raffaele Mastrovincenzo

La Ferme de la Sansonnière Mark Angeli and his wife only purchased these vineyards in 1990, 12 hectare of land. Different crops are involved across the property, 8 hectares are given to the vine and the rest are mixture of apple and olive trees, cereals and sunflowers to generate a steady supply of biodiversity on the land. Through the vineyards, chicken and beehives are involved to balance an organic treatment; the soil is ploughed by horses. The harvest is exclusive by hand, with several picking "tries" in different times in order to get the best ripeness and quality. Located in the middle of Loira region in the Coteaaux du Layon in the Bonnezaux A.o.c. where most of the producers producing a sweet chenin blanc - Mark is coming out with some really interesting dry chenin blanc thus with the mention Vin de France. I had his 2009 Les Fouchards, impressive white wine with hints of camomille, chai tea, melon, dark honey and spiciness compelling the bouquet. Long leng

Beaujolais  Nowhere else anywhere produces wines with such a wonderful fruit, drinkability and refreshing acidity...... simply red Beaujolais is light and fruity: Chiroubles: the lightest Broully: the most fragrant Fleurie: the more floral St Amour: is spicy Morgon: can be quite tannic Moulin A Vent: the most ageworthy. The classic vinification is semi carbonic maceration, this contributes to the fruit appeal to the wine; old oak can be used to good effect for aging; with that loosing the freshness and vibrant effect going towards  elegant note of Burgundy Pinot noir. Rounded cherry fruit on the nose and palate. Ripe and beautiful balance Fleurie style. Fresh fruit with good structure and balance, with a fresh finish. Medium weight. Broully style. Good structure balance with ripe fruit. plenty of potential. Moulin-a- Vent. Loved these wines....

Slovenian wines Slovenian, an old country which is producing wine from a century ago. Well known for the long maceration with the skin contact in white grapes varieties, this practice has been made to give the wines characteristic and personality; most of the artisan think that in the skin there is the expression of the soil "Terroir". The protein on skin as anthocyanis, flavonoids and catechin acting as powerful antioxidants part of the family of tannins; also the tannins are a natural preservative in wine. In this part of the world most of the producers have great respect of the soil and a excellent ethic, they all working in organic farming so their wine are quite healthy but a bit different from the conventional winemaking, so sometimes you'll find unpleasant odor and excess of "volatile" (level of acetic acid present in a wine). Two of the wines I liked in my drinking time: Branko & Vasja Cotar from Komen in Gorjansko - i had the Drazna from 05,

2005 Trebbiano D'Abruzzo Emidio Pepe  In the country side of Abruzzo in a small town called Torano is situated a family vineyard with 15 hectares around 400 meter above sea level. The owner of this small grower is Emidio Pepe with the collaboration of his daughters producing a really nice wine with organic methods also applying some byodinamic principle. It is all based in the perfect balance between time and nature with the collaboration of the "contadino" craftsmen. The soil is  predominately clay and mixed with calcareous, the system training is called Tendone D'Abruzzo - see the picture below: Last week i tasted one of his Trebbiano D'Abruzzo from 05 - a very gold color flashing amber, nuttiness, candy aroma, chamomile and hint of Corbezzolo Honey was present on my nose.. The alcohol was warm with the potential expression of a hot vintage, smoothness  and complexity refined my palate. There were just a bit of volatile, but was hidden from the smokines

The king of the Italian white wines Most of the experts of wine may think Trebbiano grapes are a simple grapes varieties; every time refer to Ugni Blanc from France - well known used for distillation. However there is one artisan in Abruzzo in the middle of Italy called "Valentini" which produce a Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, an outstanding white wine with great longevity. I have been drinking lots of vintages of this producer. In the last couple of weeks, i drank a few bottles of the latest release 2007, vintage refer to '77, '87 (two gold vintages from Valentini)! '07 in Laureto Aprutino in the country side Pescara, town in Abruzzo..was a dry hot summer which made Francesco Paolo Valentini to harvest earlier, at the end of August thus to keep a notable acidity on the berries with a pH around 3, similar if you were going to make a sparkling wine. Therefore this technique "early vintage" slowed down the maloactic and gave time to refine the wine. Colou

Icon of Barolo Beppe Rinaldi is the owner of a mythical winery in the middle of Barolo town. In the last few years his daughter Marta has been assisting him with the same passion and savoir-faire. They have 7 hectares of vineyard between the commune of Barolo and Novello. Since the beginning they have been inspired by organic farming, the wine of Rinaldi has pure expression of terroir and is produced in a very traditional way. Severe attention in the vineyard, vinification in "tini", i.e. open vats oak, long maceration with skin contact, aging in big Slavonian oak "a pure expression of terroir of Nebbiolo in Langhe". Recently i tasted his Barolo Cannubi S.Lorenzo Ravera 2008, thus a great experience with a beautiful young colour! The nose; black pepper, licorice, raspberry, plum, with a jam characteristic. Mouthful structure; beautiful freshness, lovely acidity and an interesting young tannin. Excellent balance, a great young Barolo which ages for 42months i

Cappellano or better Teobaldo Cappellano Serralunga D'alba the most important cru for Nebbiolo grape in my simple opinion, Cappellano one of the top growers.  I really enjoyed the night pre nye "The Piè Rupestris 2004" a great Barolo with complexity and elegance. A multi layer of scents and texture, bright color with a vivid Terracotta shimmer on the edge; the nose started with a small petal rose, wild raspberry, violet and anise. Moving to the length... was incredible with the fruit coming through with the company of balsamic herbs, licorice and candy. Long tannin, mature and precise. All his wines mature in big Slavonian oak so a tremendous traditionalist. We decanted it a for few hours before drinking and thus a great experience! Teobaldo Cappellano is quite an important person to know in the italian world of wine in Barolo as producer and a person, well known in the "Consorzio of Barolo" and as a president "Enoteca regionale del Barolo"