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rarefied wine tasting excellence. The wines in the tasting were all either excellent or downright spectacular."', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><strong>From the Archives, Iconic Italian Wines: A Fantastic Tasting in London </strong></p> <p><strong>BY IAN D'AGATA</strong></p> <p><strong>February 23rd, 2024 </strong></p> <p><a href="https://terroirsense.com/en/p/10005.html">Link here to full article >>></a></p> <p> </p> <p>"This past February 6, in a truly remarkable wine tasting held in London and organized by Astrum Wines (one of the UK’s best wine importers and a consummate Italian wine specialist), I was lucky enough to partake in a moment of truly rarefied wine tasting excellence. The wines in the tasting were all either excellent or downright spectacular. Their intrinsic level of goodness resulted from the perfect storm of wine attributes, including first and foremost there being only wines from truly great vintages (a common ploy when trying ti impress people is using a famous name wine from a horrific vintage; but to Astrum’s credit and their willingness to go the extra mile for their clients and fans, no famous wines from lousy vintages such as 2003 were included in this tasting). Almost every wine featured in this masterclass can be considered benchmark for its grape variety or wine category; and even those that don’t really fit into that mould are characterized by specific traits or terroir characteristics to make them unique in some ways.</p> <p> </p> <p>For example, there can be no doubt that <strong>Miani’s Ribolla Gialla Pettarin</strong> is not just the best Ribolla Gialla wine made in Italy, but an argument can be made that it may well be Italy’s best white wine, period (Gravner’s is just as good, but is a completely different wine such that a fair, even logical, comparison between the two is impossible). Similarly, there is no better producer of Greco wines in Italy than Pietracupa: normally, the best Greco wines of Italy are those that sport the Greco di Tufo denomination, but in the case of owner’s Sabino Loffredo’s Greco G wine, the denomination is inconsequential. The <strong>Pietracupa 2010 Greco G </strong>may very well be not just the best Greco wine he has ever made, but the best wine period. On that note, there is no doubt that the <strong>Oddero 2016 Barolo Riserva Vignarionda </strong>is just that: in other words, the best Barolo Vignarionda ever made by the winery, perhaps even the best wine Oddero has ever made (and they have made quite a few since the nineteenth century, so that’s saying something). <strong>Tenuta di Trinoro’s 2013 Tenuta di Trinoro Toscana Rosso</strong>, is a perfect example of a Supertuscan made in a cooler year such that it boasts less of the viscous opulent flesh this wine is capable of showcasing in spades, but boasts instead supreme elegance and lightness of being. Despite it being made with the two Cabernets (mostly Cab Franc, in fact), Merlot and a dollop of Petit Verdot, it has nonetheless excellent ripeness levels and broadcasts what the relatively little-known and little-used farmland around the small town of Sarteano in southern Tuscany can deliver. About the only thing I have to add is that it is highly reductive to call Trinoro’s wine (or that of Tua Rita, or Petrolo, or Castello del Terriccio, for example) as simply “Supertuscnas”, independently of all the good that that name conjures up. This is because just about any Cab-Merlot wine made in Tuscany can be referred to as a “Supertuscan” but there is a quality chasm separating the best from the average and weaker wines that benefit from that monicker. The<strong> Speri 1988 Amarone della Valpolicella Vigneto Sant’Urbano</strong> is a masterpiece. Everyone reading this article has probably tried Amarone once in their life, if not more; but truth is, for such a famous wine, not all examples are as well-balanced and easy to drink as they ought to be. Speri’s1988 wine (an excellent vintage) is drinking splendidly right now: it finds itself in a sweet spot that makes it at once extremely velvety, delicious and irresistible, though remarkably relatively youthful and age-worthy. Speaking of “balance”, no word describes better, and then some, the <strong>Ronchi di Cialla 1983 Verduzzo di Cialla Colli Orientali del Friuli</strong>, a superb sweet wine. Verduzzo Friulano (not to be confused with a similarly-named variety called Verduzzo Trevigiano) is a very underrated Italian white grape, that can give easygoing classically dry white wines but also magically rich and luscious stickies (usually made with air-dried grapes). The 1983 vintage was an especially great one in Friuli Venezia Giulia (the reds were very fine too that year) and this Verduzzo wine showcases this fact admirably: it’s a wine that shows off the tannic heft typical of the variety, but at the same time its just as typical deep and complex aromas and flavours of almond, marzipan, ripe orchard fruit (with a whiplash of tropical fruit and chestnut honey added in for good measure). The<strong> Produttori del Barbaresco 2013 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà </strong>offers nice insight into the exact quality of the 2013 vintage in Barolo and Barbaresco (an underrated vintage, in my opinion), with a wine that harkens stylistically back to the many great wines made during the 1980s and even the 1970s, in much cooler times than today’s days irrevocably marked by climate change. That cool climate is evident in the <strong>Poggio Scalette 2010 Il Carbonaione Alta Valle del Greve</strong>, a Sangiovese wine made by one of Italy’s chief consultant winemakers, Vittorio Fiore. The Ruffolo area where the grapes used to make this wine grow is characterized by a specific biotype of Sangiovese, known as Sangiovese di Lamole. It’s a Sangiovese that gives much bigger wines than usual and that are successfully produced even in the area’s cold climate conditions, where Sangiovese never ripens fully; instead, the Sangiovese di Lamole appears to manage to do so. In fact, I think there has existed quite a bit of confusion on this subject in the past, as the majority of old vines planted in the Lamole area seventy-eighty years ago were actually of a distinct variety called Sangiovese Forte or Sanforte, one that is much better suited to the Lamole climate than Sangiovese. This is because it not only ripens well despite the cooler climate but because it delivers a wine that is at the same time muscular and tannic, but also smooth and fruity. The presence of Sanforte, in smaller or larger degrees helps explain why the “Sangiovese wines” of the area look, smell and taste different from more typical Sangiovese wines, without needing to figure out other reasons as to why that may be. Last but not least, the <strong>Castello Romitorio 2014 Brunello di Montalcino</strong> Riserva is a very good wine from the excellent, but admittedly slightly overrated 2004 vintage. Made with Sangiovese grapes that are planted at the highest altitudes of the denomination, Romitorio’s Brunellos are always marked by a slightly herbal and high-acid mouthfeel that helps deliver a sense of juiciness and freshness that is uncommon in most Brunellos made today (even those from the northern-facing reaches of the denomination)."</p>', 'date' => '2024-03-06', 'image_id' => '4005', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-06 09:31:20', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2024-03-06 09:33:59', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '4005', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '567471365', 'name' => '微信图片_20240218154152.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => '217197', 'width' => '1280', 'height' => '1706', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2024-03-06 09:29:21', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2024-03-06 09:29:21', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3962', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2024/03/567471365.jpg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => 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'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '94', 'title' => 'Wines of Georgia Trade & Press Tasting 2023', 'slug' => 'wines-of-georgia-trade-press-tasting-2023', 'teaser' => 'Save the date: Tuesday 23rd May', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p>Tuesday 23rd May</p> <p>From 11 am until 5 pm</p> <p>Phonica Records, 51 Poland St, London, W1F 7ND</p> <p> </p> <p>We are excited to announce that we will be exhibiting at the upcoming Wines of Georgia Trade & Press Tasting 2023.</p> <p>This is a fantastic opportunity to discover and taste some of the finest wines from Georgia, a country rich in history and winemaking traditions.</p> <p>Plus, you'll get to meet Levan Chychynadze, the Winemaker and Owner of Tiko Estate, who'll be joining us in London just for this event!</p> <p>Don't miss out on the chance to meet Tiko Estate in person and taste their range with us.</p> <p>We hope you will join us for this special occasion and indulge in the flavors of Georgia. </p> <p> </p> <p>Follow @GeorgianWineUK for updates!</p>', 'date' => '2023-04-26', 'image_id' => '3779', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04 09:10:00', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2023-04-26 14:21:10', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3779', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '412695268', 'name' => 'Wines of Georgia Invite 2023_page-0001.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => 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'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '93', 'title' => 'Abruzzo: The Great Divide', 'slug' => 'abruzzo-the-great-divide', 'teaser' => 'High praise for Cataldi Madonna from Eric Guido in his latest article on Abruzzo via Vinous.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><strong><a href="https://vinous.com/articles/abruzzo-the-great-divide-oct-2022">Abruzzo: The Great Divide</a></strong></p> <p><strong>By Eric Guido</strong></p> <p><strong>October 2022</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>“Speaking of terroir in Abruzzo, the drastic difference that I witnessed when driving from Loreto Aprutino (think Valentini, De Fermo and Torre Dei Beati) to Ofena in the Tirino Valley (home of Cataldi Madonna) was eye-opening. Only 45 minutes by car, yet over a mountain away, the gentle hills of Loreto Aprutino and Cognoli give way to mountain scrub, firs and packs of wolves before descending toward the hillside town of Ofena on a highway that could easily be used as the location of a high-speed chase in any upcoming James Bond flick. This is known as “Abruzzo’s Oven”. As you can imagine, the valley floor is one of the warmest locations by day, yet with drastic diurnal shifts due to the surrounding mountains, as much as 20 degrees, which help to keep the vines healthy. In addition, the higher-clay content in the soils aids in retaining water. Cataldi Madonna remains one of the most dependable houses for Montepulciano, which has a richness and depth of fruit that has to be tasted to be believed. This is the mark of terroir, as the wines are matured in all-neutral vessels. Cataldi Madonna has also taken Pecorino to a very serious level. A total of three different bottlings, each one from a more rigorous selection of their older vines and those planted more recently through massal selection. Back to the Montepulcianos…the average consumer would assume these couldn’t age well due to how enjoyable they are in their youth; however, this critic was wowed by a number of mature bottles tasted at the estate.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2021 Pecorino Giulia – 91 points</strong></p> <p>The 2021 Pecorino Giulia impresses with a stunning mix of candied lime, crushed green apple and fresh mint. This is packed full of savory mineral tones and zesty acids that create a sizzling of spicy tension on the palate. There’s a sweet and sour citrusy interplay that lasts impossibly long through the finale, like biting into a lemon pith followed by a healthy swig of juice. Very nice.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2019 Pecorino Supergiulia – 92 points</strong></p> <p>The bouquet on the 2019 Pecorino Supergiulia balances confectionary richness with intense citrus concentration, complemented by gingery spice. It enters the palate silky and smooth, yet quickly reveals its power as tart orchard fruits cascade across a salty and crunchy core of minerals. The 2019 becomes perfumed and finessed through the finale, while leaving a pleasantly bitter twang that provides a nice punctuation to an already highly pleasurable experience. The Supergiulia is a selection in both the vineyard and then on the sorting table, which is refined in steel tanks on the fine lees for one year.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Malandrino – 93 points</strong></p> <p>The 2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Malandrino gets an official “wow” from the first tilt of the glass as violets and lavender give way to crushed blackberries, blueberries and hints of sweet spice. This is elegance personified, with a juicy core of acidity that enlivens its near-velvety textures and wild berry fruits. It finishes lightly structured, concentrated and long yet perfumed, making the 2020 a pleasure today, but also capable of medium-term cellaring. This is another outstanding vintage of Montepulciano Malandrino which, for all of its depth, has been refined completely in stainless steel tank since the 2012 vintage.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2018 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Toni – 93 points </strong></p> <p>The 2018 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Toni is dark and brooding, smoldering up from the glass with balsam herbs, black currants and hints of menthol. This is silky and opulent in feel with depths of mineral-tinged, red wild berries and sweet, inner herbal tones. It saturates the palate with soft tannins and a primary concentration of fruit, showing significantly more power than your typical 2018, yet also balance. Somehow, Cataldi Madonna has packed both near-term appeal but also the ability for a slow and steady evolution into this vintage of Toni. This is the only Montepulciano of the estate that is matured in wood as it is refined entirely in one twenty-five-hectoliter cask (the only barrel in the cellar). </p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://vinous.com/articles/abruzzo-the-great-divide-oct-2022">Click here to read the full article and reviews ---></a></p>', 'date' => '2022-10-10', 'image_id' => '3652', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10 10:27:47', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-10-10 11:23:13', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3652', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '544187234', 'name' => 'CM.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => '110465', 'width' => '435', 'height' => '516', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2022-10-10 11:21:34', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-10-10 11:21:34', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3609', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2022/10/544187234.jpg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => '0', 'video_thumbnail_ready' => '0', 'asset_folder_id' => '0', 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'Document' => array( 'id' => null, 'parent_id' => null, 'uid' => null, 'name' => null, 'caption' => null, 'ext' => null, 'size' => null, 'width' => null, 'height' => null, 'extract' => null, 'created' => null, 'created_by' => null, 'modified' => null, 'modified_by' => null, 'sorting' => null, 'status' => null, 'path' => null, 'tags' => null, 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => null, 'video_thumbnail_ready' => null, 'asset_folder_id' => null, 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '92', 'title' => 'Sweet Winemaker of the Year 2022', 'slug' => 'sweet-winemaker-of-the-year-2022', 'teaser' => 'Hans Tschida wins the IWC Sweet Winemaker of the Year award for the eighth time ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p>“Hans Tschida is a sweet wine legend with very few peers. It’s an enormous privilege to taste his world-class wines every year,” said Tim Atkin MW, co-chair of the IWC, as he welcomed the Austrian winemaker onto the stage to collect his eighth Sweet Winemaker of the Year title.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://www.internationalwinechallenge.com/Canopy-Articles/meet-the-sweet-wine-legend.html">Read more here >>></a></p>', 'date' => '2022-09-29', 'image_id' => '3650', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29 12:41:54', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-09-29 12:45:12', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3650', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '693261465', 'name' => 'Hans Tschida with awards.jpeg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpeg', 'size' => '288612', 'width' => '668', 'height' => '989', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2022-09-29 12:40:55', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-09-29 12:40:55', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3607', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2022/09/693261465.jpeg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => '0', 'video_thumbnail_ready' => '0', 'asset_folder_id' => '0', 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'Document' => array( 'id' => null, 'parent_id' => null, 'uid' => null, 'name' => null, 'caption' => null, 'ext' => null, 'size' => null, 'width' => null, 'height' => null, 'extract' => null, 'created' => null, 'created_by' => null, 'modified' => null, 'modified_by' => null, 'sorting' => null, 'status' => null, 'path' => null, 'tags' => null, 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => null, 'video_thumbnail_ready' => null, 'asset_folder_id' => null, 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '90', 'title' => '“If a producer is not maniacal, he cannot make good wine” Luigi Cataldi Madonna', 'slug' => 'if-a-producer-is-not-maniacal-he-cannot-make-good-wine-luigi-cataldi-madonna', 'teaser' => 'The Wine Spectator's Roberto Camuto meets... The Nutty Professor of Pecorino: The New Abruzzo', 'content' => '<div class="article__body-info"> <div class="article__byline"> <p> </p> <p>The Wine Spectator's Roberto Camuto meets...<br /><a href="https://www.winespectator.com/articles/the-nutty-professor-of-pecorino-the-new-abruzzo-part-3"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Nutty Professor of Pecorino: The New Abruzzo</span></strong><br /><span style="color: #000000;"><br />By </span></a><a href="https://www.winespectator.com/authors/rcamuto">Robert Camuto<br /></a>Nov 2, 2021</p> </div> <div class="article__byline"> </div> </div> <div class="article__body-content paywall"> <p>I thought I’d met most of the eccentrics in Italian wine—the experimental outliers who’ve made an impact by following some singular intuition, rare grape or other personal muse.</p> <p>Then I met Luigi Cataldi Madonna in the hot, dry hills of Abruzzo. Charming and self-effacing, he proudly cackled in his smoker’s rasp: “I am the champion of all the crazies!”