AVAILABLE NOW:
Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2008
$98
Valentini Cerasuolo Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2008
$90
Edoardo Valentini (left) produced wine for sale from the 1956 vintage until his death at age 72 in 2006. During that half-century he became widely regarded as Abruzzo’s greatest winemaker. His renown among fans of fine Italian wines grew as bottles of his Montepulciano, Cerasuolo and Trebbiano found their way onto tables and into tastings all over the world. His unique approach to handling vines that were thought inferior by many in the wine community combined with his eccentric personality caused his legend to grow but it was the excellence in bottle that really solidified his reputation as one of Italy’s great craftsmen of natural wines.

Valentini gave up a career in law to return with his family to their ancestral home in the village of Loreto Aprutino, about a half hour inland from Pescara. He tended about 170 acres of vines spread across several vineyard sites as well as hundreds of acres planted to fruit trees and olives. While farming made up a good part of his living, life in a rural village also allowed him to count agriculture and winemaking among his intellectual pursuits. He was famously reluctant to advise visitors on his techniques in the cellar but we do know through the consistent quality of his wines across the decades that whatever those methods were he practiced them with discipline and expected excellence in quality and style.

Valentini became notorious for his shunning of the media and disregard for wine marketing. Consequently, what little information we can glean about the man and his wines only serves to enhance the mystique surrounding both. The following excerpts are among the most detailed we’ve found describing the way Edoardo Valentini made his wine:

From Italy’s Noble Red Wines 2^nd ed. Sheldon Wasserman and Pauline Wasserman, 1991

His first selection is in the vineyards. If it is a rainy, but not too rainy year, he selects the fruit from the vineyards with a southern exposure; in drier years he chooses grapes from vines facing more northerly. He selects the part of the vineyard least affected by the weather and then selects the best bunches. The rest of the grapes are sold. In the years when he produces wine to bottle, about five percent of his best grapes are turned into wine, the rest of the fruit is sold. At most he makes 50,000 bottles of wine a year; no more than 35,000 of Trebbiano and 15,000 combined of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Cerasuolo and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Rosso. Generally he produces much less. Average production, in the years that he produces, is more like 5,500 bottles of red and 22,000 of white.

He selects from the wine he produces the best to bottle and rejects the rest, usually most of the production. Would that more producers had his integrity.

From Brunello to Zibibbo. Nicolas Belfrage, 2001

I have already indicated that one producer towers above the rest in terms of quality – this being Edoardo Valentini of Loreto Aprutino. Valentini is one of those geniuses who can be quite impossible as a person, though most forgive him because his wines are so wonderful. I once spent a good half-hour persuading him to sell a few cases of his Montepulciano d’Abruzzo to a client of mine, to which he finally agreed, adding: And how many cases does he want of the Trebbiano? None I replied – he’s only interested in the red. WHAAAAT!!! – he screamed. I have two sons, he ranted, and I cannot accept ‘yes’ for one and ‘no’ for the other. The dispute raged for some time, with his human son and heir trying to pacify him, alas to no avail. I never got the wine. Pity – it was fantastic.

Actually Valentini has three ’sons’ (vinous ones), because he makes a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Cerasuolo as well as the Rosso and the excellent Trebbiano which my friend didn’t want, although it sometimes attracts higher praise than the red. His methods are quite idiosyncratic, as you would expect. The root of all quality is the vineyard. From his approximately 70 hectares of grapes he selects a tiny percentage for making into wine, selling the rest of the grapes to the nearby cantina sociale at Rosciano. Insisting that there is no rule as to which particular part of the property this year’s grapes should come from, he treats them all during the growing season with the care of a perfectionist, determining only at vintage time what is what, and this only after several passes. This cream is then pressed in old-fashioned presses and fermented in old-fashioned glass-lined concrete vats, ageing taking place in old-fashioned Slavonian-oak botti with, at all stages, minimal intervention. In other words, Valentini is of the school that believes great grapes will make great wine almost by themselves, you don’t have to do anything except make sure nothing goes wrong.

Since Edoardo Valentini’s passing his son Francesco Paolo has carried on the production of the family’s much-admired line of Abruzzese wines with fidelity and rigor. It is evident in tasting that the Valentini legacy remains strong and will be well tended.

Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2008
$98
Valentini Cerasuolo Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2008
$90

For more information please contact 212-725-6516 or info@vinosite.com.

TASTINGS

Aside from being a delightful way to start the evening, Vino’s free tastings are a great opportunity to discover new wines and spirits! Join us for Cocktail Hour every Thursday and Wine Tastings every Friday, from 5:30-7:30pm.

Thursday, August 26
DARK AND STORMY TASTING
Rum and ginger beer make good cheer!

