Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti Of Badia A Coltibuono Tuscan Reds, Tues. Afternoon @ Cleveland Park Wines, Wash. D.C. , March 9th, 2010

This was one of those visits that just kept getting better and better and did I mention, better? Well it did and I kept smiling more and more and I am sure what started with me as an inner smile began to radiate all around me. I liked meeting you very much Ema. I think we hit it off once that you adjusted to my running-start approach to meeting an owner or a wine-maker ( or both ) as I help customers, search for my Reidel wine-tasting glass, my Canon camera, a piece of white paper and also tape to attach the card to it so that they may write something later, my poster that I have them sign as well, bottles of their wine if they are already in the store ( for them to sign before leaving ), sign for orders coming through the door, answer the phone, stock some wine if necessary - whatever : it's not like I just wear one hat while working at Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits. I wear many and am almost always multi-tasking while I speak to them and through out comments of mine to see what they will say in response? I mean, whom am I dealing with? It's fun to try and get a real sense of them in the very short time I have and I do my very best to attain this goal as it may be one and only visit with them. I don't know, no one does and so I try and take full advantage of the opportunity before me.






I liked Ema ( Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti of BADIA A COLTIBUONO LOc. Badia A Cotibuono 53013 Gaiole in Chianti - Siene - Italy Tel: +39 05 77 74 61 10 info@coltibuono.com , www.coltibuono.com wine resort : Tel : +39 05 77 74 481 , Fax : +39 05 77 74 48 39 ) pretty much from the start. I loved her striking dark features with her jet-black shiny hair - the curls, the striking gleam in her eyes, the smile I coaxed from her every so often as she got used to my frenetic, intense ways. And then here it came : the moment of truth!




She poured for me the 2008 " Cancelli " Rosso di Toscano IGT with the Syrah blended with the Sangiovese. We were already talking about her brother Roberto that had come to visit our store and taste with our customers several years ago. I should have then mentioned David Bryant's name and yet it did not occur to me. It wasn't until much later as I was driving home that evening that David's name popped into my head. That's too bad. I would have liked to have asked her about David and to share any of her memories of him with Arielle and I. Arielle Monaco is our rep for the Country Vintners Import company now based out of Ashland Virginia the home of my Alma mater Randolph-Macon College. I like this association. I am sure Ema that between you and Roberto and your other brothers that you have some fun David Bryant stories? I would love to hear them anytime that you want to share them with me.

David unfortunately passed away two years ago on July 4th , 2008 I believe at a very young age and we miss him still. He did a lot to encourage both the Italian and later the Spanish wine business on the East Coast of the U.S.

I think that I first met Roberto with David when he brought him by Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. I've got those photos as well as what Roberto said here somewhere and will find them and include them as they deserve to be on the blog as well. Then Chris Pigott was our Country Vintner rep and it was Chris that brought Roberto by for our in-store/wine-tasting here.




But I am getting away from my story here with Ema. She pours me the " Cancelli " IGT Toscana Rosso with the Syrah in the blend and I am not so pleased with this very fine effort of theirs ( they make it work for a very good price ) to produce a more modern and less-typical wine from their region. Ema picks up on this immediately and understands me all too well. It has according to her been something that was necessary so as to continue producing their two " gems " that are also now organic : the 2007 Chianti Classico DOCG ( approx. $$25) and the 2005 Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG( approx $35 ).

Believe me, I understand Ema and I am glad that I could be utterly and brutally honest with you. I did go back and taste it after all the others and I have to say that it does hold it's own : it is a well-made and balanced wine that I believe will improve over the next twelve to eighteen months and open up and reveal more interesting complexity as well as clearer and more nuances of flavors. It's a bit monolithic for me at this point and does not really hold the attention of my palate or taste-buds. There's just not enough to stimulate me here but for $10.99 a bottle who am I to complain or be so critical. Forgive me Ema, I mean no harm. You've got a good bottle here and Arielle will taste it with some of the others the next time she comes to do an in-store weekend wine-tasting with our customers.

