Check out my monthly wine review for my friends over at Life in Abruzzo, published 2 August 2010.  If you enjoy summer BBQs Italian style, then this wine is for you!

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I think whether or not you consider yourself a wine aficionado there will always be bottles that you remember, and for me one of these is the Capestrano Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.  Whilst I have not enjoyed this label for a long time, when I did the other day it immediately conjured up memories. This wine is one I have shared with many friends & family, and being able to enjoy it again (on my birthday!) not only brought a smile to my face but it solidified its place in my “got-to-have” wine list as a must.

If there is one thing that I think sets Abruzzese wines apart from other regions in Italy it’s drinkability. Take it from someone who has been drinking wine longer than I would like to admit, Abruzzo is often overlooked in comparison to Tuscany (for example); but this charming and rugged province rarely produces a bad bottle. The Montepulciano grape is a sturdy one, and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is dry, slightly fruity, and while usually consumed young has softer tannins (in my personal experience many people are turned off by super-tannic wines, and most winemakers will tell you if something is too tannic then it needs to remain in the cellar for sometimes up to ten more years).

The Capestrano Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from its inception was a great idea: bring great quality to wine lovers without costing them a fortune (a bottle retails between US$9 to US$12 depending on the vintage). Located at the foothills of the Gran Sasso mountains, this wine was named after the small town of Capestrano which is home to a unique microclimate of warm days and cool nights. Between the favourable growing conditions and the care used to produce this wine, it is an excellent representation of the Abruzzo-Molise tradition.

A beautiful plum colour in the glass, this 2007 wine is rather forward in its aromas of spice, dark plum, black raspberry, and other earthy notes. It does not require much aeration, but like most red wines, will benefit from it. On the palate it could almost be described as resembling fresh jam due to strong notes of dark berry balanced by natural acidity and fairly medium tannins. Black raspberry dominates the finish, but some of the spice and robust earth that first hit the nose round everything out quite nicely with each and every sip.

If you are looking for a wine that will hold up against strong foods (i.e. wild game) and grilled meats (particularly good for the summer barbecue season), then the Capestrano is an excellent choice. In very typical Abruzzo fashion I shared a feast of lamb, grilled sausage, and veal with my family, and the wine most certainly held its own. Whenever I think of this wine I can’t help but compare it to an old friend; it’s dependable, fair, and even after an absence, treats you so well you can’t ever imagine spending time apart again.

As always, this is my monthly wine review for my good friends over at Life in Abruzzo.  Go check them out to learn all about “L’regione verde di Europa!”

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I will be the first to admit I had not heard of Villadoro Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine until I was shopping around for something worthy of a review, but as you will soon see, I think I stumbled on the surprise of the month.

Like many wines from the rustic Abruzzo landscape, Villadoro’s deep ruby hues are a tell-tale sign of rich soil, but that’s where the commonality to other wines of the region ends.   Immediately to the nose I knew this was going to be unlike others I’ve sampled because it did not have that typical fruit-driven scent.  In fact, there was a strong smell of smoke and slight spice and that was all prevalent within seconds of pouring my first glass.

The Villadoro was nothing like what the label had described since it said the wine should be fruity when it was anything but that. To the contrary, it was on fuller-bodied side for an Abruzzo wine and gave off great notes of smoke and spice.   there was fruit present on the palate, it was prevalent in the finish and was predominately that of black cherry and deep berry which was a great transition from a somewhat bold beginning. I thought this bottle was playing tricks on me because it was such a departure from the average regional wine and how the Montepulciano grape tends behave. Even after a few glasses and much breathing, the Villadoro still did not act as “fruity” as the label wanted me to believe and it was almost like drinking a baby Negroamaro from Puglia.

In an extreme case of happenstance, pairing this wine with food was nothing short of serendipitous.  My latest food obsession has focused on Croatia thanks to a friend from a small town that during his youth was actually part of Italy.  I specifically went to a market in search of Balkan goods and the wine was a perfect match for some ajvar spread on a rustic bread and ćevapčići (pronounced “chee wap chi chi”), which is basically Croatia’s answer to the hamburger. Combine small, grilled pieces of spicy beef on bread plus ajvar – a tapenade of tomato, eggplant, garlic, vinegar, and paprika – and it’s as if this dish was made for this unique wine.   Assuming you cannot find Croatian delicacies near you, do not hesitate to have this wine with meat dishes or pastas. In my opinion the Villadoro would be an amazing compliment to one of Abruzzo’s signature dishes of strozzapretti with a wild boar ragú.

Taking into account all the wonderful surprises this wine provided me in the course of an evening one might think I could not have been any happier, but I saved the best for last: I managed to find a magnum of the Villadoro 2007 for US$11.99! With all these good things stemming from just one bottle of wine, there is no excuse why you should not have this in your home.

