Free tasting | Saturday, March 31, 2018 | 4-6PM

Easter in Italy is such a special time of year. The weather is getting warmer, cafés are stocking up on large chocolate eggs (with prizes inside!), the streets are buzzing with well-dressed families headed to the market to buy lamb, goat, artichokes, fava beans, spinach, asparagus and baking essentials and special Easter breads are being prepared (such as pane di Pasqua all’uovo, a traditional southern Italian bread with dyed eggs baked in the middle). Join us for our own Pasquetta, little Easter, at the shop this Saturday, alongside the tutto italiano wine importer, Matchvino, led by the one and only Stacey! We’ll have some homemade Easter breads for you to try, as well as organic and delicious wines from northern Italy. Happy Easter and Passover everyone! 

Gabrielle Scaglione Metodo Classico ‘Alta Langa M.C.’ (NV) This Alta Langa Metodo Classico sparkling wine is a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Nero. Its vines are grown atop calcareous marl rich sand and silt at winemaker Gabrielle Scaglione’s property. Gabrielle is a force of nature, and his wines speak of terroir. His pure affection for wine, arts and great food brought him back to his roots in Piedmont, where his family has made their home for generations. This sparkling blend is straw yellow with green highlights, the bubbles are fine and persistent, and the aromas are intense with hints of brioche and butter. Perfect bubbles for Easter Sunday!

2014 Nicolini ‘Vitovska’ (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) Nicolini is tucked away in the hills southeast of Trieste is Muggia, Italy, situated on the Slovenian border. This organic winery hand harvests all of their grapes into small baskets before the juice goes through spontaneous fermentation with wild yeasts. This white is from the Vitovska grape, which is left on its skins for 48 hours imparting a golden-rod hue. Savory, succulent, waxy, honeysuckle.

2015 Zuani 'Vigne' (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) The name of this region, Collio, is derived from the word 'colli' which means hillside, and describes this region perfectly! Picture lush, rolling hills that seem to reach out with open arms to a sky filled with white, puffy clouds and you have Collio. This is where winemaker Patrizia Felluga, from fourth generation of winemakers in Istria, Croatia, chose as the spot for her winery. She bought this land from an old farmer in 2001 and since then has been producing four different white wines. She runs the winery with the help of her now grown children, Antonio (pictured below) and Caterina. 'Vigne' is a blend of Toccai Friulano, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio. Each variety is vinified separately in stainless steel, in a 'cantina' or cellar that is alit multiple disco balls! We're not kidding! It's a super rad property, which Susan had the opportunity to visit last April (see photos below!). This is a full-bodied and smooth blend filled with notes of peach, lemon, and melon.

2014 Cantina Bolzano, Santa Magdalena ‘Huck am Bach’ (Trentino-Alto Adige) Cantina Bolzano is a co-op rich in history located in the Alto Adige. In 1930, eighteen wine growers founded a winemaking cooperative in Santa Magdalena to ensure better marketing of their wines. Today Santa Magdalena has developed into a highly popular wine in South Tyrol and the German-speaking territories of the Alto-Adige. Cantina Bolzano is one of South Tyrol’s top-quality wineries combining 320 hectares from 200 vine growers. Ruby red color. Definitely a terroir driven wine. Intense aroma of Bing cherries, violets and almonds. Schiava and Lagrein play beautifully together creating a medium body, elegant red wine. The mild acidity and soft tannins linger in the mouth. Think of Schiava as a Pinot Noir type grape, and Lagrein as a “mini-me” Zinfandel. In one word, this wine is versatile. It is the ultimate food wine. Ideal parings would be cured meats, dumplings, game birds, rabbit, lamb, pasta dishes with meat sauces, pizza and mild cheeses. (Below pictures from our visit to Cantina Bolzano last April!)

2015 Barbacàn, Rosso Di Valtellina (Lombardy) Angelo Sega and his sons Luca and Matteo make this Nebbiolo at a vineyard that neighbors the Swiss border in the Italian Alps. This Chiavennesca (the local name for Nebbiolo) is what one would pack on a trek up a mountain. It's berry fruit and earthy herbaceous are just what one would need to quench one’s muscles and soul! Here’s a picture of a group of us, including Luca and Matteo, enjoying Barbacàn at dusk in Lugano, Switzerland!

2016 Terregaie, ‘Brando’ Cabernet Franc (Veneto) This wine is a Veneto-Salem wine baby-if you can wrap your mind around that concept! While grown in a family winery from Salvatore, Rita and Silvia Lovo on the Western end of the Euganian Hills the label was designed by a Salem resident, François Dufour (also owner of Matchvino), whose large fluffy white dog, Brando (below!), is the namesake to this killer Cabernet Franc. This is an edgy wine made for moody days in March. Think plump raspberries and pluminess with vegetal undercurrents.

2014 Poggio la Noce 'Gigetto' (Tuscany) This Teroldego and Sangiovese blend is from winemakers Enzio Schiano and Claire Beliard, who are rigid about using organic practices in their vineyard. Their vineyard is in the Florence hillside and the grow olives and a garden for their personal seasonal food beside the vineyards to encourage healthy soils. The vineyard is 2.5 hectares and it was grown on calcareous marl with albarese and galestro slate; the vine age varies between 12-18 years old. The grapes were fermented in stainless steel temperature controlled vats using indigenous yeasts. After being aged in large oak casks for about 20 months the wine is aged for an additional year in bottle. This is as classic Sangiovese with a cheeky Teroldego twist - a chewey mouthful of muscular tannins, cherries, and violets. 

Buona Pasqua a tutti!