for the Mazzoni Pinot Grigio as an aperitivo white, to pair with appetizers and light first courses, they will surely reserve the Mazzoni Bianco di Toscana for dishes with more intense flavors and nuanced character.
The wine is blend of two white varieties: Vermentino, the classic white grape of Tuscany; and Chardonnay, the noble “international” grape variety that has captivated the attention of wine wine connoisseurs for the last three decades in the U.S.
The Vermentino (about 75%) gives the wine its unmistakable Tuscan flavor: think sage and sea, bright fresh fruit and crisp refreshing aromas.
The addition of smaller amounts of Chardonnay (about 25% in the current debut vintage) provides the acidity and depth that makes the wine an ideal pairing for seafood first and second courses, like pasta tossed with seafood or whole grilled orata, the famous Mediterranean sea bass that you find in Tuscany’s coastline restaurants.
The Live Like an Italian blog is thrilled to announce the arrival of Mazzoni Bianco di Toscana, the latest release from the historic partnership between two of the wine world’s greatest families — the Franceschi family in Montalcino and the Terlato family in the U.S.
(Click here to read about the two families’ relationship, now spanning two generations.)
Wine Spectator praise for Mazzoni Pinot Grigio
“A ripe, fruity style, offering melon, apricot and floral notes. Balanced on the soft side, with a fresh finish. Drink now.”
—Bruce Sanderson
Wine Spectator
Mazzoni Pinot Grigio is here!
The Live Like an Italian blog is thrilled to announce the arrival of Mazzoni Pinot Grigio, the latest release from the historic partnership between two of the wine world’s greatest families — the Franceschi family in Montalcino and the Terlato family in the U.S.
(Click here to read about the two families’ relationship, now spanning two generations.)
There’s a reason why Pinot Grigio has become a household name in the U.S.: it’s the ideal grape for producing crisp, fresh, and refreshing white wine with balanced alcohol and bright tropical and citrus fruit aromas and flavors.
In Europe, wine lovers have known this for centuries. But in the U.S., it wasn’t until Anthony “Tony” Terlato — the patriarch of the Terlato family — first introduced a Pinot Grigio to American consumers in the late 1970s that the grape variety began to began to explode on the American wine scene.
Tony had traveled to Italy in search of the next great white wine from Europe and it didn’t take long before he realized that Pinot Grigio had all the right stuff to become America’s favorite white wine. (He retells the story in his autobiography, Taste: A Life in Wine.)
Mazzoni’s Pinot Grigio is made from hand-picked Pinot Grigio grapes grown in the high elevations of Montalcino (where Brunello di Montalcino is made). The altitude is essential: cool summer evenings are what helps the winemaker obtain the classic crispness in the wine and achieve the freshness that makes Pinot Grigio such a wonderful wine for pairing with food.
No one knows Pinot Grigio better than the Terlato family. This is just one of the reasons they asked the Franceschi family to help them create this wine: expertise in fine winemaking and some of the best growing sites in Tuscany make this wine one of the most exciting arrivals from Italy in years.
Click here to email a Mazzoni specialist for more information on where to find Mazzoni Pinot Grigio.
Soon the grapes will be harvested in Tuscany…
It’s been a hot and arid summer in Tuscany this year but rains in recent weeks have helped the grapes to ripen well.
While growers in Tuscany began picking their white grapes a few weeks ago, the time has come to begin picking the red grapes.
Yesterday, they began and they will continue picking over the next two weeks or so, harvesting the ripest grapes first (in the vineyards with the best exposure to sun) and waiting until the other vineyards as they achieve their fullest expression of flavor.
It is perhaps the most beautiful time of the year to stroll through the vineyards, especially at daybreak, when the wildlife is still active.
In the photo above, you see Mt. Amiata in the distance, the gentle giant that protects the vineyards of Montalcino from inclement weather arriving from the Mediterranean sea to the south.
For growers with good vineyard sites, a good to excellent vintage is expected, although the yields will be slightly smaller: hot temperatures and prolonged drought posed challenges for growers and winemakers this year. As a famous Tuscan winemaker once said, there are no bad vintages; there are just vintages when we make less wine.
Harvest in Tuscany has begun!
Today, our friends at Tenuta Il Poggione began picking their Merlot grapes, which will be used to make Mazzoni.
You can follow the harvest at Tenuta Il Poggione’s blog, Montalcino Report.
Ordering a coffee in Italy
Above: A classic caffè macchiato (not cappuccino).
In Italian, an espresso is called simply caffè or caffè espresso
A caffè can be served ristretto or corto (REE-streh-toh or COHR-toh), i.e., with less water, more flavor and aroma, and less caffeine.
It can also be served lungo, with more water, less flavor and aroma, and more caffeine.
A caffè can be macchiato (MAH-kee-AH-toh), literally “spotted” with a dash of steamed milk.
It can also be corretto (cohr-REHT-toh) or spiked with a distillate, often grappa but also brandy (fruit distillate).
