Rimessa Roscioli Wine Club Notes | 6 | Tier 1 REDS

Grape: 100% Nero di Troia 
Region: Castel del Monte (Puglia) 
Pairings: unique on its own with its strong floral component, but could work with beef or lamb dishes 
Drink by: now through 2021 (let this one open up for at least 30 minutes) 
Notes: 12 months in large barrels, strict organic farming 
Description: Simply said, we make wines based on terroir, not based on market demands, even though the market rewards artificial wines. Tradition, heritage and terroir is what this wine is based on. A family vineyard that he continues to care for, as this land has been around for thousands of years and will be for possibly thousands more, and preserving and maintaining that heritage while he is there is the most important thing. This wine could possibly be the feminine wines on the nose, as it reminded me of roaming through the rose gardens in Rome, smelling all the 1100 varieties of roses planted there. The terroir of this region also gives the wine a unique minerality, and you'll likely pick up the bitter honey aromas as you come back to it. Just like a rose, this wine needs time to open up. Give it some time before you judge it, but I think you will find this to be one of the most unique wines in terms of its aromas and palate. Not just a 'girly' wine...this wine has a nice grip and depth to it as well.

Grape: 100% Barbera
Region: Serralunga d'Alba (PIEMONTE)
Pairings: adapts to nearly any dish
Notes: 12 months in large barrels (botti), 1500 bottles produced
Drink by: Now through 2020
Description: Just a few decades ago in the region of Alba (containing the famous and prestigious territory where you can make a Barolo), it was the Barbera which was considered the prestigious grape, not the more common association of Nebbiolo. You might find it hard to believe that it was the Barbera that people came to buy and if you bought a few cases, they would literally give you a case of Nebbiolo for free. All of this changed as the zone of Barolo has become synonymous with Nebbiolo, with nearly every square centimeter dedicated to it, whereas now it's often said that the best Barbera is from Asti, not Alba. But who knows...you'll have to try it know it. Few producers have maintained the tradition and their plantings of Barbera, like Roberto Conterno and his Cascina Francia Barbera, amongst a few others, and of course Palladino.

Here you have a wine that can adapt to just about anything from medium to hard cheeses, a variety of meats, pasta dishes and more. If you know the grape, in this one you may find to have more minerality at its core. There is of course a sapid, fruity and black cherry element to it making it quite easy to drink this powerful and fresh at the same time wine that carries subtle hints of earthiness, leather and cinnamon. A versatile wine to drink with good friends and good conversation, around a dinner table when you aren't sure what is being prepared.

Grape: 100% Schiava (Vernatsch)
Region: Alto Adige 
Pairings:  meat dishes, or dishes made with mushrooms and speck
Drink by: now until 2022
Notes: biodynamic, indigenous yeasts, 24 months in wood and 6 in bottle, non-filtered, maximum respect for the land
Description:  Arriving in the Alto Adige, I could have easily mistaken that I was in another country across the Alps.  The street signs are first in German, and second in Italian.  The architecture is chalet-like for all the shops, and the restaurants there smell of wurtstel, apple strudel, and speck.  And while many can speak Italian, you know by their pronunciation and simple, formal speaking that it's not their first language.

The Alto Adige with a heritage of nearly 3,000 years of winemaking has been called home by various peoples throughout the centuries . To briefly introduce you to this area, it was initially inhabited by Latins in the Roman times, but saw heavy Germanic settlement from the Renaissance to the 1900s.  It became territory of the Hapsburgs (Austria) in 1803, then after a defeat became part of Bavaria (Germany) under Napoleon, had a short moment of French rule before Napoleon would be defeated in 1815 and it would return to Austria.  Then during WWII, Italians we able to occupy and annex the area which Mussolini would control with heavy Italianization.  Later in 1943, the Italians would sign a pact with the Allies which put again in German control, which would end with the end of the Nazi regime and put it back in the hands of Italy.  I'll digress there but it's technically more complex.

As you can imagine, no one agrees on anything here, and finally, it was decided to allow both languages in the area.  It's an area with racial discrimination, where many don't feel they belong to the 'Italian' culture and nearly half don't even wish to be Italian.  The grape, Schiava, or as many may call it Vernatsch (the German translation) is the dominant red grape in this predominantly white wine area planted much to Sauvignon, Gwertztraminer, Pinot Bianco and Chardonnay.  The vineyards of In der Eben were only planted to this grape until Urban took it over from his parents and planted a handful of other local varieties.  He's a young guy with a world of dreams ahead of him, trying to make quality, age-worthy wines in his region.  He continues to improve nearly 30 years of organic winemaking with biodynamic practices even in a region where some switch away from organics because they say 'it's simply too difficult'. In my opinion, he's one you'll want to watch and pay attention to in this area.

Schiava, or Vernatsch, is usually a fresh easy wine. Nice, fruity and earthy someone called it, wrongly I think, the light Pinot Noir. You would never expect from a light Pinot Noir to age for more than 20-30 years (I tried once a Schiava Scxhleier 1976 that was more lively than most of the Oregon Pinot Noir).  That said, we chose In der Eben over more than 200 different producers of Schiava from Alto Adige to demonstrate that this grape variety can give you wines that are not simply light Pinot Noir. Fruit and cherries and wild strawberries in the 2015, with a palate that is metallic, refreshing and deep. A wine that is almost 4 years old and taste like a baby.