</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna, 65, is a philosophy professor at the University of L’Aquila, in the stately mountain city still recovering from the deadly, devastating 2009 earthquake there. Twenty-one years ago, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and he considers it a plus for his craft.</p> <p>“It’s important for wine,” he says with a laugh. “If a producer is not maniacal, he cannot make good wine.”</p> <p>The son of a noble family in Ofena (pop. 500), Cataldi Madonna is known in central Italian winemaking for two things. First, he’s been the foremost advocate of winemaking in the rugged foothills of the Tirino Valley, below the towering Gran Sasso massif, in an area nicknamed "Il Forno d’Abruzzo” (“the oven of Abruzzo”). Second, and perhaps more important, he was the region’s first champion of Pecorino, the heirloom white grape that’s taken off like a rocket in the 21st century.</p> <p>A bit of historical context: Though the first pure Pecorino bottling is widely believed to be a 1990 vintage from <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/search?submitted=Y&scope=ratings&winery=Cocci+Grifoni">Tenuta Cocci Grifoni</a> to the north in the Marche, that estate labeled the wine “Colle Vecchio,” after the vineyard. According to <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/articles/a-tour-of-italys-grapes-50534">Italian indigenous grape expert Ian d’Agata</a>, the grape had several regional names and Cataldi Madonna was the first in Italy to print “Pecorino” on a wine label, with the 1996 vintage.</p> <p>“Now, everybody in the last 20 years here has planted Pecorino,” says Davide Acerra, spokesperson for the Consorzio Tutela Vini d'Abruzzo, the regional wine organization. “And Cataldi Madonna is a reference point. He was the first here.”</p> <p>Pecorino’s boom has been fueled largely by the appeal of its name, which it shares with the beloved Italian sheep’s milk cheese. The grape variety, according to local lore, derives its name from the <em>pecore</em> (sheep) that ate the vines' leaves during their summer passage to higher grazing grounds or the sheepherders who snacked on the grapes.</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna took over the now century-old family wine estate in 1990, following in the footsteps of his father who was the first in the family to bottle <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/search?submitted=Y&scope=ratings&winery=Cataldi+Madonna">Cataldi Madonna wines</a> in 1975.</p> <p>“My father was an architect, and he had no extra time,” Cataldi Madonna says on a bright afternoon before harvest, as he walks down the narrow country road between the vineyards with his daughter Giulia, 28, and Tuscan consulting enologist Lorenzo Landi. “I am a professor, so I had lots of time.”</p> <p>In his first year, Cataldi Madonna decided he wanted to find an alternative to the area’s Trebbiano wines and discovered Pecorino at a vine nursery. The low-yielding grape—marked by high acidity, sugar levels and aromatics—was often used as a minor part of white blends.</p> <p>To hear Cataldi Madonna tell it, he was wowed by the grape, and he immediately planted his first 2 acres in the vineyard called Frontone, which is next to his winery at 1,200 feet in altitude.</p> <p>“I didn’t know how to manage it,” Cataldi Madonna says, shrugging his whole frame. “It’s like when you fall in love—do you know how to manage it?”</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna made the first vintage, 1996, conducting basic fermentations in stainless steel. “In the first years we made a disaster,” he says. “Everyone said it tasted like lemon soda! But 2,000 bottles—even if it's lemon soda—are not difficult to sell.”</p> <p>Over more than a decade, he experimented broadly. Between 2000 and 2007, he tried fermenting Pecorino in oak <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=barrique"><em>barriques</em></a>, but found those covered the aromas. “It’s not easy to balance all the aspects of Pecorino—the structure, acidity and aromatics,” says Landi, who joined Cataldi Madonna as a consultant in 2003.</p> <p>In the past decade, the two have settled on a method that involves a cryomaceration (a more extreme version of <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary/show/id/maceration">cold maceration</a> that involves freezing the grapes to extract more flavor and other compounds) before pressing, followed by fermenting on <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=native+yeast">indigenous yeasts</a> and aging on <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=lees">lees</a> in steel tanks.</p> <p>In 2019, Cataldi Madonna signed the estate over to his daughter Giulia, who studied viticulture and oversees production of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo reds, deep-colored Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo rosé and a Trebbiano d’Abruzzo white from 75 acres of vineyards.</p> <p>But Pecorino remains his obsession, and he hasn’t loosened his grip on major decisions.</p> <p>The winery now regularly makes a pair of Pecorinos under the geographical designation Terre Aquilane IGT: the entry-level Giulia Pecorino (86 points, $24 for <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/detail/source/search/note_id/436235">the 2016 vintage</a>) and the harvest selection SuperGiulia Pecorino.</p> <p>Every year, Cataldi Madonna vinifies the two original acres of Frontone Pecorino separately. But until now, he has only released one vintage as a separate cuvée—the 2013 vintage.</p> <p>“The quality of the other years didn’t please Luigi,” says Landi. “But 2020 was a good year and we may release it in 2023.”</p> <p>Ask anyone in Abruzzo what they think of Pecorino and they’ll say it’s a wine still being discovered.</p> <p>“It’s in a state of change,” says Cataldi Madonna, the philosophile. “You see, Pecorino is not a closed argument.”</p> <p> </p> </div>', 'date' => '2021-11-03', 'image_id' => '3306', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-03 10:44:54', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-01-04 13:36:01', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3306', 'parent_id' => '3305', 'uid' => '285649161', 'name' => '1635881342_rc_cataldimadonna110221_1600.jpeg', 'caption' => 'Cataldi Madonna', 'ext' => 'jpeg', 'size' => '469750', 'width' => '866', 'height' => '900', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2021-11-03 10:44:27', 'created_by' => '9', 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=> null, 'modified_by' => null, 'status' => null ) ) $list = array() $item = array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '98', 'title' => 'From the Archives, Iconic Italian Wines: A Fantastic Tasting in London', 'slug' => 'from-the-archives-iconic-italian-wines-a-fantastic-tasting-in-london', 'teaser' => 'BY IAN D'AGATA "This past February 6, in a truly remarkable wine tasting held in London and organized by Astrum Wines (one of the UK’s best wine importers and a consummate Italian wine specialist), I was lucky enough to partake in a moment of truly rarefied wine tasting excellence. The wines in the tasting were all either excellent or downright spectacular."', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><strong>From the Archives, Iconic Italian Wines: A Fantastic Tasting in London </strong></p> <p><strong>BY IAN D'AGATA</strong></p> <p><strong>February 23rd, 2024 </strong></p> <p><a href="https://terroirsense.com/en/p/10005.html">Link here to full article >>></a></p> <p> </p> <p>"This past February 6, in a truly remarkable wine tasting held in London and organized by Astrum Wines (one of the UK’s best wine importers and a consummate Italian wine specialist), I was lucky enough to partake in a moment of truly rarefied wine tasting excellence. The wines in the tasting were all either excellent or downright spectacular. Their intrinsic level of goodness resulted from the perfect storm of wine attributes, including first and foremost there being only wines from truly great vintages (a common ploy when trying ti impress people is using a famous name wine from a horrific vintage; but to Astrum’s credit and their willingness to go the extra mile for their clients and fans, no famous wines from lousy vintages such as 2003 were included in this tasting). Almost every wine featured in this masterclass can be considered benchmark for its grape variety or wine category; and even those that don’t really fit into that mould are characterized by specific traits or terroir characteristics to make them unique in some ways.</p> <p> </p> <p>For example, there can be no doubt that <strong>Miani’s Ribolla Gialla Pettarin</strong> is not just the best Ribolla Gialla wine made in Italy, but an argument can be made that it may well be Italy’s best white wine, period (Gravner’s is just as good, but is a completely different wine such that a fair, even logical, comparison between the two is impossible). Similarly, there is no better producer of Greco wines in Italy than Pietracupa: normally, the best Greco wines of Italy are those that sport the Greco di Tufo denomination, but in the case of owner’s Sabino Loffredo’s Greco G wine, the denomination is inconsequential. The <strong>Pietracupa 2010 Greco G </strong>may very well be not just the best Greco wine he has ever made, but the best wine period. On that note, there is no doubt that the <strong>Oddero 2016 Barolo Riserva Vignarionda </strong>is just that: in other words, the best Barolo Vignarionda ever made by the winery, perhaps even the best wine Oddero has ever made (and they have made quite a few since the nineteenth century, so that’s saying something). <strong>Tenuta di Trinoro’s 2013 Tenuta di Trinoro Toscana Rosso</strong>, is a perfect example of a Supertuscan made in a cooler year such that it boasts less of the viscous opulent flesh this wine is capable of showcasing in spades, but boasts instead supreme elegance and lightness of being. Despite it being made with the two Cabernets (mostly Cab Franc, in fact), Merlot and a dollop of Petit Verdot, it has nonetheless excellent ripeness levels and broadcasts what the relatively little-known and little-used farmland around the small town of Sarteano in southern Tuscany can deliver. About the only thing I have to add is that it is highly reductive to call Trinoro’s wine (or that of Tua Rita, or Petrolo, or Castello del Terriccio, for example) as simply “Supertuscnas”, independently of all the good that that name conjures up. This is because just about any Cab-Merlot wine made in Tuscany can be referred to as a “Supertuscan” but there is a quality chasm separating the best from the average and weaker wines that benefit from that monicker. The<strong> Speri 1988 Amarone della Valpolicella Vigneto Sant’Urbano</strong> is a masterpiece. Everyone reading this article has probably tried Amarone once in their life, if not more; but truth is, for such a famous wine, not all examples are as well-balanced and easy to drink as they ought to be. Speri’s1988 wine (an excellent vintage) is drinking splendidly right now: it finds itself in a sweet spot that makes it at once extremely velvety, delicious and irresistible, though remarkably relatively youthful and age-worthy. Speaking of “balance”, no word describes better, and then some, the <strong>Ronchi di Cialla 1983 Verduzzo di Cialla Colli Orientali del Friuli</strong>, a superb sweet wine. Verduzzo Friulano (not to be confused with a similarly-named variety called Verduzzo Trevigiano) is a very underrated Italian white grape, that can give easygoing classically dry white wines but also magically rich and luscious stickies (usually made with air-dried grapes). The 1983 vintage was an especially great one in Friuli Venezia Giulia (the reds were very fine too that year) and this Verduzzo wine showcases this fact admirably: it’s a wine that shows off the tannic heft typical of the variety, but at the same time its just as typical deep and complex aromas and flavours of almond, marzipan, ripe orchard fruit (with a whiplash of tropical fruit and chestnut honey added in for good measure). The<strong> Produttori del Barbaresco 2013 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà </strong>offers nice insight into the exact quality of the 2013 vintage in Barolo and Barbaresco (an underrated vintage, in my opinion), with a wine that harkens stylistically back to the many great wines made during the 1980s and even the 1970s, in much cooler times than today’s days irrevocably marked by climate change. That cool climate is evident in the <strong>Poggio Scalette 2010 Il Carbonaione Alta Valle del Greve</strong>, a Sangiovese wine made by one of Italy’s chief consultant winemakers, Vittorio Fiore. The Ruffolo area where the grapes used to make this wine grow is characterized by a specific biotype of Sangiovese, known as Sangiovese di Lamole. It’s a Sangiovese that gives much bigger wines than usual and that are successfully produced even in the area’s cold climate conditions, where Sangiovese never ripens fully; instead, the Sangiovese di Lamole appears to manage to do so. In fact, I think there has existed quite a bit of confusion on this subject in the past, as the majority of old vines planted in the Lamole area seventy-eighty years ago were actually of a distinct variety called Sangiovese Forte or Sanforte, one that is much better suited to the Lamole climate than Sangiovese. This is because it not only ripens well despite the cooler climate but because it delivers a wine that is at the same time muscular and tannic, but also smooth and fruity. The presence of Sanforte, in smaller or larger degrees helps explain why the “Sangiovese wines” of the area look, smell and taste different from more typical Sangiovese wines, without needing to figure out other reasons as to why that may be. Last but not least, the <strong>Castello Romitorio 2014 Brunello di Montalcino</strong> Riserva is a very good wine from the excellent, but admittedly slightly overrated 2004 vintage. 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rarefied wine tasting excellence. The wines in the tasting were all either excellent or downright spectacular."', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><strong>From the Archives, Iconic Italian Wines: A Fantastic Tasting in London </strong></p> <p><strong>BY IAN D'AGATA</strong></p> <p><strong>February 23rd, 2024 </strong></p> <p><a href="https://terroirsense.com/en/p/10005.html">Link here to full article >>></a></p> <p> </p> <p>"This past February 6, in a truly remarkable wine tasting held in London and organized by Astrum Wines (one of the UK’s best wine importers and a consummate Italian wine specialist), I was lucky enough to partake in a moment of truly rarefied wine tasting excellence. The wines in the tasting were all either excellent or downright spectacular. Their intrinsic level of goodness resulted from the perfect storm of wine attributes, including first and foremost there being only wines from truly great vintages (a common ploy when trying ti impress people is using a famous name wine from a horrific vintage; but to Astrum’s credit and their willingness to go the extra mile for their clients and fans, no famous wines from lousy vintages such as 2003 were included in this tasting). Almost every wine featured in this masterclass can be considered benchmark for its grape variety or wine category; and even those that don’t really fit into that mould are characterized by specific traits or terroir characteristics to make them unique in some ways.</p> <p> </p> <p>For example, there can be no doubt that <strong>Miani’s Ribolla Gialla Pettarin</strong> is not just the best Ribolla Gialla wine made in Italy, but an argument can be made that it may well be Italy’s best white wine, period (Gravner’s is just as good, but is a completely different wine such that a fair, even logical, comparison between the two is impossible). Similarly, there is no better producer of Greco wines in Italy than Pietracupa: normally, the best Greco wines of Italy are those that sport the Greco di Tufo denomination, but in the case of owner’s Sabino Loffredo’s Greco G wine, the denomination is inconsequential. The <strong>Pietracupa 2010 Greco G </strong>may very well be not just the best Greco wine he has ever made, but the best wine period. On that note, there is no doubt that the <strong>Oddero 2016 Barolo Riserva Vignarionda </strong>is just that: in other words, the best Barolo Vignarionda ever made by the winery, perhaps even the best wine Oddero has ever made (and they have made quite a few since the nineteenth century, so that’s saying something). <strong>Tenuta di Trinoro’s 2013 Tenuta di Trinoro Toscana Rosso</strong>, is a perfect example of a Supertuscan made in a cooler year such that it boasts less of the viscous opulent flesh this wine is capable of showcasing in spades, but boasts instead supreme elegance and lightness of being. Despite it being made with the two Cabernets (mostly Cab Franc, in fact), Merlot and a dollop of Petit Verdot, it has nonetheless excellent ripeness levels and broadcasts what the relatively little-known and little-used farmland around the small town of Sarteano in southern Tuscany can deliver. About the only thing I have to add is that it is highly reductive to call Trinoro’s wine (or that of Tua Rita, or Petrolo, or Castello del Terriccio, for example) as simply “Supertuscnas”, independently of all the good that that name conjures up. This is because just about any Cab-Merlot wine made in Tuscany can be referred to as a “Supertuscan” but there is a quality chasm separating the best from the average and weaker wines that benefit from that monicker. The<strong> Speri 1988 Amarone della Valpolicella Vigneto Sant’Urbano</strong> is a masterpiece. Everyone reading this article has probably tried Amarone once in their life, if not more; but truth is, for such a famous wine, not all examples are as well-balanced and easy to drink as they ought to be. Speri’s1988 wine (an excellent vintage) is drinking splendidly right now: it finds itself in a sweet spot that makes it at once extremely velvety, delicious and irresistible, though remarkably relatively youthful and age-worthy. Speaking of “balance”, no word describes better, and then some, the <strong>Ronchi di Cialla 1983 Verduzzo di Cialla Colli Orientali del Friuli</strong>, a superb sweet wine. Verduzzo Friulano (not to be confused with a similarly-named variety called Verduzzo Trevigiano) is a very underrated Italian white grape, that can give easygoing classically dry white wines but also magically rich and luscious stickies (usually made with air-dried grapes). The 1983 vintage was an especially great one in Friuli Venezia Giulia (the reds were very fine too that year) and this Verduzzo wine showcases this fact admirably: it’s a wine that shows off the tannic heft typical of the variety, but at the same time its just as typical deep and complex aromas and flavours of almond, marzipan, ripe orchard fruit (with a whiplash of tropical fruit and chestnut honey added in for good measure). The<strong> Produttori del Barbaresco 2013 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà </strong>offers nice insight into the exact quality of the 2013 vintage in Barolo and Barbaresco (an underrated vintage, in my opinion), with a wine that harkens stylistically back to the many great wines made during the 1980s and even the 1970s, in much cooler times than today’s days irrevocably marked by climate change. That cool climate is evident in the <strong>Poggio Scalette 2010 Il Carbonaione Alta Valle del Greve</strong>, a Sangiovese wine made by one of Italy’s chief consultant winemakers, Vittorio Fiore. The Ruffolo area where the grapes used to make this wine grow is characterized by a specific biotype of Sangiovese, known as Sangiovese di Lamole. It’s a Sangiovese that gives much bigger wines than usual and that are successfully produced even in the area’s cold climate conditions, where Sangiovese never ripens fully; instead, the Sangiovese di Lamole appears to manage to do so. In fact, I think there has existed quite a bit of confusion on this subject in the past, as the majority of old vines planted in the Lamole area seventy-eighty years ago were actually of a distinct variety called Sangiovese Forte or Sanforte, one that is much better suited to the Lamole climate than Sangiovese. This is because it not only ripens well despite the cooler climate but because it delivers a wine that is at the same time muscular and tannic, but also smooth and fruity. The presence of Sanforte, in smaller or larger degrees helps explain why the “Sangiovese wines” of the area look, smell and taste different from more typical Sangiovese wines, without needing to figure out other reasons as to why that may be. Last but not least, the <strong>Castello Romitorio 2014 Brunello di Montalcino</strong> Riserva is a very good wine from the excellent, but admittedly slightly overrated 2004 vintage. Made with Sangiovese grapes that are planted at the highest altitudes of the denomination, Romitorio’s Brunellos are always marked by a slightly herbal and high-acid mouthfeel that helps deliver a sense of juiciness and freshness that is uncommon in most Brunellos made today (even those from the northern-facing reaches of the denomination)."