THE OTHER NEBBIOLO

Suppliers trying to sell me more of their wine are constantly bombarding me. Everyone has a new great wine in his or her portfolio that I need to try. If it were up to my suppliers, I’d be sampling wine seven days a week and rewriting my wine list weekly. Let’s face it, there’s an inordinate amount of good wine available to consumers these days. It doesn’t matter what price point you’re seeking, there are numerous choices of wine in your price range and they’re delicious

The fun part of tasting is to find a gem in the rough and introduce it to your clientele. I’m constantly searching for a wine that I can introduce for seven to eight dollars a glass and have customers clamoring for more. This is an important part of keeping your wine list current. By introducing new wines, it gives you the ability to test market new products all the time. This process leads to changes on your list and this way your list stays current and fresh and your customers never get bored.

I enjoy wines from the Piedmont Region of Italy, the land of Barolo, the undisputed King of Italian wine is from Piedmont. The predominant grape of the region is Nebbiolo, used to make Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara and Nebbiolo IGT wines. Wines from Piedmont can be cost prohibitive at times, given the economy we are all trying to find a wine that drinks like Barolo, without the cost. There are still options for the Piedmont lover that can satisfy the palate, while maintaining your budget.

Recently I discovered a winery in Piedmont called Damilano, the winery dates back to the late eighteen hundreds and is run by the great grandsons of the original owner. One wine in particular stuck out, the Nebbiolo d’Alba. I found this wine to be an extremely well made wine, with great structure and balance. A very intense ruby red wine with hints of violet and red fruit, both dry and full-bodied with a velvety finish.

I was fortunate to get in on a special order and I was able to purchase six cases of this wine to use for my July featured wine. Life is good, we deserve to drink great wine, it’s great for our health and nothing makes a meal like a great glass of wine.

Enjoy,

Dick Varano

Brunello Thoughts

I recently attended a wine tasting at a restaurant in Portland, Maine. It was held at a local restaurant and attendance was quite strong. This was a portfolio tasting for Vias Wines. A good friend of mine works for them and sent me an invitation imploring me to attend. He commented that there would be wines available that they don't usually open or taste.

I was in Portland on an errand and decided to attend, I really didn't have a lot of time and tried to stay focused and taste the Italian portfolio only. There were some good wines, some great wines and some simply amazing wines. For me the wines from Argiano were over the top, the brunello received 94 points in the Wine Spectator and it was worth every point and every penny they were charging for it.

I don't have any Argiano wines on our wine list and I'm going to have to rethink my position on their wines. I learned several of the techniques used by their winemaker, one of which is to de-stem the grapes; but not to crush them. Leaving the grapes whole and giving them a cold soak, starts the maceration process within the actual grape before fermentation begins, providing an explosion of flavors. I also learned this was winemaker Hans Vinding-Diers first vintage made completely by himself. Hans took over for Giacomo Tachis back in 2003 and has spent a lot of time identifying the terroir and grand crus of Argiano. The results of his labors is amazing, the proof is in the bottle.

I'll be traveling to Montalcino next week, I'm visiting several Tuscan properties. I'm looking forward to drinking Brunello and spending time enjoying this beautiful countryside. Drinking wine in Tuscany always seems to taste better, maybe it's just me. I'm looking forward to having lunch in Montalcino and enjoying a great bottle of Argiano Brunello. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll find an older vintage made by Tachis and enjoy it side by side with a current vintage produced by Hans Vinding-Deirs. This would certainly qualify as a lunch to remember.

Brunellos are definitely a little pricey these days, it seems with the cost of the Euro rising and the quality improving each vintage, the cost of a good bottle of Brunello is on the rise. The good news is, Brunello producers make a baby Brunello called Rosso di Montalcino. It isn't as mature and elegant as Brunello, in a great vintage they are amazing bottles of wine and cost a third as much. Treat yourself, it's graduation season, bring your college graduate in and introduce him or her to a unique and special experience they'll never forget and jump start their appreciation for fine wine.

Dick Varano

Calabria

My Dad's father grew up in a tiny village named Centrache, which is in the province of Catanzaro in the region of Calabria. Several years ago, My wife and I took my parents to visit Calabria and to visit the town of Centrache. We rented an apartment about forty miles away in the coastal town of Gioa Tauro, which is near Reggio Calabria and about 250 meters from the Mediterranean Sea. 

