As attendees arrived, they were treated to a wonderful reception wine, Tatone Montepulciano from Abruzzo, Italy, provided by Vinaio Wines of Toronto. It’s a medal winning wine carried by Vintages and labelled a Vintages Essential which means it’s available all-year round from Ontario’s Vintages stores and for the modest price of $15.95. Everyone who sampled it was very impressed with its full body, great depth of flavour and were stunned to learn the price. A few people even preferred this wine to those we tasted the rest of the evening! It’s from central Italy and so growing conditions are a bit different from the hot south from where our 8 wines originated. Thanks to Vinaio Wines for supplying such a fantastic wine to Toronto Vintners Club!Over the course of the evening, TVC members and guests discovered how generally well-made all the wines were that we tasted from different grapes and a variety of areas throughout S. Italy. Summer heat is a big factor and so wine makers have now taken to making their wines in climate controlled conditions which has resulted in a vast improvement in quality. Our guest speaker, Vince Liberatore of Vinaio wines informed us that a lot of juice used in making the more famous and more expensive Northern Italian wines actually comes from S. Italy!
Wine B was the ’06 Ceuso for $35. I found there was a hint of oak and smokey tones on the nose; the wine itself was big, intense and had a long finish. Our table ranked it 4th, the group overall had it in 7th and our guest speaker ranked it 3rd.
Wine C, was distinctly different from all the rest in the lineup. The nose was a bit floral and it was on the lighter side both in colour and in style. Vince thought it unbalanced and not well made. It was the 2009 Leone de Castris from Puglia and the 2009 vintage was awarded Silver from the International Wine & Spirit Competition. Interestingly, Vince told us that this wine is rated [one of] the best price points for quality. Both Vince and I ranked it 8, our table ranked it 7th and the group had it in the middle at 4th.
The fourth wine poured, D, was another from Puglia - the ‘07 Appolonio Terragnolo, made from the Primitove grape which is related to the Zinfandel grape. The nose was very floral; there was lots of vanilla and it had gobs of fruit and a touch of sweetness on the palate; the legs were long. After a while, it got to be too much to drink because of its being somewhat unbalanced. While I, our table and the guest speaker all had this wine ranked 5th or 6th, the rest of the crowd really liked it and ranked it their Number 1! Perhaps this wine was the closest in familiarity to what we’re used to drinking in N. America (being related to Zinfandel) and maybe that’s why people like it. Anyway, if you loved it, it’s a bargain at $19!
Wine E’s nose was initially closed but I started to get a hint of dark plums which carried through on the palate. The flavour was complex and intense; legs were very long and it was a very well made wine. Here’s where the group and I differed; I ranked it 3rd and the group had it 8th – last place. Vince put it in the middle at 4th. It was the 2007 Azienda Vincola Rivera, Puer Apuliae, Apulia for $37.
The colour on the sixth wine, wine F, was almost black. It was very dry, intense and concentrated. Vince found it very elegant, with great depth, oak and dark chocolate on the palate. In fact, he loved this wine and ranked it his #1 as did my table. I really liked it too but found the dryness to be a little much to handle without food so I ranked it 4th. The group had it in 6th place. It was a wine that really cried out for food. It was the most expensive of the lot at $49 and was the 2008 Elena Fucci, Aglianico del Vulture Titolo, Basilicata.
Wine G had people all over the map. I loved this wine; it was complex with lots of flavours of dark fruits, inky dark colour. Vince on the other had found it unbalanced and he didn’t enjoy it that much. My table and our attendees overall ranked this as their 3rd favourite wine. It was the 2008 Villa Raiano Taurasi, DOCG from Campania for $24.
With Wine H, the last wine poured, we finally had some agreement on a wine! I, my table, our guest speaker and the group ALL ranked this as their second favourite wine. It was the oldest wine in the line-up – the 2004 Odoardi Vigna Garrone from Calabria for $37. While the nose had a slight stinkiness to it, the palate had plums, figs, leather, some stewed fruit and meat. It was intense and gorgeous!
Overall, this was a great tasting as it exposed many of us to wines and grapes that we would probably not have experienced otherwise. Some of these wines could be called the poor man's Barolo or Amarone because of their more modest prices. So it was great to find a couple of real bargains in the line-up. With thousands of grapes now being cultivated in Italy and an obscure labelling system, it can be very difficult to wade through Italian wines and decide which one to buy. This tasting certainly gave us all a better understanding of what to look for.
Thanks to all who came out for the evening. It was 2 short of a sell-out!! And a big thanks to Vince Liberatore and Vinaio Wines for helping to make our evening very successful!
And below is a summary of the wine rankings. If you want tasting notes from our notice, please visit http://www.torontovintners.org/2014/Southern_Italian_reds.html
Sylvia Dorosh
President
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Name of Wine (in order poured)
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Group Ranking
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Guest Ranking
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A - 2010
Argiolas Perdera, Monica di Sardegna DOC, Sardinia $18
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5
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5
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|
B - 2006
Ceuso, Scurati Rosso, Sicily $35
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7
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3
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C - 2009
Leone de Castris, Salice Salentino DOC, Riserva, Puglia $19
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4
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8
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D - 2007 Appolonio Terragnolo, Primitivo, Puglia, $19
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1
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6
|
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E - 2007 Azienda Vincola Rivera, Puer Apuliae,
Apulia $37
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8
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4
|
|
F - 2008 Elena Fucci, Aglianico del Vulture Titolo, Basilicata
$49
|
6
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1
|
|
G - 2008 Villa Raiano Taurasi, DOCG, Campania $24
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3
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7
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H - 2004 Odoardi Vigna Garrone, Calabria $37
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2
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2
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