</p>', 'date' => '2024-03-06', 'image_id' => '4005', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-06 09:31:20', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2024-03-06 09:33:59', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '4005', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '567471365', 'name' => '微信图片_20240218154152.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => '217197', 'width' => '1280', 'height' => '1706', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2024-03-06 09:29:21', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2024-03-06 09:29:21', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3962', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2024/03/567471365.jpg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => 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'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '94', 'title' => 'Wines of Georgia Trade & Press Tasting 2023', 'slug' => 'wines-of-georgia-trade-press-tasting-2023', 'teaser' => 'Save the date: Tuesday 23rd May', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p>Tuesday 23rd May</p> <p>From 11 am until 5 pm</p> <p>Phonica Records, 51 Poland St, London, W1F 7ND</p> <p> </p> <p>We are excited to announce that we will be exhibiting at the upcoming Wines of Georgia Trade & Press Tasting 2023.</p> <p>This is a fantastic opportunity to discover and taste some of the finest wines from Georgia, a country rich in history and winemaking traditions.</p> <p>Plus, you'll get to meet Levan Chychynadze, the Winemaker and Owner of Tiko Estate, who'll be joining us in London just for this event!</p> <p>Don't miss out on the chance to meet Tiko Estate in person and taste their range with us.</p> <p>We hope you will join us for this special occasion and indulge in the flavors of Georgia. </p> <p> </p> <p>Follow @GeorgianWineUK for updates!</p>', 'date' => '2023-04-26', 'image_id' => '3779', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04 09:10:00', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2023-04-26 14:21:10', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3779', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '412695268', 'name' => 'Wines of Georgia Invite 2023_page-0001.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => 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'abruzzo-the-great-divide', 'teaser' => 'High praise for Cataldi Madonna from Eric Guido in his latest article on Abruzzo via Vinous.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><strong><a href="https://vinous.com/articles/abruzzo-the-great-divide-oct-2022">Abruzzo: The Great Divide</a></strong></p> <p><strong>By Eric Guido</strong></p> <p><strong>October 2022</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>“Speaking of terroir in Abruzzo, the drastic difference that I witnessed when driving from Loreto Aprutino (think Valentini, De Fermo and Torre Dei Beati) to Ofena in the Tirino Valley (home of Cataldi Madonna) was eye-opening. Only 45 minutes by car, yet over a mountain away, the gentle hills of Loreto Aprutino and Cognoli give way to mountain scrub, firs and packs of wolves before descending toward the hillside town of Ofena on a highway that could easily be used as the location of a high-speed chase in any upcoming James Bond flick. This is known as “Abruzzo’s Oven”. As you can imagine, the valley floor is one of the warmest locations by day, yet with drastic diurnal shifts due to the surrounding mountains, as much as 20 degrees, which help to keep the vines healthy. In addition, the higher-clay content in the soils aids in retaining water. Cataldi Madonna remains one of the most dependable houses for Montepulciano, which has a richness and depth of fruit that has to be tasted to be believed. This is the mark of terroir, as the wines are matured in all-neutral vessels. Cataldi Madonna has also taken Pecorino to a very serious level. A total of three different bottlings, each one from a more rigorous selection of their older vines and those planted more recently through massal selection. Back to the Montepulcianos…the average consumer would assume these couldn’t age well due to how enjoyable they are in their youth; however, this critic was wowed by a number of mature bottles tasted at the estate.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2021 Pecorino Giulia – 91 points</strong></p> <p>The 2021 Pecorino Giulia impresses with a stunning mix of candied lime, crushed green apple and fresh mint. This is packed full of savory mineral tones and zesty acids that create a sizzling of spicy tension on the palate. There’s a sweet and sour citrusy interplay that lasts impossibly long through the finale, like biting into a lemon pith followed by a healthy swig of juice. Very nice.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2019 Pecorino Supergiulia – 92 points</strong></p> <p>The bouquet on the 2019 Pecorino Supergiulia balances confectionary richness with intense citrus concentration, complemented by gingery spice. It enters the palate silky and smooth, yet quickly reveals its power as tart orchard fruits cascade across a salty and crunchy core of minerals. The 2019 becomes perfumed and finessed through the finale, while leaving a pleasantly bitter twang that provides a nice punctuation to an already highly pleasurable experience. The Supergiulia is a selection in both the vineyard and then on the sorting table, which is refined in steel tanks on the fine lees for one year.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Malandrino – 93 points</strong></p> <p>The 2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Malandrino gets an official “wow” from the first tilt of the glass as violets and lavender give way to crushed blackberries, blueberries and hints of sweet spice. This is elegance personified, with a juicy core of acidity that enlivens its near-velvety textures and wild berry fruits. It finishes lightly structured, concentrated and long yet perfumed, making the 2020 a pleasure today, but also capable of medium-term cellaring. This is another outstanding vintage of Montepulciano Malandrino which, for all of its depth, has been refined completely in stainless steel tank since the 2012 vintage.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2018 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Toni – 93 points </strong></p> <p>The 2018 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Toni is dark and brooding, smoldering up from the glass with balsam herbs, black currants and hints of menthol. This is silky and opulent in feel with depths of mineral-tinged, red wild berries and sweet, inner herbal tones. It saturates the palate with soft tannins and a primary concentration of fruit, showing significantly more power than your typical 2018, yet also balance. Somehow, Cataldi Madonna has packed both near-term appeal but also the ability for a slow and steady evolution into this vintage of Toni. This is the only Montepulciano of the estate that is matured in wood as it is refined entirely in one twenty-five-hectoliter cask (the only barrel in the cellar). </p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://vinous.com/articles/abruzzo-the-great-divide-oct-2022">Click here to read the full article and reviews ---></a></p>', 'date' => '2022-10-10', 'image_id' => '3652', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10 10:27:47', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-10-10 11:23:13', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3652', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '544187234', 'name' => 'CM.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => '110465', 'width' => '435', 'height' => '516', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2022-10-10 11:21:34', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-10-10 11:21:34', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3609', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2022/10/544187234.jpg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => '0', 'video_thumbnail_ready' => '0', 'asset_folder_id' => '0', 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'Document' => array( 'id' => null, 'parent_id' => null, 'uid' => null, 'name' => null, 'caption' => null, 'ext' => null, 'size' => null, 'width' => null, 'height' => null, 'extract' => null, 'created' => null, 'created_by' => null, 'modified' => null, 'modified_by' => null, 'sorting' => null, 'status' => null, 'path' => null, 'tags' => null, 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => null, 'video_thumbnail_ready' => null, 'asset_folder_id' => null, 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '92', 'title' => 'Sweet Winemaker of the Year 2022', 'slug' => 'sweet-winemaker-of-the-year-2022', 'teaser' => 'Hans Tschida wins the IWC Sweet Winemaker of the Year award for the eighth time ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p>“Hans Tschida is a sweet wine legend with very few peers. It’s an enormous privilege to taste his world-class wines every year,” said Tim Atkin MW, co-chair of the IWC, as he welcomed the Austrian winemaker onto the stage to collect his eighth Sweet Winemaker of the Year title.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://www.internationalwinechallenge.com/Canopy-Articles/meet-the-sweet-wine-legend.html">Read more here >>></a></p>', 'date' => '2022-09-29', 'image_id' => '3650', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29 12:41:54', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-09-29 12:45:12', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3650', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '693261465', 'name' => 'Hans Tschida with awards.jpeg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpeg', 'size' => '288612', 'width' => '668', 'height' => '989', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2022-09-29 12:40:55', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-09-29 12:40:55', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3607', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2022/09/693261465.jpeg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => '0', 'video_thumbnail_ready' => '0', 'asset_folder_id' => '0', 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'Document' => array( 'id' => null, 'parent_id' => null, 'uid' => null, 'name' => null, 'caption' => null, 'ext' => null, 'size' => null, 'width' => null, 'height' => null, 'extract' => null, 'created' => null, 'created_by' => null, 'modified' => null, 'modified_by' => null, 'sorting' => null, 'status' => null, 'path' => null, 'tags' => null, 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => null, 'video_thumbnail_ready' => null, 'asset_folder_id' => null, 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '90', 'title' => '“If a producer is not maniacal, he cannot make good wine” Luigi Cataldi Madonna', 'slug' => 'if-a-producer-is-not-maniacal-he-cannot-make-good-wine-luigi-cataldi-madonna', 'teaser' => 'The Wine Spectator's Roberto Camuto meets... The Nutty Professor of Pecorino: The New Abruzzo', 'content' => '<div class="article__body-info"> <div class="article__byline"> <p> </p> <p>The Wine Spectator's Roberto Camuto meets...<br /><a href="https://www.winespectator.com/articles/the-nutty-professor-of-pecorino-the-new-abruzzo-part-3"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Nutty Professor of Pecorino: The New Abruzzo</span></strong><br /><span style="color: #000000;"><br />By </span></a><a href="https://www.winespectator.com/authors/rcamuto">Robert Camuto<br /></a>Nov 2, 2021</p> </div> <div class="article__byline"> </div> </div> <div class="article__body-content paywall"> <p>I thought I’d met most of the eccentrics in Italian wine—the experimental outliers who’ve made an impact by following some singular intuition, rare grape or other personal muse.</p> <p>Then I met Luigi Cataldi Madonna in the hot, dry hills of Abruzzo. Charming and self-effacing, he proudly cackled in his smoker’s rasp: “I am the champion of all the crazies!”</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna, 65, is a philosophy professor at the University of L’Aquila, in the stately mountain city still recovering from the deadly, devastating 2009 earthquake there. Twenty-one years ago, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and he considers it a plus for his craft.</p> <p>“It’s important for wine,” he says with a laugh. “If a producer is not maniacal, he cannot make good wine.”</p> <p>The son of a noble family in Ofena (pop. 500), Cataldi Madonna is known in central Italian winemaking for two things. First, he’s been the foremost advocate of winemaking in the rugged foothills of the Tirino Valley, below the towering Gran Sasso massif, in an area nicknamed "Il Forno d’Abruzzo” (“the oven of Abruzzo”). Second, and perhaps more important, he was the region’s first champion of Pecorino, the heirloom white grape that’s taken off like a rocket in the 21st century.</p> <p>A bit of historical context: Though the first pure Pecorino bottling is widely believed to be a 1990 vintage from <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/search?submitted=Y&scope=ratings&winery=Cocci+Grifoni">Tenuta Cocci Grifoni</a> to the north in the Marche, that estate labeled the wine “Colle Vecchio,” after the vineyard. According to <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/articles/a-tour-of-italys-grapes-50534">Italian indigenous grape expert Ian d’Agata</a>, the grape had several regional names and Cataldi Madonna was the first in Italy to print “Pecorino” on a wine label, with the 1996 vintage.</p> <p>“Now, everybody in the last 20 years here has planted Pecorino,” says Davide Acerra, spokesperson for the Consorzio Tutela Vini d'Abruzzo, the regional wine organization. “And Cataldi Madonna is a reference point. He was the first here.”</p> <p>Pecorino’s boom has been fueled largely by the appeal of its name, which it shares with the beloved Italian sheep’s milk cheese. The grape variety, according to local lore, derives its name from the <em>pecore</em> (sheep) that ate the vines' leaves during their summer passage to higher grazing grounds or the sheepherders who snacked on the grapes.</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna took over the now century-old family wine estate in 1990, following in the footsteps of his father who was the first in the family to bottle <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/search?submitted=Y&scope=ratings&winery=Cataldi+Madonna">Cataldi Madonna wines</a> in 1975.</p> <p>“My father was an architect, and he had no extra time,” Cataldi Madonna says on a bright afternoon before harvest, as he walks down the narrow country road between the vineyards with his daughter Giulia, 28, and Tuscan consulting enologist Lorenzo Landi. “I am a professor, so I had lots of time.”</p> <p>In his first year, Cataldi Madonna decided he wanted to find an alternative to the area’s Trebbiano wines and discovered Pecorino at a vine nursery. The low-yielding grape—marked by high acidity, sugar levels and aromatics—was often used as a minor part of white blends.</p> <p>To hear Cataldi Madonna tell it, he was wowed by the grape, and he immediately planted his first 2 acres in the vineyard called Frontone, which is next to his winery at 1,200 feet in altitude.</p> <p>“I didn’t know how to manage it,” Cataldi Madonna says, shrugging his whole frame. “It’s like when you fall in love—do you know how to manage it?”</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna made the first vintage, 1996, conducting basic fermentations in stainless steel. “In the first years we made a disaster,” he says. “Everyone said it tasted like lemon soda! But 2,000 bottles—even if it's lemon soda—are not difficult to sell.”</p> <p>Over more than a decade, he experimented broadly. Between 2000 and 2007, he tried fermenting Pecorino in oak <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=barrique"><em>barriques</em></a>, but found those covered the aromas. “It’s not easy to balance all the aspects of Pecorino—the structure, acidity and aromatics,” says Landi, who joined Cataldi Madonna as a consultant in 2003.</p> <p>In the past decade, the two have settled on a method that involves a cryomaceration (a more extreme version of <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary/show/id/maceration">cold maceration</a> that involves freezing the grapes to extract more flavor and other compounds) before pressing, followed by fermenting on <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=native+yeast">indigenous yeasts</a> and aging on <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=lees">lees</a> in steel tanks.</p> <p>In 2019, Cataldi Madonna signed the estate over to his daughter Giulia, who studied viticulture and oversees production of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo reds, deep-colored Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo rosé and a Trebbiano d’Abruzzo white from 75 acres of vineyards.</p> <p>But Pecorino remains his obsession, and he hasn’t loosened his grip on major decisions.</p> <p>The winery now regularly makes a pair of Pecorinos under the geographical designation Terre Aquilane IGT: the entry-level Giulia Pecorino (86 points, $24 for <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/detail/source/search/note_id/436235">the 2016 vintage</a>) and the harvest selection SuperGiulia Pecorino.</p> <p>Every year, Cataldi Madonna vinifies the two original acres of Frontone Pecorino separately. But until now, he has only released one vintage as a separate cuvée—the 2013 vintage.</p> <p>“The quality of the other years didn’t please Luigi,” says Landi. “But 2020 was a good year and we may release it in 2023.”</p> <p>Ask anyone in Abruzzo what they think of Pecorino and they’ll say it’s a wine still being discovered.</p> <p>“It’s in a state of change,” says Cataldi Madonna, the philosophile. “You see, Pecorino is not a closed argument.”