Vineyards, as Urban says in the video, are 60-70 years old (the cellar is more than 700 years old), and you can feel it, taste it, especially with the Riserva Sanct Anne.  The Riserva 2012 for a wine could perfectly stay beside a big Barolo in a blind taste (and the price is also in that range).

Grape:  100% Sangiovese grosso (same grape as used in their Brunello)
Region: Montalcino (Tuscany)
Pairings:  savory dishes like stews, roasted and grilled lamb, steak, grilled mushrooms, good quality salami and hams, medium aged cheeses.
Drink by: now until 2023
Notes: 2 week maceration, manual harvest, 12 months in 30hl Slavonian oak plus 6 months in bottle, non-filtered.
Description:  I'll never forget when Alessandro and I went to Benvenuto Brunello, a huge wine fair with some 200 producers in the area present.  I often default to Alessandro's knowledge of winemakers at these chaotic events to navigate through the drunk mess of crowds, but this time I was often split up from him so I tried dozens on my own.

At the end, looking at my notes, 4 of my 5 favorites were from vineyards on a special cru called the Montosoli Hill, and Pietroso one of them (keep in mind, I only learned that they were all located there after I tried them). There is definitely something unique and magical about this historic and prestigious hill which made a lasting impression on my palate - a longer rooted history for quality which unfortunately metathesized from 76 hectares in 1963 to nearly 2,400 hectares today, a special cool and dry microclimate and geology of soils mainly from marl with little clay, which lend themselves to the elegant soul of Brunello here, making them a world apart from wines found lower in the valley and from the huge producers in the area whose wines made me immediately sneeze, likely heavy with sulfites.

If you get a chance, go visit Pietroso where you can do a tasting in a floor to ceiling glass windowed room at 500m of elevation, which cantilevers over the vineyards of Montalcino below, tasting their wines with aromas of fresh red fruits, a touch of vanilla, beautiful acidity and structure which will allow for several more years of aging of the Rosso or another decade more with the Brunello.

Grape:  Sangiovese with tiny blend of other indigenous grapes
Region: Monti in Chianti (Tuscany)
Pairings: pasta dishes, medium-aged cheeses, pork dishes and cured meats.
Drink by: now until 2021
Notes: certified organic, indigenous yeasts, extreme minimum of sulfites added, 25,000 bottles produced
Description:  I really like Edoardo and Alessandro Sderci, I like their vineyards, their simple winemaking approach, and how a father and a son can work perfectly together without arguing and fighting (that's what it looks like). It makes me want to have a child and run a winery together.

Their wines again represent Tuscany in all it's simplicity, without, the perfect shapes of the perfect hills  without Cabs and Merlot, without the stupid suffix Super in front of the region.

Think you wish you had a Brunello or Vino Nobile to drink?  In our tastings, Argenina is preferred often to a Brunello beside it.  It's easy to understand without being boring, full bodied with a refreshing acidity that doesn't make it heavy.  You sense the clean fruit in this wine and sense the openness in it which resembles the openness of their land.

Grape: 100% Dolcetto
Region: Alba (Piedmont)
Pairings: cold cuts with strong garlic and pepper, sausage and mushroom pasta
Drink by: 
Notes:  stainless steel, 20 year old avg. vineyards.
Description:  I can’t really tell you at the end if Roberto Bianco is a good winemaker, nor could I about Palladino, Sobrero, Conterno, Rinaldi. All of them - nice people, who make great wines, but what if they are just lucky. Lucky to have vineyards in one of the most distinctive wine regions in the world.

At minute 1.23 you can see the famous blue marl (Marna Blu). That’s the secret. All you have to do, if you’re a winemaker with a vineyard with that soil, is to stay behind the wine, as a tutor, as a supporting actor. Henry Jayer used to say: the less I do, the better my wine. He meant: the less I struggle with barrels, fancy machines, roto-macerators, selected yeasts, heavy fertilizations (Napa Valley wines, in synthesis), the better my wine is. In which sense better? Better in the sense that the soil, the climate, the place, the grape variety the soul of the wine come out. And that’s what I want from a wine, to tell a local story, to reveal a unique local flavor, to be different. And that’s what you should like about this wine club. Because if you don’t, if you’re looking for predictable flavors, for those wines that constantly repeat the same game, play the same music with notes of oak, too much fruit extraction, predetermined flavors from scientifically selected yeast, well it might just be better to cancel your subscription, because you’re wasting your time and money.

So, that’s the big conflict - to drink a wine which is easy, soft and average, but absolutely anonymous, or a wine that is unique, complex and with a strong personality but unpleasant and disturbing?

In the ‘90s in Barolo and Barbaresco there were two parties: The modern ones: lots of small new oak barrels, fruity, soft flavors, sometimes illegal blends, modern technology, and the traditionalists: old big barrels, hard tannins, high acidity, no fruit. But in between this conflict there were wineries like Cascina Morassino. His vineyards are 100mt from the Barbaresco village  and as I said he’s been lucky enough to have spots on the top of the hill. Lots of light and sun, dry and windy. Wines there are fruity and mineral, modern and traditional at the same time. This is one of the few Barbaresco that can be drank both when young and old.

The Dolcetto is apparently a simple every day wine. But when your vineyards are in Barbaresco, on light white soil, the result is a beautiful refreshing drinking experience. Have it as a second aperitif.