What is the Slow Food Movement? Perhaps the best answer for those of us here in the States is that Slow Food is the polar opposite of the way we live and eat today.

By definition, “Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.”

I actually had no intentions of writing about food today, but that was until I got into a conversation with my good friend (and fellow foodie, wine geek, and cigar lover), Tony Ricciardi. For some reason I got on the topic of cheeses and honey from La Porta dei Parchi, which is a farm I’ve mentioned here before because it is owned and operated by the Marcelli family in Abruzzo, Italy. The Marcellis are a prime example of Slow Food and produce hands-down the best honey and some of the best cheeses and olive oils I have ever had the pleasure of tasting.   Their company represents a completely sustainable and very old world approach to making three inherently basic Italian foodstuffs.

In any case, I was telling Tony about the tasting the Marcellis had at Dean & Deluca in SoHo last Friday and I couldn’t stop raving about the family’s honey.  While they offer six different varieties, the honey they used at the tasting was their Girasole (Sunflower), and as Tony can attest, I think this honey is the stuff dreams are made of.  It’s granular, sweet, and while a very vibrant yellow, is so pure that you can taste many of the natural herbs and flowers that are unique to Abruzzo.  It’s only when something is clean and gifted to the palate from the Earth without the “aid” of industrialization does one ever get to taste something so pure and amazing.

After my long soliloquy on something as simple as honey, Tony directed me to a video of Chef Dan Barber who gave a speech in Napa on foie gras.  Now, I LOVE foie…I mean I really, really, really love it.  I’ve literally gone to some restaurants and eaten it multiple ways as appetizers or in one case (thanks to the flexibility of the Blue Ribbon staff), had foie gras incorporated into every course during a dinner there.  On the other hand you don’t need to be a chef or a foodie to know the controversy that surrounds this succulent delight and Barber aptly addresses the conundrum.  He speaks of finding a farmer in Extremadura, Spain by the name of Eduardo Sousa, who as the fourth generation is carrying on his family’s rather private tradition of making foie the kind and sustainable way.  I don’t want to detract from Dan Barber’s ability to tell a story, so I’ve included a link to the video below.  Be warned his presentation is twenty (20) minutes long, but it’s worth it to hear this amazing story:

Dan Barber and the Foie Gras Parable

I couldn’t help but hypothesize  to my friend both before and after this video about what food would be like here in the US if we didn’t go the industrial route.  What would our country look like and what would everything taste like?  For one I’m sure most people would agree that obesity would not be the giant (no pun intended!) issue that it is today because our bodies wouldn’t have been exposed to so much processed junk.  If the US wasn’t so bent on making everything bigger, cheaper, and faster we might not have such high rates of heart attacks, diabetes, and hypertension.  While I could go on forever about the positives, there are of course negatives: Tony aptly pointed out how there is zero incentive for farmers and the US government makes this kind of approach to food and life nearly impossible today.

Have you ever tasted something that changed your perception of it?  Something so fresh and so clean because it is 100% natural?  I would rather eat a piece of beef from a cow that spent its life eating tall, sweet grass than run to a McDonald’s for what they call a burger.  The same case stands for the Marcelli’s cheeses which are young and unpasteurized: made by a unique breed of sheep native to Abruzzo, one can literally taste all of the special flora and fauna consumed by the sheep and it’s magical.  This is the scenario you have when no big machines are used, no preservatives are added, no artificial flavours or colours present — simply  Earth-given ingredients  in the hands of artisans who understand them make the most tasty and most healthy foods of all.

Believe me when I say I know life today is crazy.  Many of us work like beasts of burden and on top of other obligations like family it can be so difficult to put good food on the table in both a timely and cost-effective manner.  I urge any of you whom are reading this to take advantage of the change in season and even if you too live in New York City, head down to Union Square or any other farmer’s market and buy farm fresh ingredients.  I challenge you to get fresh herbs/vegetables/fruit/meat/cheese and cook with it a few times;  I guarantee not only will your food taste better, but you will not need nearly as much of any ingredient to taste rich flavour. Experiment and you will soon see that the pre-packaged (or processed) version of things you’ve become accustomed to requires so much in your food to even be able to come close to the natural, fresh-from-the-Earth version of raw taste.  Besides helping your body, I know you will enjoy your food that much more and you will help keep the farm industry alive. Honestly, you have nothing to lose except maybe a few inches off of your waistline!

Below you’ll find my latest wine review for my friends over at Life in Abruzzo about the region’s wines.  This specific bottle I picked up can be found aplenty and after you read my thoughts about it, I think you’ll be grabbing a bottle or two yourself!

