Taste three terrific Pinot Noirs from Germany, Italy and the United States this Friday!
PINOT NOIR TASTING
Friday, June 10
5:30-7:30pm
Archive for the ‘wine news’ Category
Pinot Noir Tasting
Monday, June 6th, 2011Save 20% on certified organic Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo
Monday, December 7th, 2009
In an age when people are taking greater interest in where their food comes from and how it is made, it’s increasingly common for wine consumers at Vino to ask questions about about organic and biodynamic winemaking.
At Vino we embrace the movement towards more natural production methods and seek producers who do their best to make as pure a wine as possible. Though there exists myriad bureaucratic regulations and certifications relating to the wine we drink, there are really only three terms you need to identify:
ORGANIC For a wine to be labeled organic, its fruit has to be classified such by the department of agriculture and regulated by the EU. The term organic refers solely to the fruit in the vineyard — whereby a winemaker must abstain from using chemical fertilizers and pesticides — but does not apply to methods carried out in the cellar.
NATURAL Though there is no established certification body for “natural” winemaking, nor does the term have any legal status, in most cases “natural” vines could be certified organic were the winemaker to submit them for certification. These principles of minimizing chemical or technical intervention are also carried through to the entire vinification process.
BIODYNAMIC Rather than a set of legal guidelines, the principles of biodynamic viticulture have root in the ideas of Austrian twentieth-century philosopher Rudolf Steiner, whose theories suggested a method of farming steeped in the understanding of nature and ecology, with a greater reliance on the use of plant and animal products.
This week we’re featuring some of our favorite winemakers which fall under these categories, starting today with the certified organic Cascina Corte! After falling in love with the 18th century cascina (or “farmhouse”), husband-and-wife team Amalia Battaglia, a doctor, and Sandro Barosi, a devoted advocate and veteran of the Slow Food movement, began making wine just eight years ago intending to follow biodynamic principles.
Yet rather than devote all his energies to biodynamic winemaking, Barosi has instead settled on organic viticulture and natural vinification methods to produce the highest quality product. After planting their own organic Barbera and Nebbiolo, Cascina Corte’s older Dolcetto vines were certified ICEA beginning with the 2006 vintage.
Take 20% off all four wines TODAY ONLY!
Dolcetto di Dogliani 2007
was $21, now $16.80
Dolcetto di Dogliani Vigna Pirochetta 2006
was $25, now $20
Piemonte Barbera 2007
was $28, now $22.40
Gold Medal-Winner, Biodivino 2009
Langhe Nebbiolo 2006
was $32, now $25.60
Remember, this offer is valid TODAY ONLY, while stocks last!
Check out 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!
Massoferrato success!
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Nicola Marzovilla debuts his very first wine at I Trulli
Nicola Marzovilla wishes to thank personally all those who attended Monday’s Massoferrato dinner. The exclusive event saw the I Trulli owner unveil his very first wine to a group of excited guests, who had gathered to taste the wine and celebrate this very special occasion. The 100% Sangiovese wine, made from grapes grown on Marzovilla’s Tuscan estate in Impruneta, was a unanimous hit, especially paired with the rustic flavors of Chef Patti Jackson’s whole roasted wild boar.
It seemed everyone wanted their picture taken with the wild boar: Nicola and his sister Domenica celebrate the launch of Massoferrato.
Massoferrato is currently on the wine list at I Trulli, and available for retail purchase at our store, Vino, located directly opposite the restaurant!
Call 212-725-6516 or email contact@vinosite.com for more information.
Wild Boar & Sangiovese
Saturday, November 7th, 2009Nicola Marzovilla presents “Massoferrato”, Monday, November 16
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.
Vinitaly: The World We Love
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009The 43rd edition of the international wine event returns to Verona, April 2-9
Vinitaly is back! After a successful tour of Asia and the US in 2008, the wine fair returns to Verona this spring. From April 2-9, 2009, the Italian and international wine world will descend upon Veronafiere, the 89,630 square meter exhibition space which for last year’s event squeezed in 4,215 exhibitors, 157,177 visitors and 2,054 journalists. This year’s event is Vinitaly’s 43rd edition, unapologetically subtitled “Il Mondo che Amiamo” or “The World We Love” (whether the world in question is Vinitaly or wine itself is open to interpretation).
The Vinitaly experience can be in equal parts rewarding and exhausting. Just one of the countless tasting sessions which took place at last year's event.
Naturally, Vino will be sending its team of experts into the depths of Vinitaly, on a mission to seek out the latest and greatest wine developments from Italy. Check back here for a post-Vinitaly report!
Vinitaly in New York
Thursday, October 30th, 2008
The tasting event was held in the elegant Celeste Bartos Forum at the New York Public Library.
Yesterday I attended the New York leg of Vinitaly’s U.S. tour, held at the New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. The event, held in the library’s elegant Celeste Bartos Forum, featured the wines of over 30 different producers, importers and distributors from all over Italy. The tour stopped in Miami, Palm Beach and Russia earlier this year before the traditional event in Verona last April. Vinitaly returned to the U.S. this fall, where in addition to New York, events were also held in Chicago and Washington, D.C. The tour’s next stop is Asia, with dates planned for Beijing, Shanghai and Macao, before heading to Brazil for the first time in 2009.
Brunello: the nightmare is over
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008Siena magistrates let Banfi off the hook
La Repubblica, 10/21/08.
