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In 1985, I had
the privilege of having Count Ugo Bonacossi and his
wife at my home for dinner. This was an extraordinary event: not only because
the Count and his wife were there, but also because my wife Michele was on a
business trip, and I had to prepare the meal with a little help from my
friends. Count Ugo is the owner of the Capezzana winery in Toscana, which, in my opinion, makes
the best wine from the Carmignano appellation. For those of you who don't
know Carmignano, it is a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon grown in
the province of Prato, just northwest of Firenze
(Cabernet Franc is also permitted).
That night we drank a number of wines from his estate. The last wine,
however, was a wine that, at the time it was produced, was not called
Carmignano but rather it was called Chianti (editor's note: the Carmignano
appellation lies within the Chianti Montalbano appellation and although it
has been recognized unofficially for centuries, it was not until 1975 that it
acquired DOC status, DOCG in 1991). The Count poured this wine himself and
then proudly announced that this was the first wine that he remembered his
father making.
The year was 1925 (the wine, not the dinner!). That meant that the wine was
60 years old. As we all tasted it, we looked at each other in amazement: the
wine seemed as if it were only 10 or 15 years old. Who says that Sangiovese
can't age? (There was very little Cabernet in the wine, certainly less than
the winemaker uses today.) I have been drinking the Carmignano from Bonacossi
since the early 1980s and it has always been one of my favorite wines because
it never seems to disappoint. A few years ago, after one of our trips to
Vinitaly, we stopped at the winery and they opened some vintages for us from
the 1930s. In all truthfulness, some of them were showing their age and some
of them were not. In 1997 the estate revamped its approach to winemaking and
the winemaker began adding more Cabernet Sauvignon and using new French oak
(barrique). They still make a great wine, however in the modern style.
A few weeks ago, the North American representatives for Capezzana
came into Vino. We tasted some of the wines and I asked them if they had any
older vintages. The rep said, yes, "We have some 1996 Riserva."
This was the last wine labeled "Riserva" and the last wine made in
the old style by the winery. By coincidence, the woman who helped me cook the
dinner the night that Michele was away happened to be in the store with her
husband and we tasted the 1996 Riserva together and we talked about that
dinner long ago. The next week, I invited them over for dinner -- Michele
cooked, of course -- and we opened up a 1985 Carmignano Riserva to
commemorate the 20 years since that dinner. It was drinking perfectly.
At Vino, I was lucky enough to obtain the very last bottles of the 1996
Carmignano Riserva. They told me how many cases that they had and I said,
"We'll take it all." We don't have much and many bottles have been
reserved already (of course, I've taken some home for myself). If you'd like
to buy some, please send an email to my colleague William Leonard-Lee at william@vinosite.com, and he will take
care of your order personally. You can also buy the wine on our site,
www.VinoSiteShop.com. For many reasons, this is a historic vintage of a
historic wine.
In unrelated news, you will not be surprised to find out that I appear in the
current issue of Men's Vogue. They wanted me to pose for the cover,
but unfortunately Hugh Jackman (otherwise known as the "Boy from
Oz") got the gig instead of me (see his picture, right). You can however
look for my interview with Lawrence Osborne (author of The Accidental
Connoisseur: An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World) in the current
issue. He and I tasted a number of grappas together. To read his article,
please click
here.
--Charles Scicolone, Wine Director, I Trulli and Vino
Charles would love to hear from you. Please email him at charles@vinosite.com.
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