My confrere was discussing Tuscan wines, with the new
buyer. The subject of international varieties
came up. You know, things like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and grapes like that,
which also grow in Italy. This was an all-Italian wine list, and whether we
like it or not, diners come in looking, at times, for wines they know and
recognize. Like Cabernet Sauvignon. The young overseer interrupted him and
said, “Italy doesn’t make good Cabernet or Merlot. The place for that is Napa
Valley.” Ok, so no Masseto? No Sassicaia? (said restaurant is in a high net-worth neighborhood) My friend then asked them about Super
Tuscans. “Not my thing.” Dismissed again. So, as the meeting came to an end,
and my friend was getting up to leave, the wine buyer asked him, “But do you
have any orange wines?”
You know, under the Italian sky, there really isn’t anything that hasn’t already been invented, or tried, somewhere in past days. I have a box of labels to prove it. So, I dragged it down out of the closet to take a peek at some of the soldiers who fought in wars of past. Some made it, some didn’t. Let’s visit with them.
For the most part, I am restricting myself to Tuscany, with a brief foray into nearby Lombardia (next week), beginning with white wines.
Probably most famous of all is/was Galestro. There was a big push by the producers in Tuscany for a white wine of equal standing with Chianti – A White Chianti they would whisper to me. And it seemed Galestro was the heir apparent. The word Galestro is meant to describe a type of soil. If you want to know more about that, I’d refer you to Monty Waldin’s site here: https://chateaumonty.com/galestro/.
Galestro the wine – there were high hopes. I remember going to a wine dinner in Tuscany where all the producers of Galestro were present for a dinner highlighting the wine. All the wines were there too, about nineteen. The wind up is after we all sat, for hours, eating and sipping on all of the Galestros, the consensus at the table was that there probably wasn’t much future for the wine Galestro. Indeed, within years the wine vanished. Sorry, Gen-Z wine buyer, you might have loved it. But it was DOA before you were BORN. I bought some for the company I worked for. Fortunately I had a client who bought it all, or else it would have been an FCO (Future Close Out).
Another hopeful white was Bianco Vergine Valdichiana. It’s still around, so it could still be “discovered” by the 21st century folks. Forty years ago, it was a tough nut to crack. Predominantly Trebbiano, which is a current darling among the Orange-istas. But then it was vapid and not terribly interesting save for the fact that it was white, could be chilled and used as a substitute for water in dire situations. It was, after all, 88% water. So we could survive on it. But the wine buyer crowd wasn’t interested. They wanted that international variety, Chardonnay. And Italy, then, wasn’t as forthcoming with Chardonnay as it is now. This one from the old owners of Avignonesi ( they’ve since sold and decamped to Puglia) was an attempt. And we failed. I wish the Gen Z crowd had been there- they probably would have liked it, as it was high acid, indigenous, prone to refermentation (or Frizzante Naturalmente). And with a few months of age, the Malvasia and Grechetto in the blend would turn yellow, or the now fashionable l'orange.
Speaking of fizzy wine – Pét-nat is all the rage with the kids these days – so lets take a journey into the time machine and revisit one.
In Tuscany we had this one product called Le Bizze – We sold it by saying “Le Bizze is the Fizz!” it didn’t go over well with the Boomers. But now it might be Lit AF. It was naturally fermented, so it would fill the bill for frizzante, or pét-nat, maybe even metodo ancestrale. Anyway, it flopped too, in the 80’s. No one was having any tantrums over not getting any. I guess you had to be there.
One last white – one that is still around – Montecarlo Bianco -
@ professore_usa, who is a wine collector and expert extraordinaire, recently posted a picture of an aged (1978) Montecarlo Bianco with the description “Infinito.” A white (now aged to amber) wine 46 years old. Unthinkable. Yet, infinite. Fascinating. Anyway, I had a client in Fort Worth, Texas, who loved (and probably still loves) this wine. I brought it in from Mayflower Imports in Washington DC. We all, apparently, have fond memories of this wine. I wish our young wine appropriator could discover this wine for their generation. We’d probably never hear the end of it. Oh wait, we (the old ones) are going to die soon anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Party on, Garth!
Next week – Part 2 - Abruzzo