As reported in today’s La Repubblica, the Siena Brunello hearings came to a close today. Though extensively reported on by our friends at VinoWire, Do Bianchi and The Pour, Vino has shied away from being drawn into the debate, preferring instead to watch with some amusement as Italy’s winemakers and wine-governing bodies go at it on live television. Today’s verdict sees Banfi cleared of any wrong-doing. The judge stated that the 2003 vintage conforms to Brunello law. Winery owner Cristina Mariani-May commented thus: “With the definitive “liberation” of our Brunello we can finally return to dedicate ourselves, with renewed passion and dedication, to the tireless search for excellence which has made us famous and appreciated throughout the world. Or, in the words of Nicola Marzovilla, “Finally we can now all sleep at night.”
Vinitaly US Tour 2008
Sunday, October 19th, 2008Italy’s biggest wine trade fair arrives in the US
Vinitaly arrives in the Unites States this October.
The sixth edition of the Vinitaly US Tour begins this month in Chicago, before heading east to two new important stops: Washington D.C. and New York, both fast-expanding markets for Italian wine.
Wine consumption in the United States continues to grow rapidly: Americans bought 745 million gallons of wine last year — 4 percent more than in 2006 and 44 percent more than in 1997, according to the Wine Institute, a California-based trade association. 2007 was also record year for Italian wine sold in the US market: 2.3 million hectolitres were exported into this country at a total value of $1.13 billion.
Despite these impressive figures, and Italy’s standing as the U.S.’s number one wine provider, the potential for further development is still huge. According to a study conducted by International Wine and Spirit Record, US wine consumption will increase by 19% between 2005 and 2010. As a consequence, within the next two years Americans will become the number one wine consumers in the world, and the most important market in terms of sales.
The New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue was designed by architects Carèrre and Hastings and is regarded as the apogée of Beaux-Arts design. It was the largest marble structure ever attempted in the US at the time of its completion in 1911.
Italy’s most important annual wine trade fair, Vinitaly takes place each year in Verona, and has toured the US since 2003. Open to wine professionals, this year’s event is held at the New York Public Library on October 29. The program includes themed seminars and tastings in which over 500 buyers, importers, distributors, restaurateurs and journalists are expected to attend.
Vinitaly New York
October 29
The New York Public Library
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street
New York, NY 10018
Program:
11:00am: Seminars and guided wine tastings for trade professionals and media:
—Italian wines: in support of typical regional cuisines in US restaurants
—Brachetto tasting in collaboration with Consorzio Tutela Vini d’Acqui, Brachetto d’Acqui
2:00-6:00pm: Walk-around wine tasting reserved for trade professionals and media (Celeste Bartos Forum)
Wine professionals may click here to register.
Brunello di Montalcino class
Friday, September 12th, 2008Vino’s Italian Wine classes continue on September 24
Brunello is unique among Italian appellations in that nearly all of its producers are members of the Brunello Consortium.
Vino’s Italian wine classes are back for Fall! This Autumn we are offering more wine and food classes than ever before, each focussing on a fascinating aspect of Italian wine and wine-making culture. Our first class of the new term, Italian Wine 101 on September 17, is almost sold out, but classes continue the following week with Brunello di Montalcino!
The town of Montalcino (not to mention the world's wine commmunity) was rocked by allegations of fraud earlier this year.
In recent years, Brunello di Montalcino has become one of Italy’s hottest and most talked-about appellations. In the 1960s, there were literally a handful of producers of Brunello. Today, they number in the hundreds. The growth can be attributed in part to the attention the appellation has received from the American wine press. Brunello lore has grown also thanks to a string of excellent and historic vintages in the 1990s as well as fantastic harvests like the 2000 and 2001.
Brunello class participants will taste wines in the expert company of Jim Hutchinson, DWS. Light food will also be served.
Vino’s resident Brunello authority Jim Hutchinson, DWS, leads a tasting of ten wines from Montalcino and sheds light on the recent Brunello scandal involving some of its most famous producers.
Jim Hutchinson, DWS
Brunello di Montalcino
with Jim Hutchinson, DWS
$95
Wednesday, September 24
6:30-8:30pm
Vino
121 East 27th Street
New York, NY 10016
For further information call 212-725-6516 or email register@vinosite.com.
Origins of mosaic labels revealed
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
The "Mona Lisa of the Galilei" dates back to the 3rd century, and can be found in the ancient Israeli town once known as Sepphoris.
They say never judge a book by its cover, but how much importance should we place on the design of a wine’s label?
At Vino’s recent Luca Ferraris tasting, the young piemontese producer’s Barbera d’Asti caught one Vino customer’s eye. She immediately noticed a resemblance between the Barbera d’Asti label and an ancient mosaic image, a reproduction of which she claimed to have in her home. A few days later, following further investigation, she revealed to me the precise origins of the image on Ferraris’ wine’s bottle.
The image in question comes from a mosaic dating back to the third century, which can still be found within the ruins of a Roman villa in the Assyrian town of Sepphoris (now Tzippori, a moshav in northern Israel) just six kilometers north of Nazareth. Built in 200 but destroyed in 363, the villa contains some of Israel’s most famous mosaics. Though possibly meant to represent Venus, researchers have since dubbed the centrepiece of the mosaic floor “Mona Lisa of the Gallilei“, for which smaller mosaic pieces, called tesserae, were used to allow for greater detail and a more life-like result.
Clearly, Luca Ferraris’ team of label designers have used the latest techniques to subtly alter the image, touching up missing mosaic pieces and positioning a wreath of grapevines within the woman’s hair. I will contact Luca in the next few weeks to find out his take on this fascinating story, and perhaps discover the origins of his other labels…
The label for Luca Ferraris' Barbera d'Asti clearly takes its inspiration from the ancient mosaic.