Tomorrow I'm off to Rioja and I realize I've still too many notes on my desk waiting for posting before I go on Spain. So, I promised news from ViniVeri and the Marco de Grazia booth.
First de Grazia.
S.I rene Virbila wrote this for Food and Wine Magazine about de Grazia’s ‘Starpower’ in 2000. “An American who grew up in Florence and still lives there, de Grazia is much more than a wine exporter--he's an exceptional figure in Italian wine, a collaborator and a coach for nearly every one of the 90 estates he represents. About half his producers were just grape growers who had never bottled wines before de Grazia took them on and plotted out how far he could take them. In most cases, that has been quite far indeed.”
Indeed. OK. Six years later I’m at his booth in Vin Italy and I’m looking to taste the baroli he exports. There were a few 2002s such as Seghesio's. When asked why, we were told, “There was nothing the matter with the 2002.” Well, maybe so, except most winemakers hardly had any grapes by the time the rain and the hail finished with the vineyards. But having tasted wines from 1999 to 2004, this wasn't about vintage but bad winemaking.
Seghesio (unyielding), Fenocchio, Mocagatta ( cough syrup). Scavino (burning rubber), Bergandano (let’s not go there). We saved the Cavolotto for last because of his reputation of being the only winemaker who stands up and says 'no' to the de Grazia recipe. Their wine was dead yet alive at the same time. It was the undead. Confusing. Melissa begged for mercy. “Not one more, she cried. Please.”
So the de Grazia recipe, true or false? I must talk to Marco. Stay tuned.
