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Wines of Italy, by Cozzi & Boffa

Having just returned from Tuscany I was recently delighted to be able to increase my exposure to Italian wine a little more with some wines from Winedoctor sponsor Cozzi & Boffa. Already well known to regular Winedoctor readers for their impressive array of Hungarian wines, featured in earlier write-ups in May and January, Jason Cozzi also has something of a leaning towards Italy it seems. As it happens, Italy is perhaps his first love, a nation he discovered - from a vinous point of view at least - long before he began importing the wines of Hungary into the UK.

A fascinating, multi-faceted and many-layered viticultural nation, there is clearly much more to Italy than the famous DOCs and DOCGs of Tuscany, Piedmont and Veneto with which we are all familiar, some of which are essentially brands of worldwide renown. What was fascinating about this selection of wines was the chance to look beyond these regions and famous names to some of Italy's less heralded (and perhaps less-hyped?) wines and estates. Before getting to my notes though, first I have provided a quick run-down of the regions concerned.

Emilia-Romagna lies to the north and north-east of Tuscany, running out to the east as far as the Adriatic sea. Effectively two distinct subregions, with Emilia to the west and Romagna to the east, and their capital Bologna situated on the boundary line, it would be easy to think of Emilia-Romagna as the east-coast alternative to Tuscany. Easy, but not entirely correct. For Romagna there is a certain truth to this approach, but the wines made in Emilia are very different.

Emilia is home to some of Italy's best known sparkling wines, typified by Lambrusco, the off-dry softly sparkling wine known worldwide, although the locals prefer a more authentic, drier style, often red rather than white. Although it is one of the Lambrusco grape's many clones that is most commonly utilised, other varieties committed to similarly sparkling wines in this region include Barbera, Bonarda, Pinot Nero and numerous others.

As for Romagna, this region does have more similarity with Tuscany, as here Sangiovese dominates, along with the white varieties Trebbiano and Albana; the latter grape has the curious accolade of being the first to be blessed with DOCG status, with the creation of Albana di Romagna in 1987. Nevertheless it is Sangiovese that provides most interest here, particularly from the more quality-orientated estates which are concentrated in the more southerly parts of the region, such as San Patrignano, Zerbina, Ferrucci and others, including the estate featured below, Tre Monti.

Specific mention should be made - as one example is tasted below - of Colli d'Imola. Produced from the little-known Pignoletto grapes grown on the hilly slopes around Imola in Romagna, this is a potentially fascinating white wine.

You don't have to travel far from either Tuscany or Emilia-Romagna to reach Le Marche, as this region lies to the south of the latter, the two sharing a continuous stretch of coastline looking out onto the Adriatic. Once a collection of small autonomously ruled states, the region was donated to the papacy in the 8th century and remained under the control of the Vatican - save for a few years of French occupation in the early 19th century - until 1860. From a viticultural point of view it is perhaps best known for Verdicchio, a white variety most often encountered in the shape of Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, as well as the reds Rosso Conero and Rosso Piceno. These latter two regions are overlapping and feature not Sangiovese, although this variety can be found in the more northern parts of the region, but Montepulciano.

Less well known is Offida, a small coastal DOC in the very southern reaches of Le Marche. The red wines made here were once bottled as Rosso Piceno, but this changed with the creation of the Offida Rosso DOC in 2001. The local whites, made from the autochthonous Pecorino and Passerina varieties have also been blessed with their own classifications, and two examples of these wines from Tenuta Cocci Grifoni are tasted here.

We now jump from these central Italian regions to the very south, first to Puglia, the heel of Italy's boot. Despite the fame of more northerly regions, Puglia produces a greater volume of wine than any other part of Italy, as well as growing a massive quantity of table grapes. Historically, much of the wine would have been exported for the production of Vermouth, or even to be illegally blended with paler wines in French appellations, but today many estates have turned their attention to producing wines of greater quality, especially using the indigenous Primitivo, perhaps better known to some as America's Zinfandel, although Negroamaro and other varieties are often encountered.

The wine tasted below probably says more about the producer, Schola Sarmenti, than it does about Puglia per se, even though it has been fashioned 100% from the aforementioned Primitivo. Loaded with dried fruits, dark chocolate and bitter-cranberry brightness, and carrying a mind-blowing 18% alcohol (hence the name Diciotto), it is not a wine for the faint-hearted.

