Riccardo Illy, Owner Of MASTROJANNI Brunello Here Today March 19th, Thursday Late Afternoon With Grappoli's David, Vittorio, Too!

This was a great impromptu tasting with the owner Riccardo Illy of MASTROJANN I in Montalcino ( Brunello ), Tuscany Italy the other late afternoon as he came by with his right-hand man Vittorio and our rep David Enright from Grappoli Imports. David had called me and so I knew that they would be stopping by ; at least he and Vittorio that I had met recently on Vittorio's last visit to Washington D.C. promoting both the MASTROJANNI 2007 Rosso di Montalcino and the 2004 Brunello. It was a pre-order wine-tasting where the wines were still in Italy and they wanted to get a response beforehand on what the interest in the wines might be? We ordered both and they are both still in the store , ready for sale. Now, however, thanks to Ricard : they are signed by him and ready for sale and gifts to loved ones as well as business associates, friends, people that have helped you in one or another way and deserve a " thank you " of some of the world's finest wines ...

Pictured above are ( left to right ) : Riccardo Illy, Lindsay Pike with Republic-National, me and then Vittorio. David Enright was kind enough to take this picture of the four of us together. I had invited Lindsay over to taste with me.




On this brief visit Riccardo, Vittorio and David had the samples of the MASTROJANNI 2008 Rosso Di Montalcino and the 2005 Brunello. I really enjoyed the MASTROJANNI 2008 Rosso Di Montalcino as it was quite nice now : medium-to-lighter-bodied, fresh and bright and lively and a classic example of this wine that is mean to drink earlier while waiting for the Brunello to be ready.




I love this picture above of Riccardo. He's smiling and looks so comfortable and relaxed here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) : what more could I possibly ask for?!?




The MASTROJANNI 2005 Brunello was very impressive but yet so very young and so filled with promise of what was to be much later. It definitely needed food with the stronger acids, the tighter, leaner and much less-developed middle and the tannins, too that were in-balance and yet too strong for me at this very precocious, young, adolescent stage. I will recommend that people buy some bottles as it is beautifully balanced and quite flavorful and yet still very elegant and poised. I will tell my customers to buy some and hide it away and pretend that they do not have any so that they will not be tempted to drink it before it's time at a very hearty and robust and less-evolved tender/rustic age.




Ah Vittorio, you spy me with my Canon camera below trying to take pictures of you all without your knowing as I want to capture more natural and less self-conscious and posed pictures. I like this one anyway : even though I know that you are onto me / see me up to my old tricks.




And here I capture again Riccardo looking really pleased and smiling and seeming to be very relaxed, too. I like this very much.




I love getting pictures of the wine poured from the bottle showing both the color/ clarity and the relationship between the two. This tells the story better : there is no doubt that the wine in the glass being poured for Lindsay Pike by David Enright is a MASTROJANNI wine because the label is clearly visible along with the color. Thanks David. I had told you Lindsay that you should try some of these two wines as they are some of the greatest being made in the world today. How did you like them? I forgot to ask you at the time as I was so busy taking pictures, trying the wines, talking with both Ricardo and Vittorio and enjoying " the moment ".




I had a chance to discover that Ricardo and his family come originally from Alto Adige in northern Italy I believe. They make wine now but before that in Alto Adige they made both chocolates and was it honey? I know that it was chocolate for sure. I wonder if they still make any ? Did they sell their business?




I will also be getting in May 2010 some " old vines " Cabernet Sauvignon that they make and bottle and sell with very limited availability. I have purchased two six-pack bottle cases that I am very excited about as they having some bottle age ( was it the 1999 vintage or the 1997 vintage ) are showing all the signs, flavors and tastes that I absolutely adore in Tuscan wines : period! This will be a very special treat for us to recommend to our customers in search of a great " new " Italian experience that tastes like the " old-traditional style " of Italian wine-making. Bravo for having continued in this vein and not ripped up the vines and started with young vines. I applaud the bottle I tasted originally with Vittorio on his first visit with David Enright six or so months ago was it? I have blogged already about that so that you may plug in his name here into this chatwine blog's search engine and read that, too.




This sure was a grand tasting and I will give David shortly an order for the MASTROJANNI wines that he just sampled me on. I'm excited about that 2008 MASTROJANNI Rosso Di Montalcino for drinking fairly soon as so many of our customers just can't seem to wait to try the wine. They find that they like it just fine and that's good and bad as in this manner they rarely get a chance to see how the wines evolve and grow into their own full personalities with all their liquid and wonderful quirks, pluses and idiosyncrasies,too. This is when I love a wine best : when the best foot is put forward and the other is not far behind! Cheers

A presto Ricardo e Vittorio, TONY