Day Three: September 21st, The Wine Tour Begins.
" Adventures In Wine Country" with Co-Hosts Chuck Byers and Greg Rist is a new series airing in April 2010 on CHEX Television Channel 12 Durham and the Greater Toronto Area.
Guerrieri-Rizzardi Winery
Giuseppe Rizzardi didn't flaunt his heritage. He was a man that was concentrating on one thing----making the best wines he could from his impeccable vineyards. However, what he didn't say about his company was a testament to how serious and humble he was. Guerrieri-Rizzardi's history went back to an estate that was in the hands of he Guerrieri family since 1450 and land that the Rizzardi family owned since 1678. The two counts, Guerrieri and Rizzardi, joined forces and developed land in Soave, Bardolino, Valpolicella and Valdadige. The Rizzardi family now owns the business.We visited the Valpolicellavineyards in Negrar and met with Giusseppe who gave us a tour of his vineyards. The 25 Hectare vineyard is made up of Corvina, Corvinone, Barbera and Merlot.
Giuseppe also had some eating grapes planted in the middle of he vineyard as well as some Molinara which he thought was only really good for Rose style wines. His blends usually featured Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella with an added touch of Merlot and Sangiovese. He had 25 different vineyards three or which are "Crus" or single vineyards. These are Brolo Rovereti,
Pojega and Calcarole. While at Rovereti (which means oak) I was amused by the welcome that we got from Giuseppe's two German Shepherd dogs gave us.
Giuseppe's philosophy was to always keep improving the possibility of making a good bottle of wine. He did not necessarily believe that technology will make a better wine and did not want to become a mass producer. He felt that any technology should complement tradition in wine making and sometimes it actually got in the way. Analysis could only go so far.
"We tailor make wines from the grapes he said. Technology may make you lazy.
Giuseppe took us to his vinegar cellar and where he kept his inoculation stash called "Mother Load" which was the small keg that kept the vinegar bacteria alive.
He also made sure that the vinegar cellar was very far away from the wine cellar since if a small bit got loose and somehow end up in the wine cellar, there would be a hell of a lot wasted material in old wine country.
We then ended up going to his garden which really is a show piece with palm trees, centuries old trees, flowers, statues, mythological statues, an amphitheatre and very neatly manicured trees that almost form a pergola in the drive way.
Jazz and rock concerts are held at the theatre which is still in use for many entertaining and artistic concerts. It is hard to imagine that this place was built in 1783. The lovely and smartly cut bushes were super nice. The manicured Cypresses, special trees, flowers and fountain ponds all are specifically placed to give the appearance of "a garden containing secret places such as those poets and philosophers once contemplated in admiration". The gardens were purposely placed amidst the grape vines of Valpolicella which were the livelihood of the area then and now.
Lunch
We had lunch at the Enoteca In Piazza where we tasted his wines with some delicious food.
Valpolicella Classico Superiore
Black fruit and spice on the nose with equally the same on the palate. Excellent structure and integrity. A wine that could suit all seasons and foods.
Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso Pojega
Dry with a great amount of complexity produced by the secondary fermentation over pressed Amarone grape skins. The wine is round with a good structure and fruit/spice flavours.
Villa Rizzardi Amarone della Valpolicella
A truly nice wine with superb mouthfeel and with rich/robust flavours but not at the expence of integrity and elegance.
Villa Frateli Tedeschi
The Tedeschi family have beeen in the wine business a long time and goes back to the founder,
Nicoli Tedeschi in 1824. The family owns and rents a combined 99 hectares in the Negrar, Fumane and Marano Valleys.
We visited the two and a half hectare Monte Olmi vineyard which was purchased by Riccardo Tedeschi in 1918 and it was indeed a busy place with harvesting of the Pergola style (umbrella shaped canopy) which serves a number of purposes including protection from the sun, drier grapes for picking and a production of a large amount of grapes. The grapes harvested at the single vineyard "Cru" of Monte Olmi are destined to become the Amarones of tomorrow. The other vineyards in the family are Pontare and Lucchine.
An interesting thing about Monte Olmi is that the vines are on slopes that will remove excess water during the wet periods and have the ability to retain water in dry---speaking of having your cake and eating it also!!!
The there is the new addition and great experiment.
Maternigo
It took us quite some time to drive with Riccardo's daughter, Sabrina, to the newest addtion to the vineyards. Maternigo means "land of the mother" and lies between the comunes of Tergnago and Mezzane di Sotto. Resarch that went into choosing this land was extensive. The area covers some 57 hectares and consists of wooded areas and olive grovese. The vines planted here are some two years old and water ponds have been erected to trap water needed for irrigation.
