The Four Kinds of Wine Lover
Dateline: 04/17/97
Wine touring is very popular in Italy, and if you visit a winery on the weekend, chances are you will find you are not alone: if the winery's famous, there may be a smattering of cars, some with foreign tags, whereas if it's a small mom-and-pop operation, the cars will be local, and the winemaker may be trading jokes with his customers.
According to the Movimento del Turismo del Vino,there are four types of wine tourist:
- The Professional: 30-45 years old, knows wines and the wine
world, can discuss the fine points of the wines with the winemaker, and can
competently judge a wine's virtues and faults. Always interested in new things,
and willing to devote considerable time and energy to their discovery.
- The Impassioned Neophyte: 25-30 years old, well off, likes
wines and sees them as a vehicle through which to cement friendships, enjoy
foods, and explore the countryside. Generally travels with friends, some of
whom may be Professionals, and always has a wine guide handy. Eager to learn,
but less serious about wine than the Professional.
- The Hanger-On: 40-50 years old, wealthy, attracted to wines
because knowing something about them is a mark of distinction. Is satisfied
with a knowledge of just the basics, and is more easily swayed by the comments
of others than those belonging to the previous categories. Is also drawn to
famous names, and more easily impressed by appearances. Sometimes asks for a
discount.
- The Drinker: 50-65 years old, visits wineries as part of a group on Sundays, treating them as an alternative to a bar, gulps the wine and asks for more, also asks to buy in bulk, sometimes pulling a tank or demijohn from the back of the car.
All four categories come out in force for Le Cantine Aperte, an initiative that has at least a thousand wineries throughout Italy opening their doors to visitors (the page is from last year, but the wineries will be participating again this year). You'll be able to meet the producers, talk with the cellerers, see the botti and barriques where last year's harvest is turning into next year's marvel, taste, and spend a wonderful day in the country as well. Not going to be here in May? There'll be another edition of in the fall.
L'Azienda Agricola Vignadora
Mastroberardino is one of Italy's most famous wineries, and rightly so. One of the branches of the family, which had formerly just produced grapes, has decided to strike out on its own, with a new winery: Vignadora, which has PLD on the label (after Paolo, Lucio and Daniela Mastroberardino). While at Vinitaly I tasted some of their wines.
Greco di Tufo is a Central and South Italian white grape of remote ancestry (possibly Greek); and is the primary ingredient in Greco di Tufo, a wine made in the mountainous region of Irpinia, in Campania (not far from Naples). Vignadora makes three different Greco di Tufos that are vinified in purezza (in other words, with no other types of grape). I tasted Loggia della Ferra, which comes from vineyards located high on the slopes, at about 650 meters. The wine is pleasant; the bouquet is clean, with hints of strawberries and lush peaches, and nothing of the overripe tropical fruits that sometimes emerge from white wines produced in hot climates (of course, the mountains aren't that hot). On the palate it's well balanced, with intriguing peachy overtones. The tannins are faint, also because the wine is fermented and stored in steel -- no barriques -- to maximize the fruit. The finish is slightly acidic and leaves the palate clean and refreshed. It would go well with fish dishes, first courses, and, I think, Chinese cooking, especially Cantonese.
Fiano is another local white grape, which is first mentioned by writers of the 16th century. Daniela considers her Fiano to be more elegant than her Greco Di Tufo, and I'd have to agree. It's produced from lower vineyards (450 m) and the bouquet is more complex, with nice fruit that has overtones of dried apricots and buttery almonds. On the palate it is honeyed, light bodied, and has notes of peach and other fresh fruit. The finish is slightly acidic, and long lasting. It would go well with refined fish dishes, and also pasta and delicate meat dishes of the kind served in summer.
Vignadora also makes an Aglianico, which has little in common with the Aglianico del Vulture made over in Basilicata. The wine is a transparent ruby red, and has the typical Aglianico bouquet, with cherries and cranberries. On the palate it's light, with thin velvety tannins and a slightly dusty finish. It is, as Daniela points out, a quaffing wine, fermented and stored in steel and designed to be drunk young. It will go well with pasta and white meats.
The final wine I tasted is Il Principio, a red wine that spends a year in wood and emerges a much deeper cherry red, smelling of faintly of toasted vanilla and hot bricks, with cherry and cranberry overtones. On the palate it's chewy, nicely structured, and has pleasant tannins. The finish is slightly burnt, with the feel of a dry summer afternoon, but pleasant. It would go well with meat-based pasta, and meat-based entrees.
It takes four years to make Taurasi, the aristocratic red of the region, so Daniela didn't have any to offer yet. It's something to look forward to.
Good food & Drink,
Kyle Phillips