</p> <p> </p> </div>', 'date' => '2021-11-03', 'image_id' => '3306', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-03 10:44:54', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-01-04 13:36:01', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3306', 'parent_id' => '3305', 'uid' => '285649161', 'name' => '1635881342_rc_cataldimadonna110221_1600.jpeg', 'caption' => 'Cataldi Madonna', 'ext' => 'jpeg', 'size' => '469750', 'width' => '866', 'height' => '900', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2021-11-03 10:44:27', 'created_by' => '9', 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=> null, 'modified_by' => null, 'status' => null ) ) $list = array( (int) 0 => '<div class="item-wrapper"><div class="item first border"><span>March 6th 2024</span> <h3><a href="/news/from-the-archives-iconic-italian-wines-a-fantastic-tasting-in-london">From the Archives, Iconic Italian Wines: A Fantastic Tasting in London</a></h3></div></div>' ) $item = array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '94', 'title' => 'Wines of Georgia Trade & Press Tasting 2023', 'slug' => 'wines-of-georgia-trade-press-tasting-2023', 'teaser' => 'Save the date: Tuesday 23rd May', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p>Tuesday 23rd May</p> <p>From 11 am until 5 pm</p> <p>Phonica Records, 51 Poland St, London, W1F 7ND</p> <p> </p> <p>We are excited to announce that we will be exhibiting at the upcoming Wines of Georgia Trade & Press Tasting 2023.</p> <p>This is a fantastic opportunity to discover and taste some of the finest wines from Georgia, a country rich in history and winemaking traditions.</p> <p>Plus, you'll get to meet Levan Chychynadze, the Winemaker and Owner of Tiko Estate, who'll be joining us in London just for this event!</p> <p>Don't miss out on the chance to meet Tiko Estate in person and taste their range with us.</p> <p>We hope you will join us for this special occasion and indulge in the flavors of Georgia. </p> <p> </p> <p>Follow @GeorgianWineUK for updates!</p>', 'date' => '2023-04-26', 'image_id' => '3779', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04 09:10:00', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2023-04-26 14:21:10', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3779', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '412695268', 'name' => 'Wines of Georgia Invite 2023_page-0001.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => '233827', 'width' => '782', 'height' => '782', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2023-04-04 09:06:57', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2023-04-04 09:06:57', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3736', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2023/04/412695268.jpg', 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rarefied wine tasting excellence. The wines in the tasting were all either excellent or downright spectacular."', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><strong>From the Archives, Iconic Italian Wines: A Fantastic Tasting in London </strong></p> <p><strong>BY IAN D'AGATA</strong></p> <p><strong>February 23rd, 2024 </strong></p> <p><a href="https://terroirsense.com/en/p/10005.html">Link here to full article >>></a></p> <p> </p> <p>"This past February 6, in a truly remarkable wine tasting held in London and organized by Astrum Wines (one of the UK’s best wine importers and a consummate Italian wine specialist), I was lucky enough to partake in a moment of truly rarefied wine tasting excellence. The wines in the tasting were all either excellent or downright spectacular. Their intrinsic level of goodness resulted from the perfect storm of wine attributes, including first and foremost there being only wines from truly great vintages (a common ploy when trying ti impress people is using a famous name wine from a horrific vintage; but to Astrum’s credit and their willingness to go the extra mile for their clients and fans, no famous wines from lousy vintages such as 2003 were included in this tasting). Almost every wine featured in this masterclass can be considered benchmark for its grape variety or wine category; and even those that don’t really fit into that mould are characterized by specific traits or terroir characteristics to make them unique in some ways.</p> <p> </p> <p>For example, there can be no doubt that <strong>Miani’s Ribolla Gialla Pettarin</strong> is not just the best Ribolla Gialla wine made in Italy, but an argument can be made that it may well be Italy’s best white wine, period (Gravner’s is just as good, but is a completely different wine such that a fair, even logical, comparison between the two is impossible). Similarly, there is no better producer of Greco wines in Italy than Pietracupa: normally, the best Greco wines of Italy are those that sport the Greco di Tufo denomination, but in the case of owner’s Sabino Loffredo’s Greco G wine, the denomination is inconsequential. The <strong>Pietracupa 2010 Greco G </strong>may very well be not just the best Greco wine he has ever made, but the best wine period. On that note, there is no doubt that the <strong>Oddero 2016 Barolo Riserva Vignarionda </strong>is just that: in other words, the best Barolo Vignarionda ever made by the winery, perhaps even the best wine Oddero has ever made (and they have made quite a few since the nineteenth century, so that’s saying something). <strong>Tenuta di Trinoro’s 2013 Tenuta di Trinoro Toscana Rosso</strong>, is a perfect example of a Supertuscan made in a cooler year such that it boasts less of the viscous opulent flesh this wine is capable of showcasing in spades, but boasts instead supreme elegance and lightness of being. Despite it being made with the two Cabernets (mostly Cab Franc, in fact), Merlot and a dollop of Petit Verdot, it has nonetheless excellent ripeness levels and broadcasts what the relatively little-known and little-used farmland around the small town of Sarteano in southern Tuscany can deliver. About the only thing I have to add is that it is highly reductive to call Trinoro’s wine (or that of Tua Rita, or Petrolo, or Castello del Terriccio, for example) as simply “Supertuscnas”, independently of all the good that that name conjures up. This is because just about any Cab-Merlot wine made in Tuscany can be referred to as a “Supertuscan” but there is a quality chasm separating the best from the average and weaker wines that benefit from that monicker. The<strong> Speri 1988 Amarone della Valpolicella Vigneto Sant’Urbano</strong> is a masterpiece. Everyone reading this article has probably tried Amarone once in their life, if not more; but truth is, for such a famous wine, not all examples are as well-balanced and easy to drink as they ought to be. Speri’s1988 wine (an excellent vintage) is drinking splendidly right now: it finds itself in a sweet spot that makes it at once extremely velvety, delicious and irresistible, though remarkably relatively youthful and age-worthy. Speaking of “balance”, no word describes better, and then some, the <strong>Ronchi di Cialla 1983 Verduzzo di Cialla Colli Orientali del Friuli</strong>, a superb sweet wine. Verduzzo Friulano (not to be confused with a similarly-named variety called Verduzzo Trevigiano) is a very underrated Italian white grape, that can give easygoing classically dry white wines but also magically rich and luscious stickies (usually made with air-dried grapes). The 1983 vintage was an especially great one in Friuli Venezia Giulia (the reds were very fine too that year) and this Verduzzo wine showcases this fact admirably: it’s a wine that shows off the tannic heft typical of the variety, but at the same time its just as typical deep and complex aromas and flavours of almond, marzipan, ripe orchard fruit (with a whiplash of tropical fruit and chestnut honey added in for good measure). The<strong> Produttori del Barbaresco 2013 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà </strong>offers nice insight into the exact quality of the 2013 vintage in Barolo and Barbaresco (an underrated vintage, in my opinion), with a wine that harkens stylistically back to the many great wines made during the 1980s and even the 1970s, in much cooler times than today’s days irrevocably marked by climate change. That cool climate is evident in the <strong>Poggio Scalette 2010 Il Carbonaione Alta Valle del Greve</strong>, a Sangiovese wine made by one of Italy’s chief consultant winemakers, Vittorio Fiore. The Ruffolo area where the grapes used to make this wine grow is characterized by a specific biotype of Sangiovese, known as Sangiovese di Lamole. It’s a Sangiovese that gives much bigger wines than usual and that are successfully produced even in the area’s cold climate conditions, where Sangiovese never ripens fully; instead, the Sangiovese di Lamole appears to manage to do so. In fact, I think there has existed quite a bit of confusion on this subject in the past, as the majority of old vines planted in the Lamole area seventy-eighty years ago were actually of a distinct variety called Sangiovese Forte or Sanforte, one that is much better suited to the Lamole climate than Sangiovese. This is because it not only ripens well despite the cooler climate but because it delivers a wine that is at the same time muscular and tannic, but also smooth and fruity. The presence of Sanforte, in smaller or larger degrees helps explain why the “Sangiovese wines” of the area look, smell and taste different from more typical Sangiovese wines, without needing to figure out other reasons as to why that may be. Last but not least, the <strong>Castello Romitorio 2014 Brunello di Montalcino</strong> Riserva is a very good wine from the excellent, but admittedly slightly overrated 2004 vintage. Made with Sangiovese grapes that are planted at the highest altitudes of the denomination, Romitorio’s Brunellos are always marked by a slightly herbal and high-acid mouthfeel that helps deliver a sense of juiciness and freshness that is uncommon in most Brunellos made today (even those from the northern-facing reaches of the denomination)."</p>', 'date' => '2024-03-06', 'image_id' => '4005', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-06 09:31:20', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2024-03-06 09:33:59', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '4005', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '567471365', 'name' => '微信图片_20240218154152.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => '217197', 'width' => '1280', 'height' => '1706', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2024-03-06 09:29:21', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2024-03-06 09:29:21', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3962', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2024/03/567471365.jpg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => 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exhibiting at the upcoming Wines of Georgia Trade & Press Tasting 2023.</p> <p>This is a fantastic opportunity to discover and taste some of the finest wines from Georgia, a country rich in history and winemaking traditions.</p> <p>Plus, you'll get to meet Levan Chychynadze, the Winemaker and Owner of Tiko Estate, who'll be joining us in London just for this event!</p> <p>Don't miss out on the chance to meet Tiko Estate in person and taste their range with us.</p> <p>We hope you will join us for this special occasion and indulge in the flavors of Georgia. </p> <p> </p> <p>Follow @GeorgianWineUK for updates!</p>', 'date' => '2023-04-26', 'image_id' => '3779', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04 09:10:00', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2023-04-26 14:21:10', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3779', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '412695268', 'name' => 'Wines of Georgia Invite 2023_page-0001.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => 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'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '93', 'title' => 'Abruzzo: The Great Divide', 'slug' => 'abruzzo-the-great-divide', 'teaser' => 'High praise for Cataldi Madonna from Eric Guido in his latest article on Abruzzo via Vinous.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><strong><a href="https://vinous.com/articles/abruzzo-the-great-divide-oct-2022">Abruzzo: The Great Divide</a></strong></p> <p><strong>By Eric Guido</strong></p> <p><strong>October 2022</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>“Speaking of terroir in Abruzzo, the drastic difference that I witnessed when driving from Loreto Aprutino (think Valentini, De Fermo and Torre Dei Beati) to Ofena in the Tirino Valley (home of Cataldi Madonna) was eye-opening. Only 45 minutes by car, yet over a mountain away, the gentle hills of Loreto Aprutino and Cognoli give way to mountain scrub, firs and packs of wolves before descending toward the hillside town of Ofena on a highway that could easily be used as the location of a high-speed chase in any upcoming James Bond flick. This is known as “Abruzzo’s Oven”. As you can imagine, the valley floor is one of the warmest locations by day, yet with drastic diurnal shifts due to the surrounding mountains, as much as 20 degrees, which help to keep the vines healthy. In addition, the higher-clay content in the soils aids in retaining water. Cataldi Madonna remains one of the most dependable houses for Montepulciano, which has a richness and depth of fruit that has to be tasted to be believed. This is the mark of terroir, as the wines are matured in all-neutral vessels. Cataldi Madonna has also taken Pecorino to a very serious level. A total of three different bottlings, each one from a more rigorous selection of their older vines and those planted more recently through massal selection. Back to the Montepulcianos…the average consumer would assume these couldn’t age well due to how enjoyable they are in their youth; however, this critic was wowed by a number of mature bottles tasted at the estate.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2021 Pecorino Giulia – 91 points</strong></p> <p>The 2021 Pecorino Giulia impresses with a stunning mix of candied lime, crushed green apple and fresh mint. This is packed full of savory mineral tones and zesty acids that create a sizzling of spicy tension on the palate. There’s a sweet and sour citrusy interplay that lasts impossibly long through the finale, like biting into a lemon pith followed by a healthy swig of juice. Very nice.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2019 Pecorino Supergiulia – 92 points</strong></p> <p>The bouquet on the 2019 Pecorino Supergiulia balances confectionary richness with intense citrus concentration, complemented by gingery spice. It enters the palate silky and smooth, yet quickly reveals its power as tart orchard fruits cascade across a salty and crunchy core of minerals. The 2019 becomes perfumed and finessed through the finale, while leaving a pleasantly bitter twang that provides a nice punctuation to an already highly pleasurable experience. The Supergiulia is a selection in both the vineyard and then on the sorting table, which is refined in steel tanks on the fine lees for one year.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Malandrino – 93 points</strong></p> <p>The 2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Malandrino gets an official “wow” from the first tilt of the glass as violets and lavender give way to crushed blackberries, blueberries and hints of sweet spice. This is elegance personified, with a juicy core of acidity that enlivens its near-velvety textures and wild berry fruits. It finishes lightly structured, concentrated and long yet perfumed, making the 2020 a pleasure today, but also capable of medium-term cellaring. This is another outstanding vintage of Montepulciano Malandrino which, for all of its depth, has been refined completely in stainless steel tank since the 2012 vintage.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2018 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Toni – 93 points </strong></p> <p>The 2018 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Toni is dark and brooding, smoldering up from the glass with balsam herbs, black currants and hints of menthol. This is silky and opulent in feel with depths of mineral-tinged, red wild berries and sweet, inner herbal tones. It saturates the palate with soft tannins and a primary concentration of fruit, showing significantly more power than your typical 2018, yet also balance. Somehow, Cataldi Madonna has packed both near-term appeal but also the ability for a slow and steady evolution into this vintage of Toni. This is the only Montepulciano of the estate that is matured in wood as it is refined entirely in one twenty-five-hectoliter cask (the only barrel in the cellar). </p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://vinous.com/articles/abruzzo-the-great-divide-oct-2022">Click here to read the full article and reviews ---></a></p>', 'date' => '2022-10-10', 'image_id' => '3652', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10 10:27:47', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-10-10 11:23:13', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3652', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '544187234', 'name' => 'CM.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => '110465', 'width' => '435', 'height' => '516', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2022-10-10 11:21:34', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-10-10 11:21:34', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3609', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2022/10/544187234.jpg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => '0', 'video_thumbnail_ready' => '0', 'asset_folder_id' => '0', 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'Document' => array( 'id' => null, 'parent_id' => null, 'uid' => null, 'name' => null, 'caption' => null, 'ext' => null, 'size' => null, 'width' => null, 'height' => null, 'extract' => null, 'created' => null, 'created_by' => null, 'modified' => null, 'modified_by' => null, 'sorting' => null, 'status' => null, 'path' => null, 'tags' => null, 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => null, 'video_thumbnail_ready' => null, 'asset_folder_id' => null, 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '92', 'title' => 'Sweet Winemaker of the Year 2022', 'slug' => 'sweet-winemaker-of-the-year-2022', 'teaser' => 'Hans Tschida wins the IWC Sweet Winemaker of the Year award for the eighth time ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p>“Hans Tschida is a sweet wine legend with very few peers. It’s an enormous privilege to taste his world-class wines every year,” said Tim Atkin MW, co-chair of the IWC, as he welcomed the Austrian winemaker onto the stage to collect his eighth Sweet Winemaker of the Year title.