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Eric Asimov
Features Le Ragose Amarone in "The Pour"
Click here to purchase Amarone (Le Ragose)
2001 Sant'Eugenio (or click on the image, right).
The following is an excerpt from Wine Director Charles Scicolone's
recent "Wine Opinion" about Amarone ("An Amarone Is an Amarone
Is an Amarone..."):
One year at the [Vinitaly wine fair in Verona], we were very pleased with the
wines from Le Ragose, a winery that makes excellent
Amarone and Valpolicella Classico. Unfortunately,
they were being brought into the United States by another company.
After some negotiations, they agreed to make our own private label using
their family name, Galli. All went well and the
wines were on our shelves and selling. Then one day, out of the blue, Nicola
received a letter from an attorney representing the Gallo winery of California. The letter
stated that the name Galli was "too
close" to the name Gallo and, therefore, it stated, that Nicola had to
"cease and desist" selling the wine. Not wanting to endure the
wrath of the great wine company of the west, Nicola decided to contact the Galli family and tell them the problem. They responded by
making a new label and now the wine is called Capitel
Sant'Eugenio. It's named after a lovely small
chapel, devoted to Sant'Eugenio (St. Eugene), which
lies on the Galli family estate.
Even though the wines have gone through three different labels, they are
great wines, having all the characteristics of Amarone and Valpolicella Classico. These are traditional-style aged in large botti, the old oak casks that we at Vino prefer over new
barrique. The botti give you all the big luscious
flavor or Amarone but at the same time you still have the good acidity and a
wine that can go with food. Last year, we drank Capitel
Sant'Eugenio Amarone by the Galli
family for Thanksgiving.
In the immortal words of the great bard Shakespeare, who, although he never
traveled to Italy,
knew it well and loved the country: "an Amarone by any other
name..." But don't tell the Gallo family.
Click here to read Eric Asimov's article in today's New York
Times.
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