Riding La (Silver) Banana Rapida:My Winey Adventures in Northern Italy

Some folks go to Italy and travel around by train, bus, rental car, or maybe even a boat or gondola. Alas, that was not the case for me.  And now, when I visit Italy, all modes of transportation will seem immeasurably inadequate, save for La Banana Rapida, the yellow Audi that Antonio Sanguineti manages at a mere 170+ miles per hour on the Italian autostrada.

Ambassador to Italian wine and phenomenal Tuscan winemaker in his own right, Sanguineti was my trusty guide and fearless driver, proving YES, he can drive even faster (even when the Audi is a silver one!), as on the day we found ourselves heading 45 minutes closer to Switzerland rather than where we should have been going.

Italian Artisanal Wine

Many friends have asked about my recent trip that showcased small, artisanal Italian winemakers. Though we have a tasting planned for this week, I thought I would blog about some of the highlights. La (Silver) Banana Rapida was indeed an unforgettable, nail-biting experience, but just as memorable was the range of wines we tasted in Slovenia and the northern Italian wine regions of Friuli, Trentino, Piemonte and Valle d’Aosta.  Ah yes, they spanned from great to damn-I-can’t-get-enough-of-this-phenomenal-stuff.  That’s the range I like the best when it comes to wine. So, fasten your seatbelts because here’s the Sanguineti-quick summary of a wonderful wine adventure that included my good friend and president of the Pure Wine Company, Troy Clements.

Slovenia

Despite this being an Italian adventure, we started our trip in Slovenia, which is considered to be an up-and-coming wine region. While many up-and-comers can provide hit-or-miss wine experiences, we were not disappointed. In fact, the word that comes to mind when I recall the white wines we enjoyed at Edi Simčič is: awesome. I’m serious about this. Considered by many to be the best winemaker in Slovenia, Edi and his son Aleks produce wine very close to the Friuli wine region in Italy, but most will agree it tastes more French than Italian, having fermented and aged in oak rather than stainless steel. A dinner in a nearby castle added to the elegance of incredible Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and a white blend that literally kept me asking for and drinking more.

Friuli

Our first taste of Italian wines included the rare wines of Miani.  Literally, the whole state of Illinois only receives 9-12 bottles from this winery, so it was an unbelievable treat to meet the unassuming Enzo Pontoni and taste his notable Sauvignon Blanc and other fine wines. Pontoni’s good friend Paolo Meroi met us next at Trattoria al Parco for lunch, where Meroi sells approximately 80 percent of the wine he makes.  Interestingly, the restaurant recalled my trip to Argentina because a parilla-like, open-hearth grill was set up with beef, sausages and other smoky, sizzling meats.

Trentino Alto Adige

And how does one top a morning like that?  Why drinking the unpretentious Italian sparkling wine, Prosecco, of course. Trevisiol offered three types of Prosecco, in addition to a sparkling Moscato wine, that were delightfully quaffable. That evening, we left Trentino for Veneto and the Valpolicella hills.  Producing only 100-200 cases of wine each year, Giuseppe Lonardi is known as one of the best Amarone producers.  However, he is also right in the heart of Valpolicella, and his Valpolicella wines are extraordinary.  I think it might have been at our dinner here that my poor friend learned the Italian word that is so similar to his name: Troy vs. troya. It suddenly explained the strange looks he had gotten upon introducing himself to Italians.  Not many would like announcing that their name is “Bitch” Clements.

Piemonte

Here we got a good helping of robust red Barbaresco and Barbera wines. At Poderi Elia, Frederico Stella and his grandfather Felice made us feel like family as we sampled these incredible Italian reds and they showed us around. At Tre Donne, where a trio of sisters rules this winery, we had more of these luscious Barbaresco and Barbera wines along with notable Moscato.

Valle d’Aosta

Another region, and two small winemakers once again dazzled us with their creations, but this time with the majestic backdrop of the Italian Alps.  At Lo Triolet, we lingered over Pinot Grigio and Gamay. Just west of Turin, we visited Anselmet where we sampled Chardonnay, Müller-Thurgau and several reds, despite the winery’s alpine location. Once again, the northern Italian cuisine treated us to meat-laden meals, homemade gnocchi, polenta and braised radicchio.

It was impossible not to fall in love with the simplicity of the food and artisanal winemaking in these regions. But, alas, it was time to return home. After a slight Banana Rapida detour towards Switzerland and train trip back to Verona and then Venice, my good friend Troya and I were nestled in airplane seats, reliving the sensory celebrations we’d had for nearly a week in northern Italy.

If you want a taste of this experience first hand, join us at the Hinsdale Wine Shop on Thursday, March 10, 7-9 p.m. to taste some of the wines we brought back along with light hors d’oeuvres. An RSVP is required for this $25/person event. To RSVP, e-mail sean@hinsdalecellars.com or call (630) 654-9862.

 

Saying Konnichiwa to Sake

With the popularity of sushi, was it really any surprise that a love for sake would likely follow? Of course not. And now, you can buy top-quality, Japanese artisanal sake at Hinsdale Wine Cellars.

For many a wine lover, a Kirin Ichiban or Sapporo beer is just not the same as a choku or masu of that wonderfully brewed, rice-based Japanese beverage known as sake.  Served either warm or chilled, this fermented clear beverage has become popular outside Japan as much as within it.

