cof2012

Some Things You Need to Know: Ramandolo

by whitney on April 24, 2012

On the last day of our Colli Orientali del Friuli trip, the wine gang took a car ride up to the tippy top of Ramandolo.

What is Ramandolo (rah-MAHN-doh-loh)? It’s the name of a town. It’s also a tiny appellation, the most northern in Friuli, home to only a couple dozen producers.

The Ramandolo DOCG, established in 2001, is a sweet white wine made from dried aka passito grapes. The star player in this grape situation is Verduzzo, an interesting little grape mainly because of it’s high tannins. When applied to a sweet wine, these tannins keep it interesting. Jeremy said it best when he described Ramandolo last year:

“…the best wines allowed the bitterness of the tannins and the sweetness of the residual sugar to play a gorgeous counterpoint harmony in the glass. Where I often find even some of the best dried-grape Moscato to be one-dimensional (think Sicily, think Piedmont), these wines — when done right — show depth and seductive character.”

Most are aged in barrique, but some not, like Giovanni Dri‘s very enjoyable 2008 Ramandolo below.

Look at that color! Ramandolo = liquid gold.

PS- my travel buddy Chris made an awesome map detailing the course of our Friuli adventures. Check it out!

Ronco del Gnemiz

by whitney on April 16, 2012

Let me set the mood.

The crackly sounds of an old jazz record played as the smell of smoked air and ash, like after a fire or the slow cooking of meats, welcomed us in. A curious little cat sat perched on the windowsill outside the kitchen observing the happenings and newcomers. The table was set, the wines were at the ready. This was the home of Christian Patat and Serena Palazzolo of Ronco del Gnemiz.

Christian and Serena shared some Chardonnay “Sol” out of magnum- a flight of three 2006 bottlings, two single vineyard and one a blend of both. It was a great opportunity to taste each vineyard on their own and how different the wine can be based on vine age. The younger vines producing a more powerful and acidic result and the older vines a more delicate and nuanced one.

We were also able to try their 2004 and 2006 Sauvignon “Sol”.

The real fun came with the Schioppettino vertical. Vintages in the lineup: 1988, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2006, 2009 and 2010. Awesome.

Enjoyed the 1989 and the 2010, but the 1996 was a standout- the perfect balance of earth, spice and fruit. It was a world in which both savory mushrooms and red jolly ranchers exist together in harmony. It was a happy place.

Speaking of Jolly Ranchers and a time when I actually ate them on the reg- in 1996, I was a sophomore in high school and starred in a production of The Hardy Boys where I had my first (incredibly awkward) stage kiss. That is all.

The Friuli 411

by whitney on April 10, 2012

So everyone reading knows by now that I’ve been in Colli Orientali del Friuli for the past week exploring the region and it’s wine (and food!) Let’s deviate from the wine talk for a hot minute and get the lowdown and run around on Friuli-Venezia Giulia. My fellow COF2012 blogger Wakawaka drew up this very handy map for us all.

Friuli has its own language and several different dialects within that! While tasting with Schioppettino producers the other night, we met Friuli language and culture expert Dino Persello. He is one awesome dude. It’s rare you meet someone so engaging and energetic. And authentic. But, such is the way of the Friuli people.

He said, “One of the things we are proud of is our own language. It is not Italian. Every village has its own dialect. The language I am speaking started here.” Dino calls his people “proud, loyal and selfless.” I am going to agree.

Wanna know some other cool stuff about F-VG? The Bora wind is no joke. Also no joke? Frico. That’s been established.

And fogolar for the win.

The dessert of choice for the region is usually some kind of nut/fig/raisin combo. We had a lot of Gubana, as seen below- a dessert that the locals like to douse with alcohol. Could be Grappa, like the Nonino Picolit we had at Specogna, or Slivovitz, a plum brandy.

While eating with the Specogna family, we ate an amazing soup made with Brovada. It’s essentially pickled turnips that are marinated in vinaccia. Turnips are placed in a barrel or large vessel with alternating layers of leftover grape skins from the winemaking process (the brovada process begins with the start of harvest and gets to fermenting throughout the winter months). It produces such a unique flavor and added a perfect tang to our creamy bean soup.

The thing you see above basically says, “Hey you! There is a frasca over here.” Frasca is not just the name of a very cool restaurant inspired by Friuli in Boulder, Colorado. It is an OG farm to table spot that you see throughout Friuli.  The folks in Boulder explain it well:

“Historically found throughout Friuli, Frascas were friendly and informal gathering places, a destination for farmers, friends, and families to share a meal and a bottle of wine. Identified by a tree branch hanging over a doorway portal, they were a symbol of local farm cuisine, wine, and warm hospitality. As the harvest came to a close, the branch would wither and change colors to indicate the end of the season. The Frascas would then close their doors until the next harvest season.”

