raffaele Mastrovincenzo

La Stoppa is an ancient winery located in Piacenza area in the region of Emilia Romagna all the vineyard are in the hill of the Val Trebbiolo on top of the river Trebbia. In 1973 the Pantaleoni family bought the property, and today the company is run by Elena Pantaleoni and Giulio Armani the winemaker and also owner of the winery Denavolo; all the vineyards are managing under organic farming and certified by "Ente Suolo e Salute". The property account on 30 hectare of vineyards dedicated around different grapes varieties indigenous in the area as Ortrugo, Trebbiano, Malvasia di Candia Aromatica are the white and the red are Bonarda and Barbera. The soil consist of heavy clay and limestone. The climate are very hot in the period of growing season with a daily cool nights which help the wine to rest and extend the growing season and also help retain freshness on the wine "acidity" and the loss of volatile aroma. A minimal intervention approach is taken in the c...

Barolo a DOCG wine produced in the northern italian region of Piedmont, made with Nebbiolo grape variety which are Lampia, Michet and Rosè clones. Clusters are dark blue and grayish with abundant wax that dresses the grapes. Their form is lengthened, pyramidal with small spherical grapes. Compared to other grape varieties Nebbiolo is one of the first varieties to bud and last varieties to ripen, with harvest taking place in mid to late October. In some vintage, other producers are able to pick and complete fermentation of their Barbera and Dolcetto before Nebbiolo is ready. Barolo tend to be rich, deeply concentrated with pronounced tannins and acidity. The wines are almost always light in color varying from ruby to garnet in their youth to more brick and orange hues as they age. Like Pinot Noir, Barolo are never opaque; every time brilliant and translucent, tar, rose and violet are common notes. The soil area is divided by two different types; Tortonian soil and Helvetian soil. Tor...

Hi I know I already reviewed this wine a year ago, that was back in Italy, I tasted this again last night in the south hemisphere where I'm actually leaving now in Melbourne. The wine as soon I opened it was so closed and dirty which my mind though was off, very vinegar balsamic on the nose; i sip a bit and felt the tannin and fruit in my palate and in my mind I said "you need time". After a couple of hours the wine was pure red fruit, amazing concentration. Notes of medicinal herbs and mint, ripe cherries, blueberries, rose and violet. Great structure ripe tannin. A superb wine. Teoblado Cappellano passed away on February 21 - 2009, with his unique philosophy and his meticulous winemaking a legend in Barolo was the exceptional artisanal grower with great personality. He banished everyone that wanted to score his wine with numbers, he loves his review without score. He was a president of the influential "Vini Veri" group and also leader of Italy sustai...

Pommard Premier Cru "Les Pèzerolles" 2006 The Domaine de Montille is a family winery located in Burgundy in Volnay back to the 18 century. They farm 20 hectare of vines, essentially Premeir cru and Grand cru in both Cote de Nuits and Cote de  Beaune covering 20 appellation; is one of this winery which tend to polarize people. Hubert the father of the family transmitted his love for Burgundy to the sons which currently manage the winery first to Etienne than to Alix. The brother and sister have taken the reins of the Domaine and love Burgundy and continue the philosophy Hubert started. Etienne vilifies the Pinot and Alix she look after the Chardonnay. Etienne is the one converted the total production of the domaine is an environmental friendly farming in 1985 they stopped to use fertilized and herbicide and the move to full organic farming in 1995 and the transit in Byodinamics in 2005. The Domaine is certified Ecocert Bio in 2012. Etienne also add at the wine a slightl...

