'TREBBIOZZO' BIANCO FRIZZANTE, 2018
$36 (10% off = $32.40)
Some killer farmhouse bubbles here! 100% Trebbiano the sees partial fermentation in tank before a secondary fermentation occurs in bottle early the next year, spurred on by a little frozen must from the same harvest. Packed with juicy, salted pineapple, meadow flower and kumquat, all lifted by rustic fizz.
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'CILIEGIOZZO' ROSATO FRIZZANTE, 2018
$36 (10% off = $32.40)
Frizzante Ciliegiolo? I mean come on!... Direct press Ciliegiolo with no skin maceration, fermentations following the same pattern as it's sibling above. In the words of Marissa Ross: "Roses barely peeling open, raspberry, and thyme, and literally tickled your nose with the spice of pink peppercorns…microbial fireworks of cranberry that pop as fast and steady as a racing heart." 650 bottles made.
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'CHIARETTO' ROSSO, 2018
$36 (10% off = $32.40)
"Chiaretto" is to Sardegna what 'Cerasuolo' is to Sicily....often a lighter, fresher blend of bright, acidity-driven grape varieties. In this case, being in Umbria, the wine is 90% Vernaccia Rossa with 10% Ciliegiolo. Aged in a mix of cement and steel, the blend will vary from year to year but bright, fresh and spicy is what this one is all about. Serve chilled. 1000 bottles made.
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While the 'Rozzo' might be the more profound of Giovanni's two red offerings, it definitely doesn't lack for laid back, juicy punch. The 2018 vintage consists almost entirely of Sangiovese with a small splash of Montepulciano. Here, the fruit is riper, more varietally distinct but still driven by the hallmark lazer beam of Sangio acid - this is one of those wines that is on our minds all year round despite its fleeting prsence on the shelves. 2000 bottles made.
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From importer, Matt Mollo of SelectioNaturel:
"It was late summer, 2017 when I first heard of an exciting new producer emerging from yet another unknown corner of Umbria. Giovanni Battista Mesina, "the shepherd that makes wine", as he is known to the locals, was about to harvest grapes for his first bottled production of wine. Giovanni's wines were borne in his family's old animal stall with nothing more than grapes and intuition.
The Mesina family is not native to Umbria. Rather, they are generations-old Sardinians who have adopted, and have been adopted, by central Umbria. Giovanni was born in Sardegna, close to where Gallura and its famous Vementino is made, but grew up almost entirely in Umbria. The family business has always primarily been raising sheep - to this day, on their hilltop homestead, Giovanni and his family raise over 1000 sheep. They produce milk, cheese and wool as well as pasture-raised meat. If you know anything about shepherds it's that they are sincere, stoic and reserved...when you meet Giovanni you feel his warm soulfulness, which is translated directly into the wines.
The hilltop hamlet of Pianello, just east of Perugia, is where Giovanni's farm is. The vineyard land is tiny, as of 2017 only 3 hectares total. Plans to expand to an eventual 6-8 hectares are in the works for the future. Sangiovese, Ciliegiolo, Montelpulciano, Vernaccia Rossa are the primary red grapes while Vermentino is the white grape of choice thanks to Giovanni's Sardinian heritage and pride that comes with it. 2017 was Giovanni's first bottled production. Before this, the wines were made strictly for home consumption and direct sales to locals."
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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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SF Importer Tasting: Fattoria San Lorenzo (Marche)
Friday, October 11th: 6-8pm
SAN FRANCISCO
$15 TASTING FEE (waived for Wine Club members)
Tasting with Natalino Crognaletti is never a speedy affair; he is a man big on laughs, big on personality, and big on opinions when it comes to wine. Together with his mother, Natalino is now the third generation to oversee the Fattoria San Lorenzo property, passed down to him by his father Gino, and before that, his grandfather Enrico. Under Natalino’s guidance, San Lorenzo has not only established itself as the standard-bearer for the oft-overlooked Marche region, but has almost single-handedly thrust the Verdicchio grape back into discussions of Italy’s truly great white grapes. John Bigelow of importer Indie Wines will be here to sling and speak to a line up of Natalino's bottles. 5 wines.
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