Interestingly, even though we often refer to sake as “rice wine,” it has far more similarities to the way beer is made (e.g., converting starch to sugar, which ultimately converts into alcohol).  The alcohol content, however, generally exceeds both beer and wine, with an average of 18-20 percent.

Premium Japanese sake pairs perfectly with a variety of different foods – not just sushi or Japanese noodles like udon or ramen. It’s great with raw seafood like oysters, but just about any fish or seafood preparation will match up perfectly with ginjo sake – crab cakes, seared ahi tuna, scallops, and poached or grilled salmon.  Pork, beef and chicken? Why not! The Japanese eat a lot of meat these days and they wash it down with fuller-bodied and fuller-flavored sake.

Five Facts about Sake

1) To serve hot or cold? Typically, hot sake is a winter drink served in small porcelain or ceramic cups called choku. High-grade sake is not drunk hot because the flavors and aromas will be lost. This masking of flavor is the reason that low-quality sake is generally served hot. The chilled or room-temperature sake is often served in small boxes known as masu.

2) The grade level is at the heart of sake quality. Grade levels are achieved by reaching minimum milling rates (amounts milled away). The more the rice is milled, the closer you get to having kernels with pure starch and the more likely you are to have more fragrant and complex sake. However, the more you mill, the less rice is left over to ferment and thus the higher priced the sake is.

3) After opening a bottle of sake, it is best consumed within two or three hours. It is possible to store in the refrigerator, but it is recommended to finish the sake within two days.

4) In its final bottled form, sake is about 80 percent water, so water composition and quality has a huge impact on the flavor and texture of sake. Traditional, small brewers are always located near a great water source such as deep wells and underground streams which are naturally purified by filtration through nearby mountains over hundreds of years.

5) Sake rice is different than the rice you eat. Premium sake varietals, like Yamada Nishiki, have higher concentrations of starch than other varieties. The starch is also concentrated in the center of the kernel. This rice is very expensive to grow, must be harvested by hand, and is prone to being knocked over and ruined by the annual typhoons.

And, lastly, how does one say “cheers” in Japanese?  Kampei.

 

Local Wine Shop, a Part of the Community

One of the many advantages of shopping at local businesses in Hinsdale is that more often than not you will be helped by someone from our community. We understand that you can take your business anywhere, but we believe it’s the small things like hiring employees from within Hinsdale that make shopping locally a better experience for everyone which is why we frequently hire young people from our community who are in between college and their next step.

Five months ago we hired a recent college graduate and resident of Hinsdale for twenty years. Having just graduated from the University of Iowa, Martin spent the last year of his studies in France. It was while inFrance that he began to teach himself about wine and within several months Martin developed a knowledge of French wine. Returning home in August, Martin came into our store asking about the help-wanted sign in our window. Since he was interning during the week in the city, working weekends with us at the shop fit perfectly in everyone’s schedule.

As he is preparing for business school back in France, he has benefitted from learning many of fundamentals of running a small business. “Sean has taught me a lot about sales and marketing, two things which I had very little experience in before I began to work here. It has really been a beneficial experience,” Martin said.

As with a Hinsdale Wine Club membership, having Martin around the shop has been another way of making relationships with our customers more than just solely a business relationship. Martin told me, “I truly enjoy seeing my neighbors, friends, and their parents come into the shop. It is a nice way for me to catch up with people from Hinsdale since I left for college. I was searching for a part-time job in which I would not only know the owner personally but one where I would also know the customers. The Hinsdale Wine Shop fit the bill perfectly.”

I asked Martin to choose his three favorite wines from our shelves and share his thoughts about them:

1) 2007, Domaine des Escaravailles “La Ponce”, Red Blend, Cotes du Rhone Villages, Rasteau, France

“‘La Ponce’ is the kind of wine I cut my teeth on: red blends from the Rhone Valley in France. This wine exemplifies everything that I love about wines from this affordable French region. It is big and robust, with smoky, earthy and peppery tones, all standing atop of a deep black fruit base. This wine drinks like a $80 Chateau-neuf-du-Pape and given that it is priced at $29.99, this 2007 Cotes du Rhone tops my list not only for its character but also for its reasonable price.”

2) 2008, Chateau Tour de Mirambeau, White Blend, Entre deux Mers, Bordeaux, France

“When I first began working here, this bottle was the white wine offered in the monthly wine club selection. It is a dry, white Bordeaux blend which offers citrus and floral notes on the nose and a surprising weight on the palette. Nearly equal parts Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle, and Semillon, this Bordeaux is a steal at $14.99. It typifies the quality white wine you find at a small French café when you only have to spend 3 euros.”

3) 2008, Luca “Laborde Double Select”, Syrah, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina

“Moving away from the French world of wines and into the new world, I have come to truly appreciate the Argentinean take on the Rhone varietal, Syrah. The 2008 Luca has the same grand structure as a Rhone and the same smoky, spicy character as well, but it offers much more in the way of fruit: blackberry then blueberry. It took me sometime to warm up to wine aged in oak barrels and this wine really gets it right. To the new world! ($27.99)”

 

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