We met at one of my favorite watering holes in Rome on a crisp April afternoon. The goal was to share a bottle of wine and discuss why we were so enamored of the grape. Silvia, Marco, Willi and I had grown up together and witnessed the changes in Italian wine-making over the years, and it was fun to reminisce.
Ian: You’ve devoted your lives to wine. What do you find so intriguing about it?
“Wine goes far beyond a mere drink,” says Marco."It's the center of a colorful world in which you get to travel and meet fascinating people. There's an air of elegance to it. You could get into the world of peanuts and peanut farming, but it wouldn't be the same."
Silvia laughs. "What I find fascinating about wine is its dual souls: complexity and simplicity. Complexity because good wine depends on so many unpredictable factors, such as vintage conditions and soils; simplicity because ultimately all that matters is how much you like the wine."
Willi adds, "It never ceases to amaze me how simple grapes grown on a hill somewhere can be transformed into a beautiful liquid that is a joy to drink, and so different from the grapes you started with."
Is wine still able to surprise you?
"I'm still astonished by people who make some of the world's greatest wines with little or no technical background or studies," Marco says. "You have people like Bruno Giacosa in Piedmont or Edoardo Valentini in Abruzzo, both farmers who make unbelievable wines from vines that have no business yielding such great results! Valentini even uses a lower quality grape called Trabbiano D'Abruzzo, which in the hands of lesser winemakers gives plonk—but he succeeds in making very good stuff."
"For me, the surprise is the unpredictability of wine," says Silvia. "Sometimes the great name disappoints, and other times lesser wines—such as the wonderful Sylvaners from Alto Adige—blow you away. It's that capacity to please and infuriate that I find intoxicating. One minute you're ecstatic; the next minute, if the wine is horrible, you're downright angry. You feel like saying, 'How dare you cross my palate when I had such high hopes?'"
What do you choose for special occasions, such as anniversaries or birthdays?"
Marco smiles and nods: "Sometimes, in honor of the occasion, I'll pick a vintage that is the same year as the anniversary or a birthday. Otherwise, a Barolo from the Serralunga area would be at the top of my list."
Willi adds: "I like to begin with a Riesling from Germany, because my guests probably won't be too familiar with them. Then I'll move to an older Barolo or rich Super Tuscan, although I also love great Pinot Noir." Both Marco and Silvia quickly agree that a great Pinot Noir is hard to beat.
What is your funniest wine-related memory?
"What's funny is how younger and older winemakers react so differently to progress," muses Willi. "When we started making noble-rot-affected sweet wine [when overripe grapes are affected by noble rot, they produce very rich sweet wine], we asked our growers to leave the grapes on the vine while the Botrytis fungus set in. But after the first wave of noble rot appeared, the older farmers were appalled and marched into the office demanding that we let them pick the overripe grapes immediately because they were too embarrassed to face their neighbors."
Silvia smiles: "My cellar staff plays a prank on me every year. When I'm very busy in the office—juggling a million things—they'll bring me a glass of what they say is the new vintage, but they've actually mixed horrible wines together. One sip leaves me aghast, so I frantically run to the cellar to taste it directly from the barrel. I should wise up, but I fall for it every time!"
"A funny story about wine? There are too many!" laughs Marco. "But I'll tell you one thing that makes me smile. I believe wine ought to be drunk and shared. In Italy, we tend not to keep great bottles around too long. I receive phone calls from foreign wine collectors in their sixties who have cellars full of great wines they want to sell. I think to myself, 'I have a fantastic cellar, too, but when I'm sixty, mine will be empty. I'll have drunk every bottle with my friends long before then!'"
I'll raise my glass to that. Salute!
THE CHOSEN WINES
Now for the most important question: What to drink? Here, the triumvirate reveals the white wines they'll be sipping this summer.
Marco recommends Marsella Fiano di Avellino
A very pure, fresh wine, unadulturated by oak or nonfruity notes. It has lots of citrus and lively acidity that is clean and fresh on the palate.
"I'll be drinking Cataratto from Sicily," says Marco, "or Fiano, a grape capable of producing wines of many different nuances. Fiano can give wines that are steely and lean, or very ripe and full of tropical fruit; it all depends on where the grapes are grown."
Silvia recommends Marisa Cuomo Fior d'Uva Costa d'Amalfi
A fresh, flowery wine with a slightly salty, herbal edge. The taste takes you back to standing on a cliff on the Amalfi Riviera, overlooking the blue Tyrrhenian Sea. This special wine combines fragrant fruit and herbal notes in layered complexity.
"Vermentino's lemony, floral character is unbeatable on hot summer days. I'll also be drinking other native Campania, such as Ravello and Furore Bianco."
Willi recommends Cantino Terlano Vorberg Pinot Bianco
A perfect wine for everyday sipping, this is one of the very best Pinot Biancos made in Italy. It has nice lemongrass, pear and sage notes on the nose, a rich mouthfeel, yet stays light and lively on the palate. It goes perfectly with summer fare such as grilled salmon steaks or fresh seafood salad.
"I love a fresh Pinot Bianco, either from Friuli, Venezia, Giulia or Alto Adige—it's something fresh and lively, and very compatible with food."
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