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This has been a long day. A very long day. First of all, happy birthday to Gia Galli and to David Burnett. Also buon anima for Eugenio Spinozzi, now three years gone from earth.
Today started at 6:30AM in preparation for a flight to Houston, and then a drive to Galveston, for an industry tasting. More like a huge showcase for anything and everything in the wine beer, water and spirits industry. Lots of scantily clad women showing lots of skin and very little fat. Racy cars displaying caffeinated vodka. And a whole bunch of colleagues showing their stuff to their willing clients. A little bit old home week, a little hustle, a lot of BS’ing, and very little damage done. A late evening flight back home and here we are sitting up trying to figure out what just happened. Probably something for another post, though there won't be a lot of those in the next few weeks. It is harvest time in Tuscany and Italy and one must go prepare for the vendemmia.
In the last week there has been an inordinate amount of chatter about the state of Brunello. My own feelings are that, what we witnessed this week, was the death of Brunello as we know it.
Anyone who has read On the Wine Trail in Italy knows that I am not just saying this to create controversy and drive traffic to this site. I couldn't care less. There are 10,000+ who read regularly, that is good enough for me. But I do think something happened this week that when we look back it will be seen as a transition for the history of this wine, Brunello.
First, let me just say this. I could care less about the gossip about who is doing what with their grapes, grown or purchased. There are some traditionalists who have their point of view, some of them are good people and some of them are toxic. And there are some “outsiders” who preach change and some of them know what they are talking about and some of them are in it for a buck. There has been so much inaccurate and misleading reporting, blogging, suppositions and allusions. Give me a break, who the hell really knows? Some folks write me with info and all kinds of verbal iterations. To what end? Where has this taken us? Italy has a political situation that makes the American political log-jam look like the Indy 500 race. I have even heard Machiavelli's name invoked, the original gangster. Others have harkened back to the early days of Berlusconi and Mussolini. With such a fecund past it is difficult not to look back. But it is a fruitless crusade, for we only have forward gear in this vehicle, and so we must press on.
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A month or so later Argiano did what I thought at the time was a dramatic and slightly silly thing. They declassified their Brunello, calling it Il Duemilatre, and sent it out into the world. It was still the wine they call Brunello. But they were taking a detour around the political.
Now it looks like genius. Who cares what you call it? We in America have other things pressing for our attention and we like wine that taste good. California prepared us for all kinds of names of wines. Opus 1 is a perfect example. In those days (1979) it was considered suicide to not call a Cabernet-based wine a Cabernet. Now we have a diversity of names, and the strong survive.
Argiano took a risk; I’d like to think it was calculated. It was quite brilliant. If Brunello as we know it is now dead, Argiano has taken the high road out of hell.
Now let me say this. I do not care what grapes are in their wines. And I am not saying this in a Napoleonic-guilty-till-proven-innocent way. I am not fazed by this current ongoing tantrum-cum-soap opera that just won’t let us think about anything else in the world of Italian wine. It’s like Montalcino has hired Fox to run their press for the world. So much tragedy, so many car chases, so much schadenfreude. Enough doom and gloom already.
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Back to Argiano. We did a tasting for 60 people here in fly-over country and they loved the wines. Not one wine was called a Brunello di Montalcino and it didn’t seem to matter. Sure there was some discussion from corners of the room by enthusiasts. But try as he did, what could Stephane say? I don’t know. The investigation is ongoing. Some people are still being questioned. Some wines are still in limbo. We shall see. In the meantime, Argiano has moved on.
The wines:
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As an aside, the first picture on this post is of Lisini. Stephane says folks usually think Biondi-Santi is the oldest Brunello estate. He says no, that claim belongs to Lisini. I have a bottle of the 1975 Riserva settling to be opened this year. Fortunately Beatrice didn't crack it open, though it seems she threatened to. Good girl.
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Galveston Beach Sept. 7, 2008