The NEW YORK ITALIAN FOOD & WINE GUY Blog is dedicated to many things, but mainly to three very GREAT ONES being NEW YORK, ITALIAN FOOD, and ITALIAN WINE. What's greater than these?
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Kevin Zraly on Brunello
"Don't Touch It! Don't touch it !!!" shouts Kevin Zraly, near the beginning of his seminar. He know there are always people on every level of experience at any one of the many wine seminars he has conducted over the years, including the most experienced and at least one or maybe several people who have never ever been to a Seminar Wine Tasting like this in their lives. This maybe their first one, "Don't Touch Don't touch!!!" It's quite funny and a bit shocking the way Kevin does these as he sets the tone for his style of wine seminar, which is "No Muss No Fuss No BS," and as Mr. Zraly says no English Poetry, in an effort to say there will be none of that overdone pontification, just straight normal talk, and talk even a beginner could grasp about wine, and with Kevin his approach will make you love the object and the subject of "Wine" even more. That's what a great wine educator does. There are not many better than Kevin Zraly, "if any?"
"Smell it 3 times. Cover the glass with your hand. Sniff! Toast the person sitting next to you and drink. Think about it for 1 minute at 15 second intervals. Do you still taste it? What do you taste?" Well, we tasted 8 very fine offerings of this fabulous wine, Brunello di Montalcino. The wines were all wonderful, and being at Benvenuto Brunello in such a gorgeous setting as Gotham Hall and being led in a Tasting of Great Brunello by one of the World's Greatest Authorities on Wine, this was a combination that was unbeatable. Being in the Italian Wine and Restaurant Business for more than 25 and writing for another 8, I can tell your that I've been to many a incredible wine event, like: a Vertical Wine tasting and Luncheon with the Marchese Piero Antinori, Dinner at Spark's Steak-House with Jacopo Biondi Santi and his wines, as well as lunches and dinners on many great wine estates in Italy. The kind of events people would kill to be able to attend, I've been to many, and this Brunello Seminar tasting with kevin Zraly shall be filed in my head with some of those other great wine moments. It was most enjoyable, and I'm so glad I made it (almost din't go).
So Bravo Brunello! And Bravo Kevin for your passion, love of the wine, and the way you lead others, in your very Zraly Direction.
Daniel Bellino Zwicke
BRUNELLO SEMINAR with KEVEN ZRALY .. January 31, 2013 .... Afternoon Seminar
WINES: BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO
1. Palazzo - 2008
2. Fanti -2008
3. Tenute Sivio Nardi - 2008
4. Donatella Cinelli Colombini - 2008
5. Uccelliera - 2008
6. Palazzo - Riserva 2004
7. Col D'Orcia 2001
8. IL Poggione Riserva 1999
An overall assessment and thoughts on the 8 Brunello's we tasted. First off, they were all very good to wonderful to remarkable. A great line-up including some excellent producers and very fine vintages of recent years. It seemed an overall consensus that pretty much everyone (Writers, Restaurant People, Wine Professionals, and Hobbyists) in the room liked each and every wine we drank, all wonderful wines, and with Kevin "Cheer-Leading" us with his love of wine and Brunello, I believe everyone enjoyed these wines even more than if they had tasted all 8 in another manner than this great tasting-seminar.
As all wines were wonderful, I must admit that there were 3 wines that we all got a bit more excited and super-charged over. These wines were; the Brunello Uccelliera 2008, the Brunello Col D'Orcia 2001, and the Brunello IL Poggione 1999 ... Without going into any, as Kevin Zraly would say "English Poetry" these 3 wines were just wonderful. The kind of wines you light up over and just saying "Wow," is enough to say that they had everything you want in a great Brunello or any great wine, great aroma, Wonderful Taste combined with "Perfect Balance," and simply greatness.
Again, a great tasting, overall Benvenuto Brunello, lots of great wines, wonderful people, and a fine Seminar-Tasting of Brunello conducted by Mr. Kevin Zraly. Again, Bravo!
Well, some Big Guns of Italian Wine were out at the Brunello Tasting. Big Guns from Italy along with some Big New York Italian Wine Guys like; Renzo Raspiacolli (Wine Director Barolo), Phillipo Debarladino, and Charles Scicolone, one of America's Greatest Authorities of Italian Wine "If Not Thee # 1 Top Guy." And speaking of Big Guns, as far as Italian Wine goes, The Biggest Gun of Them All, "The Marchese Piero Antinori" was on hand at this, one, along with The Count Cinzano of Col d'Orcia and other Italian Wine luminaries.
Daniel Bellino-Zwicke
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Chianti
CHIANTI
The Chianti is an area or territory bordered by Florence to the north, the Chianti mountains to the east, the city of Siena to the south, and the valleys of the Pesa and Elsa rivers to the west. The area has ancient traditions and a rich history that spans the centuries, from the Etruscans who left many traces of their activities – including the wine sector - to the fortresses and castles that witnessed countless battles, for the proud Republics of Florence and Siena fought for control of the Chianti throughout the Middle Ages.
