Tag Archives: Marche

April 1, 2015 · 10:02 am

Villa Bucci – Vinitaly 2015

Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico 2013
Lovely crisp mineral floral leesy citrus. Pure focused driven lithe fresh depth.

Verdicchio Riserva 2010
Denser slightly more closed, sweet floral notes, incredibly complex. Bold yet subtle, rich yet focused, elegant long.

Tenuta Pongelli 2012
Light in the nose, bright in the glass, soft yet tight, nice mouthfeel is full but not heavy, good length and soft tannins. Just enough black fruit herbal character.

Villa Bucci Rosso 2010
Quite intense, very soft full dry and a bit of earth, much more serious tannins but nicely integrated.

Ampelio Bucci and his son

Ampelio Bucci and his son

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January 16, 2015 · 11:26 am

The Intrepid Wino drank things in 2014

Last year was a particularly good year for drinking for me, I have to admit it. Thanks to all the fantastic people I met and venues I discovered, who all work with some beautiful products, I got to both taste and drink (sometimes a bit too much) some amazing stuff. Some of these wines were tasted at events or trade tastings, some at my favourite bars & restaurants, and a few were tasted at wineries I visited (which was too rare in 2014). You’ll notice that many of these wines are Italian which very much reflects where I was at this year working for an importer of Italian wines, and also visiting Italy in June.

Let me know what you think, and tell me in the comments what were your highlight wines for 2014.

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2014 was a momentous year as it was the first time I tasted Claret!

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April 5, 2013 · 7:02 am

Vicari – 26/04/2012

Verdicchio dei Castelli Jesi 2011
Quite a bold floral ripe fruit nose, and on the palate seemed to gently fade away with elegance and freshness.

L’Insolito Verdicchio Classico Superiore 2010
A wine that takes inspiration from Saint Clair in New Zealand, harvested later and treated with care and attention but no oak. The 2010 is one of the best whites I have tasted in Italy, expressing a combination of floral, ripe tropical pineapple notes on the nose, whilst on the palate combines deep and intense texture with volume, complexity and some late creaminess in the back.

Il Rustico Lacrima 2010
My first experience with the variety, and it blew my head off, as it is one of the most aromatic reds I have ever encountered. The floral rose and violet notes are extraordinary, and add in musk spice and red fruits it makes for a whirlwind of complexity. On the palate it is quite soft and generous with focus and spice, but it is like drinking flowers.

Lacrima Superiore 2011
A much more intense and complex version, with more subtle and complex characteristics, expressing spicier more peppery notes.

Essenza Lacrima 201
Made through carbonic maceration, which gives the wine a candied sweetness and makes it look hot, not something I think works for the variety.

Rosso Piceno 2010
A blend of 70% montepulciano, 28% sangiovese and 2%, is a juicy exuberant and fresh wine with softness, elegance and authenticity.

Amaranto Lacrima Passito 2009
Style suits the variety perfectly, as the fruit has no problem achieving the balance of sugar and acids necessary to make an elegant sweet wine. Has a gorgeous ripe floral character throughout, introducing some very subtle spice and pepper elements, bold yet refined texture and some subtle black fruit.

A Vicari barrel not actually in use

A Vicari barrel not actually in use

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April 5, 2013 · 6:54 am

Santa Barbara – 26/04/2012

Le Vaglie Verdicchio dei Castelli Jesi Classico 2011
Showed very crisp citrus and pear fruits on the nose with some very delicate minerality, whilst on the palate riper more tropical fruits like guava and fig combined with brisk acidity and balanced texture.

Stefano Antonucci Riserva Verdicchio 2009
A richer and riper fruit nose with delicate herbal spice elements, with a more developed texture and fruit intensity on the palate, introducing nashi pear and some tropical depth.

Tardivo ma non tardo Verdicchio 2008
Harvested later at a very mature ripeness level, having higher alcohol and viscosity. Very intense and floral with glazed orchard fruits on the nose, showing some late harvest oxidative concentration and fruit sweetness.

Stefano Antonucci Rosso 2009
A blend of 40% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon and 20% montepulciano, very imbalanced showing neither fruit restraint or personality, and sitting on the fence between power and elegance.

Il Maschio da Monte Montepulciano 2009
Suffers from heavy handling of oak dulling the fruit, expressing too much oak-derived sweet characters like chocolate and caramel, and is quite hot and extractive.

Pathos 2010
A blend of one-third of each of cabernet, merlot and syrah, and the 2010 is not a bad wine per se, but is neither unique nor indigenous, and serves to the owners and the mass markets taste.