As you mentioned too Ema, the next time you come to Washington D.C. you are more than welcome to come taste your current releases yourself with our customers that will be delighted to meet you and taste with you.

One last thought on this COLTIBUONO " Cancelli " IGT dry red Tuscan blend. I complemented Ema on the bright red label and the design on it. I like it very much : simple, striking bold and elegant. It works for me. She tells me that it is a rendering of a sculpture that was given to the family. Does the word " cancelli " mean candles Ema? Is that what you told me at the time? I believe that it is.

Being an artist myself I am very aware of labels and their colors, contrasts, compositions, etc. You will notice as you see these pictures that I have taken digitally that they are not angles or compositions that you might normally see or expect? That's okay : it's my way to push the envelope for myself and my creativity as for art and for wine-story-telling as far as I am able at any one given moment in time. Sometimes I get more, sometimes less. The journey there is always the aim as I have to struggle and grope and hope that together with my Canon and my setting the the excellent people around me that with both timing. luck , chance, perseverance, skill, eye and gut coordination that I get some winners along the way ...








I love this picture above of you Ema. I captured you I think very well with one of your Tuscan reds in my Reidel glass her. Do you like it?



Next Ema poured for me the 2008 COTIBUONO " Ceatamura " Chianti DOCG ( $12.49 ) that we have always sold, off-and-on at Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits. It has been the constant in the line for us and I know that we will have some more to sell the first week of April or sooner. It will be nice to have it back as it is both balanced and showing quite well. It's a bit heartier and beefier than I might like. Again it reminds me of a slight compromise with the current tastes of our times which seem to want more power and heft and solidity to the wine? I liked it enough and thought that with again some more time in the bottle as well as some food that I would sing it's praises really loudly and enthusiastically.

However, I don't find enough room for myself or a way to get myself into the wine. As in the first it's like I am trying to get through the solid columns of flavor and taste that are hiding from my tongue the center and middle range which I like so much. I can't get inside the wine : it's too thick or tight and there's just nor room for me to fit myself completely into the taste as I love and want and need to completely lose myself.

I know, I know : what the hell am I saying/ blathering on about? It doesn't make any sense? Well, to me it does and I stand firm. I like the wine enough and for the price of $12.49 think it's a great deal : it's just not my taste and that's okay, too. Live and let live, drink and let drink, enjoy and let enjoy ... there's room for all of us and our differing opinions of what is good and what is not.




I think that Ema knew that I might have this impression. She was hanging on every word of mine and we did understand one another. We talked about the situation of wine in the world today, of Tuscan wine in the world of today and we understood that it was necessary this to be able to share their pride and joy of the last two already mentioned above of the COLTIBUONO organic 2007 Chianti Classico and the 2005 Riserva Chianti Classic ( both DOCG ) with the world that still loves and completely appreciates and understands them - however many of us out there that there still are.

Things change, the world moves on, peoples tastes are moved by what's in vogue at any one time. Nothing stays static : this is just the way it is now. How will it be tomorrow?




Next Ema gave me some of her 2007 " RS " Chainti Classico DOCG that we have also sold a fair amount over the years at Cleveland Park. Roberto poured this one as well and O have always liked the boldness of this label that looks like someone has used their own big and unmistakable wax seal to imprint on the white label. It's striking : it speaks of blood, of history and family and tradition, toil to get somewhere, of the intense red color of wine ; of the " here and the now " - the very much present and ready to be acknowledged and accounted for! I like it : nothing meek or innocuous here and that's always a great thing.

I was beginning with this one to feel " at home " once again : the prodigal son as in the wine has finally returned to the father and is being welcomed and embraced once again. It feels right - as it should. There's again a bit of boldness and for me as yet still unresolved flavors here with the Sangiovese and that's okay and fine by me. I'd give this wine still another twelve months or so to " fill and flesh out " in it's middle range which can comfort, support and serve as the life-line, the blood, the nutrient, the substance and the " raison ", the manner to attain much of what is attainable in oneself and life - a landscape and platform in the French expression : " raison d'etre ". It's more complicated than this, but this is a grand start and it leads into the last two along with Ema's really tasty huile d'olive, Tuscan extra virgin olive oil.