Many of the fortified villages, monasteries and farmhouses appeared during this period and many were later transformed into villas and country residences when times were more tranquil. Spaces were cleared in the vast forests of chestnuts and oaks for the cultivation of vines and olive trees, activities that transformed the area into the much-loved rolling hills of small parcels of vineyards and groves that can be seen on postcards and calendars featuring Tuscan landscapes.
CHIANTI PRODUCTION Wine production in the Chianti area progressively assumed economic importance and soon established an international reputation; the first notarial document in which the name Chianti appears in reference to the wine produced in the area dates back to 1398 and by the 17th century exports became frequent. As often occurs when a product is highly successful, numerous imitations began to surface over the years and Chianti producers wanted their wine’s name to remain untarnished by lesser quality wines produced elsewhere.
As a result, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo III, issued an edict in 1716 in which the boundaries of the Chianti were officially recognized. This was the world's first legal document defining the production zone of a wine!
Unfortunately it proved to be insufficient, since makeshift Chianti continued to appear, so a group of producers finally decided to deal with the problem in 1924 by establishing a voluntary association to defend and promote their authentic wine. The Chianti wine-producing area was delimited in 1932 by ministerial decree and the boundaries have essentially remained unchanged since then. The decree described the district where Chianti Classico is produced as the oldest zone of origin: a wine that can be distinguished from Chiantis created later and produced in areas that are different from the original Chianti territory. The historic production area produces only Chianti Classico wines, which therefore means the first or the original.
CHIANTI NOW
Not all wine produced in Chianti is Chianti Classico wine, since the provenance from a determined territory is not sufficient to permit the use of the Chianti Classico appellation. The wine produced must also respect the production code, which gets updated with more stringent rules over time. The first version dates back to 1984, when Chianti Classico was still considered a sub-denomination of the Chianti DOCG, albeit with separate and stricter production rules, with modifications made in 1996, 2002 and, more recently, in 2013 when the “Gran Selezione” was introduced. The production code fills many pages and get quite technical, but the most important include: the minimum percentage of Sangiovese that must be used is 80% and the Sangiovese grape can be used alone; other native red grapes like Canaiolo and Colorino, or international varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot can also be used (at a maximum ratio of 20%), while no white grapes are permitted (since the 2006 vintage, so older Chianti Classicos may contain a small percentage of Trebbiano or Malvasia). Other rules refer to alcohol content (min. 12% vol. for vintage wine and 12.5% vol. for Riserva) and production guidelines that ensure that a high standard is met: vineyard density and yield (so that the output per vine cannot exceed 3 kg or 6.5 lbs) as well as aging requirements.
Producers have the liberty of making many different production choices, but any consumer can know, that if they are drinking a Chianti Classico Riserva, they are drinking a Sangiovese wine that has aged for at least 2 years!
They can also trace the bottle right back to its origins by typing the alphanumerical code on the banderol into the Chianti Classico's traceability system on their website.
Three Types of Chianti Classico
There are now three types of Chianti Classico, the Annata vintage or yearly wine and Riserva wines (that must age for longer and in wood) that are familiar to most, as well as the more-recently introduced Gran Selezione, which offers a higher standard of quality through estate-grown grapes that are selected a priori and longer barrel aging and bottle refinement requirements. The production of these different wines can easily visualized as a pyramid, where the more commonly produced Annata, as a foundation, peaks into the more exclusively produced Gran Selezione.
The Chianti Classico Consortium
Over the years, the organization changed its official name several times and is now known as the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico. It has, however, always retained the symbol of the Black Rooster, which has become an essential element of its image and guarantee of quality. As a symbol, it has always identified the Chianti area and although the true origins of this symbol are unknown, it is connected to a fascinating legend about the rivalry between Siena and Florence, who have always contended the Chianti. The Consortium therefore chose that old symbol as a symbol of the quality of their authentic wines. At its inception in 1924, the Consortium had 33 producer-members. The membership has steadily grown and now exceeds 600, of whom 270 bottle wine under their own labels.
The legend of the Black Rooster
A fascinating legend links the Black Rooster with the Siena-Florence rivalry, which characterized the Chianti for centuries. In a bid to end their interminable wars, the two Tuscan cities decided to entrust the definition of their boundaries to an unusual contest between two horsemen. They agreed that the frontier of the two Republics would be drawn at the point where the riders met after setting out at cockcrow from their respective communities. The Sienese selected a fine and much-pampered white rooster, while the Florentines chose a black rooster and gave it so little to eat that on the appointed day, it began to crow long before dawn. As a result, the Florentine rider set out early and met the other horseman at Fonterutoli, only a dozen miles from Siena. For that reason, virtually all of the Chianti Classico area passed into the hands of Florence.
Although the account is just a legend, it is absolutely certain that the profile of a black rooster was the emblem of the historic League of Chianti, which governed the territory from the early years of the 14th century. Giorgio Vasari painted a black rooster on the ceiling of the Hall of the Five Hundred in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence as an allegory of Chianti.