Also, don’t forget to visit Life in Abruzzo regularly to learn about the goings on in one of Italy’s most magical regions: I guarantee you it will make you want to go plan a trip right away!

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Cantina Zaccagnini’s Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is as popular in New York as it is back home in Abruzzo.  Walk into any wine shop and ask for something from this region of Italy and I guarantee you that eight out of ten shops will have the Zaccagnini Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, and more than likely it will be the 2006 vintage.

A beautiful wine any time, this medium-bodied red was bright in colour with slight interpositions of garnet: a rather attractive wine just to stare at!  The first sip I must admit took me by surprise because while I expected it to be fruit forward, the initial taste was a large bouquet of strawberry, raspberry, and sweet plum. While I have to admit I was taken aback by this berry burst of sorts, I decided to let it sit for a few minutes and see what happened.

This Montepulciano d’Abruzzo opens up nicely and once it is truly ready to drink it is supremely balanced. While the fruit will always remain on the front of the palate—a tell tale characteristic of this kind of wine—there are some wonderful earthy notes to its finish. There are some nice wood and solid tanins here, and with the right pairings some of the otherwise slight smokiness and light spice do come through.  Another impressive trait here is the wine’s consistency: it will not fight you and it is wonderfully pleasant whether you are eating something
or just sipping.

As far as pairings are concerned I love it with more delicate meats and foods that will help accentuate the wine’s more earthy finish. It worked rather well with a small antipasto of semolina bread, a young pecorino and  bresaola, since the beef being slightly thicker than your average carpaccio provided just enough flavour on the tongue. To follow, the Zaccagnini worked beautifully with some sautéed veal cutlets and broccoli di rape with golden raisins and crushed hot pepper. (A rather Abruzzese meal if I do say so myself!)   The spicy and sweet from the rapini and the earthiness of the veal made for a perfect interplay.

Just as it would be for any wine varietal, one can spend a lot of money or choose to spend a little.  The Zaccagnini Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a great value locally at $14.99USD/£10.90/€9.00 and it can definitely stand up to the more expensive Montepulciano d’Abruzzos out there for $60.00USD or more. This is definitely one of those situations where if you can, stock up on this wine; even if you do not want to buy a case, you can feel better about saving some money with a few bottles and taking your leftover change and splurging on more cheese and meat!

Today one year ago at 3:32a, L’Aquila and its surrounding areas were rattled by a devastating earthquake. The 6.3 magnitude quake is considered one of the largest post-war natural disasters in Europe’s history and it left 60,000 people homeless.  The bells rung today at a candlelit vigil in downtown L’Aquila 308 times: once for each life lost.

While at first the efforts by the government and emergency crews were praised worldwide, most people still remain in temporary housing and are not able to stay terribly close to where their homes once were. Medieval architecture is still in a state of great disrepair and downtown remains essentially off-limits since the structures are still labeled as unstable.  It has been one year, yet some estimate it may take ten years for life to return to normal in this quaint and gorgeous southern Italian provincial area.

Although political slogans were banned from being broadcast during the somber vigil, it is even more of a reminder that as nearly 25,000 people gathered in front of the cathedral, many of the streets they traveled today are still littered with rubble.  Silvio Berlusconi offered his condolences once more and praised the efforts of his government in aiding the injured, the sick, the homeless, and the dead, but as expected many more whistled rather than applauded.  The so-called “Wheelbarrow People”–those displaced residents who have protested with wheelbarrows by picking up the rubble in the quartered off downtown areas–still stage regular protests because corruption has once again taken centre stage in Italy.

I was lucky since none of my extended family or friends were in their homes in L’Aquila at the time, but I know I am in the minority here.  If you wish you can still donate to the Red Cross or through the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) or any other venues listed on my friend Sammy Dunham’s website, Life in Abruzzo. Also on her site is a heart-breaking letter from the extremely articulate Sofia Lawrence, who at 12 years old wrote a letter to her friend Davide in his memory. In addition, one great way to help any area ravaged by disaster is to patronize its industry(ies), so please find some businesses below that I personally support and will help L’Aquila get back on its feet:

• Marcelli Formaggi : a family owned and operated business right in Abruzzo importing some of the finest cheeses, honey, and olive oil.  The Marcelli family’s cheeses can be found in some of New York’s top restaurants and through their sister site, Abruzzo Pantry, you can place an order and enjoy fine, farm-fresh foods.
• La Porta dei Parchi : this happens to be the Marcelli’s farm where if you’re looking for a unique experience, you can take part in Italy’s burgeoning agriturismo movement.  You can stay on the grounds, help the family, and experience what life is like in the L’Aquila province–one of the most beautiful spots in all of Italy. If this seems a bit out-of-character for you, you can participate in their “Adopt a Sheep” program & your contributions will help fund the farm and you can get fresh wool and cheese sent to you from your sheep.  It’s adorable and a wonderful concept.
• Breaking Bread in L’Aquila: Maria Filice’s first book–Breaking Bread in L’Aquila–pays homage to the region’s food and traditions and today is actually the book’s official launch.  You can learn about it on Maria’s website, Food and Fate, and all net profits will be going towards the rebuilding efforts.