I wish Ema that Arielle had gone a couple of stores away to buy a baguette so that I might have sampled some of this excellent Tuscan extra virgin olive oil of yours. Somehow it just all went by much too quickly and we did not have any time left to focus on it. How sad for me as I would have loved to taste and look at it's color. But more on that later on.




Look at Ema's warmth and smile above just above her Chianti Classico here in my Reidel wine-tasting glass. I love the gleam in her eye : it attracts me and I succumb readily to the drag and it's/her pull on me. All eyes ( at least my two here ) are on Ema.

Look at the color of her Chianti Classico 2007 or 2005 below as the light from our intense ceiling lights above hits it? It's so lush and vibrant and like a sun-fused velvet here that you can float on just barely touching and yet relax every muscle and feel completely welcome and at home. No struggle, no worries, just the regal red and strength and glory and strong attraction of passion and of feeling wealthy and wonderful and yeah, a bit lovely with a tingle and fuzzy glow-feeling-warm-to-the-touch goodness.

My ohhhh my, whatever am I talking about / going on about here? The state of one's being, the joy in one's health and self-worth and appreciation of one's situation in a context of never-ending happenings in life as it happens and passes us and sweeps us up into it at times, drops us suddenly, settles us gently and carefully, doesn't even show that it notices us in the least. stops " kindly " ( I'm thinking Emily Dickinson here ) for us in a good way, not a final way. Somehow in all of this we feel that we are appreciated and a part of something larger than ourselves : and privileged to have been included.

See the head of the bottle reflected below in the color of it's own wine? The torre/tower that came to our rescue ( this last week of October 2009 ) that I told you about for my daughter and me in Tuscany Ema. Do you remember Ema? I told you how Torre had rescued us even though she did not speak a word of English? That she and Giulio had got us to our luncheon and wine-tour with owner Allesandro Nieri of Fattoria MONTELLORI?




It's a beautiful color indeed and I like it's various hues spread along the length of this Reidel tasting glass : like a lagoon or shimmering lake of COLTIBUONO Chianti Classico. If only such a place did exist?!? There would be peace in a place like this.




The picture above is one where I really experimented and had no idea what I would come up with as I tried to place mt Reidel glass strategically and my Canon digital camera as to get an interesting shot as I snapped away without seeing - just feeling - what was in the Canon camera's screen? It's bold and gutsy and interesting for me. What do you think Ema/ Arielle?




I really liked this 2007 COTIBUONO CHianti Classic DOCG organic dry Tuscan red. It spoke almost immediately through it's glorious nose first and then taste of all it offered up in multiple possibilities for all my alert and curious and thirsty/hungry senses. It had soaring highs and plunging lows and everything in between. It had easy access and entrance for all of me if I so wanted to enter into it.




It had all the tar and leather and spice and earth and terroir and sweat and grime and exertion of vine and grape and root - as well as endurance and determination to live and thrive and " arrive " ( it had certainly finally " arrived " on this palate of mine - becoming much more than just a " pal " to me but more like a soul mate ) . I loved it from practically the first sniff. It was love at first whiff! Corny, I know , but there's some real truth buried in these words that has just surfaced to me.




In this picture of Ema above she is thinking carefully of what I have been saying now in praise of these last two of her wines. It is sinking in nicely and I think that I have conformed what she first thought about me and my palate once I described my response to the first 2008 COLTIBUONO " Cancelli " Tuscan rose IGT above.




I like to take pictures of these beautiful rich red wines with luster and glow and a reflective/deflective quality that does both absorb the light as well as cast some of it off. I like to have it also here with Arielle's sheet with prices and names and vintages ( as well as date ) to tie everything in together as later when people look at this and memories fade that at least a number of the pieces are all here to bring together once again as questions arise.




I would show the pictures that I took to Ema and to Arielle after taking them. Arielle is by now an old hand at this sequence of ever-changing events as I snap away, talk and show and explain what it is that I am exactly up to? Do I even ever really know that for sure?!? Not really, but I have faith that with persistence and care that it will all come together nicely - in some form or another.