We've been to Italy a number of times and were surprised at how many Italians speak English. When you travel to the southern part of Italy, the amount of Italians who speak English are few and far between. Even the small amount of Italian I know didn't do a whole lot of good, the dialect is different. We had a lot of fun navigating our way around Calabria, eating in small local restaurants and enjoying some amazing weather. 

The day arrived when we were going to make the trek across mountain and visit Centrache. We figured about forty miles, it should take and hour and a half. After traversing what seemed like two or three mountain ranges, we arrived in Centrache. The trip had taken over three and a half hours, which included a brief stop for sandwiches. Upon arriving in town, we realized it was siesta time. The  town is more like a village, it probably has about 600 inhabitants. We weren't sure what to do, we got out and walked around, it was election time and all the signs had our cousins names on them. My dad was overwhelmed, we ended up making a connection with some locals that remembered my dad's brother. We took photos and satisfaction in the fact we made a connection. It was truly a moving experience and one I'd highly recommend to anyone who has a connection to Italy.

One of the highlights of our trip to Calabria was the food and the local wine. We drank a lot of local wines made from Gaglioppo and Aglianico grapes. It was amazing, we drank mostly local wines served in pitchers or carafes. Half the time, the wine was served in a water glass. It didn't matter, the wine was wonderful and paired wonderfully with our meals.

I've since met Paulo Librandi, his family owns Librandi Vineyards in Calabria. The first thing he said to me was, "How come you didn't come to see me when you came to Calabria?" I explained to him, I wasn't familiar with the winery when I traveled to Calabria. I promised him, I'd visit the next time I travel to Calabria. In the meantime, I'm working on a wine dinner this fall with Librandi. I'd love to introduce this winery to my customers. There everyday wines, such as Ciro Rosso are very reasonably priced and drink wonderfully. They have the single vineyard Gaglioppo, Ducca San Felice, which dates back to Paolo's great grandfather and pairs well with spicy foods and red meats. The Calabrian cuisine tends to be a bit spicy and all the Librandi wines work well with the local cuisine.

The wine that totally left me in awe was the Gravello IGT, a Super Calabrian, made from 60% Gaglioppo and 40% Cabernet. I think the Gravello was the surprise of Vin Italy for me this year. It was one of those moments you love to experience, I'm tasting with Paulo, my daughter Vanessa and a friend of mine and we all looked at each other at the same time in amazement. Needless to say this wine will be part of my private cellar and when I find it, on Varano's as well.

June is the start of summer and we want to kick off our season with a unique wine special, this month I chose the Ducca San Felice. I want all our customers to share my find and let their friends in on the secret. Wine from the southern part of Italy has come a long way and just might surprise you. Come on over and visit and see what all the fuss is about.

Dick Varano

New 2009 Wine List

We've updated our wine list for the 2009 season. It's becoming very challenging to keep our list current. Vendors are consolidating constantly and wines change importers regularly. Our goal is, keep wines on our list that we consider to be great values, unique wines or hard to find gems. We constantly search for new wines that work within our menu structure. When you offer all Italian Food and Wine menus, you have to make sure and cover all the different regions.

This year our focus was to eliminate slow moving wines and replace them with different wines we felt were better suited for our new menu choices and customer's palettes. Since we aren't adding a a lot of different wines, our focus was to pick out about a dozen new fun wines that were reasonably priced. Some of these wines were previous monthly specials that were well received, such as the Ognissole and Campofiorin.

Two of the new wines we added this year were are from Angelini, a producer in the Veneto region. We found a Merlot and Pinot Noir that work well with our menu structure, both wines are great values and pair well with our menu. The Merlot is 100 percent merlot grapes and has both raspberry and blueberry notes. This wine is going to pair well with all red meat dishes and pasta dishes with cream sauces. The Pinot Noir is 100 percent pinot noir grapes with red berries on the nose along with a hint of candy apple and plums. A nice pairing for pork chops or grilled salmon.

