Phillip Williamson looks at a man from le Marche.
There is winemaking talent bubbling up all over the planet – the boys and girls who
will be tomorrow’s superstars. They wear it lightly as if it were their birthright
and care not one jot who buys their wines (or not). After all, they usually leave
Dad, Mum or someone else to worry about that.
They can be found almost anyway. France, the mother of modern wine production, has
plenty; Guilhem Goisot in the Yonne and Eric Forest in Vergisson are just two reinvigorating
their regions. At the other end of the earth Australia can put up brilliant young
guns such as Barossa grown Ben Glaetzer or Troy Kalleske. And in places in-between
the prodigious talents and energy of the next generation have been rewriting the
wine atlas of quality wine production. Sandra Tavares helps fan the new wave in Portugal
whether as part of the red wine revival in the Douro or at home in Estremadura, while
at Slovenia’s cutting edge (against the Italian border) both Marjan Simcic and Edi
Simcic are extending the quality threshold in Brda.
But let me start in Italy. Not beneath the murmuring cypresses in Tuscany nor among
the rows of ripening Nebbiolo in Piedmont’s Langhe but in the ruff-like crumpled
topography of the Marche, nestled against the Adriatic. Deep in the hills west of
Jesi (home of Verdicchio), after yet another turn in the road, can be found the small
farm of Natalino Crognaletti’s family. Arrive in September or October and there are
odours aplenty.
Not the smell of money or the whiff of marketing puff but the joy of fermenting grape
juice, quality juice from quality grapes. The welcoming smiles might include Natalino’s
Thai mother or one of several cats but don’t start thinking sentimental rustic charm.
Natalino’s touch seems almost intuitive, understanding each step of production from
the start of the vegetative cycle to bottling and labelling the wine. Everything
is considered and improved, if possible yet while Natalino may be the first to bottle
the family’s wines, drawing on 30-odd ha in addition to the family’s 5ha at Montecarotto,
he is also building on the family’s heritage of working with the vine. Viticulture
is biodynamic, but as a consequence of hard dedicated graft in the vineyard and not
for its own sake. The previous obscure Lacrima grape (nothing to do with Campania
or Vesuvio) gets a completely different take here with a serious red wine vinification
yet reveals refined measured tannins and superb fruit.
Sangiovese is in decline in the Marche but you have to wonder why after tasting the
Rosso Piceno Vigna Burello of impressive purity and expression, and then for the
cost of just a few euros. Natalino has even produced his own barrels (a family talent
– handed down two generations) to further enhance the quality in his Montepulciano-based
reds, a concentrated Rosso Conero (La Gattara) and the striking varietal version
Vigneto del Solleone. If a sensitivity to acidity, tannin or over-ripe fruit have
previously kept you at arms length from Italian wines then try these.
I actually discovered the San Lorenzo wines almost by chance. When tasting through
a range of Verdicchio in the consorzio’s cosy cellars in Jesi and finding an example
without any of the typical light, if sometimes attractive, Trebbiano coarseness I
knew immediately further investigation was required. In fact the revelation of the
reds, came only after I’d been confounded by the pure, beautifully defined, lightly
mineral whites. Their quality owes much to the selection of the best old clones by
Gino, Natalino’s father. Added to that there’s been top-flight consultancy, lately
from the white wine guru Hartmann Donà. Each one is compelling drinking, from a fresh,
perfumed Vigna di Giano Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi to the fine, more complete
superiore Vigna delle Oche and remarkably long-lived Riservas and special bottlings
(including 1991 and 1997).
The thing is, it is all good – nothing weak because it comes from leftover grapes,
nothing simple and commercial because it needs to hit a supermarket price point.
In fact nothing remotely of the sort, instead just handmade wines, the best they
can be. The wines are imported into the UK by those clever young chaps at Caves de
Pyrenes and to the US by Vias Imports (New York).
Wines tasted include: (all are worth a try)
2004, 2003 Lacrima Vigna Paradiso
2003 Rosso Piceno Vigna Burello
2004, 2003 Rosso Conero La Gattara
2002 Vigneto Solleone
2006 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Vigna di Giano
2005 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Vigna delle Oche
(several vintages) Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva Vigna delle Oche
For prices and retail stockists contact the UK or US agents:
Les Caves de Pyrene, Pew Corner, Old Portsmouth Road, Artington GU3 1LP
Vias Imports Ltd, 875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 2200 New York, New York 10001