An interesting fact is that the building down (way down) in the valley is thought to have been a monestary and parts of it date back to the 15th Century. Sabrina proved to be a good a driver as she was a competent marketer. She whipped around the tightest roads with the skill of a racer!
We will now call her Sabrina "Andretti" Tedeschi.
Many of the 30 hectares that the vines are planted on are major slopes and face south east and south west which will give the vines much access to sun and drainage. It certainly seems to be a wise choice for the vines and for production. However, Riccardo Tedeschi the family oenologist
does not discount the production of future "cru" or singel vineyard areas.
Winery
The firm uses horizontal fermenters which allows for the regular extraction of skins. The must also goes throughseries of thermically controlled vertical fermenters. The wine is aged in barrels of Slovenian Oak with a capacity of 10 to 50 hectolitres.
Wine
The wine was tasted at Alla Coa Restaurant with Riccardo. It was a pleasant meal with pasta and truffles as well as Steak Florentine. Greg----well Greg decided on Tripe---if you don't know what it is, I will not tell you but it wasn't for me. That and vegetables made a very accomodating meal which we had with the wine.
Capitel del Nicalo Leggero Appassimento
Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2007
The grapes for this wine are lightly dehydrated of one month (about 10% of weight volume) and then fermented then aged for up to two years.
Colour: Dark Red
Nose: Red fruit, vanilla and spice.
Palate: Good mouthfeel/tannins, red/black fruit with some vanilla and pepper.
La Fabriseria Valpolicella C.S.
This is a single vineyard "cru" which is part of a special project that is using traditional grapes within the region. The grapes are late harvested and then softly pressed and fermented in small fermentation vats. the wines are steeped and then aged for one and a half years in oak and six months in bottle prior to sales.
Colour: Brilliant red
Nose: Bllack fruit and spice
Palate: Same fruit, round and great mouthfeel/tannin. Integrated with a unique richness. Vanilla spice with a long finish.
Capitel Monte Olmi
The grapes are dried for a period of four months and then pressed and fermented with the stems after which the wine is steeped for two montth before being put into the Slovanian oak for 2 to 3 years.
Colour: Dark Red
Nose: red fruit, spice.
Palate: a robust yet elegant mouthfeel and red fruit and spice with a long finish that lingers.
I tasted the 2004 and 2005 wines and was remarking how much I liked the 2005 over the 2004 which seemed austere. Then it was pointed out that I had the wines reversed thus I liked the 2004 over the 2005. Regardless---they were both good and I would highly recommend them both.
END OF DAY THREE
Guerrieri-Rizzardi Winery
Giuseppe Rizzardi didn't flaunt his heritage. He was a man that was concentrating on one thing----making the best wines he could from his impeccable vineyards. However, what he didn't say about his company was a testament to how serious and humble he was. Guerrieri-Rizzardi's history went back to an estate that was in the hands of he Guerrieri family since 1450 and land that the Rizzardi family owned since 1678. The two counts, Guerrieri and Rizzardi, joined forces and developed land in Soave, Bardolino, Valpolicella and Valdadige. The Rizzardi family now owns the business.We visited the Valpolicellavineyards in Negrar and met with Giusseppe who gave us a tour of his vineyards. The 25 Hectare vineyard is made up of Corvina, Corvinone, Barbera and Merlot.
Giuseppe also had some eating grapes planted in the middle of he vineyard as well as some Molinara which he thought was only really good for Rose style wines. His blends usually featured Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella with an added touch of Merlot and Sangiovese. He had 25 different vineyards three or which are "Crus" or single vineyards. These are Brolo Rovereti,
Pojega and Calcarole. While at Rovereti (which means oak) I was amused by the welcome that we got from Giuseppe's two German Shepherd dogs gave us.
Giuseppe's philosophy was to always keep improving the possibility of making a good bottle of wine. He did not necessarily believe that technology will make a better wine and did not want to become a mass producer. He felt that any technology should complement tradition in wine making and sometimes it actually got in the way. Analysis could only go so far.
"We tailor make wines from the grapes he said. Technology may make you lazy.
Giuseppe took us to his vinegar cellar and where he kept his inoculation stash called "Mother Load" which was the small keg that kept the vinegar bacteria alive.
He also made sure that the vinegar cellar was very far away from the wine cellar since if a small bit got loose and somehow end up in the wine cellar, there would be a hell of a lot wasted material in old wine country.
We then ended up going to his garden which really is a show piece with palm trees, centuries old trees, flowers, statues, mythological statues, an amphitheatre and very neatly manicured trees that almost form a pergola in the drive way.
