MANZONI BIANCO 'FONTANASANTA,' 2018
$36 (10% off = $32.40)
100% Manzoni Bianco, an early-20th-century crossing of Riesling and Pinot Bianco. Foradori organically farms and hand-harvests this clay-limestone parcel in the Fontanasanta hills above Trento. A brief 3-4-day skin maceration and 8 months in a mix of acacia barrel, concrete and clay sees a wine brimming with yellow apple, green mango, watermelon rind and a brisk gust of mountain herbs and shattered stone.
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TEROLDEGO, 2016
$29 (10% off = $26.10)
100% Teroldego. This is the core red of the Foradori line up: the first and only one to be bottled back in 1960 and still the largest production. A perfect toe in the water to those unfamiliar with Teroldego. Polished and savory, the entry level offers oodles of black raspberry, black currant, flint, graphite, and dried Alpine herbs. Easy drinking and well balanced, it has juicy, forgiving tannins and tangy acidity that makes it a no brainer as an every-day-drinker.
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TEROLDEGO 'SGARZON,' 2017
$50 (10% off = $45.00)
The Sgarzon is one of a pair of single-vineyard projects from Elisabetta that see aging in clay amphora as opposed to steel or wood. Sourced from the same sandy plateau of the Campo Rotaliano, the berries are destemmed, pressed and fermented in large amphora before being left to age for 8 months. Vibrant & open-knit, there's chewy tannins and tangy wild raspberry, cherry, star anise and singed orange peel notes. Lightly floral throughout, with a snappy finish.
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Elisbetta’s top-tier bottling, the ‘Granato’ is considered by most to be the varietal’s most prized interpretation. The fruit here is sourced from the estate’s original vines, all still pergola-trained, the oldest going back to 1938 and the youngest to 1956. It is also the most traditional of her Teroldego bottlings, not amphora-aged like Morei or Sgarzon, but rather in large oak foudres for 15-18 months resulting in a wine of greater structure and purpose - tightly knit, with dense tannins married to a core of black currant, wild herb, bresaola and spice flavors.
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80% Alicante Nero & 20% Carignano, the Unlitro is 1 liter of Mediterranean sunshine in a stumpy little bottle - a perfectly laid back quaffer, primed to draw out the final throws of summer. With fruit sourced from the property’s most coastally situated vineyards, it's a wine that seems to greet you with bare feet and a loose smile. Black cherry, pomegranate and blueberry, pocked with more savory elements of cardamom, coastal scrub and mineral crunch. will quickly come to understand why 750ml of this wine is just not enough.
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100% Carignan, this bottling is part of the "Monovarietali" project that is emerging from the poperty's single-varietal plots as they reach maturity. Lazer-focused and oozing with Mediterranean freshness, this is a wine that makes a great case for Carignano's place under the Tuscan sun. An almost electric zip defines a nimble frame of tart red/black berries, pomegranate and salty seaside herbs; throw a quick chill on this one and soak in the sunshine.
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AMPELEIA 'AMPELEIA' ROSSO, 2017
$45 (10% off = $40.50)
The estate’s flagship red wine, the Ampeleia, is a brief but ethereal step beyond it’s Mediterranean hallmarks, at least varietally speaking. The lion's share here is in fact Cabernet Franc, sourced from a 65 year old parcel that sits at a lofty 600 meters of elevation. Simply put - this thing is fabulous - leaving you wondering, in equal measure: "why you don’t I more Cab Franc?;" and, "is this really Tuscan Cab Franc I’m drinking?" Sweet red cherry, pomegranate, orange peel and intense, savory notes meld together in a deep, juicy mouthful full of personality.
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Elisabetta Foradori is a producer that needs little introduction; revered as one of Italy's greatest winemaking talents and a maven of biodynamic practices in the wine world, as well as an icon, innovator and leader of Italy's low-intervention wine movement. Elisabetta has all but forged a new path for her native Alto Adige since taking the reigns of her family's estate in the mid 80's after the sudden and unexpected passing of her father.
Located at Italy's northernmost border, high in the Dolomites, a stone's throw from the Austrian border, Foradori works primarily with the obscure indigenous varietal Teroldego, which she’s elevated and championed, approaching vine management and winemaking with a deftly soft hand, and turning out wines that are as generous and sincere as she, original and inspiring.
Today, she is also partnered in a second project on Tuscany's sunny Maremma coast: Ampeleia. Here, in a region known for Bordeaux flecked, power house reds, Elisabetta is turning out a range of relaxed, sunny and elegant wines that feel very decidedly Mediterranean at their core.
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SF Importer Tasting: Gulfi (Sicily)
Friday, September 27th: 6-8pm
SAN FRANCISCO
$15 TASTING FEE (waived for Wine Club members)
Long seen as Sicily's standard bearers of Nero d'Avola, the Gulfi estate has worked tirelessly over the last 3 decades to champion site-specific, wines of place, rising head and shoulders (and them some) above the waves of homogenous, mass-produced, and over-ripe plonk that long sullied the name of their beloved varietal. Under the guidance of lauded enologist, Salvo Foti, the Gulfi estate has forged a path for Nero d'Avola-based wines that display a poise, drive and expressiveness that is all but unrivaled in the state. Marcello Dellaccio, Wine Warehouse's Italian Wine Specialist will be on hand to speak to the wines. 5 wines.
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SF Importer Tasting: Franco Terpin (Friuli)
Friday, October 4: 6-8pm
SAN FRANCISCO
$15 TASTING FEE (waived for Wine Club members)
Situated in the hills bordering Italy and Slovenia, Franco Terpin turns out some of the freshest skin-macerated wines in the land; some hark to the big-hitting styles of his contemporaries in Skerk, Radikon & Gravner, others offer a super low key (and goddarn affordable) insight into the guy's talents and the bounties of his native Friuli. Always crafted in a rustic, low intervention fashion (no fining, no filtration, low sulfur) these are those dark horse wines that somehow still seem to fly under the radar, but are quickly snaffled by those in the know. 4 wines.
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