Filthy Good Vino

Yumminess Factor = OH YES! Lamb Chops = 2 very succulent ones.

Knocked back this 2006 Neb with a home made hamburger with the lot (more Heston than Macca’s). It’s a stunner, the wine that is.  Vietti is one of the great wine producers of the world. Their Barolo’s are incredible.

I had the great fortune of experiencing the hospitality of the Currado family and visiting the Vietti winery in 2005. It’s an incredible structure incorporating an old Fort on the top of Castiglione Falletto.  They’ve filled in the escape tunnel that lead to the distant fields and was used in the event of a siege. Although the winery has been modernised all that has been ancient has been respected and the slit windows for archers still remain.

Check out the old v new in the pic’s below.  Big old school oak, the traditional vessel for maturing Barolo, with new small wood in the old and new building.  The incredible hills of Barolo are a spectacular site.

Vietti’s been a favourite of mine for a long time. Back in 2003 at the Australian Wine Institute’s Advanced Wine Assesment Course (AWAC), both the Perbacco, Vietti’s basic Nebbiolo and their Rocche, an awesome single vineyard Barolo were included in a line up of a dozen Neb’s.  Both were great wines.  In the blind tasting I scored the Perbacco 17.5 and the Rocche 18.5 of 20 along with Tim White and Peter Godden, other than a couple of Bronze medals, we were the only ones in a room of 30 winemakers and wine pro’s to rate the Rocche giving it a gold medal.  Boy did it deserve it and perhaps more, the wine had an incredible core of fruit, amazing layered, spicey, earthy, yummy complexity and a hardcore texture of amazing tannin with incredible length. A 3 Lambchop wine to be sure. I think we were at about wine 100 for the day but there was no way I was spitting the Rocche or the Perbacco for that matter.

These are wines of real character.  They’re wines that it took me a while to find and understand, they’re so different from most Aussie wines. The flavours and textures are unique, less primary fruit, more secondary characters … often described as Burgundy’s big brother on Steroids. If you get a chance grab a Perbacco and drink it over 3 or 4 days with something delicious.  For new comers to the variety, the wines can be hard to get your head around, the AWAC scores illustrates how hard. When it clicks and you get it, boy you’ll been onto something great.  If you don’t get it the first time go back for a second and drink it with someone who can help explain it … hell give me a bell, if Vietti is on the table I’ll be there. Remember these are food wines … maybe a decent burger? For about $50 the Perbacco is great value.  The Rocche at around $200+ if you can find and then give some one your first born for a bottle or two is well worth it.

I’ve got just one bottle of Vietti’s top wine the Riserva Villero from 1996 … when to open it is the tough question!  I’m not being a wanker, but the day I knock this one back it’s going to have to be with someone very special and some awesome tucker maybe a 1kg T-Bone!

If you want a Bistecca Fiorentina (otherwise known as a T-Bone) experience, be warned you my cry tears of joy, and you happen to be in Panzano, Tuscany, Italy, Dario Cecchini is your man.

Dario is coming for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival this year. So everyone has a chance to experience meat perfection.  I’m starting celebrations early and kicking off with a 1kg Bistecca Fiorentina for dinner tonight.

The man loves meat, loves and respects the animals it comes from.

OK … Apologies in advance for waxing lyrical … but … A visit to Dario’s butchers shop is an experience to pleasure all your senses. There is nothing better than being greeted with a glass of vino and something sensational from a cow to munch on!

Check out the memorial to the T-Bone that rests on the wall of his Macelleria, it translates roughly to I’d rather die than be invalidated (have the bone removed) and was erected during the Mad Cows Disease heyday. The other pic was the remains of a 1kg Bistecca Fiorentina consumed at La Fontina in Florence with Porcini shrooms … I just drooled on the keyboard!!

… and the VERY HAPPY end results of todays beef celebrations … One AWESOME rare to blue T-Bone, broad beans with lemon zest, a splash of juice, salt, pepper, Grana Padano & a glug of oil. All washed down with an Aglianico from Pipoli – Juicy fresh fruit, great balance with acid and some crazy but yummy tannin (for a bit over a $10er from Bocaccio Cellars) sensational steak vino.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Popped the cork on one of these little babies last night.  Yumminess factor = Yes.  Beautifully textured, viscous almost oily wine, fun flavours, with great length and that Italian silvery lining of bitterness to clean up the finish. The bitter bit rocks, I often see it in Italian whites. To me it’s part of what makes so many Italian whites great food wines.  It really helps to clean up your palate.

In case you’re having a challenge with the name – “Fattoria Coroncino” is the producer, “Il Coroncino” is the name of the wine “Verdicchio” is the grape variety, a native Italian and Castelli di Jesi (the Castles of Jesi) is where it is from near Ancona on the East coast in line with Perugia.

Fattoria Coroncino also make a Verdicchio called “Gaiospino”, also very yummy but cost about twice as much as the Il Coroncino (about mid $30’s).

2004 Roagna Paje Barbaresco. definately Filthy Good Vino Rustic, savoury, old school, great length, packed full of flavour, Yumminess Factor = YES.  Boccacio Cellars, Burke Road, Balwyn stock this baby. Ant will look after you.  Let him know The Social Larder sent you.