Bartolo Mascarello, Vigna San Lorenzo, Barbera d’Alba, ’05
The Man. The Myth. The Legend. The Godfather of Barolo.
One of Italy’s greatest winemakers known for his steadfast philosophy towards crafting one of the greatest wines in the world: Barolo.
He is a traditionalist to the core.
While many of his peers hopped on the single-cru and barrique boats*, Bartolo asserted that the individual crus are not the proper representation of Barolo and that only by blending the various crus could produce a Barolo of sublimity. Coming from a gent who spent his whole life (85 years) making Barolo, this is a strong source of opinion that he took a very strong stance towards in his various diatribes.
Unfortunately, he passed away in 2005. He’s like the guy from Into the Wild, but he died old and awesome.
His daughter is now at the helm and the estate has not missed a beat. Every wine I have ever tasted from them has been breathtakingly awesome (only the Barolos until now).
Turns out, they also make a badass Barbera. Incredible perfumy aromatics of freshly cut flowers, sweet spice, bright blue fruit exalt this wine into that category of ‘it’s hard to drink this wine because the nose is so mesmerizing’. It’s so complex and dynamic yet comes together so harmoniously that individual notes are difficult to discern.
On the palate, it’s classic Barbera- tart fruit and high acid with an underpinning of minerality. It is a classic food wine since they can be a bit too lean on the palate and this one was no different.
Luckily, I recently read where a high-profile somm suggested Barbera with pepperoni pizza and I decided to give it whirl with the addition of mushrooms (Gotta have my shrooms!!).
The pairing was spot on. The weight of the Barbera stood up to the richness of the pizza and the acidity cleaned up the fatty, cured quality of the pepperoni. Both the wine and pizza were enhanced by the combination- Bammin!!
Ballstein
*Producing Barolos from specific crus and aging in new, small French barrels respectively
No Comments »
…it just may be the coolest name ever. Luckily, I popped out the womb a Ballstein, so I’ll accept a very close second…this time.
Anyways, who is Savio Soares? A brooklyn-based wine importer from Brazil who focuses on natural, sustainable, organic and biodynamic wines from Germany, Austria, France, Italy & Portugal and let me tell you, his portfolio ROCKS!!
I was cordially invited to attend an intimate tasting and lunch with Savio at my now new favorite restaurant, Il Buco (www.ilbuco.com) in Soho. It was a whirlwind of a trip that included 9 hours of travel and 6 hours in the NYC that still seems more like a dream than reality. The follow-up e-mails prove I was there though.
Quick Recap of the Juice:
Simply put- AMAZING!! Rarely do you have wine epiphanies and this particular tasting made me reevaluate my entire approach to wine and Social’s wine program. It’s like the the bottle of ’98 Prieuré-Roch Vosne-Romanée ‘Aux Reas’ or the first time I went to Terroir wine bar (www.wineisterroir.com) in the East Village. It makes me question my existence.
Here’s the best part of the whole story: Best in Show- Domaine l’Octavin Chardonnay Pamina 2008 from Arbois in the Jura region of France. WHAT?? That’s right. My arch-nemesis Chardonnay bringing home the gold- this is the main reason that I was pretty sure I had dreamt this whole experience. However, this obviously ain’t no ordinary Chardonnay. It comes from 35 yr old vines in Limestone soils and is naturally fermented in oak without sulfur and not filtered. It is the definition of natural wine and has some serious funk to it in that awesome blue cheesy kind of way. Has some stank but you just can’t get enough of it.
This wine makes me seriously happy (like a teenage girl who just met Justin Beiber happy..I felt new, oddly pleasing sensations)!!
Moving on- I can’t go wine by wine because there were too many I freaked out over, but I will be featuring more of Savio’s juice (www.savinho.com) in “New Favorite Wine Ever of the Week”.
Ballstein
No Comments »
