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Genesis of the Fredrick Wildman and Sons Greek wine portfolio
6 hours 1 min agoHaving arrived at the conclusion that @elloinos is one of the most passionate and informed of the Greek-wine-focused bloggers -- as well as being similarly interested in, and concerned about, the impacts of the current financial crisis on the broader Greece, and, more narrowly, its wine industry -- it was a no-brainer for me to respond affirmatively when he announced that he was going to be in the US in the January-February timeframe and would be interested in meeting some of his twitter friends at that time. After some DMing and emailing, I came to understand that @elloinos had put together a portfolio of Greek wines for Fredrick Wildman and was coming to the US for the public introduction of same. I was subsequently invited by @elloinos to attend the New York event.
@elloinos is the Twitter handle of Markus Stolz, a German native currently residing in Athens and working on connecting Greek wine producers with importers from other markets. A key tool in his arsenal is elloinos.com "... a hub for producers, merchants, and consumers ..." which provides insight into Greek wines and Greek wine production.
@elloinos expounding on his favorite topic at the Landmarc
In a January 2012 post on his blog, Markus expressed his excitement at being chosen by Wildman to assist them in their Greek-wine-importing initiative (This project hits the sweet spot of the elloinos mission which is to get Greek wines into the hands of international consumers through linkups with importers.).
Fredrick Wildman and Sons had its beginning shortly after the end of Prohibition when the namesake owner bought a wine and fine food importer called Bellows and Company. Shortly after the purchase, Mr. Wildman travelled to Europe and signed up a number of leading wine estates to have their products distributed in the US through his company. The name Fredrick Wildman and Sons came into being in 1952 when Mr. Wildman formed a company of that name to fill the void created when National Distillers left the fine wine business. Wildman became a subsidiary of Hiram Walker in 1989 but was sold in 1993 to an investment group comprised of the Wildman CEO (Richard Cacciato) and six of its leading suppliers.
In my conversation with him, Markus indicated that he had been approached by Wildman to assist them in assembling a new Greek wine portfolio. He put together samples and shipped them off to New York and within two weeks of the samples' arrival in NY, Wildman staffers were in Greece to meet the winemakers, taste the wines in-country, and explore the opportunities for business relationships. The tasting at the Landmarc signaled the end of the selection/portfolio-building stage and the launch of the marketing/selling phase of the initiative.
I will explore the portfolio in a subsequent post.
Elements of the blend: A key Rioja critical success factor
Fri, 02/03/2012 - 10:09The wines from Rioja, known and respected by wine drinkers around the world, owe their prominence to three factors: the terroir (covered in a previous post on this blog); its affinity for, and interaction with, oak (covered by Andrew Jefford in the January 2012 issue of Decanter); and the grape varieties that are included in the -- mostly -- blended wines. I will close the loop by reporting on the Rioja varietals in this post.
Source: vibrantrioja.com
Tempranillo
The varieties approved for inclusion in Rioja wines are Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo, and Graciano; of these, Tempranillo is by far the most important component of the blend. Tempranillo is the primary red grape in Spain with significant plantings in Rioja and Ribera del Duero (where it is known as Tinto Fino and Tinto del Pais). In other regions of Spain, Tempranillo is known as Aragon, Cencibel, Extramadura, Valdepenàs, Tinta del Toro, Jancivera, Ull de Llebre, or Ojo de Liebre. In the Douro region of Portugal, Tempranillo, under the name Tinta Roriz, is used as a key varietal in Port blends. Staying in Portugal, the varietal is called Aragonez in Alentejo.
Source: korbrandwineandspirits.com
Tempranillo -- the name translates to "little early one" -- is an early-ripening, cool-climate-craving varietal that exhibits high vigor and low resistance to vine diseases (Its high vigor necessitates pruning in order to ensure that adequate resources are devoted to high-quality fruit production.). The grape is low in sugar and acidity, high in pH and tannins, and tends towards undesirable characteristics in warmer climes. This varietal has traditionally been bush-vine trained but some of the more modernist winemakers have been placing the vines "on the rack."
Tempranillo is authorized in 28 Spanish apellations and is the principal varietal in 12. In Rioja, 31,000 hectares (57% of the appellations' plantings) are devoted to Tempranillo. The varietal contributes spicy red fruit flavors and aromas, along with an herbaceousness and good minerality, to the blend.
Garnacha
Garnacha (Grenache, Garnacha Tinta) is planted on 10,148 hectares in Rioja (21% of the grapes grown in the appellation) and is the most extensively grown red variety in the world: 330,000 hectares, 240,000 of which is in Spain. This varietal's repute stems from its inclusion in stellar wines form Rioja, Priorat, Languedoc, and Southern Rhone.
Source: clinecellars.com
Grenache is a hardy, pest- and disease-resisitant varietal which generally is the backbone of red blends but, in some cases, old vines in Priorat, for example, is bottled asa varietal. The grape yields full-bodied, high-alcohol, low-acid, low-tannin wines in warm climes but is well-balanced in colder regions. The varietal needs a long season to ripen and the resultant wines are light in color with rich peppery red fruit and cinnamon notes.
