Around Italy in 180 minutes with dbHK

From Timorasso to Vermentino Nero, Italy’s little-known grape varieties had their moment to shine at a dinner hosted by the drinks business HK and VinoVeritas.

Michael Palij MW introduced some of Italy’s most unknown grapes over dinner at Operetta

Home to some of the world’s oldest wine-producing regions in the world, Italy has basked in the adulation of wine consumers in the UK and the US for decades with its famous and not so famous grape varieties.

However, Hong Kong has historically been dominated with Italy’s more commercially known grapes such as Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio but consumers’ diversifying tastes and increasing interests have led some wine importers to source little-known wines from all corners of Italy.

And so, in partnership with Hong Kong’s Italian wine specialist VinoVeritas and Michael Palij MW, dbHK hosted a dinner which took in some of Italy’s premier wine regions, including Veneto, Piemonte, Marche, Puglia, Tuscany and Friuli-Venezia-Giulia in a ‘180 minute’ journey, paired with a four-course Italian dinner at Operetta.

Prosecco ‘26esimo I’, Derthona Timorasso 2014, Verdicchio Di Matelica DOC 2014, Minutolo ‘Rampone’ 2015 

The evening started with a premium Prosecco, ‘26esimo I’ by Treviso producer, Andreola, where Palij sketched out the overwhelming popularity Prosecco has seen over the years, especially in the UK where it has taken over Champagne in sales.

“Prosecco is in a world of its own,” he said. “But to find the best you need to look on the slopes of the Dolomites where the soil has a high limestone content, where Andreola’s vineyards are. People are confronted with Prosecco at every turn but it’s uncomplicated and fun and should just be drunk that way.”

Moving on to the Minutolo, ‘Rampone’ 2015 by I Pastini in the Itria Valley, Puglia, Palij opened with: “I’m fairly confident that no one in this room has ever had Minutolo before. Almost completely lost in the past, the Carparelli family discovered a clone of Minutolo and is now the world’s largest producer of this attractive aromatic grape, owing its orange peel characteristics to Muscat, one of the parent grapes.”

Travelling 500km or so up Italy’s east coast is Matelica in Marche which nestles opposite Tuscany. The old vine Verdicchio di Matelica Riserva ‘Mirum’, La Monacesca’s flagship, has scooped Gambero Rosso’s Tre Bicchiere award four times. Palij explained Verdicchio’s high acidity and high alcohol and long ageing ability was due to Matelica’s wide diurnal temperature range, as the valley has no rivers.

Finally, to end the first course, Palij introduced the Timorasso from Monleale, Piemonte, which is made by the highly regarded producer, Walter Massa. Due to Palij’s involvement in bringing Timorasso to the attention of wine critics, including Jancis Robinson in the late 1990s, he affectionately referred to it as his “signature” wine.

“Now it’s one of the most sought-after white grape varieties in the world,” he said. “But 10 years ago, no one had ever heard of it. Walter Massa saved it from distinction as Phylloxera devastated the crops in nearby Gavi which has since been replanted with Cortese which is much simpler to grow.”

The Massa family’s dedication in saving Timorasso, a tricky grape with high concentration and yet such tiny yields has earned them the enduring respect of the world’s wine community.

The selection of wines that included the rare Mascarello Monprivato 1997 in Magnum

Vermentino Nero 2014, Susumaniello ‘Verso Sud’ IGT 2014, Gattinara 2007 

A relatively light neighbour of one of the most widely planted grapes in Europe, Vermentino, Vermentino Nero is cultivated in the small estate of Terenzuola in the far north of coastal Tuscany in Colli di Luni DOC.

“The two owners, Ivan Guilani and Marco Nicolini have worked hard over many years to develop the acidity and aromatic freshness and use absolutely no oak,” said Palij.

“This is a wonderful example of the little-known style and Ivan and Marco have made a name for themselves by making dramatic improvements to the vineyards and cellar.”

The second wine from the Carparelli family of I Pastini was the ‘Verosud’ Susumaniello IGT, which is grown almost exclusively in Salice Salentino as well as the southern area of the Itria Valley towards Brindisi which is where ‘Verosud’ gets its name. Historically a blending grape to be used with Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera, Susumaniello has been used by the Carparelli’s as a single varietal over the last few years.

The historic Piemonte estate of Vallana dates back to 1787 and produces a unique style of Nebbiolo in Alto Piemonte, the only site where Nebbiolo grows on acidic as opposed to alkaline volcanic soil.

“We’re really high up here,” said Palij. “Almost near the Swiss border and the soil is just completely different. The Gattinara has all the hallmarks of Nebbiolo; the same acidity, the same alcohol and tannins but with a delicate perfume which has rightfully earned it a huge following in the UK.”

Rosso della Centa 2011, Girolamo 2010, Barolo Monprivato 1997

The final flight introduced two differing styles of single varietal Merlot; the punchy Super Tuscan Girolamo grown by Marco Bacci in in the southern half of Chianti Classico and the highly mineral expression from Borgo Del Tiglio in Friuli-Venezia-Giulia (FVG).

While known for producing mainly white wines such as Friulano, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, FVG which is made up of sandstone and marl soils produces delicate expressions of Merlot with Borgo Del Tiglio’s making one of the earliest premium vintages of 100% Merlot in 1985 and still maintains an extremely limited production of fewer than 2,000 bottles per year.

On the other hand, Girolamo hails from Castello di Bossi, the oldest estate in central Tuscany built in 1099, with the winemaking presided over by world-famous consultant, Alberto Antonini and highlights the typicity of a powerful yet elegant Super Tuscan.

Pausing before introducing the final wine, the eagerly anticipated Barolo Monprivato DOCG 1997 from Giuseppe Mascarello, Palij pointed out that historically, Italy lacked a unified ‘voice’ unlike France and therefore struggled initially with producing high quality wines which were able to be supported by official regulation and protection.

“The issue with Italy has been poverty and city states fighting against each other which led to these fractured groups preserving their own grapes and not having high quality,” he said. “It’s only really been in the 1990s that they’ve got their act together because for a long time, they just didn’t have the technology to produce great, long-lasting wine that they do today.

“However, a family who really was doing that for decades was Mascarello. One of the few estates in Piemonte with library stock, the Monprivato 1997 represents for me, what Italy seldom is able to do. At 20 years old, the Monprivato has the potential to age for another 10 or so years at least.”

Palij closed with: “In terms of producing the world’s ‘best’ wines, we’d have to hand that award over to France. But in terms of sheer interest, Italy just has it. They can claim grapes not grown anywhere else and produce unpronounceable wines that no one has ever heard of. Sometimes the wines meet expectations and sometimes they don’t. But approach everything with an open mind, and you can appreciate them even more when they’re well-made cost a fraction of their counterparts in France.”

The drinks business Hong Kong would like to thank Michael Palij MW and Vino Veritas for co-hosting an extremely interesting discussion and for introducing Hong Kong’s wine consumers to a plethora of some of Italy’s most under-explored grapes.