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://www.internationalwinechallenge.com/Canopy-Articles/meet-the-sweet-wine-legend.html">Read more here >>></a></p>', 'date' => '2022-09-29', 'image_id' => '3650', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29 12:41:54', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-09-29 12:45:12', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3650', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '693261465', 'name' => 'Hans Tschida with awards.jpeg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpeg', 'size' => '288612', 'width' => '668', 'height' => '989', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2022-09-29 12:40:55', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-09-29 12:40:55', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3607', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2022/09/693261465.jpeg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => '0', 'video_thumbnail_ready' => '0', 'asset_folder_id' => '0', 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'Document' => array( 'id' => null, 'parent_id' => null, 'uid' => null, 'name' => null, 'caption' => null, 'ext' => null, 'size' => null, 'width' => null, 'height' => null, 'extract' => null, 'created' => null, 'created_by' => null, 'modified' => null, 'modified_by' => null, 'sorting' => null, 'status' => null, 'path' => null, 'tags' => null, 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => null, 'video_thumbnail_ready' => null, 'asset_folder_id' => null, 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '90', 'title' => '“If a producer is not maniacal, he cannot make good wine” Luigi Cataldi Madonna', 'slug' => 'if-a-producer-is-not-maniacal-he-cannot-make-good-wine-luigi-cataldi-madonna', 'teaser' => 'The Wine Spectator's Roberto Camuto meets... The Nutty Professor of Pecorino: The New Abruzzo', 'content' => '<div class="article__body-info"> <div class="article__byline"> <p> </p> <p>The Wine Spectator's Roberto Camuto meets...<br /><a href="https://www.winespectator.com/articles/the-nutty-professor-of-pecorino-the-new-abruzzo-part-3"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Nutty Professor of Pecorino: The New Abruzzo</span></strong><br /><span style="color: #000000;"><br />By </span></a><a href="https://www.winespectator.com/authors/rcamuto">Robert Camuto<br /></a>Nov 2, 2021</p> </div> <div class="article__byline"> </div> </div> <div class="article__body-content paywall"> <p>I thought I’d met most of the eccentrics in Italian wine—the experimental outliers who’ve made an impact by following some singular intuition, rare grape or other personal muse.</p> <p>Then I met Luigi Cataldi Madonna in the hot, dry hills of Abruzzo. Charming and self-effacing, he proudly cackled in his smoker’s rasp: “I am the champion of all the crazies!”</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna, 65, is a philosophy professor at the University of L’Aquila, in the stately mountain city still recovering from the deadly, devastating 2009 earthquake there. Twenty-one years ago, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and he considers it a plus for his craft.</p> <p>“It’s important for wine,” he says with a laugh. “If a producer is not maniacal, he cannot make good wine.”</p> <p>The son of a noble family in Ofena (pop. 500), Cataldi Madonna is known in central Italian winemaking for two things. First, he’s been the foremost advocate of winemaking in the rugged foothills of the Tirino Valley, below the towering Gran Sasso massif, in an area nicknamed "Il Forno d’Abruzzo” (“the oven of Abruzzo”). Second, and perhaps more important, he was the region’s first champion of Pecorino, the heirloom white grape that’s taken off like a rocket in the 21st century.</p> <p>A bit of historical context: Though the first pure Pecorino bottling is widely believed to be a 1990 vintage from <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/search?submitted=Y&scope=ratings&winery=Cocci+Grifoni">Tenuta Cocci Grifoni</a> to the north in the Marche, that estate labeled the wine “Colle Vecchio,” after the vineyard. According to <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/articles/a-tour-of-italys-grapes-50534">Italian indigenous grape expert Ian d’Agata</a>, the grape had several regional names and Cataldi Madonna was the first in Italy to print “Pecorino” on a wine label, with the 1996 vintage.</p> <p>“Now, everybody in the last 20 years here has planted Pecorino,” says Davide Acerra, spokesperson for the Consorzio Tutela Vini d'Abruzzo, the regional wine organization. “And Cataldi Madonna is a reference point. He was the first here.”</p> <p>Pecorino’s boom has been fueled largely by the appeal of its name, which it shares with the beloved Italian sheep’s milk cheese. The grape variety, according to local lore, derives its name from the <em>pecore</em> (sheep) that ate the vines' leaves during their summer passage to higher grazing grounds or the sheepherders who snacked on the grapes.</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna took over the now century-old family wine estate in 1990, following in the footsteps of his father who was the first in the family to bottle <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/search?submitted=Y&scope=ratings&winery=Cataldi+Madonna">Cataldi Madonna wines</a> in 1975.</p> <p>“My father was an architect, and he had no extra time,” Cataldi Madonna says on a bright afternoon before harvest, as he walks down the narrow country road between the vineyards with his daughter Giulia, 28, and Tuscan consulting enologist Lorenzo Landi. “I am a professor, so I had lots of time.”</p> <p>In his first year, Cataldi Madonna decided he wanted to find an alternative to the area’s Trebbiano wines and discovered Pecorino at a vine nursery. The low-yielding grape—marked by high acidity, sugar levels and aromatics—was often used as a minor part of white blends.</p> <p>To hear Cataldi Madonna tell it, he was wowed by the grape, and he immediately planted his first 2 acres in the vineyard called Frontone, which is next to his winery at 1,200 feet in altitude.</p> <p>“I didn’t know how to manage it,” Cataldi Madonna says, shrugging his whole frame. “It’s like when you fall in love—do you know how to manage it?”</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna made the first vintage, 1996, conducting basic fermentations in stainless steel. “In the first years we made a disaster,” he says. “Everyone said it tasted like lemon soda! But 2,000 bottles—even if it's lemon soda—are not difficult to sell.”</p> <p>Over more than a decade, he experimented broadly. Between 2000 and 2007, he tried fermenting Pecorino in oak <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=barrique"><em>barriques</em></a>, but found those covered the aromas. “It’s not easy to balance all the aspects of Pecorino—the structure, acidity and aromatics,” says Landi, who joined Cataldi Madonna as a consultant in 2003.</p> <p>In the past decade, the two have settled on a method that involves a cryomaceration (a more extreme version of <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary/show/id/maceration">cold maceration</a> that involves freezing the grapes to extract more flavor and other compounds) before pressing, followed by fermenting on <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=native+yeast">indigenous yeasts</a> and aging on <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=lees">lees</a> in steel tanks.</p> <p>In 2019, Cataldi Madonna signed the estate over to his daughter Giulia, who studied viticulture and oversees production of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo reds, deep-colored Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo rosé and a Trebbiano d’Abruzzo white from 75 acres of vineyards.</p> <p>But Pecorino remains his obsession, and he hasn’t loosened his grip on major decisions.</p> <p>The winery now regularly makes a pair of Pecorinos under the geographical designation Terre Aquilane IGT: the entry-level Giulia Pecorino (86 points, $24 for <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/detail/source/search/note_id/436235">the 2016 vintage</a>) and the harvest selection SuperGiulia Pecorino.</p> <p>Every year, Cataldi Madonna vinifies the two original acres of Frontone Pecorino separately. But until now, he has only released one vintage as a separate cuvée—the 2013 vintage.</p> <p>“The quality of the other years didn’t please Luigi,” says Landi. “But 2020 was a good year and we may release it in 2023.”</p> <p>Ask anyone in Abruzzo what they think of Pecorino and they’ll say it’s a wine still being discovered.</p> <p>“It’s in a state of change,” says Cataldi Madonna, the philosophile. “You see, Pecorino is not a closed argument.”</p> <p> </p> </div>', 'date' => '2021-11-03', 'image_id' => '3306', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-03 10:44:54', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-01-04 13:36:01', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3306', 'parent_id' => '3305', 'uid' => '285649161', 'name' => '1635881342_rc_cataldimadonna110221_1600.jpeg', 'caption' => 'Cataldi Madonna', 'ext' => 'jpeg', 'size' => '469750', 'width' => '866', 'height' => '900', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2021-11-03 10:44:27', 'created_by' => '9', 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=> null, 'modified_by' => null, 'status' => null ) ) $list = array( (int) 0 => '<div class="item-wrapper"><div class="item first border"><span>March 6th 2024</span> <h3><a href="/news/from-the-archives-iconic-italian-wines-a-fantastic-tasting-in-london">From the Archives, Iconic Italian Wines: A Fantastic Tasting in London</a></h3></div></div>', (int) 1 => '<div class="item-wrapper"><div class="item border"><span>April 26th 2023</span> <h3><a href="/news/wines-of-georgia-trade-press-tasting-2023">Wines of Georgia Trade & Press Tasting 2023</a></h3></div></div>' ) $item = array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '93', 'title' => 'Abruzzo: The Great Divide', 'slug' => 'abruzzo-the-great-divide', 'teaser' => 'High praise for Cataldi Madonna from Eric Guido in his latest article on Abruzzo via Vinous.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><strong><a href="https://vinous.com/articles/abruzzo-the-great-divide-oct-2022">Abruzzo: The Great Divide</a></strong></p> <p><strong>By Eric Guido</strong></p> <p><strong>October 2022</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>“Speaking of terroir in Abruzzo, the drastic difference that I witnessed when driving from Loreto Aprutino (think Valentini, De Fermo and Torre Dei Beati) to Ofena in the Tirino Valley (home of Cataldi Madonna) was eye-opening. Only 45 minutes by car, yet over a mountain away, the gentle hills of Loreto Aprutino and Cognoli give way to mountain scrub, firs and packs of wolves before descending toward the hillside town of Ofena on a highway that could easily be used as the location of a high-speed chase in any upcoming James Bond flick. This is known as “Abruzzo’s Oven”. As you can imagine, the valley floor is one of the warmest locations by day, yet with drastic diurnal shifts due to the surrounding mountains, as much as 20 degrees, which help to keep the vines healthy. In addition, the higher-clay content in the soils aids in retaining water. Cataldi Madonna remains one of the most dependable houses for Montepulciano, which has a richness and depth of fruit that has to be tasted to be believed. This is the mark of terroir, as the wines are matured in all-neutral vessels. Cataldi Madonna has also taken Pecorino to a very serious level. A total of three different bottlings, each one from a more rigorous selection of their older vines and those planted more recently through massal selection. Back to the Montepulcianos…the average consumer would assume these couldn’t age well due to how enjoyable they are in their youth; however, this critic was wowed by a number of mature bottles tasted at the estate.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2021 Pecorino Giulia – 91 points</strong></p> <p>The 2021 Pecorino Giulia impresses with a stunning mix of candied lime, crushed green apple and fresh mint. This is packed full of savory mineral tones and zesty acids that create a sizzling of spicy tension on the palate. There’s a sweet and sour citrusy interplay that lasts impossibly long through the finale, like biting into a lemon pith followed by a healthy swig of juice. Very nice.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2019 Pecorino Supergiulia – 92 points</strong></p> <p>The bouquet on the 2019 Pecorino Supergiulia balances confectionary richness with intense citrus concentration, complemented by gingery spice. It enters the palate silky and smooth, yet quickly reveals its power as tart orchard fruits cascade across a salty and crunchy core of minerals. The 2019 becomes perfumed and finessed through the finale, while leaving a pleasantly bitter twang that provides a nice punctuation to an already highly pleasurable experience. The Supergiulia is a selection in both the vineyard and then on the sorting table, which is refined in steel tanks on the fine lees for one year.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Malandrino – 93 points</strong></p> <p>The 2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Malandrino gets an official “wow” from the first tilt of the glass as violets and lavender give way to crushed blackberries, blueberries and hints of sweet spice. This is elegance personified, with a juicy core of acidity that enlivens its near-velvety textures and wild berry fruits. It finishes lightly structured, concentrated and long yet perfumed, making the 2020 a pleasure today, but also capable of medium-term cellaring. This is another outstanding vintage of Montepulciano Malandrino which, for all of its depth, has been refined completely in stainless steel tank since the 2012 vintage.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2018 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Toni – 93 points </strong></p> <p>The 2018 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Toni is dark and brooding, smoldering up from the glass with balsam herbs, black currants and hints of menthol. This is silky and opulent in feel with depths of mineral-tinged, red wild berries and sweet, inner herbal tones. It saturates the palate with soft tannins and a primary concentration of fruit, showing significantly more power than your typical 2018, yet also balance. Somehow, Cataldi Madonna has packed both near-term appeal but also the ability for a slow and steady evolution into this vintage of Toni. This is the only Montepulciano of the estate that is matured in wood as it is refined entirely in one twenty-five-hectoliter cask (the only barrel in the cellar). </p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://vinous.com/articles/abruzzo-the-great-divide-oct-2022">Click here to read the full article and reviews ---></a></p>', 'date' => '2022-10-10', 'image_id' => '3652', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10 10:27:47', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-10-10 11:23:13', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3652', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '544187234', 'name' => 'CM.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => '110465', 'width' => '435', 'height' => '516', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2022-10-10 11:21:34', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-10-10 11:21:34', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3609', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2022/10/544187234.jpg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => '0', 'video_thumbnail_ready' => '0', 'asset_folder_id' => '0', 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'Document' => array( 'id' => null, 'parent_id' => null, 'uid' => null, 'name' => null, 'caption' => null, 'ext' => null, 'size' => null, 'width' => null, 'height' => null, 'extract' => null, 'created' => null, 'created_by' => null, 'modified' => null, 'modified_by' => null, 'sorting' => null, 'status' => null, 'path' => null, 'tags' => null, 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => null, 'video_thumbnail_ready' => null, 'asset_folder_id' => null, 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ) $k = (int) 2 $class = array( (int) 0 => 'item', (int) 1 => 'border' )include - APP/Plugin/News/View/News/index.ctp, line 21 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 935 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 897 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 466 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 954 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 192 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 160 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 96
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rarefied wine tasting excellence. The wines in the tasting were all either excellent or downright spectacular."', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><strong>From the Archives, Iconic Italian Wines: A Fantastic Tasting in London </strong></p> <p><strong>BY IAN D'AGATA</strong></p> <p><strong>February 23rd, 2024 </strong></p> <p><a href="https://terroirsense.com/en/p/10005.html">Link here to full article >>></a></p> <p> </p> <p>"This past February 6, in a truly remarkable wine tasting held in London and organized by Astrum Wines (one of the UK’s best wine importers and a consummate Italian wine specialist), I was lucky enough to partake in a moment of truly rarefied wine tasting excellence. The wines in the tasting were all either excellent or downright spectacular. Their intrinsic level of goodness resulted from the perfect storm of wine attributes, including first and foremost there being only wines from truly great vintages (a common ploy when trying ti impress people is using a famous name wine from a horrific vintage; but to Astrum’s credit and their willingness to go the extra mile for their clients and fans, no famous wines from lousy vintages such as 2003 were included in this tasting). Almost every wine featured in this masterclass can be considered benchmark for its grape variety or wine category; and even those that don’t really fit into that mould are characterized by specific traits or terroir characteristics to make them unique in some ways.