Meet the producer: Zonin, Veneto and Tuscany

London offers a boundless range of opportunities for the wine trade and we wine writers are lucky to have access to superb opportunities to develop our palates and our skills. It is impossible to attend even a small fraction of all the available events, so I have decided to prioritize those that offer masterclasses. This is always a more structured and educational opportunity to learn than the free pours where even the most meticulous taster can easily become overwhelmed.

The UK Sommelier Association, expertly led by Andrea Rinaldi with a passionate deputy and indefatigable event organizer in Federica Zanghirella is a leader is organizing highly instructive master classes.

Here below my notes about two such pearls that revolved around the production of the Zonin house, originally from Venetia, where they still make the bulk of their wines, but now well established in Tuscany as well.

 

Thanks to Andrea Rinaldi always my mentor at AIS in the UK.

Masterclass 1: Ca' Bolani whites: Opimio Pinot Bianco and Aquilis Sauvignon.

Christopher Burr, Federica Zanghirella presenting with Roberto Marcolini, winemaker of Ca' Bolani

Zonin is based in Venetia, in the heart of the Aquileia DOC region. Here people have made wine for over 3000 years, started well before Romans who however developed viticulture in a systematic way.

There are now 570 hectares of vines, mostly 5,000 vines per hectare.

The area is protected between sea and mountain, and the trademark bora wind regularly dries the air, which is of course good for viticulture. Significant day night temperature variations create good condition for ripening. Very diverse soils over estate.

Flight 1: Optimio, 100% pinot bianco

The names comes from a Roman consul who was well known for the good wines produced under his rule. In Venetia, as in most of Italy and indeed Europe, the Romans were pioneers of viticulture, expanding and developing what they learned from the Greeks and the Phoenicians.

We tasted three vintages of this underrated grape, which I love because it is a versatile wine, unpretentious but always surprisingly well versed to match medium structured food. Besides the obvious fish and white meat dishes you can have these with medium aged cheese and some Indian masala recipes or southern Chinese sweet and sour dishes. I'd like to try it with dim sum from Guangzhou or Honk Kong. 

2020

Pinot bianco, smooth with lingering freshness, moderately long

Ready now might benefit from a couple of further years of evolution in the bottle 

Score 88

2018 

Smoother than 2020 still good freshness. Drink now

Score 89

2016

Unsurprisingly the most evolved, smoothest and most complex and long of the trio.

Score 90

Flight 2. Aquilis sauvignon blanc Friuli Doc 

2018

A surprising sauvignon with nutty and vanilla notes that make it a unique interpretation of this classic grape. Complex and long. 

Score 92

2016 

A more evolved bottle, smoothness is raised to higher levels to the point of making an elegant wine with a mouthful of complex sensations. 

Score 93

2014 

Mature long complex 

Score 94

Thanks to my teacher Federica Zanghirella for introducing the day's food and wine pairing combination and the eccentric exhibition by Christopher Burr 

Masterclass 2: A culinary trip in Tuscany with the most iconic wines of Castello di Albola paired with traditional Tuscan dishes by Executive Chef Giovanni Zagni.

Castello di Albola is owned by the Zonin house since 1979. It now has a substantial 900 hectares of farms, but only 110 of these are vineyards. Mostly work on single vineyard wines. They started organic conversion in 2016, and it is now completed. They claim to fame as pioneers in respecting environmental, social (employment condition) as well as economic sustainability. 

Poggio alle Fate 2022 

Chardonnay 

Strong acidity attack but evolves in the mouth to a perfectly balanced and long wine. 

Paired with pappa al pomodoro. 

Paired by concordance of medium structure and contrast of acidity with sweet tendency of the tomato. 

Score 91

Chianti classico 2023 

sangiovese

Again with pappa al pomodoro 

Still young, tannins need a bit of time in the bottle.

Tannins contrast well with tomatoes but slightly overwhelm their sweet tendency.

