Summer's Indie Wine Finds.....

Throughout our travels, we have the great fortune of finding numerous hidden gems, or 'Indie' wineries, as I like to call them.  We have the pleasure of meeting producers that are making wines in harmony with nature, many biodynamic, and organic... and each of them treating the land and the vine with the utmost respect that they deserve.  These are the wines that are full of charming and unique personalities, and represent the antithesis of the mass produced wines

that unfortunately saturate the market. 

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True artisinal, terrior and handcrafted wines often represent the wine maker him or herself... and so getting to know the person behind the wine for these boutique wineries is just as important as getting to know the wines themselves.

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My mission in this blog is to share with you the wines, and introduce you to the artists behind the wines that make our eyes light up, that 'wow' us, that inspire us to learn more, and that keep us on a constant and fascinating journey in the world of wine.

I hope you Enjoy!

Summer

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Gambero Rosso 'Tre Bicchieri' Tasting

San Francisco March 4th, New York City March 6th

The Iuli stand in San Francisco

Amy and I had the pleasure of pouring with Fabrizio Iuli at the 'Three Glasses' awards tasting both in San Francisco and New York this March.  The Iuli wines are not yet present in the US market, so the buzz at the fair around his table was exciting and a clear result of his brilliance with the Barbera grape.  Over and over guests were coming to our table telling us, 'they heard they HAD to try this wine'.  The events were a great success, and we had a blast!

March 20th 2009

In incredible Piedmont... tucked away in the DOC Monferrato region, in the provence of Allesandria, is one of our favorite 'hidden gem' wineries, Iuli.  We visit as often as they'll let us, and bring many of our clients to enjoy the vineyards, the view, laughs, and to enjoy a barrel tasting led by Fabrizio himself.

Fabrizio (on right) walking his grandfathers vineyard

Fabrizio Iuli makes 5 different wines, and each one has it's own unique personality, yet are all clearly members of the same family, which is a pleasure to discover.  There are three 100% Barberas, Umberta, Rossore, and Barabba, one nebbiolo/barbera blend called Malidea, (which means 'bad idea' in English, and my personal favorite), and a Pinot Nero, Nino, which he planted about 8 years ago (being a huge fan of Burgundy).  His total production for all five labels is only around 35,000 bottles a year!

Fabrizio among his barrels

Upon our first visit to the cellars we were greeted with a huge smile, and joined a group of fellow tasters that we later learned were friends, colleagues and fellow wine makers... we were quickly all friends.  The 'cellar' is in the basement of Iuli's home and agriturismo, so you he more or less 'lives' with his wines. Therefore Fabrizio has an easy way of making everyone that comes to taste his wines feel at home.  The wines very much reflect the personality of Fabrizio himself, warm, easy going and a friend to everyone. 

While each label is unique, they have the common thread of being extremely approachable, easy to get to know, and wines that you want to spend time with.  Bright and full of character, and a refreshing acidity I can not get enough of, each vintage shows us something different in the glass in a manner that you don't find often anymore. 

Fabrizio lets the wine 'tell him' when it's tired of being in the barrel... and only then does he bottle, regardless of what the market wants.  The top botteling, Barabba, which is 100% Barbera from a 70+ year old vineyard his grandfather planted, spends almost 3 years in new French oak, but you would never guess this because it is so gently and patiently integrated.

70+ year old Barbera Vine that 'Nonno' Iuli planted

Iuli is organic in his vineyards and cellar, and does not filter or fine his wines, just adding to the incredible debth and life of the wine.

The 2004 Barabba won the coveted 'three glasses' award this year!  The 'tre bicchieri,' is the highest accolade for an Italian wine, awarded by the Italian wine guide, 'Gambero Rosso,' dedicated to the top 300 wines out of about 18,000 entries each year.

Here is the write up in the 'Gambero Rosso Italian Wines' 2009 guide book:

"...the Barbara del Monferrato Superiore barabba 2004 sweeps aside all remaining doubts with its best performance ever, earning Three Glasses.  It is

concentrated without losing finesse, delivering complex aromas of fruit, spices and flowers, and a dynamic, rounded palate with good acidity and endless lenght.  It's a monument to the variety, the frontier-like land and a courageous, patient winery."

To personify the wines as we love to do, the Barabba and the Malidea are both definitely on the masculine side with a stronger structure and a bit more power, where as the Umberta and Nino have more of an elegant floral and feminine personality to them.  The Rossore on the other hand keeps us guessing vintage to vintage, but most vintages I find the wine to be a 'him'. :)

The five Iuli labels

Please contact us if you are intersted in more information on these wines and where to find them.

I also invite you to please visit the Iuli site for the technical sheets on all of the wines as well as more photos and an interview with the producer Fabrizio Iuli.

http://www.iuli.it/eng/2006/06/fabrizios-story.html

Cheers!