Hope that got you a little more excited about this often overlooked and super freaking cool region of Italy. Some posts coming up this week: an eye-opening Ribolla Gialla at I Clivi and a jazz fueled Schioppettino vertical tasting at Ronco del Gnemiz.

Instagram photos of Frasca and Frico-razzi by Talia Baiocchi

A Specogna Surprise

by whitney on April 6, 2012

On trips like these, there will inevitably be times when you walk into a winery or someone’s home and have no idea what to expect. Or you expect the worst. I should know by now not to have any expectations at all, but so it goes. We arrived at Specogna, which none of the group had heard of before, on a rainy night and were all a little tired and really hungry. Or really full and not at all in need of food. This week it’s been hard to tell the difference, oddly enough.

You visit one cellar, you visit them all. Well, that’s not entirely true, but you get to the point where you don’t want to see another barrel or steel tank for crying out loud. You just want to get right to tasting the wines. We met the very charismatic and energetic Cristian Specogna and his older bother Michele in the driveway of the Azienda. They took us into the cellar…

But then. But THEN.

He took a barrel sample of their 2008 Pinot Grigio for us to drink at dinner. It was this color.

Our first Ramato of the trip. Finally! A style of, historically pinot grigio, production where skin maceration is employed. It’s named for the resulting coppery tinged color. When this happened, we knew things were looking up. I think we all grew about 2 inches with excitement and energy.

We all ended up loving this wine as well as their fresher 2010 Pinot Grigio. You know what else we loved?

Their 1998 Chardonnay. It was the very last vintage Crisitian and Michele’s father made. Aging beautifully!

I really enjoyed the reds as well! We’ve tasted many Schioppettino on the trip and this is one of my favorites- the 2009 Toblar, a joint project between Michele and a winemaker in Ramandolo. Great balance with pure fruit and that classic black pepper spice that hit me right in the back of the throat. The 2001 Pignolo wasn’t too shabby either.

It reminded me of my childhood. Horse barn, sweet oats, weathered saddles, wild mushrooms and musk. Iron and blackberries. There are those times when tasting wine that sense memory grabs your heart strings and unfolds a bundle of memories. It’s these moments you hope for and relish, whether expected or not.

Specogna will soon be imported to the States, only in New York at this time, through VOS Selections…you lucky bastards.

Ronchi di Cialla

by whitney on April 4, 2012

The first stand-out visit of the trip was at the wonderful Ronchi di Cialla.

We arrived and were greeted by none other than the man himself- Paolo Rapuzzi. He, along with his wife Dina, founded the winery and began planting the vineyards in 1970. One of my trip mates, Elaine, transcribed what Paolo told us of the beginnings of the things as we stood in the sun overlooking the hills of Cialla. Please have a look as my recounting won’t do it any justice.

We sat down for lunch with the whole family, pictured below are son Ivan and wife Dina. We were to taste several of the wines, some verticals with older vintages, and eat typical Friulano food. Done and done. Let’s do that!

Started off with a bang with their Cialla Bianco (ribolla, verduzzo, picolit). 2001 and 1994. Dang. The 2001 was as fresh as the day outside, but the 1994 was a wine you could sit with and think about life. The fruit had softened and mellowed delicately behind a powerhouse of minerality. Iron, iron and more iron. Crazy good with the Prosciutto di San Daniele served to us.

How about a vertical of Schioppettino, my current grape obsession? Yes, please. 2008, 1998 and 1988. Ivan said these wines best reflect Ronchi di Cialla since they are the most important for them. Man oh man. I could drink this stuff all day. The 2008 and the 1988 were winners, if there was any competition.

I can taste them right now as I type.  There was a freshness and vibrancy in the older wines that really impressed me. You know what else impressed me? The oak integration. All of the wines are barrique aged (40% new, 60% 2nd or 3rd passage) and you would never even know it.

We tried some great Refosco as well, 2004 and 1987. And finished lunch with a 1983 Verduzzo di Cialla that was freaking fantastic. “A sweet, but not sweet wine.”

A splendid day at the table.

An Adventure in Cheese

by whitney on April 3, 2012

We’re here! If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook (or Instagram!), you know that the whole COF 2012 crew made it safe and sound to the Colli Orientali del Friuli on Sunday. We arrived at our agriturismo in Corno di Rosazzo and hit the ground running. Running in the direction of a plate of pan-fried cheese.

It’s a frico, frico world ya’ll.

Frico seems to made in a slightly different ways, but Montasio cheese will always be the main ingredient and onion and potato can sometimes mingle. The frico above had 3 different ages of montasio and soft bits of potato. We chowed on this at the lovely little restaurant Solder (also a winery with some great, quaffable Friulano bianco and rosso.) If you’re curious,  this video shows the general technique of how to make frico (although some purists scoff at the addition of onions.)

Um….we had frico for dinner too.

PS- Gerard Depardieu loves frico. Duh.

PPS- do they sell lactase in Italy??