Mazuelo
Mazuelo (also known as Carignan, Cariñena, Tinto Mazuelo, Crujillon, and Samsó, among others) is the third most planted varietal in Spain and, at 1543 hectares, represents 3% of the plantings in the Rioja DOC. Worldwide, the grape is planted on 22,000 hectares, 207,000 of which is in France, its country of origin. The varietal is both tannic and acid and, thanks to late budding and ripening, requires a long growing season in order to ripen. Mazuelo adds structure and longevity to Rioja reds as well as, according to lopezheredia.com, "... a fine, sparkling, ruby-red color, and a freshness, vigor, and personality which characterize the best table wines."
Graciano
Graciano is planted to 198 hectares in Rioja, a paltry 0.4% of the DOCs plantings and a reflection of the varietal's contribution to the blend. The varietal is called Morrastel in France, its country of origin. It is the most aromatic of the Rioja varieties and contributes tobacco and licorice notes, along with acidity, to the blend. Graciano is very resistant to pests and vineyard diseases.
Tour of Berlucchi Franciacorta operations and Palazzo Lana Berlucchi
Tue, 01/31/2012 - 06:38The evening before the the Berlucchi tour had been devoted to the Grand Finale Dinner of the 2011 European Wine Bloggers Conference and an "after party" but we were all at the appointed meeting place in the heart of Old Brescia at the appointed time. As sleepy as I was, I wished the buses would be there on time so that I could catch a quick snooze en route. No such luck. The buses showed up eventually and we boarded and wended our way out of Brescia and onto the Autostrada Milano-Brescia in a northwesterly direction. We exited the Autostrada at Via Provinciale and travelled due north to Borgonato and the Berlucchi facility.
We were welcomed outside the winery by a large group which included Arturo Ziliani, Vice President and Chief Winemaker and Cristina Ziliani, Head of Public Relations, Communications, and Image. Cristina did most of the speaking at this time and informed us that we had been tardy and would have to hurry in order to complete the appointed program. Headsets were distributed to us as we made our way into the winery and positioned ourselves in a semicircle around Arturo and, as he explained, his translator. Hence the headsets.
When we had settled down, Arturo utilized a presentation on a large flat screen TV to explain the estate's viticultural and vinicultural practices. He was especially proud of the company's Coquard presses. According to www.winenews.it, these presses are insatiable and, further, "A fast and efficient press avoids the insurgence of uncontrolled microbiological processes that occur among the grapes in the crate. The Coquard's inclined plate favors the rapid descent of musts, thus clarifying the wine with this first natural filtration while at the same time limiting the time in contact with the skins." The pressure exerted on the grapes by the press can be automatically adjusted based on its reading of pre-set parameters. According to Arturo, every major Champagne House utilizes this technology but Berlucchi was the first non-French estate to acquire it.
After completing our tour of the vinification facility, we re-boarded our bus for the trip over to the cellar and Palazzo Lana Berlucchi. We were warmly welcomed there by another staff contingent and taken on a tour of the cellars where the wines are bottled for re-fermenting and aging after assemblage. Depending on the wine style, a bottle can spend anywhere from 18 to 60 months in the Berlucchi cellar. Berlucchi still uses some manual riddling to concentrate the spent yeast into the neck of the bottle but has supplanted it with machines for the most part. Automatic riddling, via the gyro palette, was developed by the Cava industry in the 1970s and has been adopted by traditional sparkling wine makers the world over. The method can reduce the riddling time to as little as three days in comparison to an average of six weeks for a hand-riddled wine.
As Arturo explained it, the pressure in a Franciacorta bottle is six atmospheres (with the exception of Satén which is bottled at 5 atmospheres of pressure). He demonstrated that this pressure is contained within the wine itself by opening a bottle, placing it on a flat surface, and then tapping gently on the outside of the bottle with a metal object. The resulting eruption of wine was a sight to behold.
Our tour was actually conducted in reverse to the construction and maturation processes in that we started with the bottles at rest, went next to the remuage process, on to the bottling facility, and then ended at the base-wine tasting room. In the base-wine tasting room we were allowed to taste a number of base wines from different lots, different vintages, and different varieties. In the actual assemblage of the wine, a four-person tasting team, to include Arturo, convenes to determine the composition of the estate's offerings.
At the conclusion of the cellar tour, we were taken over to Palazzo Lana Berlucchi, the early 16th century chateau that nests alongside the cellar, for a tour and light repast. The delicate finger foods to which we were treated paired exquisitely with the array of wines to which we were treated. While in the palace, Arturo revealed a special, wine-blogger-specific bottling of a "61 Franciacorta and said that we would take it outside to the vineyards and crack it open. And so we did.
All in all a wonderful day. The management and staff at Berlucchi were kind, attentive, and informative. The ongoing back and forth between Arturo and Cristina exhibited a fun, close familial relationship. The knowledge and passion of Arturo for Berlucchi and Franciacorta were on display for all to see. If there was one disappointment it was that Franco Ziliani, the father of Franciacorta, was too sick to meet with us on the day of our visit. But no matter, his spirit was in every glass that I drank that day. And every glass that I have drunk since.