Video: L\’Aquila Marks One Year Anniversary

You don’t have to be Italian to love cheeses as much as I do, but if you were raised around a family like mine, then chances are you have a great appreciation for it.  I’ve said this many times–and it is the total truth–I could live happily until the day I die with some good red wine, cheese, and some salumi (not to be confused with the term salami). Now what my cholesterol levels might be come that day when I do die is a totally different story…!

My darling Grandfather comes from a very small town called Castel di Ieri in the province of L’Aquila in Abruzzo and the province itself is known for sheep, strong meats, and great cheeses. There is a family located in an equally small town called Anversa and the Marcellis are heralded for their formaggi. Outside of their bioagriturismo business where you can go to La Porta dei Parchi  and see what life is like there, they also import their cheeses to New York City where they are served in some of the best restaurants in town.  On top of it all they have this wonderful program known as Adotta una pecora or “Adopt a Sheep” where your contributions can help keep this dying industry alive. (In return you can reap some excellent benefits like a partially paid tribute to La Porta, fresh cheese, and amazing wool products.)

If you love great, farm fresh products made by real people preserving tradition, then I urge you to visit the Marcelli’s website where whether in the US or the EU you can see which restaurants carry their cheeses and place orders of your own.  Go visit them here to learn their story, philosophy and order some great goodies: http://www.marcelliformaggi.com/

If you are an animal lover like me and are interested in adopting the most adorable sheep to ever roam Italy, then please visit http://www.laportadeiparchi.it/help_usa.htm

For more information on the bioagriturismo movement in L’Aquila and Abruzzo go to:  http://www.laportadeiparchi.it/index.htm

All the information provided on these websites come in a variety of languages, so no matter what you prefer you will be able to better understand what makes this part of Italy so wonderful and hopefully enjoy some of the delicious things I got to have growing up!

As if I couldn’t be any more proud to be Abruzzese via my maternal Grandfather, the owner of a wonderful website–Life in Abruzzo–contacted me recently and asked me to be a guest writer for the webzine and travel guide.  Once a month I will be providing wine reviews of various bottles from the region and below you will find my first which was published earlier today.

In between my monthly reviews please go and check out Life in Abruzzo both on the website and follow them on Twitter for the latest updates on all things Abruzzo!

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With multiple estates mostly concentrated in Teramo and Chieti, this specific Montepulciano d’Abruzzo was first produced in 1981 when Gianni Masciarelli decided to enter the wine business and follow his passion. Containing grapes from his estates in Teramo and Pescara, this wine is deep ruby red in colour and was rather surprising to me in how it delivered.

To the nose this wine seems intensely fruit-forward with discernable notes of raspberry and cherry, yet in its early delivery the expected bouquet was not what I got, but rather I tasted more tobacco and earth than the berries I smelled moments before.  This wine is somewhat deceiving in that respect. Another unexpected occurrence here was how long it took this wine to open up: I always let red wines breathe but this one took an exceptionally long time to reach its full potential.  It seemed so light and once it finally opened up after about twenty minutes I finally started to taste some of the plum and berry notes I figured I would be tasting from start to finish.  Other notes present besides the aforementioned are red currant, which along with the smoky tobacco hints made for a nice balance overall.

This is a great wine to keep around as something to enjoy a glass of while relaxing at home, but I do not think it has a lot of pairing options.  Since this wine is in the light-medium range in body, it is best enjoyed with cheeses such as Fontina Val d’Aosta, a young Pecorino (no older than 8-14 months aged), or one of my personal favourites, scamorza.  Each of these cheeses will bring out the earthier notes in this wine that are faint in comparison to the fruity notes and will balance well with the wine overall.

If you would like to pair this with a meal, lightly seasoned pork or lamb will be most suited and if they are grilled even better.  I myself prepared some pork and once the wine opened up the two worked together brilliantly.

This wine is actually meant to be enjoyed young according to its maker, and I can see why: since I only had access to a 2006 one can tell that its individual essences become very blurred over time and therefore lose their respective intensities.  A great bargain, this wine retails anywhere between USD $8 — $13 per bottle (depending on the vintage), so buy plenty and drink often!