</p> <p> </p> <p>For example, there can be no doubt that <strong>Miani’s Ribolla Gialla Pettarin</strong> is not just the best Ribolla Gialla wine made in Italy, but an argument can be made that it may well be Italy’s best white wine, period (Gravner’s is just as good, but is a completely different wine such that a fair, even logical, comparison between the two is impossible). Similarly, there is no better producer of Greco wines in Italy than Pietracupa: normally, the best Greco wines of Italy are those that sport the Greco di Tufo denomination, but in the case of owner’s Sabino Loffredo’s Greco G wine, the denomination is inconsequential. The <strong>Pietracupa 2010 Greco G </strong>may very well be not just the best Greco wine he has ever made, but the best wine period. On that note, there is no doubt that the <strong>Oddero 2016 Barolo Riserva Vignarionda </strong>is just that: in other words, the best Barolo Vignarionda ever made by the winery, perhaps even the best wine Oddero has ever made (and they have made quite a few since the nineteenth century, so that’s saying something). <strong>Tenuta di Trinoro’s 2013 Tenuta di Trinoro Toscana Rosso</strong>, is a perfect example of a Supertuscan made in a cooler year such that it boasts less of the viscous opulent flesh this wine is capable of showcasing in spades, but boasts instead supreme elegance and lightness of being. Despite it being made with the two Cabernets (mostly Cab Franc, in fact), Merlot and a dollop of Petit Verdot, it has nonetheless excellent ripeness levels and broadcasts what the relatively little-known and little-used farmland around the small town of Sarteano in southern Tuscany can deliver. About the only thing I have to add is that it is highly reductive to call Trinoro’s wine (or that of Tua Rita, or Petrolo, or Castello del Terriccio, for example) as simply “Supertuscnas”, independently of all the good that that name conjures up. This is because just about any Cab-Merlot wine made in Tuscany can be referred to as a “Supertuscan” but there is a quality chasm separating the best from the average and weaker wines that benefit from that monicker. The<strong> Speri 1988 Amarone della Valpolicella Vigneto Sant’Urbano</strong> is a masterpiece. Everyone reading this article has probably tried Amarone once in their life, if not more; but truth is, for such a famous wine, not all examples are as well-balanced and easy to drink as they ought to be. Speri’s1988 wine (an excellent vintage) is drinking splendidly right now: it finds itself in a sweet spot that makes it at once extremely velvety, delicious and irresistible, though remarkably relatively youthful and age-worthy. Speaking of “balance”, no word describes better, and then some, the <strong>Ronchi di Cialla 1983 Verduzzo di Cialla Colli Orientali del Friuli</strong>, a superb sweet wine. Verduzzo Friulano (not to be confused with a similarly-named variety called Verduzzo Trevigiano) is a very underrated Italian white grape, that can give easygoing classically dry white wines but also magically rich and luscious stickies (usually made with air-dried grapes). The 1983 vintage was an especially great one in Friuli Venezia Giulia (the reds were very fine too that year) and this Verduzzo wine showcases this fact admirably: it’s a wine that shows off the tannic heft typical of the variety, but at the same time its just as typical deep and complex aromas and flavours of almond, marzipan, ripe orchard fruit (with a whiplash of tropical fruit and chestnut honey added in for good measure). The<strong> Produttori del Barbaresco 2013 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà </strong>offers nice insight into the exact quality of the 2013 vintage in Barolo and Barbaresco (an underrated vintage, in my opinion), with a wine that harkens stylistically back to the many great wines made during the 1980s and even the 1970s, in much cooler times than today’s days irrevocably marked by climate change. That cool climate is evident in the <strong>Poggio Scalette 2010 Il Carbonaione Alta Valle del Greve</strong>, a Sangiovese wine made by one of Italy’s chief consultant winemakers, Vittorio Fiore. The Ruffolo area where the grapes used to make this wine grow is characterized by a specific biotype of Sangiovese, known as Sangiovese di Lamole. It’s a Sangiovese that gives much bigger wines than usual and that are successfully produced even in the area’s cold climate conditions, where Sangiovese never ripens fully; instead, the Sangiovese di Lamole appears to manage to do so. In fact, I think there has existed quite a bit of confusion on this subject in the past, as the majority of old vines planted in the Lamole area seventy-eighty years ago were actually of a distinct variety called Sangiovese Forte or Sanforte, one that is much better suited to the Lamole climate than Sangiovese. This is because it not only ripens well despite the cooler climate but because it delivers a wine that is at the same time muscular and tannic, but also smooth and fruity. The presence of Sanforte, in smaller or larger degrees helps explain why the “Sangiovese wines” of the area look, smell and taste different from more typical Sangiovese wines, without needing to figure out other reasons as to why that may be. Last but not least, the <strong>Castello Romitorio 2014 Brunello di Montalcino</strong> Riserva is a very good wine from the excellent, but admittedly slightly overrated 2004 vintage. Made with Sangiovese grapes that are planted at the highest altitudes of the denomination, Romitorio’s Brunellos are always marked by a slightly herbal and high-acid mouthfeel that helps deliver a sense of juiciness and freshness that is uncommon in most Brunellos made today (even those from the northern-facing reaches of the denomination)."</p>', 'date' => '2024-03-06', 'image_id' => '4005', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-06 09:31:20', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2024-03-06 09:33:59', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '4005', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '567471365', 'name' => '微信图片_20240218154152.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => '217197', 'width' => '1280', 'height' => '1706', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2024-03-06 09:29:21', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2024-03-06 09:29:21', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3962', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2024/03/567471365.jpg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => 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exhibiting at the upcoming Wines of Georgia Trade & Press Tasting 2023.</p> <p>This is a fantastic opportunity to discover and taste some of the finest wines from Georgia, a country rich in history and winemaking traditions.</p> <p>Plus, you'll get to meet Levan Chychynadze, the Winemaker and Owner of Tiko Estate, who'll be joining us in London just for this event!</p> <p>Don't miss out on the chance to meet Tiko Estate in person and taste their range with us.</p> <p>We hope you will join us for this special occasion and indulge in the flavors of Georgia. </p> <p> </p> <p>Follow @GeorgianWineUK for updates!</p>', 'date' => '2023-04-26', 'image_id' => '3779', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04 09:10:00', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2023-04-26 14:21:10', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3779', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '412695268', 'name' => 'Wines of Georgia Invite 2023_page-0001.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => 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'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '93', 'title' => 'Abruzzo: The Great Divide', 'slug' => 'abruzzo-the-great-divide', 'teaser' => 'High praise for Cataldi Madonna from Eric Guido in his latest article on Abruzzo via Vinous.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><strong><a href="https://vinous.com/articles/abruzzo-the-great-divide-oct-2022">Abruzzo: The Great Divide</a></strong></p> <p><strong>By Eric Guido</strong></p> <p><strong>October 2022</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>“Speaking of terroir in Abruzzo, the drastic difference that I witnessed when driving from Loreto Aprutino (think Valentini, De Fermo and Torre Dei Beati) to Ofena in the Tirino Valley (home of Cataldi Madonna) was eye-opening. Only 45 minutes by car, yet over a mountain away, the gentle hills of Loreto Aprutino and Cognoli give way to mountain scrub, firs and packs of wolves before descending toward the hillside town of Ofena on a highway that could easily be used as the location of a high-speed chase in any upcoming James Bond flick. This is known as “Abruzzo’s Oven”. As you can imagine, the valley floor is one of the warmest locations by day, yet with drastic diurnal shifts due to the surrounding mountains, as much as 20 degrees, which help to keep the vines healthy. In addition, the higher-clay content in the soils aids in retaining water. Cataldi Madonna remains one of the most dependable houses for Montepulciano, which has a richness and depth of fruit that has to be tasted to be believed. This is the mark of terroir, as the wines are matured in all-neutral vessels. Cataldi Madonna has also taken Pecorino to a very serious level. A total of three different bottlings, each one from a more rigorous selection of their older vines and those planted more recently through massal selection. Back to the Montepulcianos…the average consumer would assume these couldn’t age well due to how enjoyable they are in their youth; however, this critic was wowed by a number of mature bottles tasted at the estate.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2021 Pecorino Giulia – 91 points</strong></p> <p>The 2021 Pecorino Giulia impresses with a stunning mix of candied lime, crushed green apple and fresh mint. This is packed full of savory mineral tones and zesty acids that create a sizzling of spicy tension on the palate. There’s a sweet and sour citrusy interplay that lasts impossibly long through the finale, like biting into a lemon pith followed by a healthy swig of juice. Very nice.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2019 Pecorino Supergiulia – 92 points</strong></p> <p>The bouquet on the 2019 Pecorino Supergiulia balances confectionary richness with intense citrus concentration, complemented by gingery spice. It enters the palate silky and smooth, yet quickly reveals its power as tart orchard fruits cascade across a salty and crunchy core of minerals. The 2019 becomes perfumed and finessed through the finale, while leaving a pleasantly bitter twang that provides a nice punctuation to an already highly pleasurable experience. The Supergiulia is a selection in both the vineyard and then on the sorting table, which is refined in steel tanks on the fine lees for one year.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Malandrino – 93 points</strong></p> <p>The 2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Malandrino gets an official “wow” from the first tilt of the glass as violets and lavender give way to crushed blackberries, blueberries and hints of sweet spice. This is elegance personified, with a juicy core of acidity that enlivens its near-velvety textures and wild berry fruits. It finishes lightly structured, concentrated and long yet perfumed, making the 2020 a pleasure today, but also capable of medium-term cellaring. This is another outstanding vintage of Montepulciano Malandrino which, for all of its depth, has been refined completely in stainless steel tank since the 2012 vintage.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2018 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Toni – 93 points </strong></p> <p>The 2018 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Toni is dark and brooding, smoldering up from the glass with balsam herbs, black currants and hints of menthol. This is silky and opulent in feel with depths of mineral-tinged, red wild berries and sweet, inner herbal tones. It saturates the palate with soft tannins and a primary concentration of fruit, showing significantly more power than your typical 2018, yet also balance. Somehow, Cataldi Madonna has packed both near-term appeal but also the ability for a slow and steady evolution into this vintage of Toni. This is the only Montepulciano of the estate that is matured in wood as it is refined entirely in one twenty-five-hectoliter cask (the only barrel in the cellar). </p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://vinous.com/articles/abruzzo-the-great-divide-oct-2022">Click here to read the full article and reviews ---></a></p>', 'date' => '2022-10-10', 'image_id' => '3652', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10 10:27:47', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-10-10 11:23:13', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3652', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '544187234', 'name' => 'CM.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => '110465', 'width' => '435', 'height' => '516', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2022-10-10 11:21:34', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-10-10 11:21:34', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3609', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2022/10/544187234.jpg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => '0', 'video_thumbnail_ready' => '0', 'asset_folder_id' => '0', 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'Document' => array( 'id' => null, 'parent_id' => null, 'uid' => null, 'name' => null, 'caption' => null, 'ext' => null, 'size' => null, 'width' => null, 'height' => null, 'extract' => null, 'created' => null, 'created_by' => null, 'modified' => null, 'modified_by' => null, 'sorting' => null, 'status' => null, 'path' => null, 'tags' => null, 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => null, 'video_thumbnail_ready' => null, 'asset_folder_id' => null, 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '92', 'title' => 'Sweet Winemaker of the Year 2022', 'slug' => 'sweet-winemaker-of-the-year-2022', 'teaser' => 'Hans Tschida wins the IWC Sweet Winemaker of the Year award for the eighth time ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p>“Hans Tschida is a sweet wine legend with very few peers. It’s an enormous privilege to taste his world-class wines every year,” said Tim Atkin MW, co-chair of the IWC, as he welcomed the Austrian winemaker onto the stage to collect his eighth Sweet Winemaker of the Year title.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://www.internationalwinechallenge.com/Canopy-Articles/meet-the-sweet-wine-legend.html">Read more here >>></a></p>', 'date' => '2022-09-29', 'image_id' => '3650', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29 12:41:54', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-09-29 12:45:12', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3650', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '693261465', 'name' => 'Hans Tschida with awards.jpeg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpeg', 'size' => '288612', 'width' => '668', 'height' => '989', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2022-09-29 12:40:55', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-09-29 12:40:55', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3607', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2022/09/693261465.jpeg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => '0', 'video_thumbnail_ready' => '0', 'asset_folder_id' => '0', 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'Document' => array( 'id' => null, 'parent_id' => null, 'uid' => null, 'name' => null, 'caption' => null, 'ext' => null, 'size' => null, 'width' => null, 'height' => null, 'extract' => null, 'created' => null, 'created_by' => null, 'modified' => null, 'modified_by' => null, 'sorting' => null, 'status' => null, 'path' => null, 'tags' => null, 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => null, 'video_thumbnail_ready' => null, 'asset_folder_id' => null, 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '90', 'title' => '“If a producer is not maniacal, he cannot make good wine” Luigi Cataldi Madonna', 'slug' => 'if-a-producer-is-not-maniacal-he-cannot-make-good-wine-luigi-cataldi-madonna', 'teaser' => 'The Wine Spectator's Roberto Camuto meets... The Nutty Professor of Pecorino: The New Abruzzo', 'content' => '<div class="article__body-info"> <div class="article__byline"> <p> </p> <p>The Wine Spectator's Roberto Camuto meets...<br /><a href="https://www.winespectator.com/articles/the-nutty-professor-of-pecorino-the-new-abruzzo-part-3"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Nutty Professor of Pecorino: The New Abruzzo</span></strong><br /><span style="color: #000000;"><br />By </span></a><a href="https://www.winespectator.com/authors/rcamuto">Robert Camuto<br /></a>Nov 2, 2021</p> </div> <div class="article__byline"> </div> </div> <div class="article__body-content paywall"> <p>I thought I’d met most of the eccentrics in Italian wine—the experimental outliers who’ve made an impact by following some singular intuition, rare grape or other personal muse.</p> <p>Then I met Luigi Cataldi Madonna in the hot, dry hills of Abruzzo. Charming and self-effacing, he proudly cackled in his smoker’s rasp: “I am the champion of all the crazies!”</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna, 65, is a philosophy professor at the University of L’Aquila, in the stately mountain city still recovering from the deadly, devastating 2009 earthquake there. Twenty-one years ago, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and he considers it a plus for his craft.</p> <p>“It’s important for wine,” he says with a laugh. “If a producer is not maniacal, he cannot make good wine.”</p> <p>The son of a noble family in Ofena (pop. 500), Cataldi Madonna is known in central Italian winemaking for two things. First, he’s been the foremost advocate of winemaking in the rugged foothills of the Tirino Valley, below the towering Gran Sasso massif, in an area nicknamed "Il Forno d’Abruzzo” (“the oven of Abruzzo”). Second, and perhaps more important, he was the region’s first champion of Pecorino, the heirloom white grape that’s taken off like a rocket in the 21st century.</p> <p>A bit of historical context: Though the first pure Pecorino bottling is widely believed to be a 1990 vintage from <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/search?submitted=Y&scope=ratings&winery=Cocci+Grifoni">Tenuta Cocci Grifoni</a> to the north in the Marche, that estate labeled the wine “Colle Vecchio,” after the vineyard. According to <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/articles/a-tour-of-italys-grapes-50534">Italian indigenous grape expert Ian d’Agata</a>, the grape had several regional names and Cataldi Madonna was the first in Italy to print “Pecorino” on a wine label, with the 1996 vintage.</p> <p>“Now, everybody in the last 20 years here has planted Pecorino,” says Davide Acerra, spokesperson for the Consorzio Tutela Vini d'Abruzzo, the regional wine organization. “And Cataldi Madonna is a reference point. He was the first here.”</p> <p>Pecorino’s boom has been fueled largely by the appeal of its name, which it shares with the beloved Italian sheep’s milk cheese. The grape variety, according to local lore, derives its name from the <em>pecore</em> (sheep) that ate the vines' leaves during their summer passage to higher grazing grounds or the sheepherders who snacked on the grapes.</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna took over the now century-old family wine estate in 1990, following in the footsteps of his father who was the first in the family to bottle <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/search?submitted=Y&scope=ratings&winery=Cataldi+Madonna">Cataldi Madonna wines</a> in 1975.</p> <p>“My father was an architect, and he had no extra time,” Cataldi Madonna says on a bright afternoon before harvest, as he walks down the narrow country road between the vineyards with his daughter Giulia, 28, and Tuscan consulting enologist Lorenzo Landi. “I am a professor, so I had lots of time.”</p> <p>In his first year, Cataldi Madonna decided he wanted to find an alternative to the area’s Trebbiano wines and discovered Pecorino at a vine nursery. The low-yielding grape—marked by high acidity, sugar levels and aromatics—was often used as a minor part of white blends.</p> <p>To hear Cataldi Madonna tell it, he was wowed by the grape, and he immediately planted his first 2 acres in the vineyard called Frontone, which is next to his winery at 1,200 feet in altitude.</p> <p>“I didn’t know how to manage it,” Cataldi Madonna says, shrugging his whole frame. “It’s like when you fall in love—do you know how to manage it?”</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna made the first vintage, 1996, conducting basic fermentations in stainless steel. “In the first years we made a disaster,” he says. “Everyone said it tasted like lemon soda! But 2,000 bottles—even if it's lemon soda—are not difficult to sell.”