It is always a pleasure to watch my Bride at a wine tasting, when we were at Sip & Shop at Vertical Detroit, a restaurant in Downtown Detroit, and also owned by The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  She doesn’t always get a chance to accompany me to several of the wine tastings, so when she can attend, it is a joy to watch her.  At the “Italian Table” I got to watch her enjoy some Azienda Agricol Benito Ferrara Terra D’Uva Greco di Tufo DOCG 2022.  Benito Ferrara began in the early 1900’s and they now have eight hectares of vineyards.  Terra D’Uva translates to Land of the grapes.  Greco di Tufo DOCG was granted in 2003 and is the most famed white wine of the Campania region.  Tufo not only refers to the village, but also describes the limestone tufa. The grape varietal is also known as Greco, very predominate in Campania, as is believed to have been introduced to the region by one of the ancient tribal groups of Greece from Thessaly.  This particular wine is pure Greco di Tufo, but the classification only requires eighty-five percent. After harvest the grapes are soft pressed, the wine matures in Stainless Steel for about six months on the lees.  The soft golden hued wine offered notes of lemons, pears, and almonds.  A very crisp wine with tones of pears and a nice lingering finish of terroir.  

Then we followed with another wine that reminded me that I once missed having a chance to meet the proprietor and winemaker Riccardo Campinotti, of Le Ragnaie who was stuck in some airport, God only knows; but I remember his wines fondly.  Azienda Agricola Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2017 and this is considered his entry level Brunello.  Le Ragnaie is based in Montalcino, Tuscany and the estate is dedicated solely to growing Sangiovese grapes, which is the most planted grape in Italy and has a major home in Montalcino.  The estate is now twenty-eight hectares and has four distinct vineyards and the winery is one of the leaders of the region for creating cuvee-style wines taking advantage of the distinct vineyard qualities, very Burgundian in concept.  It is also enjoying some of the highest altitudes in Montalcino, in fact some are higher than the allowed height of six-hundred-meters, but he is working on that.  The original winery was started in 1991 in a much smaller estate with one of the original agritourism farmhouses and Riccardo took over and started expanding in 2002.  He was considered more daring and innovative and he has slowly mixed tradition with modernism.  The fruit for this bottle of wine comes from the Ragnaie, Petroso, Loreto, Fornace and Cava vineyards.  The initial fermentation and maceration using native yeast is done in concrete vats and may take up to forty days.  Then the wine is aged for thirty-six months in Slavonian Oak vats and then aged in bottle before release.  A beautiful Sangiovese with notes of red fruits and florals.  On the palate the striking tones of cherries, strawberries, cedar with a nice structured tannins that I am sure will even be more graceful in another ten years.  This was a nice chewy wine, that ends with terroir and spices.  An excellent chewy wine that belies the fact that it is the entry level offering, especially with my Bride continually telling me that she likes this wine.

The last wine we had at the “Italian Table” was Dosio Barolo del Communde di la Mora Piedmont 2019.  Dosio was established in 1974 on the site of an old farmhouse from the 18^th Century, and they have about eleven hectares of vineyards mainly between La Morra and Barolo. The property is five-hundred-meters above sea level with a scenic setting.  The winery was sold to new owners in 2010 who restructured and transformed the estate.  Among the communes of La Morra and Barolo there is a high concentration of limestone-rich marl soil, which is respected for the aromatic and fruit-forward style wines; La Morra is considered to be more perfumed and Barolo is considered to be more complex. This wine is pure Nebbiolo and planted on the blue marl soil of La Morra and the average age of the vines are twenty-five-years.  The fruit is hand-harvested, de-stemmed and crushed, maceration, Initial Fermentation and Malolactic Fermentation occurs in temperature-controlled tanks for about the first thirty days; then the wine is aged for a minimum of eighteen months in large casks.  The wine is a garnet red and offers notes of black cherry, roses and violets, tea, and leather.  On the palate a nice balance of acidity and velvety tannins, a nice big chewy wine considering that it is still young offering great tones of black cherries, nutmeg and spices, terroir and ending with a nice finish of fruit and chalk.  A good wine to put away for at least ten to fifteen years and would probably offer some special nuances in the following couple of years.