Friday, August 27
WINEBOW TASTING
Winebow’s Giuseppe Monastra pours three reds: Chasing Lions from Napa Valley, Clos la Coutale from Cahors, and Chateau Montfaucon from the Rhone.

Thurday, September 2
OLD FASHIONED TASTING
There’s nothing antiquated about this Bourbon-based beauty. It’ll be delicious. We promise to even put a cherry on top.

Friday, September 3
MAMMOTH TASTING
This tasting is going to be so big and so good, it’s practically prehistoric.

Thursday, September 9
GIBSON TASTING
In which Vino peels away another layer of the cocktail mystique onion.

Friday, September 10
T. EDWARD TASTING
Megan Flinn will dazzle you with wines from around the globe. From Fino Sherry to racy Riesling and a perfect Pinot Noir, you’ll be sure to find a new favorite.

Free cocktail tastings are every Thursday from 5:30-7:30pm.

Free wine tastings are every Friday from 5:30-7:30pm.

For more information call 212-725-6516 or email contact@vinosite.com

Vino has officially gone global! Last night’s first installment of our back-to-back Grand Tastings proved a massive success! But if you couldn’t make it yesterday, be sure to join us again from 5:30pm this afternoon for part two of our double-header! It’s gonna be a really Good Friday…

Tonight more representatives from our top distributors will be pouring more great wines for your quaffing pleasure, reflecting our ever-expanding international selection. Don’t miss it!

VINO GOES GLOBAL:
GRAND TASTING
Friday, April 2
5:30-7:30pm
FREE

For more information please call 212-725-6516 or email contact@vinosite.com.

For more information call 212-725-6516, email contact@vinosite.com or check out our Twitter page now!

Vino’s Winter wine classes continue next Wednesday with a very special edition of Wines of Tuscany, presented in association with Vino 2010, and featuring honored guest representatives from two of our favorite Tuscan wineries: Giovanni Busi of Travignoli and Fabrizio Benedetti of Casa Emma.

Perhaps no region evokes the magic of Italy more than Tuscany: its rolling hills, picturesque towns and stunning artistic heritage have attracted visitors for centuries. So familiar is the region, that many wine enthusiasts are often lulled into feeling they know all their is to know about Tuscany’s equally popular and world famous wines. But as this exclusive tasting class will demonstrate, there’s much more to Tuscan wine than a straw flask on a checkered tablecloth.

Now you have a rare opportunity to learn more about the finer details of Tuscan wine production, directly from those who know it best. The Travignoli estate in Chianti Rufina has been in the Busi family since the 17th century. Current owner Giovanni Busi (right), himself a former president of the Chianti Rufina consortium, will reveal some of the secrets which go into producing a world class wine.

One of the top producers of Chianti Classico, Casa Emma is also a leader in wine marketing and international relations. Fabrizio Benedetti (left) oversees the business aspect of the winery, and will explain the steps Casa Emma has taken to adapt to an ever-expanding market.

Taste wines from both producers and more in what promises to be a very special occasion at Vino!

WINES OF TUSCANY
Wednesday, February 3
6:30-8:30pm
$65

For more information and reservations please call 212-725-6516 or email register@vinosite.com.

Organized by the Italian Trade Commission, Vino 2010 Italian Wine Week is the biggest Italian wine convention ever held outside of Italy, featuring events, panels and tastings throughout the city from February 2-6.

Spaces still available for Wednesday’s class!

Vino’s Winter wine classes continue on Wednesday with an exciting new addition to our schedule, Wines of Puglia, presented in association with Vino 2010.

When talk turns to Italian wine, Puglia is unlikely to be the first region on most Americans’ lips, but the country’s southern tip (Puglia forms the heel of Italy’s boot) once surpassed Sicily and Veneto in terms of wine production. Today output is still prolific in the region, where an abundance of local grape varieties — including the white Verdeca and Bombino and red Primitivo and Negroamaro — provide fruit for such popular and diverse appellations as Castel del Monte, Nardò, Squinzano and Salice Salentino. Get to know these wines for yourself at our first ever Puglia-themed class!

WINES OF PUGLIA
Wednesday, January 27
6:30-8:30pm
$25

For more information please call 212-725-6516 or email register@vinosite.com.

Organized by the Italian Trade Commission, Vino 2010 Italian Wine Week is the biggest Italian wine convention ever held outside of Italy, featuring events, panels and tastings throughout the city from February 2-6.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPR5oeTeFwg]

Vino’s December sale continues, this week featuring some of our favorite “natural” winemakers. Today we feature the wines of legendary Abruzzo producer Valentini, which will be available to taste from 5:30pm!

