New York Brunello Tastnig 2019

CARPARZO BRUNELLO

At The NEW YORK BRUNELLO TASTING 2019

 

 

Brunello di Montalcino means “Brunello of Montalcino” with Montalcino being a hilltop village located south of Siena in Tuscany and Brunello being a very specific clone of Sangiovese called “Sangiovese Grosso” which means ‘little dark one.’ It’s grapes are full and dark, and it is the only Tuscan red wine that is not a blend so you get the absolute purest expression of the grape. It’s classic flavor profiles include blackberry, black cherry, chocolate and leather. Is it just me or is that not insanely delicious sounding?

Just like France, Italy takes wine making very, very seriously. The DOCG rules there are strict and wine makers are held only to the highest standards. Case in point: Brunello vineyards can’t be planted at a higher altitude than 1968ft above sea level in order to guarantee that the grapes reach the highest flavor and ripeness. Additionally, Brunello can’t be bottled until after it has aged no less than 4 years; 5 years for the Reserves. This is because it takes THAT long for the strong tannins to soften. These are just a couple of the reasons why Brunello is so unique and truly special.

 

 

 

 

Tasting Ticket

BENVENUTO BRUNELLO

NEW YORK 2019

 

"I Miss GOTHAM HALL"

 

Yes, I miss Gotham Halle where the New York Benveuto Brunello tasting was helf for a number of years. Gotham Hall is one of the most beutiful event spaces in all of New York. Gotham Hall is in gorgeous hall that once housed The Greenwich Savings Bank. This year, the Brunello Event was moved to  Tribeca 360, which is a nice enough space with a fantastic view of lower Manhattan to the Hudson River and New Jersey beyond. I'd rather be in the beautiful NeoClassic Building that houses Gotham Hall, you feel as if you're in a Beautiful Palazzo in Venice or some other grand Italian city. Tribeca 360 has way too much light, and the vibe is completely different than a Brunello Italian Wine Tasting at Gotham Hall, Tribecca 360 justed can't compete with the Beauty and Granduer of Gotham Hall.

Anyway, "Nuff Said," lets move on to talking about Brunello and the tasting itself.

IL POGGIONE

 

Great VIN SANTO and of course Brunello Di Montalcino

 

IL Poggione was one of my favorite producers showing at the 2019 Benvenuto Brunello New York Tasting. I really liked the Il Poggione Brunello 2012 as well as they IL Poggione Brunello riserva 2012 ... The IL Poggione VIN SANTO was Text-Book Vin Santo with that wonderful Walnut Tasting taste that all properly made Vin Santo has. 

 

Sangivovese Grosso

 

aka BRUNELLO Grapes

 

On Vines in MONTALCINO , ITALY

 

in TOSCANO

 

 

 

 

The Brunello di Montalcino Consortium, the association that promotes and safeguards the celebrated Tuscan wines, will host the annual Benvenuto Brunello event in the United States on Monday, January 28th at Tribeca 360 in New York. Benvenuto Brunello is an exclusive wine tasting experience for trade and media during which the latest vintage release from 30 renowned Brunello producers is previewed.

Producers will showcase their 2014 Brunello di Montalcino and 2013 Riserva, as well as the 2017 vintage of their Rosso di Montalcino, Sant'Antimo and Moscadello di Montalcino. This year's participating wineries include Altesino, Carpineto, Fanti, Fattoria La Magia, Le Chiuse and Villa Poggio Salvi, among many others. 

 

 

 

The events will feature a walk-around tasting, as well as select seminars, which will be led by Sotheby's Master of Wine Candidate Nick Jackson and Giacomo Pondini, Director of the Consortium of Brunello di Montalcino. 

"Benvenuto Brunello in New York is an incredibly important event for us, as America is one of our largest export markets and one of the global wine capitals," says Consortium President Patrizio Cencioni, "challenging, wet and cool, 2014 harvest yielded limited quantities of supple and delicate Brunello".

 

 

 

Overall, I wasn't too crazy about many of the wines at this tasting as opposed to other years like; 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, and 2010, the Brunello Vintage of 2014 was not a very good year. It was good enough to meet all the criterior to make Brunello, it's just that it was little better than a mediocer year. Sorry, but I'm not the only one who feels this way.