A lovely companion to a wine tasting

A lovely companion to a wine tasting

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April 4, 2013 · 11:08 pm

Umani Ronchi – 27/04/2012

Ca Sal Di Serra Verdicchio Classico Superiore 2011
Showed subtle fresh tropical fruit and floral notes on the nose, and was very crisp and vibrant on the palate with good acidity and viscosity to keep the wine approachable but interesting.

Vecchie Vigne Verdicchio
Made from old-vine fruit, and the 2008 had a slightly candied apple custard waxiness and freshness, was very gentle and elegant on the palate with subtle creamy complexity.

Plento Riserva 2009
The odd one out of the three verdicchio wines, as it is matured in oak rather than solely stainless steel, which gave it a very muted fruit freshness and vibrancy, and gave the wine a slightly oak-derived sweetness.

San Lorenzo Conero Rosso 2010
Made from 100% montepulciano, very hidden by a layer of oak and rusticity. Whilst it had good precision and structure I couldn’t see the elegance or the personality of the wine.

Jorio Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2009
By comparison had oodles of character, achieving an elusive balance between fruit and savoury characters, elegance and expressiveness, fresh and complex characters.

Lumaro Conero Riserva 2007
Suffered from over-maceration and too long in oak, as it looked clumsy, blunt, aggressive and very new-world.

Pelago 2008 (50% montepulciano, 30% cabernet sauvignon, 20% merlot)
Had a similar problem, but at least the Bordeaux varieties are suited to this kind of maceration and oak treatment. Whilst the wine was of good quality it could have come from anywhere.

Fonte del Re Lacrima 2010
Fresh, exuberant, floral and spicy, having approachable full flavoured yet tight focused tannins. This was a wine treated with the respect and care lacking in some of the other red wines.

The modern way to moderate the temperature in the cellar

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April 28, 2012 · 6:12 pm

Are you serious? (Marche, Italy – Day Two)

After six weeks in Italian wine regions I have reached a crossroads, and have developed some interesting theories and anomalies. One of these theories is about what the best wines in Italy are. What these wines should not be is purely statement wines, as this is not France. They should not be designed like something else, they should be themselves and proud of it. They should be made with indigenous grapes, particular to that area as often as possible. The wines don’t necessarily need to be a single variety, but the blend should make sense and express the origin. Some of the best wines I have tasted have had little to no oak treatment, avoiding the temptation to be matured for long periods of time in brand new medium toasted French barriques. I am by no means suggesting that this process is not good; I just feel it is not true to the wines here. The red wines should not be heavily extracted, but ultimately they should be balanced in fruit, alcohol and tannin. The white wines similarly shouldn’t be too rich and complex in malolactic, using oak only when necessary and again achieving balance. The wines should respect the traditions and origins of the variety and area, but utilise technology to merely observe and coax, rather than to intervene and dictate. Most importantly the wine should be approachable but not simple. The best wines are seriously made, but should not be taken too seriously. After all, wine is intended to be enjoyed with people and food, and too much emphasis placed on wines inevitably leads to disappointment and increased prices. Hopefully Italian wine won’t continue to lose its sense of place and personality, as the world needs the wines of Italy to demystify wine, and make it clear that not every wine has to be an ethereal experience. Variety is the spice of life, which drives the winery I visited today.

Porto Nova beach

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April 28, 2012 · 8:40 am

Roses are red, violets are blue (Marche, Italy – Day One)

Coming from Australia and being a wine drinker has its perks but also its disadvantages. As a wine-producing country we make more than enough wine to consumer ourselves. In actual fact, we produce so much that more Australian wine is exported than consumed within the country. Most of the wine is fairly basic approachable wine, a lot of which gets exported and has subsequently led to Australian wine being assumed to be all the same. This is of course not the case, as Australia is an extremely large country with a very wide variety of climates and regions. Thus Australia is quite possibly the most diverse producer of wine in the world, and Australian consumers now have access to an endless number of varieties and styles from over 100 regions. Like many other New World wine producers the vast majority of the wine is made from varieties of French origin, but unlike others we now grow a range of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and even more obscure Eastern European varieties. Because of the accessibility and quality of the wines produced locally, Australia is not a large importer of wine, apart for that from New Zealand. The wines we do import are generally those we can’t produce ourselves, and are of a much higher quality. Thus in the past most of the wine was from the best regions in France, some from Italy and Germany, and less from Spain and Portugal. This has meant that many varieties and regions from around Europe are largely unheard of in Australia that may be better known elsewhere. This leads me to my point that it was necessary for me to actually come to the regions that are unfamiliar, to learn about these varieties and styles, because as the quality of wine improves new wines will become more available around the world.

Newly forming bunches pre-capfall

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