Well, that was unexpected. Earlier this week, I was a guest on Connections, a WXXI NPR radio program hosted by my friend (and the guy who literally wrote the book on NY Finger Lakes wine) Evan Dawson. Mostly, I just tried not so sound too much like an idiot compared to the show’s (much) more…
Puzzle Master (Fattoria Zerbina Recent Releases)
“The soil is like a puzzle.” When Fattoria Zerbina matriarch Cristina Geminiani talks about her Faenza area vineyards in Italy’s Romagna, she gives the distinct impressions that a) she knows what she is doing, and, b) isn’t prepared to take any sh*t about it. At least, that’s the sense that I got when I got…
Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For March 4, 2019
2016 Renato Ratti Barbera d’Asti (Piedmont): Brash, bold, and beautifully bountiful of brambly, berry fruit. $25 B+ 2014 Tenute Cisa Asinari Marchesi di Gresy Martinenga (Barbaresco): Perkily picking itself up and confidently wiping the topsoil from its leather jacket sleeve. $60 A- 2017 Donnafugata Bell’Assai Frappato Vittoria (Sicily): Floral, friendly, and fun, and capable of…
Fight The Good Fight (Castelluccio Romagna Recent Releases)
“Romagna had to fight a lot – and still has to fight a lot.” So mentioned Alessandro Fiore – who, along with brother Claudio, oversee wine production of Castelluccio, one of their family’s three winery operations – recognizes the oddly ironic state of Romagna wine. On the one hand, by most measures this hilly, picturesque…