 

 

 

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conti Francesco Cinzano (Owner of Col D'Orcia)

 

with Author/ Italian Wine Guy - Daniel Bellino-Zwicke .com

 

 

 

 

 

MARCHESE FERDINANDO FRESCOBALDI

 

of FRESCOBALDI WINES

 

with AUTHOR DANIEL BELLINO ZWICKE

 

BEST SELLING ITALIAN COOKBOOK AUTHOR

 

ITALIAN WINE GUY

 

CREATOR of "BAR CICHETTI"

 

AMERICA'S 1st Ever BACARO

 

aka VENETIAN WINE BAR

 

 

 

 

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Actor James Starace

 

with Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke

 

At CASTELLO VERAZZANO

 

GREVE in CHIANTI

 

TUSCANY, ITALY

 

 

READ about CASTELLO VERRAZZANO

 

And CHIANTI

 

At BELLINO on VINO

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SUNDAY SAUCE

 

 

BUY IT !

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"I MISS GOTHAM HALL" !!!

 

 

Barolo Paulo Scavino

Paolo Scavino Barolo

Rocche Dell Annunziata 1990

There was another great winemaker dinner at La Pizza Fresca in New York last night.     La Pizza Fresca is located on 13 East 20th Street in New York 's Gramercy Park .. The place has quite a uniqueness about it .. It's a restaurant that's makes some of the best Pizza in all of New York .. Or is it a Pizzeria? Well let's just say it's a Pizzeria / Restaurant, OK? Yes that's what it is. And the Pizza, this restaurant is one of the few that's certified as Vera Pizza Npolteana which is an organization that grades and certifies Pizzerias that meet the high standards of the best porperly made Naapoletan Pizza. La Pizza Fresca is one of only 1,000 Pizzerias in the world to be Vera Pizza Napoletan certified, nad just 1 of 100 in the United States ..

  Well, anyway la Pizza Fresca makes some great Pizza. They also have a full menu of Antipasti, Pasta, Meat, Fish, and Poultry and they have one great wine list. Besides the great Pizza, La Pizza Fesca is realy into wine, and is in fact one of the top Italian Wine focused restaurants in New York. They have a great wine list that is very extensive and world class. And like they did last night that have many great wine dinners each year. The wine dinner I attended this night was hosted by Elisa Scavino who is one of Enrico Scavino 's two daughters working with him in the family wine business in Peidmont. Well the dinner was awesome, we started with Beef Carpacio, followed by some awesome Pizza, Pizza Funghi (Mushrooms) and Pizza Bianco with Fontina Cheese, Black truffles, and Prosciutto. The Pizza was amazing. We drank Paolo Scavino Barbera and Nebbiolo Langhe with the Carpacio, and ewere quite fortunate to have a couple of Paolo Scavino 's fabulous Barolo with the Pizza .. Yes, with the Pizza we drank Scavino's Barolo Carobric 2000 . This wine was phenominal. It was in perfect balance, full of great fruit and earthy flavors of Truffle and Mushrooms. You couldn't ask more from a great Barolo from one of the great Barolo vintages of all-time in the 2000 .. Lucky we were at the dinner to follow this great Barolo with Scavino's Barolo Bric del Fiasc 1998, 2000, and 2010 . Needless to say, they were all great, and drinking quite nicely. 

  We were then treated to an amaing line-up of an amazing 3 Vintage Vertical Tatsing of Paolo Scavino 's Barolo Reserva Rocche dell' Annunziata. The vintages we had were 3 of the greatest Barolo vintages of all-time in the 1990, 2000, and 2001 ... Wow what a treat? It was a great night of socializing, drinking great Barolo accompanied with the awesome Pizza, Pasta, and Bue al Barolo (Beef Briased in Barolo Wine) and our gracious host Alisa Scavino talking about all the great winew we were drinking and of the histroy of the family's winery founded by her grandfather Lorenzo Scavino . Bravo Elisa !!!!

 

Alisa Scavino with Author Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

The Scavino Family

Paolo Scavino is an historical winery in the Barolo region. It was founded in 1921 in Castiglione Falletto from Lorenzo Scavino and his son Paolo. Farming has always been a family tradition and passion. Enrico Scavino together with the daughters Enrica and Elisa, fourth generation, run the family Estate. He started to work full time in the winery in 1951 when he was 10 years old. A young winemaker who inherited the passion and devotion for the land he belongs to. Through over 60 years of experience his focus has been to invest on important cru of Nebbiolo to show the uniqueness of each terroir. Their work is inspired by the love and respect they have for their territory and they pursue purity of expression, complexity and elegance for their wines from the three local grapes Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo. These values and culture have been carried on and never changed.