And a caffè can also be served liscio (LEE-shoh), without the addition of anything. (In the morning, you’ll often hear the barista ask her/his patrons if they’d like their espresso liscio or macchiato (MAH-kee-AH-toh) since many people drink their coffee macchiato in the morning.
We’ll devote another post to the art of the cappuccino. But in the meantime, please remember: Italians never drink cappuccino after 11 a.m.! Live like an Italian: drink your cappuccino only in the morning (there’s a reason for this).
The trick to ordering espresso on a budget: al banco
Continuing our series on budget travel in Italy, let’s talk about how to drink amazing espresso on the cheap.
Coffee or caffè is elevated to an artform in Italy. There is virtually no place that you can go where a bad espresso is served. It’s also pretty inexpensive. If you order your espresso sitting at a table, you will pay a markup of up to 300%, on average. (If you plan on having a cappuccino, please do so only at breakfast! Italians see this beverage as a strictly A.M. ritual and ordering a cappuccino after a huge meal is downright incomprehensible to the locals.)
Instead, order right at the bar. The average espresso costs Euro 1.20 (unless you’re in a very touristy place) when ordered al banco (at the counter). That’s a pretty big savings. The same goes for the pastry that accompanies your cappuccino in the morning. If you plan to linger, it’s worth the extra couple of euro to sit, but you have a money-saving option.
Paying more to people watch is a worthwhile investment in large piazze like Piazza Navona in Rome or Piazza San Marco in Venice, but save your moneta (coins) where you can and you’ll find yourself being able to afford an extra day!
A new wine from Mazzoni: our Barbera is here!
We are thrilled to announce the launch of a new wine by Mazzoni: Mazzoni Piemonte DOC Barbera, made from 100% Barbera grapes grown in Piedmont, Italy, at the foot of Italian Alps.
With bright wild berry and red fruit flavors, very little tannin, and lip-smacking acidity, Barbera is considered by many to be one of Italy’s greatest “food-friendly” wines. It’s fresh and clean and its naturally low alcohol is perfectly balanced by the genuine fruit of the Barbera grape.
While Sangiovese — the grape used together with Merlot in our Mazzoni Toscana Rosso IGT — is the favored “food” wine of Central Italy, Barbera is the preferred grape at the tables of Northern Italians: From Venice to Milan, from Turin to Trieste, you’ll find Barbera in the glasses of true Italian food lovers.
The other good news is that we’ll be creating a series of posts devoted to the foods and culture of Piedmont (Piemonte) here on the Live Like an Italian blog…
Stay tuned!
Snooth names Il Poggione one of “top ten producers of Sangiovese”
Here’s what Snooth editor-in-chief Gregory Dal Piaz had to say yesterday about Il Poggione where the Merlot and Sangiovese for Mazzoni Rosso Toscana are grown side-by-side. Gregory has named Il Poggione one of Snooth’s “Top Ten Sangiovese Producer”. (Snooth is the leading English-language fine wine resource in the world today.)
Il Poggione pumps out predictably reliable wines in rather formidable quantities, ensuring that the wines are both available and affordable. These are rather classic wines, rich yet elegant with lovely fruit and earth tones.
Their line-up includes:
Rosso di Montalcino – Not as easy to find as the Brunello, this is a great introduction to the house style, open and rather silky.
Brunello di Montalcino – Pretty classically styled, this exemplifies what Brunello can be. Softened with oak ageing, yet without any marks of new oak, it’s a wine of lovely fruit and complexity.
Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Paganelli – A single vineyard wine produced only in the best vintages. This really ratchets up the power and depth from their classic Brunello but is cut from the same cloth.
Rome for Foodies: a new (and fantastic) app by one of our favorite ex-pat bloggers
One of our favorite bloggers, Katie Parla of Parla Food, based in Rome, has just released the second generation of her Rome for Foodies app.
We’ve written about Katie here before: when it comes to dining in Rome, nobody does it better…
A video of the Orcia River Valley where Mazzoni Toscana Rosso is made
You don’t need to understand Italian to appreciate this sumptuous, gorgeous video of the Val d’Orcia where Mazzoni Toscana Rosso is grown and vinified.
Ordering a coffee in Italy
Above: A classic caffè macchiato (not cappuccino).
In Italian, an espresso is called simply caffè or caffè espresso
A caffè can be served ristretto or corto, i.e., with less water, more flavor and aroma, and less caffeine.
It can also be served lungo, with more water, less flavor and aroma, and more caffeine.
A caffè can be macchiato (MAH-kee-AH-toh), literally “spotted” with a dash of steamed milk.
It can also be corretto or spiked with a distillate, often grappa but also brandy (fruit distillate).
And a caffè can also be served liscio, without the addition of anything. (In the morning, you’ll often hear the barista ask her/his patrons if they’d like their espresso liscio or macchiato since many people drink their coffee macchiato in the morning.
We’ll devote another post to the art of the cappuccino. But in the meantime, please remember: Italians never drink cappuccino after 11 a.m.! Live like an Italian: drink your cappuccino only in the morning (there’s a reason for this).