From the website of Pithon Paillè: The creation of a wine merchant business (négociant-eleveur) Jo Pithon’s dream has always been to set up a ‘négociant’ business, similar to those in Burgundy and the Rhone Valley, offering top quality wines grown on different terroirs. The idea of vinifying and aging wines made from the Chenin and Cabernet Franc grape using the different soil-types of the region was too tempting to resist... At the beginning of 2008, Jo Pithon and Isabelle Pithon, changed direction as only wine growers and decided to create a négociant-éleveur business with Joseph Paillé, Isabelle’s son, and Wendy Paillé, his wife, still retaining 5 hectares of their original estate, notably the famous Les Treilles, for they remain vignerons at heart! Now in 2013 the estate has grown to 13 hectares. The idea is to work hand in hand with growers, using predominantly Chenin and Cabernet Franc grapes. A work plan with vine growers have been created as follows : Careful selection of the...

The Savennieres appellation begin in the west limit of the Angers commune. The vines spread west for approximately eight kilometers along the right bank of the Loire river encompassing the 3 commune of Epirè, Savennieres and la Possoniere. A series of plateaux which are essential small valleys running perpendicular down to the river and whose steep slopes offer a perfect south-west facing orientation. The plateaux of Epirè, Savennieres and la Possoniere are set up 2 km back from the river and are more open and exposed with vine, the appellation highest point, being an altitude of around 75 meters. The only permitted grape varieties is Chenin blanc, historically, the vines were propagated through massal-selection rather the using specific clones. The variability of massal-selection dictates that flowering is not homogeneous and therefore neither is the ripening; this ensures that in almost every vintage it is necessary for the wines to be picked in two or three passage, although in ...

MOUNT ETNA eurupted Last night I toured back to Italy. I bought in the morning a bottle of Etna Bianco by Biondi winery the Outis from 2009. The vines are cultivated in all Etna D.O.C. on sandy soil with volcanic origin, are planted to 600 meter to 1000 meter above sea level often an heroic viticulture. The ampelographic heritage is extremely interesting composed of centuries old vines such as Carricante  and Catarrato the two main grapes varieties used to produced the Etna bianco D.O.C. and Etna Bianco Superiore. The white Minella is rarer. The wine of Biondi have got the 3 varieties in different percentage with predominately Carricante. Gold in color a bit unclear with brilliant vivacity, a great viscosity for a white wine. Nose was citrus, lemon zest, orange blossom, acacia, flint, tufa and sandy some kernel and a touch of honey. Palate great mouthful, lovely intense minerality, tonic, wet stone, fossil marine, sapid and superb drinkability. Thanks to Etna,...

Argentina has a winemaking history back some 450 years. Currently is thee fifth largest wine-producing country in the world. Argentina vineyards lies close to the Andes mountain 1500 Km from the province of Salta in the north to Rio Negro and Nequen in Patagonia. Historically because the heat, most vineyards were planted in pergola system, Know locally as Parral. This system lifted the grapes away from the searing heat close to the ground. The real problem disease of the vineyard is called Nematodes, tiny roundworms that live in the soil and feed on plant roots by puncturing the root tissue with hollow. Once the Nematodes sink this structure deep into the grape's root tissue, they suck out the plant's juices. Symptoms of Nematodes damage can sometimes be hard to positively identify because they can look like several other problems, such as too little or too much water, unsuitable temperatures, disease or the lack of proper nutrients. Once those important roots are d...

Calabria south of Italy an incontaminated  region where the landscape is still married with mother nature. Recently I had the pleasure to drink a Mantonico grape juice from a very small boutique named L'acino. The wine was clear with medium intensity gold color day bright with a light amber rim with a fine viscosity. The nose show some developing character as dried chamomile, acacia and white blossom flowers, bruised apple and pear…. Minerality are quite high with dried stone, steely, wet leaves and floor, brown mushroom and a undertone of honey character. The acidity is high in balance with alcohol, body and flavor intensity mid palate was stony, mineral and complex with a very low tannin "polifenol" perception. Seemed like I was watching a Samuel Fuller movie, iconoclastic, idiosyncratic and almost a new wave punk attitude. Thanks to the owner Dino Briglio! Some shots of the slope of the winery of the Mantonico Pinto: Thanks to Naz to let me try the wine @...