I liked both the 2005 COTIBUONO Riserva and the 2007 Chianti Classico ( approx. $25 ). The difference for me between the two was one of intensity, concentration and weight. I would chose one over the other depending upon what the circumstances of my meal, the time of the day or night, who was involved, what kind of food and sauces were involved.

The 2005 COLTIBUONO Riserva ( approx. $35 ) had more weight, intensity, was more opaque and perhaps less-filtered? I'm not sure about that. It did have two more years of age and so it's color had some more brick-red in it. It had more gravitas and mouth-feel for me. The flavors were more sharply delineated and etched like a piece of marble : more like one of Rembrandt's etchings of himself as an older man. I liked it very much and could easily have stopped the work part of my day then and there if it had not been for the very real situation that a French wine-maker named Jean-Marc Espinasse would be arriving shortly to do a two-hour tasting of his two southern Rhone dry reds : the 2007 Mistral and the 2008 Dentelles.




I like very much this picture above of you Ema. I took it from below and snapped away and hoping for a good picture or two. I got this one here and the nice thing was that you were not even aware I believe that I was taking it. What were we talking about here when I took this picture? Was it about your brother Roberto?




How do you like this picture above of the " RS " COTIBUONO 2007 Chianti Classico bottle with a glass of it's red poised precariously above in the Reidel glass?
I like it. It's a bit sculptural just like the label of the " Cancelli ". I should have taken one like this on that bottle, too.




At the end of this time that we spent together Ema I got my sketch pad and did some quick portrait sketches of you that I gave you as my gift to you for this excellent moment spent together, the three of us : Arielle, you and me.




My memory card was full and so I was unable to take any pictures of you with them and I am sorry for that. However, with your i-phone you took some and have sent them to me and I will include them here later as I like to have copies of the work that I have done as a souvenir as well.




You signed my guest book and my poster and it was a great visit, really. Thank you for that. Thank you for sharing your really well-made/balanced dry Tuscan reds with me. It was both a pleasure and a treat for me.




I love the glint in your eyes above : like the sun itself, lovely. You can't look too long just as you cannot look too long at the sun ; or you take your own life into your own hands or the eyes of another ...

You wrote in the guest book : " Dear Tony, a comment such as " excellent " from you has a real meaning for me. Thank you for your appreciation, It does make our work worth it " and your signed it : Cheers, Emanuela .













I leave this for now and post it , too with these last three pictures of the Tuscan reds being poured for me. Thanks again and come again soon Emanuela. You are always welcome anytime. Next time bring some bread with the olive oil so that I may taste it and enjoy it like my daughter and I did recently the last week of October in Tuscany, Italy.

WE went to two wineries in Tuscany and were able to taste the extra virgin olive oil of VERBENA just outside the town of Montalcino made a day before as well as that of the TENUTA VALDIPIATTA ( just outside the town of Montepulciano ) having been made just earlier that day by owner Giulio. Wow, that was a rare treat indeed and one that I am thrilled to have been able to share with my daughter. I mean, how many people from northern Virginia can claim that they tried Tuscan extra virgin olive oil the day that it had been pressed?!? Not many and I am glad to be among those that can as we must be a small group indeed.

Ema, I like this parting shot that I took of the two of us. Keep on making your great wines and we will keep on selling them at our store in northwest Washington D.C. in the Cleveland Park neighborhood that reminds many people of smaller towns and shopping areas in Europe. I like to think that, too.

You and Roberto and your family have wines that you may be proud of. I end with a last note about David Bryant that took me to Italy for the very first time to visit the wineries there and see how beautiful and wonderful Italy really is, especially Tuscany. I fell head-over-heels in love with Italy on the first visit back in 2005 I believe with David, chef Geoffrey, Randy King and Chris Pigott. Boy did we have fun. Thanks David fro bring Roberto to me here at the store years ago. May you be up in heaven enjoying many glasses and bottles of BADIA A COLTIBUONO. I'll drink a glass to you, drink one for me.

Cheers, TONY