So, like, what is this stuff, anyway?
I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes with you via twitter (limited to 140 characters). They are meant to be quirky, fun, and easily-digestible reviews of currently available wines. Below is a wrap-up of those twitter wine reviews from the past week (click here for the skinny on how to read them), along with links to help you find these wines, so that you can try them for yourself. Cheers!

• 09 La Molara Taurasi Riserva Santa Vara (Campania): Combining power and grace in ways not easily found in the Southern Mediterranean $45 A- >>find this wine<<
• 08 Di Meo Taurasi Vigna Olmo Riserva (Campania): If you dig black licorice and wood, you are gonna feel like you're in heaven. $NA A- >>find this wine<<
• 15 Ocone Vigna del Monaco Falanghina del Taburno (Campania): Taught, slender beauty, wound up tight with elegant sage dressings. $NA A- >>find this wine<<
• 12 Fontanavecchia Taburno (Falanghina del Sannio): An oddball, to be sure, but one that's thoroughly endearing & entertaining. $20 B+ >>find this wine<<
• 11 Feudi di San Gregorio Serpico Rosso Irpinia (Campania): You know what they say, if you love a man's garden, you gotta love the man $45 A- >>find this wine<<
• 11 Feudi di San Gregorio Piano di Montevergine Riserva (Taurasi): Nothing shy, timid, weak, or under-performing to be found here. $65 A- >>find this wine<<
• 15 Feudi di San Gregorio Campanaro Bianco Irpinia (Campania): Offering ample salinity to wash down all of that acerbic, toasty bite. $15 B+ >>find this wine<<
• 15 Feudi di San Gregorio Cutizzi (Greco di Tufo): You might swoon to the headiness, but its vivacity & balance will set you upright. $36 B+ >>find this wine<<
• 15 Feudi di San Gregorio Pietracalda (Fiano di Avellino): We do like our bargains delicious, mineral, & potentially quite long-lived. $31 A- >>find this wine<<
• 08 Bodegas Riojanas Vina Albina Reserva (Rioja): Still a smooth character, polished, fresh, fancy, flamboyant, and well-groomed $35 B+ >>find this wine<<

You wouldn’t necessarily know it when meeting him, but Nicola Trabucco‘s childhood nicknames (which in turn provide the fantasy names for two of his eponymous winery’s releases) included “bug up the ass” and “active.”

Maybe the former consulting agronomist/enologist (and, it could be argued, aging Michael Keaton doppelganger) has mellowed with age? That would be fitting, considering how his flagship Aglianico performs after several years of bottle rest. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; context first, right?

Nicola Trabucco

Trabucco spent over ten years as a consultant to wineries in Campania’s Falernum region, helping some of his clients achieve high scores from the traditional wine rags, and bringing additional attention (some of it unwanted, apparently) to the Monte Massico area, and a small explosion of sorts in the number of wineries producing and labeling Falerno. In 2003, he opened his own winery in a former Carinola stable, with vineyards seated not far from the coast, among the cherry trees dotted at various elevations on Massico.

By his own account, Trabucco can thank the past for much of his success. Aside from the high Parker scores that helped ensconce his consulting gig, the name Falerno itself is a favorite of history buffs, being derived from the famous falernian wine of ancient Rome. As Trabucco puts it, “Falerno today has little to do with the drink of antiquity.” For starters, that wine, though made from Aglianico, was probably white. But, like modern Campania reds, it was powerful; as Pliny the Elder put it, falernian vino was “the only wine that takes light when a flame is applied to it.” [ Editor’s note: I’ll bet that they were sober when they performed that experiment, too. ]

It’s how Aglianco fares over time, however, that constitutes its modern reputation; to wit, here’s a little trip down Trabucco’s corsia di memoria del vino rosso…

Read the rest of this stuff »

Boston wine industry peeps!

I’ll be joining forces with IVBAM and Please the Palate for a trade event focusing on the wines of Madeira on Tuesday, June 6, 2017, at Committee Boston.

I’m not sure how much ass my presentation will kick, but I can assure you that much ass will indeed be kicked by the wine selections…

Qualified wine biz types can can register for the event at https://madeirawineboston.eventbrite.com/.

Here are more details. Hope to see you there!

IVBAM, Madeira Wine, Embroidery and Handicraft Institute and the Madeira Wine Producers invite you to enjoy the wine that celebrated the independence of the United States of American in 1776.

Madeira Wine Master Class Seminar – 11:00am – 12:30pm

Presenter: Joe Roberts of 1WineDude

Walk Around Tasting featuring more than 30 Madeira Wines – 12:30pm – 3:30pm

Producers include:

Blandy’s Madeira Wine Company, CAF-Madeira Vintners, Henriques & Henriques, Justino’s Madeira Wines, Pereira D’Oliveira, Vinhos Barbeito

Join us for this exclusive tasting open to qualified wine trade and media only.

Cheers!

So, like, what is this stuff, anyway?
I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes with you via twitter (limited to 140 characters). They are meant to be quirky, fun, and easily-digestible reviews of currently available wines. Below is a wrap-up of those twitter wine reviews from the past week (click here for the skinny on how to read them), along with links to help you find these wines, so that you can try them for yourself. Cheers!

• 13 Vinaria din Vale Feteasca (Moldova): What a treat! Tropical, honeyed, floral, and starting to get a little nutty… in a good way. $13 B+ >>find this wine<<
• 15 Cantina del Barone Particella 928 (Fiano di Avellino): The edges are a bit too fuzzy, but the overall view is exotic and fun. $NA B+ >>find this wine<<
• 13 Ciro Picariello Ciro 906 Fiano di Avellino (Campania): Long, and totally legit; unrefined honey poured over apples on slate. $30 A- >>find this wine<<
• 14 Rocca del Principe Tognano Riserva Fiano di Avellino (Campania): Baked golden apples, with the skins; also, honey & awesomeness. $NA A- >>find this wine<<
• 15 Rocca del Principe Fiano di Avellino (Campania): Pithy, precise, piquant, particularly balanced, and purposefully restrained. $23 B+ >>find this wine<<
• 15 Sarno 1860 Fiano di Avellino (Campania): Kind of like finding a lost 20 dollar bill in your jeans; lucky day for Fiano lovers. $25 A- >>find this wine<<
• 16 Errazuriz Max Reserva Sauvignon Blanc (Aconcagua Valley): Passion fruit, wet stones, a penchant for expressive, precise movements. $20 B+ >>find this wine<<
• 14 Errazuriz Max Reserva Carmenere (Aconcagua Valley): Tobacco, coffee, leather, wood; fitting surroundings for a sweet plum snack. $20 B+ >>find this wine<<
• 15 Errazuriz Aconcagua Costa Pinot Noir (Aconcagua Valley): Easy to grasp, easy to like, easy to imbibe, & pretty easy on the wallet. $30 B+ >>find this wine<<
• 15 Errazuriz Aconcagua Costa Chardonnay (Aconcagua Valley): Chalk, pith, and flowers line this fruity, elegant, vibrant walkway. $30 B+ >>find this wine<<