Jazz and rock concerts are held at the theatre which is still in use for many entertaining and artistic concerts. It is hard to imagine that this place was built in 1783. The lovely and smartly cut bushes were super nice. The manicured Cypresses, special trees, flowers and fountain ponds all are specifically placed to give the appearance of "a garden containing secret places such as those poets and philosophers once contemplated in admiration". The gardens were purposely placed amidst the grape vines of Valpolicella which were the livelihood of the area then and now.
Lunch
We had lunch at the Enoteca In Piazza where we tasted his wines with some delicious food.
Valpolicella Classico Superiore
Black fruit and spice on the nose with equally the same on the palate. Excellent structure and integrity. A wine that could suit all seasons and foods.
Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso Pojega
Dry with a great amount of complexity produced by the secondary fermentation over pressed Amarone grape skins. The wine is round with a good structure and fruit/spice flavours.
Villa Rizzardi Amarone della Valpolicella
A truly nice wine with superb mouthfeel and with rich/robust flavours but not at the expence of integrity and elegance.
Villa Frateli Tedeschi
The Tedeschi family have beeen in the wine business a long time and goes back to the founder,
Nicoli Tedeschi in 1824. The family owns and rents a combined 99 hectares in the Negrar, Fumane and Marano Valleys.
We visited the two and a half hectare Monte Olmi vineyard which was purchased by Riccardo Tedeschi in 1918 and it was indeed a busy place with harvesting of the Pergola style (umbrella shaped canopy) which serves a number of purposes including protection from the sun, drier grapes for picking and a production of a large amount of grapes. The grapes harvested at the single vineyard "Cru" of Monte Olmi are destined to become the Amarones of tomorrow. The other vineyards in the family are Pontare and Lucchine.
An interesting thing about Monte Olmi is that the vines are on slopes that will remove excess water during the wet periods and have the ability to retain water in dry---speaking of having your cake and eating it also!!!
The there is the new addition and great experiment.
Maternigo
It took us quite some time to drive with Riccardo's daughter, Sabrina, to the newest addtion to the vineyards. Maternigo means "land of the mother" and lies between the comunes of Tergnago and Mezzane di Sotto. Resarch that went into choosing this land was extensive. The area covers some 57 hectares and consists of wooded areas and olive grovese. The vines planted here are some two years old and water ponds have been erected to trap water needed for irrigation.
An interesting fact is that the building down (way down) in the valley is thought to have been a monestary and parts of it date back to the 15th Century. Sabrina proved to be a good a driver as she was a competent marketer. She whipped around the tightest roads with the skill of a racer!
We will now call her Sabrina "Andretti" Tedeschi.
Many of the 30 hectares that the vines are planted on are major slopes and face south east and south west which will give the vines much access to sun and drainage. It certainly seems to be a wise choice for the vines and for production. However, Riccardo Tedeschi the family oenologist
does not discount the production of future "cru" or singel vineyard areas.
Winery
The firm uses horizontal fermenters which allows for the regular extraction of skins. The must also goes throughseries of thermically controlled vertical fermenters. The wine is aged in barrels of Slovenian Oak with a capacity of 10 to 50 hectolitres.
Wine
The wine was tasted at Alla Coa Restaurant with Riccardo. It was a pleasant meal with pasta and truffles as well as Steak Florentine. Greg----well Greg decided on Tripe---if you don't know what it is, I will not tell you but it wasn't for me. That and vegetables made a very accomodating meal which we had with the wine.
Capitel del Nicalo Leggero Appassimento
Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2007
The grapes for this wine are lightly dehydrated of one month (about 10% of weight volume) and then fermented then aged for up to two years.
Colour: Dark Red
Nose: Red fruit, vanilla and spice.
Palate: Good mouthfeel/tannins, red/black fruit with some vanilla and pepper.
La Fabriseria Valpolicella C.S.
This is a single vineyard "cru" which is part of a special project that is using traditional grapes within the region. The grapes are late harvested and then softly pressed and fermented in small fermentation vats. the wines are steeped and then aged for one and a half years in oak and six months in bottle prior to sales.
Colour: Brilliant red
Nose: Bllack fruit and spice
Palate: Same fruit, round and great mouthfeel/tannin. Integrated with a unique richness. Vanilla spice with a long finish.
Capitel Monte Olmi
The grapes are dried for a period of four months and then pressed and fermented with the stems after which the wine is steeped for two montth before being put into the Slovanian oak for 2 to 3 years.
Colour: Dark Red
Nose: red fruit, spice.
Palate: a robust yet elegant mouthfeel and red fruit and spice with a long finish that lingers.
I tasted the 2004 and 2005 wines and was remarking how much I liked the 2005 over the 2004 which seemed austere. Then it was pointed out that I had the wines reversed thus I liked the 2004 over the 2005. Regardless---they were both good and I would highly recommend them both.
END OF DAY THREE
posted by Chuck Byers - Wine Consultant | 11:07 PM
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