Widely regarded as Abruzzo’s greatest winemaker, Edoardo Valentini (left) produced wine for sale from the 1956 vintage until his death in 2006 at age 72. During that half-century his renown among fans of fine Italian wines grew as bottles of his Montepulciano, Cerasuolo and Trebbiano found their way onto tables and into tastings all over the world. His unique approach to handling vines that were thought inferior by many in the wine community combined with his eccentric personality caused his legend to grow but it was the excellence in bottle that really solidified his reputation as one of Italy’s great craftsmen of natural wines.

Giving up a career in law, Valentini returned with his family to their ancestral home in the village of Loreto Aprutino, about a half hour inland from Pescara. He tended about 170 acres of vines spread across several vineyard sites as well as hundreds of acres planted to fruit trees and olives. While farming made up a good part of his living, life in a rural village also allowed him to count agriculture and winemaking among his intellectual pursuits. He was famously reluctant to advise visitors on his techniques in the cellar but we do know through the consistent quality of his wines across the decades that whatever those methods were he practiced them with discipline and expected excellence in quality and style.

Valentini became notorious for his shunning of the media and disregard for wine marketing. Consequently, what little information we can glean about the man and his wines only serves to enhance the mystique surrounding both. The above images are the work of Keiko Katagiri, a Japanese photographer and friend of the Valentini family, to whom Edoardo gave exclusive access to him and his home in Loreto Aprutino. Since Edoardo Valentini’s passing his son Francesco Paolo (above, with Edoardo) has carried on the production of the family’s much-admired line of Abruzzese wines with fidelity and rigor. It is evident in tasting that the Valentini legacy remains strong and will be well tended.

From 5:30pm today you can taste Valentini’s extraordinary Trebbiano and Cerasuolo wines and save 20%! Remember, this offer is valid TODAY ONLY, while stocks last!

Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2005
was $105, now $84

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Cerasuolo 2007
was $100, now $80

Visit our website for a full list of December’s featured producers and tastings*. Look for your favorite producers and be sure to plan ahead: 20% sales are for one day only! As usual, we’ll be hosting our free tastings every Friday from 5:30pm, continuing today with Valentini!

Please call 212-725-6516 or email contact@vinosite.com for further details.

Vino’s December sale continues, this week featuring some of our favorite “natural” winemakers. Today: Lazio’s Castel de Paolis.

Though Lazio may not be as revered in winemaking terms as Tuscany, Piedmont or Veneto, wines from the region’s Frascati DOC have long been legend in Rome, and are still favorites among visitors to the Eternal City. Now, a handful of producers in Lazio are reshaping the image of wines from the Castelli Romani, producing bottles to perhaps rival those from Italy’s more celebrated winemaking regions.

Among these producers is Castel de Paolis, whose estate is located 270 meters above sea level in the hills of Grottaferrata, just south of Rome. The vineyards have been in the Santarelli family since the 1960s, although it wasn’t until 1985, when Giulio Santarelli met Attilio Scienza, a professor at Milan University and director of the prestigious Agricultural Institute of San Michele all’Adige, that the modern Castel de Paolis winery began to evolve.

Following close inspection of Santarelli’s hilly, volcanic terrain, Scienza suggested a complete overhaul of its 13 hectares. Underperforming vines were uprooted and replaced with rare, out-of-favor local grapes, including Malvasia Puntinata del Lazio, Bombino Bianco, Cacchione, Bellone, Passerina, Pecorino, Grechetto and Romanesca. After these varieties gave positive results, Santarelli extended the experiment to include successful international varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier, Sémillon, Pink Muscat, Golden Muscat, Roussanne, Merlot and Petit Verdot.

Equipped with the most advanced winemaking technology, Castel de Paolis was certified organic in 1992. Though the winery gave up this certification in 2007 due to bureaucratic issues, current owner Fabrizio Santarelli (Giulio’s son) still operates under the strictest organic principles. In addition to producing delicious wines under the Castel de Paolis label, Fabrizio (discussing his wines below during a visit to I Trulli in 2008) also acts as president of Le Vigne del Lazio, a consortium of the region’s winemakers. Having already reimagined his own winery, with this new position comes the task of reshaping the winemaking image of the entire region of Lazio, and promoting wines its wines to an international market.

Today you can save 20% on Castel de Paolis’ famed white and red blends, plus two dessert wines: the Moscato Rosa Rosathea and Muffa Nobile, made from Sauvignon Blanc.

Campo Vecchio Bianco 2007
was $20, now $16

Frascati Superiore 2007
was $22, now $17.60

Donna Adriana 2007
was $26, now $20.80

Campo Vecchio Rosso 2005
was $22, now $17.60

I Quattro Mori 2004
was $42, now $33.60

Rosathea 2007
was $32, now $25.60

Muffa Nobile 2007
was $42, now $33.60

Remember, this offer is valid TODAY ONLY, while stocks last!

