Portland Wine

A Blog for Clients, Customers, and Wine Geeks everywhere.

      Things slow down a bit here in these wonderful summer months. The warm weather is here (finally!) or a welcome relief from the heat wave depending on what part of the country you call home, and our minds wander. Sure, we still taste through lots of wines for the club and website, but food is on our minds. Dining with a bunch of friends in the late afternoon shade is one of summer’s true pleasures. The go-to food and wine: Italian. The pleasant, food-friendly acidity and backbone really help these wines shine at the table. So, short of a trip to the Italian countryside, try this month’s wines alfresco with a heavy dose of Italian home cooking.
       Both wines this month come from northern Italy. The first is an Italian classic, Valpolicella. This region is known for its light and fruity table wine; however, over the centuries different styles have evolved that have allowed this wine to become richer, with more intensity in both color and flavor. One such technique used to achieve this result is the ripasso method, which literally means “re-passed.” Musella takes 20% of the grapes that constitute this blend to make a basic Valpolicella, while another 20% comes from Corvina grapes that are left out to sun-dry for four weeks. The remaining 60% of the grapes are refermented on the unpressed skins of Amarone style grapes (another technique, in which all grapes are laid to dry for 120 days in the sun, leaving them raisin-y, with potentially high alcohol and intense richness). The combination of these techniques creates a wine with greater depth, complexity, and a marked fleshiness. Confused? Try the wine—it will all make sense after you finish the bottle (in fact, everything will)!
       Our second wine is an Italian white. There’s just something so refreshing and alive about these wines. The vibrant freshness, the crisp acidity, the lively fruit and prominent aromatics always allow us to spot them in blind tastings. This month’s selection is no exception. Even though the varietal is atypical, the style is typically Italian and abundant with all of these charming characteristics. The Mercandelli family has been making wine at the Cabanon estate since 1909. Patriarch Giovanni Mercandelli died in 2003, but his inspiration and passion continue in his daughter, Elena, who worked alongside her father starting when she was 14 years old. She certainly has paid her dues, studying enology at the prestigious schools of Trentino and the University of Bordeaux. She was not only one of Italy’s first female winemakers but also the country’s youngest winemaker. Fattoria Cabanon covers just 40 acres, located where Lombardy nudges up against Piedmont. It is an environment that creates perfect conditions for grape growing, enabling the estate to produce wines using the means provided by nature, not by man. Never have chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides been used to cultivate the soil. Says a spokesperson for the estate, “We have our own ways of controlling pests as well as mustering beneficial spiders, insects and organisms to help us in our work. This is how vines were grown thousands of years ago, and it is how we will always cultivate them.” The estate is totally organic and certified.

Musella
Valpolicella Superiore
Red Blend
Region: Valpolicella, Verona, Italy
Vintage: 2005

This northeastern Italian red from the Veneto is bright with ripe, dark cherry and other berry notes. The body is medium with a palate of underlying spice, leather, and earthiness. Tannins are moderate and acid is prevalent, making this an easy match with food.

Cabanon
Opera Primi
Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Provincia di Pavia, Lombardy, Italy
Vintage: 2010

This Italian white comes from the northern region of Lombardy, where chalky soils contribute to the clean mineral notes in this dry, stainless steel–fermented Sauvignon Blanc. Intensely aromatic with citrus and grassy herbaceous notes, it makes for a refreshing summertime classic.