This week Vino is celebrating the wines of Alto Adige, in collaboration with the Italian Trade Commission.

Latin and Teutonic culture and language may seem world’s apart, but they co-exist side-by-side in the northern Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige. While Trentino is historically Italian, the northernmost province of Alto Adige (which shares a border with Austria and Switzerland) is officially bilingual, and known as Südtirol to the predominantly German-speaking population.

Many grape varieties thrive in Alto Adige’s Alpine climate, yet the province is so mountainous that only a fraction of the land is available for cultivation. However, consumers are discovering that the challenge of growing vines and a relatively small output has put an emphasis on overall quality. Alto Adige is today responsible for producing some of Italy’s most delightful wines, including fresh summer whites and light, bright reds which are best enjoyed during the summer months.

You can taste five of our favorite wines from Alto Adige this Friday as part of our Monster Tasting:

Köfererhof Kerner Alto Adige Valle Isarco 2008
$30

Castel Sallegg Moscato Giallo 2008
$21

Castel Sallegg Lagrein Rosé 2009
$18

Viticoltori Alto Adige Schiava San Pietro 2009
$15

Castel Sallegg Schiava Bischofsleiten 2009
$20

Monster Tasting
Friday, July 2
5:30-7:30pm

Tasting is free – no reservation required. For more information please contact 212-725-6516 or info@vinosite.com.



Tuscany. Say it. “Tuscany.” I’ve seen grown adults go weak at the knees with the very mention of the word. That’s because nowhere evokes the magic of Italy more than this famed region: its rolling hills, picturesque towns and stunning artistic heritage have captivated for centuries and continue to attract millions of visitors every year. So familiar is Tuscany — and its celebrated wines — that in recent years wine enthusiasts in this country have begun to pass up a Brunello or a Vino Nobile in favor of something new. While we love Tuscany’s classic appellations, we also strongly promote the discovery of Italy’s lesser-known wines. This exclusive tasting class will remind you there is much more to Tuscan wine than the cliché of the straw Chianti flask on a checkered tablecloth. From the famous Sangiovese-based appellations to the law-bending Super Tuscans and an array of top-flight whites, Tuscany is home to some of the world’s finest wines. Taste some of our favorites with Vino’s Jim Hutchinson!

WINES OF TUSCANY
with Jim Hutchinson, DWS
Wednesday, April 21
6:30-8:30pm
$65

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

ON THE A16: NAPLES TO BARI
Wednesday, March 3
6:30-8:30pm
$45

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

Since the 17th century visitors in costume dress have descended upon the Venetian capital for what is today Europe’s most famous and extravagant carnival. This year carnival fever has reached I Trulli, where on February 24 we’ll be hosting an exclusive Venetian dinner celebrating all the magic and mystique of this lavish event.

Chef Patti Jackson’s Venetian menu features some of Venice’s favorite dishes and delicate specialties which capture the exotic essence of this unique city. If you couldn’t make it to Venice this year here’s a chance to don your mask and bask in the masquerade of Carnevale at I Trulli.

And in the spirit of this festive season, Astrid and Nicola Marzovilla will generously match a suggested $20 (per person) donation to Buddha’s Smile School, a not-for-profit school in northern India that teaches and nurtures some of the poorest and most disadvantaged children in the world.

CARNEVALE
Wednesday, February 24
7pm Cocktail Buffet
8pm Dinner
$85 plus tax and gratuity

Book now!

For more information and reservations please visit our website or contact 212-481-7372 or email reservations@itrulli.com. We look forward to seeing you soon at I Trulli!

BUDDHA’S SMILE SCHOOL
Buddha’s Smile School is a non-denominational, not-for-profit school located in Varanasi, India. Its mission is to teach and nurture hope for some of the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged children. Since 2003 Buddha’s Smile School has served children from local slums and villages in north India, delivering primary education with love, care, and motivation. Astrid and Nicola Marzovilla’s son, Domenico, spent time at working with students at the school last year. A suggested $20 (per person) donation to Buddha’s Smile School will be generously matched by the Marzovilla family.

© James Taylor 2010.