Visit our website for a full list of December’s featured producers and tastings*. Look for your favorite producers and be sure to plan ahead: 20% sales are for one day only! As usual, we’ll be hosting our free tastings every Friday from 5:30pm, continuing this week with some of our favorite “natural” wines!

Vino’s December sale continues, this week featuring some of our favorite “natural” winemakers.

Sicily provides ERA with two classic Southern varieties — Inzolia (above left) and Nero d’Avola (above right) — cultivated in vineyards located near Trapani at the western tip of the island. In accordance with the rules set by the organic body, ERA bans all pesticides and chemical substances from the vineyards, instead using only natural fertilizers. All vineyard work such as planting, pruning and picking is done by hand.

ERA’s Piedmont-based team is led by enologist Federico Riolfo, whose practices in the winery, from vinification, to storage and bottling, are also certified. Riolfo’s clear winemaking philosophy extends to his use of only natural yeasts. All of ERA’s wines are made entirely in temperature-controlled stainless steel, resulting in wines which are as pure as the process of making them.

Inzolia 2008 ERA
was $13, now $10.40
Inzolia (also known as Ansonica, ‘Nzolia, and Insolia) is one of Sicily’s great and highly versatile white grapes. While it is often used as a blending grape (with varieties like Grillo and Catarratto), the ERA winery produces it as a mono-varietal (single-grape) in a traditional style. Fresh in the mouth, with delicate fruit flavors and balanced acidity, Inzolia is one of Vino’s best-selling white wines.

Nero d’Avola 2008 ERA
was $13, now $10.40
Nero d’Avola has been cultivated in southern Italy since the sixteenth century when it was commonly referred to as Calabrese (from its popularity in the region of Calabria). In the early nineteenth-century, winemakers in the township of Avola (Siracusa) were so successful with their plantings of the grape that it took on the name Nero d’Avola, or the “Black from Avola” (in Italy red wine is often described as “black”). One of the most popular Italian varieties among wine consumers in the U.S., Nero d’Avola packs all the heat and passion of Sicily into every bottle.

Remember, this offer is valid TODAY ONLY, while stocks last!

Visit our website for a full list of December’s featured producers and tastings*. Look for your favorite producers and be sure to plan ahead: 20% sales are for one day only! As usual, we’ll be hosting our free tastings every Friday from 5:30pm, continuing this week with some of our favorite “natural” wines!

For more information call 212-725-6516 or email contact@vinosite.com.

Vino’s December sale continues, this week featuring some of our favorite “natural” winemakers!

But this 21st century Renaissance man is also a highly conscientious producer. Each wine Gualandi produces is the result of his own toil and hard work, and he conducts every step of the winemaking process with his own hand. Grapes are hand-picked (using a traditional type of basket known as a bigonce) then pressed by hand and foot. The grapes are fermented in open-topped oak vats, and aged in barriques. Guido is a great believer in batonnage and stirs the wines every other day during the first months of aging. The entire production process from harvest to bottle is represented by diagrams on his wines’ labels.

A devoted non-interventionist winemaker, Guido’s vines were certified organic by Italian body ICEA in 2008. He insists on keeping his product free of all herbicides or pesticides. “I especially avoid correcting the taste of the wine in the cellar,” he says. This philosophy is part of Guido’s commitment to maintaining the same production techniques traditionally employed by winemakers in Tuscany. “Modern technology is practically banned from inside the winery,” he explained to us. “The materials I use are the same as those of fifty or even a hundred years ago.” For a man of such creative output, it’s perhaps no surprise Gualandi refers to his methods as “the art of making wine.”

Today you can take 20% off four of Guido’s unique wines. In addition to the popular Sangiovese-based wines, we’re also featuring the rare Foglia Tonda. Though its origins are to this day uncertain, Foglia Tonda (literally “round leaf”) is said to have been cultivated in the 19th century by Barone Bettino Ricàsoli, the Tuscan statesman widely believed to have invented the modern recipe for Chianti. Long since abandoned by most commercial wineries, today the variety is virtually non-existent. Guido is one of just a small handful of producers working with the grape: his Foglia Tonda also contains 5% Colorino, and is aged for 12 months in barriques.

Chianti Colli Fiorentini Montebetti 2007
was $23, now $18.40

Sangiovese Gualandus 2006
was $50, now $40

Sangiovese Gualandus 2005
was $50, now $40

Foglia Tonda 2007
was $75, now $60

Remember, this offer is valid TODAY ONLY, while stocks last!

Visit our website for a full list of December’s featured producers and tastings*. Look for your favorite producers and be sure to plan ahead: 20% sales are for one day only! As usual, we’ll be hosting our free tastings every Friday from 5:30pm, continuing this week with some of our favorite “natural” wines!

Please call 212-725-6516 or email contact@vinosite.com for more details.