It was great to meet Gaincarlo Greco one of the seven brothers of the IGreco winery ( Via Magenta , 33 - 87062 - Cariati, Calabria ( Cs )) that came to taste his excellent current releases with Sotiris Bafitis of Vinifera Imports.
They came last week : was it Tuesday, November 5th, 2009? It was last week and it was a delight to have Giancarlo at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 anthonyquinn@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) as I have just returned from Italy and want very much to keep the expereince alive and the embers from my one-week trip with my daughter burning steadily all the time from now on. That's a really steep order : but I intend to do everything that I can to make it a reality. This excellent taste of both red and white wines along with two extra virgin olive oils sure did help in this personal mission of mine.
We sampled an assortment that included : 1) 2008 " Filu " white IGT Calabrian dry, 100% Greco, 2) 2006 " Cata " IGT Calabrian red made from 100% Gaglioppo , 3) 2007 " Masino " Nero Di Calabria ( 12 months in barrique/ 12 months minimum in bottle before release ), 4) 2006 " Tuma " ( 22 months in barrique and 20 months in bottle ), 5) NV Oil Extra Vergine and 6) organic " Tartufa Bianco " extra virgin olive oil.
This was quite the tasting and quite the event. I loved it and I did take some notes which I will include here shortly. I will post this now and go up and make dinner for my family on this Monday evening at home in northern Virginia on November 16th, 2009. It's been an absolutely beautiful day on this my day-off and I have worked hard on raking and bagging leaves outside as so many have now fallen from the trees. More about that later as well as much more about Giancarlo and his strong character and personality and excellent wines and olive oils.
I'm glad to have met you Giancarlo. Cheers e a presto ... TONY
We started by tasting the 2008 " Filu " bianco that is made from the Greco grape that I am less familiar with I must admit. I do not know it as well as I would like to. I found it " was a distinct white, tasty and balanced ". I would like selling it and using it to introduce people to the Greco grape variety.
Next we enjoyed the 2006 " Cata " red made with 100% Gallioppo grapes that are indigenous to the region of Calabria as is the white Greco grape. At this point I mentioned that the winery LIBRANDI also made a 100% Gallioppo grape dry red. They insisted less than a year ago that it was the only vineyard in Clabria that made a 100% Gallioppo. I guess that that is no longer true as I was trying Giancarlo's. He knew about LIBRANDI and insisted that it was also excellent but completely different. It will be interesting to try them side by side at some point.
I liked the 2006 " Cata " and wrote that it was " soft, bright, more up-front " in it's fruit and flavor profile.
I like both these wines and will enjoy selling them. However, I do find them at the top of the price spectrum and would like to see Vinifera lowering their mark-up here to bring them more in line with what they should be. Correct me if I am wrong : but this is my humble opinion after more than thirty years of selling the whole spectrum of world-wide wines available to me/ and the Washington D.C. metropolitan region.
MOre would be sold this way and thus more people would know about the Greco and the Gallioppo indigenous grapes of Calabria. It's a win-wine situation in a difficult economy just now when everyone is trying to do with less and certainly spend less on things, wine included.
We then passed on to the 2007 " Masino " that is made from the indigenous Nero Di Calabria grape. Because of the 12 months in barrique barrels and then 12 months in the bottle ( this is a minimum ) before being released this " Masino " has a chance for it's character and personality to really develop and shine once released and when let to breathe properly and then served with food. These are all food wines that Giancarlo and his other six brothers have crafted for us to enjoy.
I wrote of this 2007 " Masino " that it had " more pepper, spice, earth - more pithy , medium to light bodied, a food wine ". I was comparing it to the 2006 " Cata ".
Of the 2006 " Tuma " dry red blend of Nero Di Calabria and Gallioppo grapes I wrote : " elegant, refined, balanced : silky yet very flavorful ". The 2006 " Tuma " spends a minimum of 22 months in barrique barrels and then another 20 months in the bottle before being released for sale.
I was impressed with all these wines so far and had no idea that I would soon be blown away by the Tartufa Bianco/truffle-infused extra virgin olive oil. Yes I liked the regular olive oil, too : but we must carry the white truffle-infused one and introduce people to it.
The truffle-infused extra virgin olive oil from Calbria will sell for $25 or so dollars for a 500ml bottle but it is totally worth it! I'm convinced, no doubt at all in my mind here.
Giancarlo said that it would be excellent with pasta and beef dishes because of the white truffles. I wrote of this " " so intense - the bouquet, with no bite, no burn : fabulous, so smooth, silky and elegant-refined. It's a " must buy " ". This will be fun to sell and add into gift packages at the store when our customers want to give a really special gift. The addition of a 500ml bottle of this stunning extra virgin olive oil infused with white truffles will floor people and make them stop everything that they are doing to concentrate completely on the enjoyment of this experience.
I have more to say and pictures to add but I am posting this now. Enjoy and stay-tuned for more. Cheers, TONY
The name of the estra virgin olive oil ( 95% ) with the white truffles is called : " Valle Nika " Al Tartufo Bianco. I have taken lots of pictures of it along with all the pictures of the wines here.
You can see that I like to take pictures through the wine glass as so many things are captured and distorted and added that you would never expect with the bright lights above the store captured and adding accents and framing often both the wine or the olive oil or the people themselves. I love this.
I also love how in some of the pictures there is a yellow/golden coat on the Reidel wine glass that I photograph Giancarlo through. I like these as you can still see through the oil.
These pictures tell a story and a time and a place and a moment and the items and the characters involved such as our customer Steven that I invited to taste as he entered the store. He accepted. That was nice to include him.
Also rep David Enright of Grappoli Imports came in with his Italian Tuscan, Montalcino export manager Vittorio Zoppi ( MASTROJANNI ) and as I was so very excited over discovering this extra virgin olive oil infused with white truffles that I immediately invited them to taste it, too. And they did and I think they both really enjoyed it as I did.
Being an artist I am interested in framing and capturing the whole moment that I am sharing with others with an artist's eye. It's all important to me and I love capturing it both with my photos and with my words.
I don't think I have ever had an extra virgin olive oil infused with white truffles and so this is why I have spent so much time on this. It's a brand new experience for me and a wonderful one at that. Thanks Giancarlo and Sotiris.
I also like the story of the people that are behind the wines and other products like the olive oils that we sell at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. I like hearing about the people.
It caught my attention when I heard Giancarlo say that he was one of seven brothers. What do the other six do in the wine-making process or that of making the olive oil? I'd like to hear more about them sometime. What more can you tell me Giancarlo?
It's personal on many levels for me. Sure it is business but it is a business run by people and they are key players in what products and wines are made and why.
I will add more soon but it's now time for bed as I have lots of wine to sell tomorrow. Cheers ...