Finally Sicily, a region that needs no real introduction, from a geographical, historical or indeed viticultural viewpoint. Today Sicily has a long-established reputation as a source of excellent wines, utilising both international as well as some fascinating indigenous varieties, including Nero d'Avola (as with the wine tasted here), Catarratto, Grillo and Fiano. The estate featured below, Feudo Montini, is a well-regarded source of such wines, with a focus purely on the indigenous grapes.

The wines tasted here are all imported into the UK by Cozzi & Boffa who provided these samples for tasting. I have included the Cozzi & Boffa prices below where available, as well as links through to Wine Searcher to ensure complete transparency. I must make clear that at the time of posting Cozzi & Boffa sponsor Winedoctor; nevertheless this is the limit of the relationship, and there is no commission or any other deal related to the wines described below. (10/8/11)

Wines of Italy - Tasting Notes

Tasted in August 2011. Click for stockists.

Tre Monti is also a member of the Convito di Romagna, a quality-orientated grouping of local estates created with the aim of distinguishing their quality wines from the mass produced plonk - often bottled under the same Sangiovese di Romagna DOC - produced by more industrial winemakers in the north of the region. The main part of the estate is located near Imola, although there are also vineyards near Forli.

Tre Monti Thea Bianco Colli d'Imola 2007: This wine is a blend which features as the star player Petit Manseng, not a variety I expected to encounter from north-east Italy. from vines planted in 2002, fermented cool in stainless steel and with no malolactic. Only 7000 bottles produced. A fairly rich hue in the glass, and an open and accessible nose too. It suggests a dry power, of richly expressive fruit, pithy and characterful, with notes of acacia, honey and white flowers. The start of the palate matches this impression, showing a rich and deep substance, but structured and well framed, with a good core of grip and pith which builds into a real seam of deep, spicy complexity. Its structure does tend to major on that amazing grippy substance (which makes me wonder about some skin contact, although none is declared) rather than acidity, but such is its substance that doesn't seem to matter too much. All in all an impressive, punchy wine. 17/20 (£24.00)

Tre Monti Thea Sangiovese di Romagna Superiore Riserva 2007: A pure Sangiovese, produced from vines planted in 1968. Hand harvested, the fermentation regulated to below 30 C, full malolactic fermentation followed by nine months in medium-toast Allier oak. The colour is certainly quite dark when poured into the glass, although this is no plush or showy simpleton. The aromatics have a dark, smoky and savoury distinction, with subtle charcoaly elements which can perhaps be traced back to the oak, but this is outweighed by with ripe and yet dark, delineated fruit. This latter element reappears in the midpalate, which tags along behind a cool, refined yet substantial entry, before relaxing in the middle where a fine and well defined frame of tannins and acidity envelope notes of plum skin, damson and cherry stone. The structure is admirable, polished and seductive, and yet still with that fresh, grippy bite. With its supple yet masculine finish, this is an impressive wine. 18/20 (£25.00)

Tre Monti Petrignone Sangiovese Riserva 2007: This Sangiovese hails from Emilia-Romagna, and sees a manual harvest, fermentation regulated to less than 30ºC and six months in a mix of one- and two-year old French barrels. A beautifully dark and richly coloured wine in the glass. The nose starts off with dark fruits, laced cherries, although then it starts to reveal notes of deeper complexities, little tinges of game and a seam of toast behind it all, although this later point is subtle; the judicious use of oak seems to work well with the fruit. A moderate substance at the start, before quickly unfolding to reveal a deep seam of fruit, rather firm acidity and most of all a lovely, tangible, barley water substance and texture. The substance of the wine copes very nicely with the acidity which is fairly full on, giving the wine a sappy-sour, drying mouthfeel. A great wine, fresh and brimming with character, and just crying out for a platter of osso buco. 16.5/20 (£16.99)

Tenuta Cocci Grifoni was born in 1970 with the acquisition of 23 hectares of vines by Guido Cocci Grifoni, and in his hands, and those of his descendents, it seems to have gone from strength to strength. The family are perhaps most notable for their undoubted contribution to Italian viticultural heritage with their promulgation of the otherwise unknown Pecorino, a variety rediscovered by Guido in the early 1980s.