As you can see, our focus is to provide a food friendly wine list that evolves with our menu and our customer likes and dislikes. I think the 2009 season will provide everyone with lots of fun choices to pair food and wine. Our new menu is almost finished and promises to be the best ever. If you're anything like me, I bet you can't wait. Get ready for an exciting season and some awsome additions. (I can't give away all our secrets)

Dick

Springing forward in May

May is a wonderful month, we start out with Mother's Day and end with Memorial Day Weekend. For me it's more, May seems to be the unofficial start to our season. This May we've taken our charge to new heights, Varano's has hired a new chef, and with this addition, we now have the ability to take our menu in all sorts of fun directions. Watch for our new menu, we will be launching a whole new menu this month and are excited with all the new additions

We will begin making our own sausage in house, along with our own mozzarella. Our goal is to take our traditional Italian menu and fuse it with a blend of peasant dishes and regional Italian dishes. We want to be able to take advantage of more local ingredients, as well as seasonal ingredients. With the addition of Steve Ogden, (A Culinary Institute of America Graduate) we will finally have the ability to do catering and more special events.

The other exciting part of May is our new wine of the month, you all know I take this charge seriously. I try and find some hidden gem that we can discover together and introduce it to our clientele. This month, I am excited to introduce a wine that is new to Maine as well as the United States, it is from a winery in Montalcino and is currently owned by Marilisa Allegrini and Leonardo LoCascio jointly. The winery is San Polo, which produces stunning Rosso di Montalcino and Brunello, along with this month's selection.

I chose a Tuscan IGT wine called Rubio, it is a young 100 percent Sangiovese wine and pairs well with pasta and tomato sauce, sausages, fresh Pecorino or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. The reason I chose this wine is the pedigree behind it, Marilisa Allegrini and Leonardo LoCascio are each in their own right experts in the production of Italian wines, to have them jointly on the same project along with consulting enologist Carlo Ferrini is a sure thing. I recently tasted these wines while attending Vin Italy and was quite impressed to say the least. Maine only has six- six packs of this wine available as of this writing, so don't get left out. Enjoy a great glass of wine this month and watch for the unveiling of our new menu.

Dick Varano

Bordeaux in the Veneto?

Every year I attend Vin Italy, I get excited and come back and share my experiences with my family and friends. There is one experience I've never written about and I feel bad I've never shared this with everyone.

Most wineries in the Veneto region are known for their Valpolicella and Amarone. There is one winery that stands apart from the others, the owner, Fausto Maculan is noted for his Bordeaux Blend. His signature wine is Fratta, an incredible wine consisting of sixty-eight percent Cabernet grapes and thirty-two percent merlot. It sounds crazy that an Italian would produce a Bordeaux blend wine in the Veneto, let alone produce one that is on par with some of the great French Chateau's.

This year I had the distinct pleasure of a blind tasting of the 2001 Mouton Rothschild along with the 2001 Fratta. I couldn't believe the similarities in flavor profiles, only because I happen to love Fratta and drink it semi-regularly was I able to distinguish the difference. My friend who was traveling with me, thought the Mouton was the Fratta. His amazement at my selection was rather comical. He couldn't believe I was able to tell the two wines apart. It was that similar on the nose and palette.

Maculan is one of those wineries that works seamlessly between tradition and modern technology. The winery is fairly new and yet has a distinct old feel to it. I think that having his two daughters involved in the winery is a perfect bridge for Maculan, it takes the forward approach to wine making Maculan utilizes and combines it with a modern style and adds a vibrancy to the winery that is unmistakable.

I tend to gush on about Fratta, only because I fell in love with this wine about four years ago, what I haven't mentioned is the Pinot Toi IGT white blend Maculan makes, or the red dessert wine, Madoro that is a true gem, perfect for an incredible finish to any great evening.

Finally, I want to close with the fact that Fausto Maculan and his family throw an incredible barbecue every year during Vin Italy, I've had the privilege of attending the last four years. During this party, Fausto taps a barrique of the new vintage of Fratta and hands everyone attending a bottle so they can bottle, cork and seal their own wine to take home as a souvenir. This generosity in itself is truly unparalleled, the reality is this is done out of pride. Fausto Maculan is a man committed to making amazing wine and is prepared to put his money where his mouth is. After my blind tasting this year, I'm sold. Treat yourself sometime and you'll understand how truly wonderful these wines are.

Dick Varano