Score 88

Chianti classico riserva 2021

sangiovese

A majestic Chianti, ready but with a few years of evolution potential. 

Matched with vegetarian ribollita, good concordance pairing between moderate tannins and moderately structured food with delicate sweet tendency. 

Score 92

Il Solatìo 2019 gran selezione

sangiovese 

Powerful elegant chianti, absolutely ready now with balance and good length. 

Paired with pici alla buttera (homemade pasta with ragoût and black olives) 

Score 91

Acciaiolo 2016

cabernet sauvignon 80% sangiovese 20%

First harvest 1988, one of the original "Super Tuscans"

Ready masterpiece, perfect balance and length 

Paired with pappardelle al cinghiale, concordance of strong structures and contrast of tannins with fatty sauce. A harmonious wine.

Score 95

Vin santo 2010 

Trebbiano and malvasia

Harvested late, in October.

Dried on racks, pressed in December, obviously very little yield. 

Almonds orange peel notes. Sink cantucci biscuits, or similar dry biscuits with nuts, in this wine. 

Score 93

Amphora wines master class at the London Wine Fair 2022

Captivating master class organized by Enotria&Coe at the London Wine Fair 2022 on amphora wines. Our speaker was Peter Wallbridge, Enotria&Coe buyer for Spain and Latin America and a published author on the American Journal of Enology. These are my main takeaways from this session.

This is a recurring trend, every so many decades amphora becomes fashionable again. Of course the method itself goes back thousands of years, to the origin of the very first wines, before producers knew how to use wood, cement or even glass to hold their wines during fermentation and aging. But of course clay was used pretty much everywhere in the wider Mediterranean and Mesopotamia region, all the way to Georgia, to hold oil as well as dry cargo such as grains.

In recent times amphora has gained popularity again and the more scientifically oriented specialists focus on its oxygen transmission rate (OTR), pointing out how it is a linear progression, as opposed to wood's OTR which starts high and peters out. So what? Well there is lots of anecdotal evidence for the effects this has on wine, though not enough scientific data.

Experiments in Italy and Spain (where he thinks the best clay comes from) have shown that amphora does not yield good results the first year wine is poured into its vessels. But then tartaric acid deposits create a layer that is ideal for the best micro-oxygenation.

The long road to the re-discovery of amphora wine is going to be a long one.

Tasting notes:

Airen Las Tinadas Organic, Bodegas Verum, La Mancha, Spain 2020

Tinadas Airen 100%, RRP £19

This unusual grape is similar to pinot grigio and gave us a balanced wine with notes of almonds and mod length. Manual harvesting with selection of only the best bunches from each plant. Old vines planted as far back as 1950. A serious Summer wine.

Score 85

Las Tinadas Cencibel, Bodegas Verum, La Mancha, Spain, 2016

This grape is close to tempranillo and comes from vines planted in 1956 on rocky soil, and have to make do with no irrigation. They produced a fruity wine with a medium body, complex and with a quirky but pleasant bitterness aftertaste.

Score 93

Viejas Tinajas Cinsault, De Martino, Itata Valley, Chile, 2020

Easy does it, this is Chile's answer to Beaujolais.

Score 84

Viejas Tinajas Muscat, De Martino, Itata Valley, Chile, 2020

An incredibly strong nose, with exuberant notes of fresh citrus and nuts. This is an "orange" wine in that there is extended skin contact. A unique product that will make you want to taste more.

Score 90

Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOC Anfora Organic, F. Cirelli, 2019

Trebbiano 100% Certified organic now moving to biodynamic. Manual harvest.

Fermentation in natural yeasts in terracotta then aged 12 months in amphora.

They only use new amphora, do not want tartaric acid layers and the result is a wine that retains an amphora feel, a certain roughness.

Score 88

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC Anfora Organic, F. Cirelli, 2020

Montepulciano 100% A fruity and mod balanced wine, some rough edges but an intriguing clay feel that makes you want to taste future vintages to see how this producer will evolve after its recent conversion to organic and biodynamic.

Score 83