Vino’s first free Friday tasting of the New Year features some of our favorite products from Central Italy. In terms of wine production, Umbria, Lazio and Abruzzo are often overlooked by consumers, but these regions offer some of Italy’s most distinctive varieties and winemaking styles. This week’s tasting takes us on a tour of Central Italy: from Grottaferrata (1), just south of Rome, to Civitella d’Agliano (2) in the province of Viterbo, to Foligno (3) in Umbria’s Montefalco zone, to Lanciano (4) near Chieti in Abruzzo.

All of these bottles are no available at 20% off!

Donna Adriana 2007 Castel de Paolis
was $26, now $20.80
Donna Adriana is a freewheeling white from Lazio maverick Fabrizio Santarelli. The native Malvasia is blended with Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc to create an effusively aromatic twist on the Castelli Romani’s typical Frascati. Donna Adriana, named for the wife of the estate’s founder, is vinified and aged in temperature-controlled stainless steel.

Pinot Nero Magone 2004 Sergio Mottura
was $24, now $19.20
Try this single-vineyard, warm-climate Pinot Noir made from 100% organically-grown grapes if you are a pinot fan who loves forward fruit, moderate acidity and great concentration of flavor. Sergio Mottura cultivates 2½ acres of 30-year-old Pinot Noir vines on an east-facing slope near the town of Orvieto in Northern Lazio.

Montefalco Sagrantino Passito 2002 Terre de Trinci (500ml)
was $42, now $33.60
At Vino, we think Sagrantino finds its most successful expression as a passito. By partially drying this aggressively tannic Umbrian variety, the fruit’s natural sugars are concentrated. The residual sugar left behind after fermentation acts as a foil for Sagrantino’s formidable structure and produces a dessert wine that has enough punch to stand up to the rich sweets that Italians love.

Grappa Gran Sasso Villa Santa Maria
was $38, now $30.40
If you’re a fan of old-school grappa, the kind that you can feel when you tip it back, try Gran Sasso. Named for the highest peak in the Apennines, and made in the Apennine foothills of central Abruzzo, Gran Sasso grappa recalls the days before quadruple distillation and hand-blown bottles when a shot of grappa mixed with your espresso got you through your day.

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

If you’ve ever spent any time in Italy, you’ll be familiar with the perfectly time-honored tradition that is aperitivo. That’s when Italians, whether mid-passeggiata or just getting off work, all head to their favorite bar. But more than just a pre-dinner drink, aperitivo is a time of day and a state of mind: no longer afternoon but not quite evening, it represents that delightful moment when the working day is through and another pleasant evening of good food and company awaits.

Italy’s bustling piazze are the ideal place to people-watch and perhaps enjoy a Negroni (gin, Campari, red vermouth), one of the
country’s most popular cocktails.

This uniquely Italian ritual has its origins in Northern Italy, which saw a boom in cordial and liqueur production in the early twentieth century. By the 1920s the fashionable bars of Milan, Turin and Florence would swell each evening with thinkers and drinkers sipping Campari, Punt e Mes and Cinzano. Only in recent years has the modern aperitivo hour taken form; today bars all over Italy offer a delicious selection of free antipasti with their wine or cocktails, making it a popular choice for young and old.

Now you can enjoy aperitivo on East 27th Street! I Trulli’s Enoteca
awaits all New Yorkers seeking a little “dolce vita” this Fall.

The custom of aperitivo may seem deeply connected to the pleasurable lifestyle of Italy, but the hectic pace of Manhattan? At I Trulli, we see no reason why you should miss out on such an elegant practice — after all, even New Yorkers deserve to unwind sometimes. Join us every evening from 5:00-7:00pm for I Trulli’s aperitivo hour: choose from our brand new cocktail and sparkling wine list and enjoy complimentary small plates from Chef Patti Jackson’s kitchen! Salute!

For more information and reservations please contact 212-481-7372 or info@itrulli.com.