</p> <p>Over more than a decade, he experimented broadly. Between 2000 and 2007, he tried fermenting Pecorino in oak <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=barrique"><em>barriques</em></a>, but found those covered the aromas. “It’s not easy to balance all the aspects of Pecorino—the structure, acidity and aromatics,” says Landi, who joined Cataldi Madonna as a consultant in 2003.</p> <p>In the past decade, the two have settled on a method that involves a cryomaceration (a more extreme version of <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary/show/id/maceration">cold maceration</a> that involves freezing the grapes to extract more flavor and other compounds) before pressing, followed by fermenting on <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=native+yeast">indigenous yeasts</a> and aging on <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=lees">lees</a> in steel tanks.</p> <p>In 2019, Cataldi Madonna signed the estate over to his daughter Giulia, who studied viticulture and oversees production of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo reds, deep-colored Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo rosé and a Trebbiano d’Abruzzo white from 75 acres of vineyards.</p> <p>But Pecorino remains his obsession, and he hasn’t loosened his grip on major decisions.</p> <p>The winery now regularly makes a pair of Pecorinos under the geographical designation Terre Aquilane IGT: the entry-level Giulia Pecorino (86 points, $24 for <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/detail/source/search/note_id/436235">the 2016 vintage</a>) and the harvest selection SuperGiulia Pecorino.</p> <p>Every year, Cataldi Madonna vinifies the two original acres of Frontone Pecorino separately. But until now, he has only released one vintage as a separate cuvée—the 2013 vintage.</p> <p>“The quality of the other years didn’t please Luigi,” says Landi. “But 2020 was a good year and we may release it in 2023.”</p> <p>Ask anyone in Abruzzo what they think of Pecorino and they’ll say it’s a wine still being discovered.</p> <p>“It’s in a state of change,” says Cataldi Madonna, the philosophile. “You see, Pecorino is not a closed argument.”</p> <p> </p> </div>', 'date' => '2021-11-03', 'image_id' => '3306', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-03 10:44:54', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-01-04 13:36:01', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3306', 'parent_id' => '3305', 'uid' => '285649161', 'name' => '1635881342_rc_cataldimadonna110221_1600.jpeg', 'caption' => 'Cataldi Madonna', 'ext' => 'jpeg', 'size' => '469750', 'width' => '866', 'height' => '900', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2021-11-03 10:44:27', 'created_by' => '9', 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rarefied wine tasting excellence. The wines in the tasting were all either excellent or downright spectacular."', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><strong>From the Archives, Iconic Italian Wines: A Fantastic Tasting in London </strong></p> <p><strong>BY IAN D'AGATA</strong></p> <p><strong>February 23rd, 2024 </strong></p> <p><a href="https://terroirsense.com/en/p/10005.html">Link here to full article >>></a></p> <p> </p> <p>"This past February 6, in a truly remarkable wine tasting held in London and organized by Astrum Wines (one of the UK’s best wine importers and a consummate Italian wine specialist), I was lucky enough to partake in a moment of truly rarefied wine tasting excellence. The wines in the tasting were all either excellent or downright spectacular. Their intrinsic level of goodness resulted from the perfect storm of wine attributes, including first and foremost there being only wines from truly great vintages (a common ploy when trying ti impress people is using a famous name wine from a horrific vintage; but to Astrum’s credit and their willingness to go the extra mile for their clients and fans, no famous wines from lousy vintages such as 2003 were included in this tasting). Almost every wine featured in this masterclass can be considered benchmark for its grape variety or wine category; and even those that don’t really fit into that mould are characterized by specific traits or terroir characteristics to make them unique in some ways.</p> <p> </p> <p>For example, there can be no doubt that <strong>Miani’s Ribolla Gialla Pettarin</strong> is not just the best Ribolla Gialla wine made in Italy, but an argument can be made that it may well be Italy’s best white wine, period (Gravner’s is just as good, but is a completely different wine such that a fair, even logical, comparison between the two is impossible). Similarly, there is no better producer of Greco wines in Italy than Pietracupa: normally, the best Greco wines of Italy are those that sport the Greco di Tufo denomination, but in the case of owner’s Sabino Loffredo’s Greco G wine, the denomination is inconsequential. The <strong>Pietracupa 2010 Greco G </strong>may very well be not just the best Greco wine he has ever made, but the best wine period. On that note, there is no doubt that the <strong>Oddero 2016 Barolo Riserva Vignarionda </strong>is just that: in other words, the best Barolo Vignarionda ever made by the winery, perhaps even the best wine Oddero has ever made (and they have made quite a few since the nineteenth century, so that’s saying something). <strong>Tenuta di Trinoro’s 2013 Tenuta di Trinoro Toscana Rosso</strong>, is a perfect example of a Supertuscan made in a cooler year such that it boasts less of the viscous opulent flesh this wine is capable of showcasing in spades, but boasts instead supreme elegance and lightness of being. Despite it being made with the two Cabernets (mostly Cab Franc, in fact), Merlot and a dollop of Petit Verdot, it has nonetheless excellent ripeness levels and broadcasts what the relatively little-known and little-used farmland around the small town of Sarteano in southern Tuscany can deliver. About the only thing I have to add is that it is highly reductive to call Trinoro’s wine (or that of Tua Rita, or Petrolo, or Castello del Terriccio, for example) as simply “Supertuscnas”, independently of all the good that that name conjures up. This is because just about any Cab-Merlot wine made in Tuscany can be referred to as a “Supertuscan” but there is a quality chasm separating the best from the average and weaker wines that benefit from that monicker. The<strong> Speri 1988 Amarone della Valpolicella Vigneto Sant’Urbano</strong> is a masterpiece. Everyone reading this article has probably tried Amarone once in their life, if not more; but truth is, for such a famous wine, not all examples are as well-balanced and easy to drink as they ought to be. Speri’s1988 wine (an excellent vintage) is drinking splendidly right now: it finds itself in a sweet spot that makes it at once extremely velvety, delicious and irresistible, though remarkably relatively youthful and age-worthy. Speaking of “balance”, no word describes better, and then some, the <strong>Ronchi di Cialla 1983 Verduzzo di Cialla Colli Orientali del Friuli</strong>, a superb sweet wine. Verduzzo Friulano (not to be confused with a similarly-named variety called Verduzzo Trevigiano) is a very underrated Italian white grape, that can give easygoing classically dry white wines but also magically rich and luscious stickies (usually made with air-dried grapes). The 1983 vintage was an especially great one in Friuli Venezia Giulia (the reds were very fine too that year) and this Verduzzo wine showcases this fact admirably: it’s a wine that shows off the tannic heft typical of the variety, but at the same time its just as typical deep and complex aromas and flavours of almond, marzipan, ripe orchard fruit (with a whiplash of tropical fruit and chestnut honey added in for good measure). The<strong> Produttori del Barbaresco 2013 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà </strong>offers nice insight into the exact quality of the 2013 vintage in Barolo and Barbaresco (an underrated vintage, in my opinion), with a wine that harkens stylistically back to the many great wines made during the 1980s and even the 1970s, in much cooler times than today’s days irrevocably marked by climate change. That cool climate is evident in the <strong>Poggio Scalette 2010 Il Carbonaione Alta Valle del Greve</strong>, a Sangiovese wine made by one of Italy’s chief consultant winemakers, Vittorio Fiore. The Ruffolo area where the grapes used to make this wine grow is characterized by a specific biotype of Sangiovese, known as Sangiovese di Lamole. It’s a Sangiovese that gives much bigger wines than usual and that are successfully produced even in the area’s cold climate conditions, where Sangiovese never ripens fully; instead, the Sangiovese di Lamole appears to manage to do so. In fact, I think there has existed quite a bit of confusion on this subject in the past, as the majority of old vines planted in the Lamole area seventy-eighty years ago were actually of a distinct variety called Sangiovese Forte or Sanforte, one that is much better suited to the Lamole climate than Sangiovese. This is because it not only ripens well despite the cooler climate but because it delivers a wine that is at the same time muscular and tannic, but also smooth and fruity. The presence of Sanforte, in smaller or larger degrees helps explain why the “Sangiovese wines” of the area look, smell and taste different from more typical Sangiovese wines, without needing to figure out other reasons as to why that may be. Last but not least, the <strong>Castello Romitorio 2014 Brunello di Montalcino</strong> Riserva is a very good wine from the excellent, but admittedly slightly overrated 2004 vintage. Made with Sangiovese grapes that are planted at the highest altitudes of the denomination, Romitorio’s Brunellos are always marked by a slightly herbal and high-acid mouthfeel that helps deliver a sense of juiciness and freshness that is uncommon in most Brunellos made today (even those from the northern-facing reaches of the denomination)."</p>', 'date' => '2024-03-06', 'image_id' => '4005', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-06 09:31:20', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2024-03-06 09:33:59', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '4005', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '567471365', 'name' => '微信图片_20240218154152.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => '217197', 'width' => '1280', 'height' => '1706', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2024-03-06 09:29:21', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2024-03-06 09:29:21', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3962', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2024/03/567471365.jpg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => 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exhibiting at the upcoming Wines of Georgia Trade & Press Tasting 2023.</p> <p>This is a fantastic opportunity to discover and taste some of the finest wines from Georgia, a country rich in history and winemaking traditions.</p> <p>Plus, you'll get to meet Levan Chychynadze, the Winemaker and Owner of Tiko Estate, who'll be joining us in London just for this event!</p> <p>Don't miss out on the chance to meet Tiko Estate in person and taste their range with us.</p> <p>We hope you will join us for this special occasion and indulge in the flavors of Georgia. </p> <p> </p> <p>Follow @GeorgianWineUK for updates!</p>', 'date' => '2023-04-26', 'image_id' => '3779', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04 09:10:00', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2023-04-26 14:21:10', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3779', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '412695268', 'name' => 'Wines of Georgia Invite 2023_page-0001.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => 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'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '93', 'title' => 'Abruzzo: The Great Divide', 'slug' => 'abruzzo-the-great-divide', 'teaser' => 'High praise for Cataldi Madonna from Eric Guido in his latest article on Abruzzo via Vinous.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><strong><a href="https://vinous.com/articles/abruzzo-the-great-divide-oct-2022">Abruzzo: The Great Divide</a></strong></p> <p><strong>By Eric Guido</strong></p> <p><strong>October 2022</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>“Speaking of terroir in Abruzzo, the drastic difference that I witnessed when driving from Loreto Aprutino (think Valentini, De Fermo and Torre Dei Beati) to Ofena in the Tirino Valley (home of Cataldi Madonna) was eye-opening. Only 45 minutes by car, yet over a mountain away, the gentle hills of Loreto Aprutino and Cognoli give way to mountain scrub, firs and packs of wolves before descending toward the hillside town of Ofena on a highway that could easily be used as the location of a high-speed chase in any upcoming James Bond flick. This is known as “Abruzzo’s Oven”. As you can imagine, the valley floor is one of the warmest locations by day, yet with drastic diurnal shifts due to the surrounding mountains, as much as 20 degrees, which help to keep the vines healthy. In addition, the higher-clay content in the soils aids in retaining water. Cataldi Madonna remains one of the most dependable houses for Montepulciano, which has a richness and depth of fruit that has to be tasted to be believed. This is the mark of terroir, as the wines are matured in all-neutral vessels. Cataldi Madonna has also taken Pecorino to a very serious level. A total of three different bottlings, each one from a more rigorous selection of their older vines and those planted more recently through massal selection. Back to the Montepulcianos…the average consumer would assume these couldn’t age well due to how enjoyable they are in their youth; however, this critic was wowed by a number of mature bottles tasted at the estate.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2021 Pecorino Giulia – 91 points</strong></p> <p>The 2021 Pecorino Giulia impresses with a stunning mix of candied lime, crushed green apple and fresh mint. This is packed full of savory mineral tones and zesty acids that create a sizzling of spicy tension on the palate. There’s a sweet and sour citrusy interplay that lasts impossibly long through the finale, like biting into a lemon pith followed by a healthy swig of juice. Very nice.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2019 Pecorino Supergiulia – 92 points</strong></p> <p>The bouquet on the 2019 Pecorino Supergiulia balances confectionary richness with intense citrus concentration, complemented by gingery spice. It enters the palate silky and smooth, yet quickly reveals its power as tart orchard fruits cascade across a salty and crunchy core of minerals. The 2019 becomes perfumed and finessed through the finale, while leaving a pleasantly bitter twang that provides a nice punctuation to an already highly pleasurable experience. The Supergiulia is a selection in both the vineyard and then on the sorting table, which is refined in steel tanks on the fine lees for one year.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Malandrino – 93 points</strong></p> <p>The 2020 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Malandrino gets an official “wow” from the first tilt of the glass as violets and lavender give way to crushed blackberries, blueberries and hints of sweet spice. This is elegance personified, with a juicy core of acidity that enlivens its near-velvety textures and wild berry fruits. It finishes lightly structured, concentrated and long yet perfumed, making the 2020 a pleasure today, but also capable of medium-term cellaring. This is another outstanding vintage of Montepulciano Malandrino which, for all of its depth, has been refined completely in stainless steel tank since the 2012 vintage.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>2018 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Toni – 93 points </strong></p> <p>The 2018 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Toni is dark and brooding, smoldering up from the glass with balsam herbs, black currants and hints of menthol. This is silky and opulent in feel with depths of mineral-tinged, red wild berries and sweet, inner herbal tones. It saturates the palate with soft tannins and a primary concentration of fruit, showing significantly more power than your typical 2018, yet also balance. Somehow, Cataldi Madonna has packed both near-term appeal but also the ability for a slow and steady evolution into this vintage of Toni. This is the only Montepulciano of the estate that is matured in wood as it is refined entirely in one twenty-five-hectoliter cask (the only barrel in the cellar). </p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://vinous.com/articles/abruzzo-the-great-divide-oct-2022">Click here to read the full article and reviews ---></a></p>', 'date' => '2022-10-10', 'image_id' => '3652', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10 10:27:47', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-10-10 11:23:13', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3652', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '544187234', 'name' => 'CM.jpg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpg', 'size' => '110465', 'width' => '435', 'height' => '516', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2022-10-10 11:21:34', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-10-10 11:21:34', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3609', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2022/10/544187234.jpg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => '0', 'video_thumbnail_ready' => '0', 'asset_folder_id' => '0', 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'Document' => array( 'id' => null, 'parent_id' => null, 'uid' => null, 'name' => null, 'caption' => null, 'ext' => null, 'size' => null, 'width' => null, 'height' => null, 'extract' => null, 'created' => null, 'created_by' => null, 'modified' => null, 'modified_by' => null, 'sorting' => null, 'status' => null, 'path' => null, 'tags' => null, 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => null, 'video_thumbnail_ready' => null, 'asset_folder_id' => null, 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '92', 'title' => 'Sweet Winemaker of the Year 2022', 'slug' => 'sweet-winemaker-of-the-year-2022', 'teaser' => 'Hans Tschida wins the IWC Sweet Winemaker of the Year award for the eighth time ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p>“Hans Tschida is a sweet wine legend with very few peers. It’s an enormous privilege to taste his world-class wines every year,” said Tim Atkin MW, co-chair of the IWC, as he welcomed the Austrian winemaker onto the stage to collect his eighth Sweet Winemaker of the Year title.