03/28/2024
TONIGHT'S TASTING: DIRECT IMPORTS FROM ITALY
Courtesy of Small Vineyards
Thursday March 28 • 5:30 to 8:00 pm
As you know from our announcement on Monday, this is the last wine tasting under our ownership. And while weekly tastings WILL continue in the same format (informal, open to everyone, with no tasting fee), we felt it was only fitting to commemorate our transition with a tasting from Small Vineyards, our oldest import partner.
Tonight we're pouring seven limited quantity wines that they imported directly from Italy, and hope you join us in raising a toast to our shop's amazing history and bright future!
Club members: you can pick up your April wines tomorrow (Friday) after 5 pm, any time on Saturday, or next week during regular hours.
Finally, a big thank you for over 24 years of your support! Your patronage has helped make and maintain West Seattle Cellars as the treasured community resource it has become.
Here's tonight's delicious line-up:
• Groupe Uval, Umanu White — Our first wine of the night comes from Corsica, the Mediterranean island north of Sardinia and just off the Tuscan coast, that is technically part of France, but culturally very much a part of Italy. Made by a cooperative, this wine is a blend of 70% Vermentino and 30% Biancu Gentile, both minerally grapes that flourish in the limestone soil. It features flavors of citrus and melons that nicely balance the minerality. Small Vineyards recommends it with herbed goat cheese or shrimp scampi.
• La Quercia, Montonico Superiore “Santapupa” — La Quercia is a small, organic estate in the Abruzzo region on Italy’s rugged Adriatic coast where their 40-year-old vines grow in the family’s windswept hillside vineyards. Montonico is a white grape indigenous to the region and is known for producing fresh and citrusy but full-bodied wines. Recommended particularly for mushroom risotto or grilled seafood.
• Monte Tondo, Corvina Rosato Frizzante — It’s back! We were able to get a limited amount of this very popular, lightly bubbly Rosé, made by Marta and Gino Magnabosco from Corvina, the predominant red grape in Valpolicella and Amarone. It’s delightfully refreshing and would pair well with salumi or other appetizers.
• Cantina del Morellino, Cala Civetta, Ciliegiolo — Moving to Tuscany, we’ll get to taste this tasty Ciliegiolo—a red grape that gets its name from the Italian word for cherry and is often blended in small amounts in Chianti. It’s believed to be a parent grape to Sangiovese. This one comes from a cooperative in the Maremma region of southern Tuscany and is dark and rich with notes of ripe cherry and violets. Wonderful with any dish with tomato sauce.
• Vinea Domini, Roma Rosso — This friendly blend of 60% Montepulciano and 40% Sangiovese comes from the volcanic Castelli Romani hills, just southeast of Italy’s capital city. It has smooth plum and cherry fruit, with a touch of rustic tannins at the end that makes it a great companion to beef stew or cassoulet made with Italian sausage.
• Cantina di Venosa, Terre di Orazio Aglianico del Vulture — Many of you are familiar with the noble red grape Aglianico, which mostly comes from the area around Mount Vesuvius near Naples. However, this 100% Aglianico comes from a cooperative in the mountainous Vulture region in the northern part of the tiny province of Basilicata. It has the classic Aglianico dark plum and licorice flavors, with black pepper and black olive notes unique to this region. An ideal match for rich and savory meats, such as grilled steak, lamb, roasted pork, or braised barbecue ribs.
• Martoccia di Luca Brunelli, Rosso di Montalcino — This wine comes from Luca Brunelli’s tiny hilltop estate in Montalcino and, like Brunello, is 100% Sangiovese Grosso, a small grape with lots of power and Cabernet-like tannins. It is muscular yet accessible, with fine-grained tannins and bright flavors of cranberry and cherry. It should pair nicely with carbonara, pork chops, or meatballs in a Marinara sauce.