I Trulli’s aperitivo launch has already captured the attention of the local press. Just check out some of these recent mentions (click on the logos):

Famed the world over for its use in two of Italy’s most celebrated wines, Barolo and Barbaresco, young Nebbiolo is naturally high in tannins and thus at its best offers a remarkable potential for aging. Yet many forget that the variety actually goes far beyond these highly revered DOCGs, featuring in wines from some of Piedmont’s lesser-known winemaking zones, including Ghemme and Carema in the northern hills of the region. Though most closely associated with Piedmont, Nebbiolo is also cultivated in Lombardy where it’s known as Chiavennasca, and is the predominant variety in Valtellina.

A man who has worked the vines with his bare hands under Piedmont’s baking sun, few people know Nebbiolo like Jim Hutchinson, DWS (below: front row, far right). Join Jim tomorrow evening as as he guides you through this impressive exclusive tasting of some of his favorite expressions of this much-admired and unexpectedly diverse variety. Sign up now!

NEBBIOLO
with Jim Hutchinson, DWS
Wednesday, November 11
6:30-8:30pm
$65

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

Join Nicola Marzovilla for a very special dinner celebrating all the rustic charm of Tuscany, as the I Trulli owner proudly presents Massoferrato, the first wine made from grapes grown on his Tuscan estate!

Marzovilla and his family purchased the property (above) in Impruneta in the Colli Fiorentini, south of Florence, fifteen years ago, with a view to trying their hand at winemaking. Nicola planted seven acres of Sangiovese (below) — the classic Tuscan variety — which in 2008 produced fruit for the very first vintage of Massoferrato. The wine, classified Rosso Toscano IGT, was fermented in stainless steel before spending time in custom-made 20 hectoliter barrels of Slavonian oak.

A wine this special deserves a menu to match, and for this unique occasion Chef Patti Jackson will prepare typically Tuscan dishes including chestnut gnocchi and whole roasted wild boar. Check out Patti’s full menu here!

Italian-born Marzovilla (above, bottling his wine last summer) is already renowned for his wine expertise and devoted attention to I Trulli’s groundbreaking wine program, he also owns Vino Italian Wine and Spirits, New York’s top-rated all-Italian wine store. Now join him as he celebrates his latest exciting wine venture!

Nicola Marzovilla presents MASSOFERRATO
Monday, November 16
7:30pm
$85 plus tax and gratuity

For more information and reservations please contact 212-481-7372 or reservations@itrulli.com.

Heel the world: Puglia has seen a boost in tourism in recent years, leading some travel agents even to dub it the “Tuscany of the South”.

When Nicola Marzovilla opened I Trulli in 1994, his vision was to enable New York diners to experience some of the sights and flavors he’d grown up with in the south of Italy. Particular inspiration came from Nicola’s native Puglia, the slender region which forms the heel of Italy’s boot. Today, with so many of the city’s restaurants claiming to offer “authentic” regional cuisine, I Trulli remains one of the few which can undoubtedly be called the real deal. Nicola’s mother, Dora, can be found at the restaurant each morning rolling her acclaimed fresh pasta, and with Chef Patti Jackson at the helm I Trulli continues to set new standards for “la cucina meridionale”.

Maxicono: I Trulli takes its name from the “trullo”, a traditional construction typical of Puglia, known for its distinctive conical-shaped roof.

Puglia has long been a region of enormous abundance and agricultural wealth, due also to its advantageous geographical position, and a strong Italo-Greek influence still survives today. Drawing heavily from the natural resources of its land, as well as the Adriatic and Ionian seas, Puglia can boast some of Italy’s best variety of fruit, vegetables and seafood, ingredients which are creatively incorporated to delightful effect in many of the region’s recipes. On Saturday, October 17, join Patti and Dora for an exclusive demonstration and lunch, as they prepare some of I Trulli’s most representative dishes inspired by this enchanting and unique region.

Ieri, oggi e domani: Dora Marzovilla yesterday, in her native Puglia, and today, at the pasta station at I Trulli.

DEMO & LUNCH: PUGLIA
with Dora Marzovilla and Chef Patti Jackson
Saturday, October 17
1:30-3:30pm
$75 plus tax and 18% gratuity

Check out Chef Patti Jackson’s exclusive menu!

For further information and reservations please call 212-481-7372 or email info@itrulli.com.

Trullo photograph by Katy Harrison, Puglia, August 2008.
Dora Marzovilla photographs property of Marzovilla/I Trulli.