Italian wines

[Brad Ballinger]

A quick look at Marcarini Brunate 01 averages in the mid-$40s. That may be the best value in Barolo out there for this vintage.

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I'm always thrilled to come across Macarini Barolo Brunate or La Serra since it's always one of the most attractive priced Baroli available.

[Adam Balic]

I would be interested in knowing exactly how many native vine types there are in Italy, every time I go to a new region there is nearly always some odd little wine poking its head up.

The last one of these was "Lacrima di Morro d`Alba". Still not sure if I like it, but it was very very unusual.

[Brad Ballinger]

I would be interested in knowing exactly how many native vine types there are in Italy, every time I go to a new region there is nearly always some odd little wine poking its head up.

The last one of these was "Lacrima di Morro d`Alba". Still not sure if I like it, but it was very very unusual.

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You can find quite a bit at this site: www.italianmade.com.

Regarding Lacrima di Morro d'Alba, I like the wines made from that grape variety in a "quaffable" sense. The very few I've had have been fully for bright berry flavor. The confusing part is that the wines made from the grape are from the Marches and most people think of Piedmont because of Barbera d'Alba.

[Adam Balic]

Hey, what a good site, thank you.

Definately a "quaffer" (and I'm not even sure of the as due to the intense flavour violets it tastes a little too much of "Essence of grannys"), but very unusual for all that and so worth trying. It would be interesting to use it as part of a Shiraz blend (maybe at <5% levels).

[primowino]

The last one of these was "Lacrima di Morro d`Alba". Still not sure if I like it, but it was very very unusual.

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I went to a small Italian restaurant in Chester recently,which had a small but very good wine list almost exclusively Italian and with a Piedmont bias. The most interesting thing was that out of a total of maybe 30 red wines, there were 2 La Crimas - weird.

The restaurant is called La Taverna on Lower Bridge St, not a very imaginative title but a very good restaurant compared to others we tried in Chester. The chef was very flexible with his freshly cooked ingedients, so no problem that my daughter wanted their traditional pesto sauce with her pasta, asparagus and smoked chicken rather than the mild brandy and peppercorn sauce advertised.

It not surprisingly won best new restaurant in Chester last year and no I'm not related to, or in business with, the owners.

[battleofthebulge]

The Lacrima ('tear') grape is really interesting - a very very old varietal, and possibly pre-phylloxera if grown on non-grafted stock (I'm not sure whether or not this is the case). It could be the closest we can come to tasting what the Romans drank

It was in danger of dying out completely but has now been granted DOC status. Morro d'Alba is one of the very few communes which now produce it.

[ingbakko]

Hy everybody, I started this topic few weeks (months) ago asking myself "why the italian wines, which I consider the wolrld bestones, are so poorly represented and known in the international market" .... "price, marketing or what?" or " Am I wrong? are them not so good?" I don't know enough about wines to give answers to these questions ... so I ask to the Society.

Well now the discussion is about Barolo, it's a case, it could have been Brunello or Amarone ....

Why overseas or also in Europe (UK or Sweden for example) it's almost impossible to drink a Roero (instead of Barolo) or a Valtellina Superiore or a Sfursat (nebbiolo grapes from Lombardy) if not a Sagrantino di Montefalco or some good Negroamaro or Primitivo ... why not Sicilian wines or the international blends from Franciacorta or the Pinot noir from Trentino all wines you can buy less then 50 Eur a bottle or so.

Few days ago I was in a top restaurant in Istanbul (Sunset) the wine list included wines like Petrus or Chateau Lafite and a Chateau Margaux '45 (if I well remember) priced 22.000 Euro. Well I drunked a good Shyraz from Australia (Bin 61) because there were no interesting italian wines a part some overpriced Barolo ....

Ciao

[Craig Camp]

I don't know where you are looking, but it must be in the wrong places. If anyone does not drink the best Italian wine it is the Italians. The top ranked producers throughout Italy routinely export 80+% of their production outside of Italy.

You mention wines like Roero and Valtellina Superiore Sfursat, but in Italy you will be hard pressed to find them outside their own regions at anything but the most enlightened wine bars, ristorante and enoteca. I lived in Italy for several years and it is far easier to find extensive selections of the full range of top Italian estates in New York or Chicago than it is in Milano or Roma. Sagrantino di Montefalco is a hot topic in the American wine press and I can buy good Negroamaro or Primitivo in grocery stores in the small town I live in in Oregon. New York has some staggeringly inclusive wine lists that dig deeply into even the most obscure wine region.

The fine wine business in Italy is driven by exports not by domestic consumption.

By the way the French are no better than this than the Italians.

Edited September 10, 2005 by Craig Camp (log)

[ingbakko]

I don't know where you are looking, but it must be in the wrong places. If anyone does not drink the best Italian wine it is the Italians. The top ranked producers throughout Italy routinely export 80+% of their production outside of Italy.....

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Thanks Craig, good to know in the US it's easy to find a good selection of our wines. Actually I travel practically all over the world exept the US. I have been in New York for holydays last february but in the restaurant I tried I found a great selection of local wines (Californian) and the usual French plus South Americans but almost no Italians. I am not specifically looking for them I just choose the restaurants and in average happens like in New York ....

Ciao

[Boris_A]

Why overseas or also in Europe (UK or Sweden for example) it's almost impossible to drink ....a Valtellina Superiore or a Sfursat (nebbiolo grapes from Lombardy)...

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I don't deplore this fact. If you've seen the size and the steepness of the best Valtellino vineyards, a bigger worldwide demand for this wine would be catastrophic for it's availabilty (or prices). I've friends living in the Valtellino, and these people like to be able to afford their "own" wine.

[ingbakko]

I don't deplore this fact. If you've seen the size and the steepness of the best Valtellino vineyards, a bigger worldwide demand for this wine would be catastrophic for it's availabilty (or prices). I've friends living in the Valtellino, and these people like to be able to afford their "own" wine.

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Hi, so if I well understand you think that the problem of the availability of Italian wines in fine international restaurants around the world is due to lack of production capacity ... it can be ... but I just saw statistic which says Italian production is second only to France (in Europe) and just for a very little percentage. So why I always find good selection of French wines and not the same with the Italians?

[Boris_A]

Hi, so if I well understand you think that the problem of the availability of Italian wines in fine international restaurants around the world is due to lack of production capacity ... it can be ... but I just saw statistic which says Italian production is second only to France (in Europe) and just for a very little percentage. So why I always find good selection of French wines and not the same with the Italians?

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Ciao!

We should differentiate. Sassicaia is produced in quite large amounts, like a mid-size bordelais chateaux. Brunello production grew by factors over the last 20 years. In Valtellino, this is just impossible. There's no way to enlarge production capacity due to extremely limited growing possibilities. OTOH, in the south, there are still huge reserves of land that could be cultivated.

The Italian demand is already strong enough. I just don't see any need to promote such limited specialties heavily outside Italy. A caring wine lover, curious about interesting products and alternatives, will find it's way to Valtellino anyway. Another example: I dont' mind it the majority want's to pay high prices for real Champagne from big houses. Like the old (Italian) Seneca said: most of the people wants to walk only on well paved ways. Why do we want to show the masses all of the lesser obvious, beautiful pathes in the hinterland and the underwood? Most of the time it would be just wasted labour.