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://www.internationalwinechallenge.com/Canopy-Articles/meet-the-sweet-wine-legend.html">Read more here >>></a></p>', 'date' => '2022-09-29', 'image_id' => '3650', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29 12:41:54', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-09-29 12:45:12', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3650', 'parent_id' => '0', 'uid' => '693261465', 'name' => 'Hans Tschida with awards.jpeg', 'caption' => '', 'ext' => 'jpeg', 'size' => '288612', 'width' => '668', 'height' => '989', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2022-09-29 12:40:55', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-09-29 12:40:55', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3607', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2022/09/693261465.jpeg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => '0', 'video_thumbnail_ready' => '0', 'asset_folder_id' => '0', 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'Document' => array( 'id' => null, 'parent_id' => null, 'uid' => null, 'name' => null, 'caption' => null, 'ext' => null, 'size' => null, 'width' => null, 'height' => null, 'extract' => null, 'created' => null, 'created_by' => null, 'modified' => null, 'modified_by' => null, 'sorting' => null, 'status' => null, 'path' => null, 'tags' => null, 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => null, 'video_thumbnail_ready' => null, 'asset_folder_id' => null, 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '90', 'title' => '“If a producer is not maniacal, he cannot make good wine” Luigi Cataldi Madonna', 'slug' => 'if-a-producer-is-not-maniacal-he-cannot-make-good-wine-luigi-cataldi-madonna', 'teaser' => 'The Wine Spectator's Roberto Camuto meets... The Nutty Professor of Pecorino: The New Abruzzo', 'content' => '<div class="article__body-info"> <div class="article__byline"> <p> </p> <p>The Wine Spectator's Roberto Camuto meets...<br /><a href="https://www.winespectator.com/articles/the-nutty-professor-of-pecorino-the-new-abruzzo-part-3"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Nutty Professor of Pecorino: The New Abruzzo</span></strong><br /><span style="color: #000000;"><br />By </span></a><a href="https://www.winespectator.com/authors/rcamuto">Robert Camuto<br /></a>Nov 2, 2021</p> </div> <div class="article__byline"> </div> </div> <div class="article__body-content paywall"> <p>I thought I’d met most of the eccentrics in Italian wine—the experimental outliers who’ve made an impact by following some singular intuition, rare grape or other personal muse.</p> <p>Then I met Luigi Cataldi Madonna in the hot, dry hills of Abruzzo. Charming and self-effacing, he proudly cackled in his smoker’s rasp: “I am the champion of all the crazies!”</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna, 65, is a philosophy professor at the University of L’Aquila, in the stately mountain city still recovering from the deadly, devastating 2009 earthquake there. Twenty-one years ago, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and he considers it a plus for his craft.</p> <p>“It’s important for wine,” he says with a laugh. “If a producer is not maniacal, he cannot make good wine.”</p> <p>The son of a noble family in Ofena (pop. 500), Cataldi Madonna is known in central Italian winemaking for two things. First, he’s been the foremost advocate of winemaking in the rugged foothills of the Tirino Valley, below the towering Gran Sasso massif, in an area nicknamed "Il Forno d’Abruzzo” (“the oven of Abruzzo”). Second, and perhaps more important, he was the region’s first champion of Pecorino, the heirloom white grape that’s taken off like a rocket in the 21st century.</p> <p>A bit of historical context: Though the first pure Pecorino bottling is widely believed to be a 1990 vintage from <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/search?submitted=Y&scope=ratings&winery=Cocci+Grifoni">Tenuta Cocci Grifoni</a> to the north in the Marche, that estate labeled the wine “Colle Vecchio,” after the vineyard. According to <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/articles/a-tour-of-italys-grapes-50534">Italian indigenous grape expert Ian d’Agata</a>, the grape had several regional names and Cataldi Madonna was the first in Italy to print “Pecorino” on a wine label, with the 1996 vintage.</p> <p>“Now, everybody in the last 20 years here has planted Pecorino,” says Davide Acerra, spokesperson for the Consorzio Tutela Vini d'Abruzzo, the regional wine organization. “And Cataldi Madonna is a reference point. He was the first here.”</p> <p>Pecorino’s boom has been fueled largely by the appeal of its name, which it shares with the beloved Italian sheep’s milk cheese. The grape variety, according to local lore, derives its name from the <em>pecore</em> (sheep) that ate the vines' leaves during their summer passage to higher grazing grounds or the sheepherders who snacked on the grapes.</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna took over the now century-old family wine estate in 1990, following in the footsteps of his father who was the first in the family to bottle <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/search?submitted=Y&scope=ratings&winery=Cataldi+Madonna">Cataldi Madonna wines</a> in 1975.</p> <p>“My father was an architect, and he had no extra time,” Cataldi Madonna says on a bright afternoon before harvest, as he walks down the narrow country road between the vineyards with his daughter Giulia, 28, and Tuscan consulting enologist Lorenzo Landi. “I am a professor, so I had lots of time.”</p> <p>In his first year, Cataldi Madonna decided he wanted to find an alternative to the area’s Trebbiano wines and discovered Pecorino at a vine nursery. The low-yielding grape—marked by high acidity, sugar levels and aromatics—was often used as a minor part of white blends.</p> <p>To hear Cataldi Madonna tell it, he was wowed by the grape, and he immediately planted his first 2 acres in the vineyard called Frontone, which is next to his winery at 1,200 feet in altitude.</p> <p>“I didn’t know how to manage it,” Cataldi Madonna says, shrugging his whole frame. “It’s like when you fall in love—do you know how to manage it?”</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna made the first vintage, 1996, conducting basic fermentations in stainless steel. “In the first years we made a disaster,” he says. “Everyone said it tasted like lemon soda! But 2,000 bottles—even if it's lemon soda—are not difficult to sell.”</p> <p>Over more than a decade, he experimented broadly. Between 2000 and 2007, he tried fermenting Pecorino in oak <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=barrique"><em>barriques</em></a>, but found those covered the aromas. “It’s not easy to balance all the aspects of Pecorino—the structure, acidity and aromatics,” says Landi, who joined Cataldi Madonna as a consultant in 2003.</p> <p>In the past decade, the two have settled on a method that involves a cryomaceration (a more extreme version of <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary/show/id/maceration">cold maceration</a> that involves freezing the grapes to extract more flavor and other compounds) before pressing, followed by fermenting on <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=native+yeast">indigenous yeasts</a> and aging on <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=lees">lees</a> in steel tanks.</p> <p>In 2019, Cataldi Madonna signed the estate over to his daughter Giulia, who studied viticulture and oversees production of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo reds, deep-colored Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo rosé and a Trebbiano d’Abruzzo white from 75 acres of vineyards.</p> <p>But Pecorino remains his obsession, and he hasn’t loosened his grip on major decisions.</p> <p>The winery now regularly makes a pair of Pecorinos under the geographical designation Terre Aquilane IGT: the entry-level Giulia Pecorino (86 points, $24 for <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/detail/source/search/note_id/436235">the 2016 vintage</a>) and the harvest selection SuperGiulia Pecorino.</p> <p>Every year, Cataldi Madonna vinifies the two original acres of Frontone Pecorino separately. But until now, he has only released one vintage as a separate cuvée—the 2013 vintage.</p> <p>“The quality of the other years didn’t please Luigi,” says Landi. “But 2020 was a good year and we may release it in 2023.”</p> <p>Ask anyone in Abruzzo what they think of Pecorino and they’ll say it’s a wine still being discovered.</p> <p>“It’s in a state of change,” says Cataldi Madonna, the philosophile. “You see, Pecorino is not a closed argument.”</p> <p> </p> </div>', 'date' => '2021-11-03', 'image_id' => '3306', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-03 10:44:54', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-01-04 13:36:01', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3306', 'parent_id' => '3305', 'uid' => '285649161', 'name' => '1635881342_rc_cataldimadonna110221_1600.jpeg', 'caption' => 'Cataldi Madonna', 'ext' => 'jpeg', 'size' => '469750', 'width' => '866', 'height' => '900', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2021-11-03 10:44:27', 'created_by' => '9', 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=> null, 'modified_by' => null, 'status' => null ) ) $list = array( (int) 0 => '<div class="item-wrapper"><div class="item first border"><span>March 6th 2024</span> <h3><a href="/news/from-the-archives-iconic-italian-wines-a-fantastic-tasting-in-london">From the Archives, Iconic Italian Wines: A Fantastic Tasting in London</a></h3></div></div>', (int) 1 => '<div class="item-wrapper"><div class="item border"><span>April 26th 2023</span> <h3><a href="/news/wines-of-georgia-trade-press-tasting-2023">Wines of Georgia Trade & Press Tasting 2023</a></h3></div></div>', (int) 2 => '<div class="item-wrapper"><div class="item border"><span>October 10th 2022</span> <h3><a href="/news/abruzzo-the-great-divide">Abruzzo: The Great Divide</a></h3></div></div>', (int) 3 => '<div class="item-wrapper"><div class="item border"><span>September 29th 2022</span> <h3><a href="/news/sweet-winemaker-of-the-year-2022">Sweet Winemaker of the Year 2022</a></h3></div></div>' ) $item = array( 'News' => array( 'id' => '90', 'title' => '“If a producer is not maniacal, he cannot make good wine” Luigi Cataldi Madonna', 'slug' => 'if-a-producer-is-not-maniacal-he-cannot-make-good-wine-luigi-cataldi-madonna', 'teaser' => 'The Wine Spectator's Roberto Camuto meets... The Nutty Professor of Pecorino: The New Abruzzo', 'content' => '<div class="article__body-info"> <div class="article__byline"> <p> </p> <p>The Wine Spectator's Roberto Camuto meets...<br /><a href="https://www.winespectator.com/articles/the-nutty-professor-of-pecorino-the-new-abruzzo-part-3"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Nutty Professor of Pecorino: The New Abruzzo</span></strong><br /><span style="color: #000000;"><br />By </span></a><a href="https://www.winespectator.com/authors/rcamuto">Robert Camuto<br /></a>Nov 2, 2021</p> </div> <div class="article__byline"> </div> </div> <div class="article__body-content paywall"> <p>I thought I’d met most of the eccentrics in Italian wine—the experimental outliers who’ve made an impact by following some singular intuition, rare grape or other personal muse.</p> <p>Then I met Luigi Cataldi Madonna in the hot, dry hills of Abruzzo. Charming and self-effacing, he proudly cackled in his smoker’s rasp: “I am the champion of all the crazies!”</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna, 65, is a philosophy professor at the University of L’Aquila, in the stately mountain city still recovering from the deadly, devastating 2009 earthquake there. Twenty-one years ago, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and he considers it a plus for his craft.</p> <p>“It’s important for wine,” he says with a laugh. “If a producer is not maniacal, he cannot make good wine.”</p> <p>The son of a noble family in Ofena (pop. 500), Cataldi Madonna is known in central Italian winemaking for two things. First, he’s been the foremost advocate of winemaking in the rugged foothills of the Tirino Valley, below the towering Gran Sasso massif, in an area nicknamed "Il Forno d’Abruzzo” (“the oven of Abruzzo”). Second, and perhaps more important, he was the region’s first champion of Pecorino, the heirloom white grape that’s taken off like a rocket in the 21st century.</p> <p>A bit of historical context: Though the first pure Pecorino bottling is widely believed to be a 1990 vintage from <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/search?submitted=Y&scope=ratings&winery=Cocci+Grifoni">Tenuta Cocci Grifoni</a> to the north in the Marche, that estate labeled the wine “Colle Vecchio,” after the vineyard. According to <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/articles/a-tour-of-italys-grapes-50534">Italian indigenous grape expert Ian d’Agata</a>, the grape had several regional names and Cataldi Madonna was the first in Italy to print “Pecorino” on a wine label, with the 1996 vintage.</p> <p>“Now, everybody in the last 20 years here has planted Pecorino,” says Davide Acerra, spokesperson for the Consorzio Tutela Vini d'Abruzzo, the regional wine organization. “And Cataldi Madonna is a reference point. He was the first here.”</p> <p>Pecorino’s boom has been fueled largely by the appeal of its name, which it shares with the beloved Italian sheep’s milk cheese. The grape variety, according to local lore, derives its name from the <em>pecore</em> (sheep) that ate the vines' leaves during their summer passage to higher grazing grounds or the sheepherders who snacked on the grapes.</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna took over the now century-old family wine estate in 1990, following in the footsteps of his father who was the first in the family to bottle <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/search?submitted=Y&scope=ratings&winery=Cataldi+Madonna">Cataldi Madonna wines</a> in 1975.</p> <p>“My father was an architect, and he had no extra time,” Cataldi Madonna says on a bright afternoon before harvest, as he walks down the narrow country road between the vineyards with his daughter Giulia, 28, and Tuscan consulting enologist Lorenzo Landi. “I am a professor, so I had lots of time.”</p> <p>In his first year, Cataldi Madonna decided he wanted to find an alternative to the area’s Trebbiano wines and discovered Pecorino at a vine nursery. The low-yielding grape—marked by high acidity, sugar levels and aromatics—was often used as a minor part of white blends.</p> <p>To hear Cataldi Madonna tell it, he was wowed by the grape, and he immediately planted his first 2 acres in the vineyard called Frontone, which is next to his winery at 1,200 feet in altitude.</p> <p>“I didn’t know how to manage it,” Cataldi Madonna says, shrugging his whole frame. “It’s like when you fall in love—do you know how to manage it?”</p> <p>Cataldi Madonna made the first vintage, 1996, conducting basic fermentations in stainless steel. “In the first years we made a disaster,” he says. “Everyone said it tasted like lemon soda! But 2,000 bottles—even if it's lemon soda—are not difficult to sell.”</p> <p>Over more than a decade, he experimented broadly. Between 2000 and 2007, he tried fermenting Pecorino in oak <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=barrique"><em>barriques</em></a>, but found those covered the aromas. “It’s not easy to balance all the aspects of Pecorino—the structure, acidity and aromatics,” says Landi, who joined Cataldi Madonna as a consultant in 2003.</p> <p>In the past decade, the two have settled on a method that involves a cryomaceration (a more extreme version of <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary/show/id/maceration">cold maceration</a> that involves freezing the grapes to extract more flavor and other compounds) before pressing, followed by fermenting on <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=native+yeast">indigenous yeasts</a> and aging on <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/glossary?page=1&submitted=Y&word=lees">lees</a> in steel tanks.</p> <p>In 2019, Cataldi Madonna signed the estate over to his daughter Giulia, who studied viticulture and oversees production of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo reds, deep-colored Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo rosé and a Trebbiano d’Abruzzo white from 75 acres of vineyards.</p> <p>But Pecorino remains his obsession, and he hasn’t loosened his grip on major decisions.</p> <p>The winery now regularly makes a pair of Pecorinos under the geographical designation Terre Aquilane IGT: the entry-level Giulia Pecorino (86 points, $24 for <a href="https://www.winespectator.com/wine/detail/source/search/note_id/436235">the 2016 vintage</a>) and the harvest selection SuperGiulia Pecorino.</p> <p>Every year, Cataldi Madonna vinifies the two original acres of Frontone Pecorino separately. But until now, he has only released one vintage as a separate cuvée—the 2013 vintage.</p> <p>“The quality of the other years didn’t please Luigi,” says Landi. “But 2020 was a good year and we may release it in 2023.”</p> <p>Ask anyone in Abruzzo what they think of Pecorino and they’ll say it’s a wine still being discovered.</p> <p>“It’s in a state of change,” says Cataldi Madonna, the philosophile. “You see, Pecorino is not a closed argument.”</p> <p> </p> </div>', 'date' => '2021-11-03', 'image_id' => '3306', 'document_id' => null, 'status' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-03 10:44:54', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2022-01-04 13:36:01', 'modified_by' => '9' ), 'Image' => array( 'id' => '3306', 'parent_id' => '3305', 'uid' => '285649161', 'name' => '1635881342_rc_cataldimadonna110221_1600.jpeg', 'caption' => 'Cataldi Madonna', 'ext' => 'jpeg', 'size' => '469750', 'width' => '866', 'height' => '900', 'extract' => false, 'created' => '2021-11-03 10:44:27', 'created_by' => '9', 'modified' => '2021-11-03 10:44:50', 'modified_by' => '9', 'sorting' => '3263', 'status' => '1', 'path' => '2021/11/285649161.jpeg', 'tags' => '', 'crop_params' => '{"sx":462,"sy":0,"sw":866,"sh":900,"w":866,"h":900}', 'flash_video_ready' => '0', 'video_thumbnail_ready' => '0', 'asset_folder_id' => '0', 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'Document' => array( 'id' => null, 'parent_id' => null, 'uid' => null, 'name' => null, 'caption' => null, 'ext' => null, 'size' => null, 'width' => null, 'height' => null, 'extract' => null, 'created' => null, 'created_by' => null, 'modified' => null, 'modified_by' => null, 'sorting' => null, 'status' => null, 'path' => null, 'tags' => null, 'crop_params' => null, 'flash_video_ready' => null, 'video_thumbnail_ready' => null, 'asset_folder_id' => null, 'object' => null, 'object_id' => null, 'object_alias' => null, 'google_drive_file_id' => null ), 'CreatedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ), 'ModifiedBy' => array( 'password' => '*****', 'id' => '9', 'user_group_id' => '2', 'uid' => '427621581', 'avatar_id' => '3578', 'email' => 'marketing@astrumwinecellars.com', 'first_name' => 'Saba', 'last_name' => 'Astrum Wine Cellars', 'locale' => 'eng', 'created' => '2012-11-01 13:56:44', 'created_by' => '4', 'modified' => '2022-06-27 12:23:38', 'modified_by' => '9', 'status' => '1', 'name' => 'Saba Astrum Wine Cellars' ) ) $k = (int) 4 $class = array( (int) 0 => 'item', (int) 1 => 'last' )include - APP/Plugin/News/View/News/index.ctp, line 21 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 935 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 897 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 466 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 954 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 192 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 160 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 96
News & Events
April 26th 2023
Wines of Georgia Trade & Press Tasting 2023
October 10th 2022
Abruzzo: The Great Divide
September 29th 2022
Sweet Winemaker of the Year 2022
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