Alternative Piedmont
Free tasting | Friday, February 16, 2018 | 5-7PM
Alternative Piedmont with Giannoni Selections
Andrea is showing off a line-up of 'alternative' Piedmont wines from Daniele Ricci, Massimiliana Spinola, and Eleanora and Luigi Costa. If you've never had TImorasso, the funky, apple-core chewy white wine from Piedmont, Italy, now's your chance, as well as a chance to try one of our favorite grapes right now: Croatina! 'El Matt' from Daniele Ricci is a rich and earthy expression of the grape, Croatina, and it is a perfect red wine for this capricious February weather. Ci vediamo domani! See you tomorrow!
2014 Daniele Ricci 'Terre del Timorasso’ ($26)
After phylloxera demolished Piedmont in the mid-19th century, most growers abandoned the local varietal, Timorasso, in favor of Cortese. But Daniele Ricci's grandfather saw the value in Timorasso and planted it when he started his winery in 1929. Today, there are only 100 hectares of Timorasso planted in all of Piedmont. This Timorasso juice spends three days on its skins, giving it a hue of yellow-amber, and it remains on its lees for over a year. The result is a wine with a core of minerality and bright notes of lemon meringue.
2014 Daniele Ricci ‘El Matt’ ($24)
Daniele Ricci has a great sense of humor and his Croatina ‘El Matt’ is derived from Italian meaning "the crazy one,” which is in reference to himself. After inheriting the vineyard from his grandfather, Carlo, Daniele immediately converted the land and winemaking process to organic; he even has the 300 elements in his soil examined annually to make sure that his soil is getting healthier every year. The soil is calcareous with clay marls and this red wine is fermented in stainless steel casks. ‘El Matt’ is crazy – crazy good! – notes of dried cherry and pomegranate radiate from the glass while notes of licorice and earth flow across your palate.
2015 Castello di Tassarolo 'Titouan', Barbera ($26)
When Massimiliana 'Max' Spinola and Henry Finzi-Constantin converted their southeast Piedmont vineyard to biodynamics, they even bought horses to work the fields and built their own water tower on the property. When Max realized she had become sensitive to sulfur, they decided to make their wines without the addition of sulfites; instead they ferment and elevate their wines in temperature-controlled stainless-steel vats to prevent oxidation. Lift your glass in thanks to Titouan, the horse on the label who helped make this Barbera possible, while you savor this hand-harvested wine with notes of cranberry and clay.
2014 Crealto ‘Pionda’ Nebbiolo ($30)
This winemaking duo, Eleonora and Luigi Costa, dreamt for years of opening their own winery in Piedmont, and so, one day they packed up their bags in their native Genoa and headed north. They settled on a street named Strada Crealto, which also partially inspired the name of their biodynamic winery, Crealto. It is also an ode to the chalk filled soil of the town, Alfiano Natta, as 'Cre' means chalk in Piemontese. Their Pionda is grown on 25-year-old vines and is brimming with youthful exuberance with its athletic acidity, smooth tannins, and a spunky mouthful of raspberry and cherry fruit. After crushing and destemming it undergoes twenty days of maceration before being aged for at least a year before bottling.
2016 Crealto ‘Marcaleone’ Grignolino ($25)
Grignolino sounds like a creature from Harry Potter (“The Grignolinos are after those muggles again!”), but, in actuality, it’s a grape! One of the thousands of native varietals from Italy, Grignolino hails from Piedmont and Azienda Agricola Crealto is making their ‘Marcaleone’ Grignolino from 55-year old vines. This is all natural, folks, so no added sulfites or junk, while maintaining a robust, ruby body with a cherry, spicy finish.
*10% off all tasting beverages every Friday and Saturday!