Tenuta Cocci Grifoni Colle Vecchio Offida Pecorino 2009: Pecorino is just one of those many hundreds of indigenous varieties that make getting to grips with Italian wine such a fascinating and enjoyable process, and it is one only recently rescued from obscurity - extinction even - when a few producers in Le Marche established vineyards using cuttings from a handful of vines. Vinified free of oak, this wine has notes of Galia melon and freshly-picked green herbs on the nose, before showing fatter notes of rhubarb. It has a rather fleshy start on the palate which is suggested by some elements of the nose, with a gentle undercurrent of grip and a polished, fleshy, welcoming weight, leading into a clean finish. It's wonderful to taste wines like this, which are not merely beverages but which form part of a complex viticultural heritage. Focusing in on what is in the glass and nothing more, I would appreciate a firmer backbone of acidity than this wine offers, but it is still a very worthwhile glass. 15.5/20 (£15.99)

Tenuta Cocci Grifoni Il Grifone Offida Rosso 2004: This is a blend of 80% Montepulciano and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Offida DOC. The two varieties are fermented at 28ºC before élevage in 50-hectolitre Slavonian oak vats followed by 5-hectolitre barrels. It has a really dark and glossy hue, showing lots of appeal, a dusty-claret tinge at the rim but certainly nothing advanced. On the nose there are some good characteristics, dark and dried fruits sprinkled with notes of dark chocolate and more notably a rich seam of savoury aromatics. Textured on entry, showing a good flesh, but all well framed by a backdrop of svelte, ripe but still tightly-grained tannins and also a nicely balanced acid backbone. Through the middle the wine shows a really lovely presence in the mouth, with a detached, deep, slightly charcoaly and yet still juicy quality of fruit, which is all followed up in the finish by those tannins, which really coat the palate here, giving it a chewy, lip-smacking feel. Lovely wine. 16.5/20 (£22.00)

Schola Sarmenti is a modern estate located around Nardò, right on the heel of Italy's boot. Here Lorenzo Massa fashions an array of characterful wines, with a strong focus on local varieties including Negroamaro, Malvasia, Nera Leccese and, of course, Primitivo.

Schola Sarmenti IGT Salento Rosso Diciotto 2008: Bottle number 0196. Few wines merit any mention of packaging, be it label or some other aspect of the finished product. But this wine does; in what is near enough two decades of being interested in what swirls in the glass in front of me, this particular bottle has the undesirable record of being the fattest and heaviest that I have ever held in my hand. And the declared alcohol here is 18%, the sort of number that gets me thinking of Touriga Nacional, terraced vineyards and stilton. Or perhaps, this being Italy, we should think of Amarone. The colour in the glass is dark with a matt, red-black core. The nose reflects these thoughts, with a dried fruit character, showing notes of raisins, desiccated cranberries and figs, mixed with dark chocolate and a confected smokiness. The palate starts off with a restrained and gently creamy texture, but quickly tightens up in the midpalate to show a wine that is fermented dry, although it retains the dried fruit intensity and concentration that the nose suggested, along with an intensely bitter cherry and just-ripe blackberry character which lingers through the finish, as well as a pile of acidity. A fascinating wine, intense and biting, taut and challenging, a balanced juxtaposition of many different forceful elements. Remarkable, although a wine that is distinctive and sure to divide opinion. 16.5/20 (£45.00)

Fabio Sireci, proprietor of Feudo Montini, fashions a small range of wines from indigenous Sicilian varieties, favouring Nero d'Avola, Catarratto and Grillo. He cultivates other varieties, but sells these onto more famous estates such as Planeta. Indeed, his other grapes were also once sold off, but in the 1990s - 1999 in the case of the Nero d'Avola from the Vrucara vineyard - he decided to bottle his wines himself.

Feudo Montini Vrucara Nero d'Avola IGT Sicilia 2007: From 90 to 120-year old Nero d'Avola vines (the fruit of younger vines is bottled separately) in the 5-hectare Vrucara vineyard, which sits at the base of an impressive amphitheatre. In the glass it has a dark and yet still vibrant core, with a fine density of hue right out to the rim. The nose is very appealing, dark and savoury in character, with elements of spice and smoke laid over a fine, dry but ripe layer of dark fruits, plum and cherry skins, roasted herbs and dried olives. This savoury element comes through on the palate, which is rich and yet with a silky sense to the structure through the middle, with a ripe and well honed substance into the finish. Coolly composed, grippy and with a long, lingering finish which has a polished, silky-cottony feel. This is really delicious, the presence it has on the palate really goes the extra mile. 18/20 (£29.00)