Daniel Bellino-Zwicke (R)
with ITALO STUPINO
"The KING of SANTA STEFANO"
BARBARESCO
at WINEBOW PORTFOLIO TASTING
2014
New York, NY
CASTELLO di NEIVE BARBARESCO
From ITALO STUPINO
I drank trhough and tasted all of Italo's phenominal Barbarescos as well as his; Dolcetto d' Alba Basarin 2011,
Pinot Noir 2012, and Barbaresco Santa Stefano 2006 & 2009 ... Italo is The King of Santa Stefano .. He has the only vineyard. He used to sell fruit to Bruno Giacosa, but the contract is up and Italo will be the only one in the World making Barbaresco Santa Stefano from now on. We drank the base Barbaresco Castello del Neive 2010 and the Barbaresco Santa Stefano 2009, both awesome, but the Santa Stefano had a slight edge of awesomeness. But not by much, both are great wines, perfectly balanced with fine fruit, and perfect examples of what a great Barbaresco should be. They are Textbook. It was great to see Italo again. He is the man! I just love that guy, and would rather drink his Barbaresco over anyone else's. ANd this of course includes Angelo Gaja, who makes some great Barbaresco, but the prices are through the roof, and dollare for dollar I'd put Italo's up against Gaja's any-day-of-the week .. You can't do any better ... Although I must say, I really enjoyed Anjelo's offerings last year when I tasted the wines at a tasting in New York with Anjelo and daughter Gaia ..
Daniel Bellino Z with Alessandro Mori of Il Maronetta Brunello
at The WORLD TRADE CENTER
New York, NY
Montcalm Wines Portfolio Tatsing
Alessandro tasted me on his latest vintages of his estates awesome Brunello ..
I really loved the 2008 Brunello Normale and the Brunello Reserva Madonna del Grazia 2008 was off the charts awesome .. The 2009 Brunello and Brunello Ros. Madonna del Grazia where awesome as well ... Alessandro let me have a taste of the Brunello 2010, which was a bottle tasting and has not been released.. The 2010 Brunellos, by law cannot be released to January 2015 and this was a nice suprise advanced tasting of a 2010 Brunello .. Alessandro was beaming. He is very proud of the wine and he said the vintage is one of the best. "I wouldn't disagree."
ZENATO AMARONE
M ARIOLAS
with His Families
TURIGA
Vernaccia di San Gimignano
GUICCIARDI STROZZI
San Gimignano
Princessa Natalia Strozzi
SUNDAY SAUCE alla CLEMENZA
SEGRETO ITALIANO
THE LATEST
From DANIEL BELLINO ZWICKE
MONA LISA
Guicciardini-Strozzi are theoldest wine producers in Italy with their Cusona estate established in 994 AD ( no, we didn't forget the 1). They produced the very first Vernaccia di San Gimignano in 1200 AD and this very wine was exalted by the likes of Dante,Michelangelo and Boccaccio not to mention drank byPopes.
It was only when Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" started to cause so much hysteria, that two academics embarked on a quest to find out whom the Mona Lisa really was and if she had any living descendant. Inevitably their quest took them to knock at Cusona's doors, where Prince Girolamo Strozzi opened up the family's archives to reveal what was known in the family.
However, something else was soon to be discovered that even the Strozzis could not expect. During a former British Prime Minister's private visit to their Cusona estate, the latter was being entertained with some of the family's tales. One of such tales was that of a marriage in the sixteenth century between a female ancestor and an English aristocrat. It was at this point that the former British PM suddenly remembered to have come across this very fact in a book he once read.
He therefore suggested a further deepening of this lineage' study at the London's British Library. Here, documents certifying the marriage of Camilla Guicciardini-Strozzi to Sir Thomas Darcy were found along those certifying the birth of their five children. One of them, Frances, married into the Marlborough family eventually becoming one the ancestors of no less than Sir Winston Churchill himself.
Until now these news have not been divulged outside the academic circles to avoid being associated with the book and attract unnecessary media attention. It is now our very pleasure and privilege to bring this truly unique tale of history and culture linking Italy and Great Britain for wine and history lovers alike.
No comments:
Post a Comment