L’Insieme

The self is not singular, it is the summation of its universal parts. This can be felt in acts of philanthropy and benefaction. The L’Insieme association is a wine growers initiative and charitable organization founded in 1997 by Elio Altare one of Europe’s most influential and iconic winemakers. Elio’s initial inspiration was to raise money for the preservation of historical sites in his native Piedmont. This idea evolved into a global outreach.

The core of the group is its seven winemakers:  Elio Altare, Mauro Veglio, Federico Grasso, Giuliano Corino, Carlo and Lorenzo Revello, Gianfranco Alessandria and Paolo and Giulio Morando. Five of the wineries are located in La Morra, six in the Barolo district. The Morando brothers of the La Morandina estate in Castiglione Tinella are the lone representatives of Asti.

Beyond their motivation to help others what unites them is a shared sensibility about wine and a philosophy of farming. Rigorous pruning and canopy management, the once controversial and now nearly universal practice of green harvesting, and the elimination of chemical and synthetic fertilizers. The result is extremely low yields far below the standard of the appellation. In the vineyard an organic or sustainable regimen is followed. Organic farming is a communal effort and cannot be accomplished by one grower alone. In the cellar maceration's vary from modern to classic. The use of barrique is common but not ubiquitous.

Many of the members of L’Insieme were inspired by Elio Altare to bottle their own estate wines and to implement quality focused changes in their vineyards and cellars. Elio, influenced by trips he made to Burgundy the first of which was in 1976, began the practice of green harvesting in 1978. In 1983 he introduced barrique to the cantina. His quality first approach places an emphasis on terroir. The result is a finesse driven, aesthetically focused, style where freshness precedes formality.  If Elio Altare is not the formal leader of L’Insieme he is its avatar.

In Italian insieme means together. In this context it has two connotations. Growers working together for a common cause and the blending of native grapes, Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Dolcetto, with international varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Pinot Noir. The blending of the regional classics with the international luminaries is symbolic of the need for humanitarian relief which transcends cultural boundaries.

The wines, assembled from the best barrels in the cellar, represent the finest wines of the vintage. Production is limited to about two hundred and fifty cases a year. Each winery releases its own distinct cuvee, its own variation on the theme.  Partial proceeds from the sale of the seven cuvees is the ballast of the fund. For every bottle of L’Insieme sold 5.16 euro on average is donated. L’Insieme sponsored dinners, auctions, and tastings are held throughout the year.  Wine merchants and wine lovers worldwide contribute annually.

Elio Altare, L'Insieme, Vino Rosso. Image Courtesy of Silvia Altare

On November 11, St Martin’s Day, the years accounting is settled and the funds are allocated. St Martin’s day celebrates St Martin of Tours, the Glory of Gaul. In Italy St Martin’s day is a feast day when the new wines, vino novello, and the harvest are celebrated. According to legend St Martin was a Roman soldier who cut his military cloak in half to share with an unfortunate. That night he dreamt of Christ. Soon thereafter Martin converted to Christianity. He became a priest and then a bishop and is credited with the founding of the first monastery in Europe. St Martin symbolizes chivalry, solidarity, charity and compassion. He is a guardian of the unfortunate and the patron saint of warriors, winemakers, innkeepers, and tailors. His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his burial, it marks the end of the harvest and the first day of winter.

In its past harvests L’Insieme donated half a million euro between forty-two separate projects. Today they donate more than 60.000 euro annually. Whether it is the building of a child care facility for single mothers in Alba, funding for the development of schools in Kenya, or the improvement of hiking trails along the Tanaro River, the goal is to support the domestic and international communities.

Beneficiaries of the fund include:

Father Giovanni Onore, a Marist priest and retired professor from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, founder of the Otonga Nature Reserve, purchased ten hectares of Amazon rainforest, the Otonga Cloud Forest, to save it from deforestation. The cloud forest functions as a drainage basin and is a crucial water source for the lower Andes. Biologists and naturalists come from all over the world to study its biodiversity. With assistance from private donors and groups like L’Insieme, the Otonga Nature Reserve currently studies and preserves one thousand hectare of contiguous rainforest.

With support from Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI) a non-denominational NGO founded by Father Vincenzo Barbieri, Terna a Rome based energy company which is a leader in renewable power, and a group of volunteer engineers, Father Serafino Chiesa, a member of the Salesiano Order who has been living in the Kami region of Bolivia since 1985, realized his vision of bringing electricity to a remote farming and mining community in the Andes. The project, which has come to be known as the Kami mission, involved the reactivation of a hydro-electric power station and the building of a twenty-three mile long electricity line at an altitude of over four thousand meters (13,000 feet).

Doctor Gino Strada and the heroic efforts of his NGO Emergency. Emergency provides free medical care and rehabilitation to the victims of war, poverty, and natural disasters around the world. A heart-lung transplant surgeon by training, Dr. Strada has devoted the last two decades of his life to living in some of the most dangerous places on earth: Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. Since 1994 Emergency has treated more than five million people, ninety percent of whom have been civilians. Healthcare is a basic human right and should not be profit based. This is the operational credo of Emergency which is largely funded by private donations.

Pausa Café a Torino based NGO that works with indigenous communities in Guatemala, Mexico, and Costa Rica to bring fair trade value and better living conditions to coffee and cacao farmers. In Piedmont their focus is on the social rehabilitation of prison inmates through skill set development and creative work. In 2004 Pausa Café established a brewery at the Rodolfo Morandi Penitentiary. The brew master Andrea Bertola, one of Italy’s top craft brewers, has been involved with the project since its inception. In 2005 a coffee roasting facility was built at the Le Vallette prison where a select group of inmates work daily to learn the art of wood-fire coffee roasting.

This is compelling and inspiring work. It shows that seven small wineries in Piedmont can make a difference and that their influence extends beyond the stylistic milieu of their discipline.

Tenuta San Lorenzo, Gavi DOCG

The province of Alessandria, located in southeastern Piedmont, is home to the region of Gavi. Gavi is a small appellation of eleven hundred hectare. It was elevated to DOC status in 1974 and DOCG in 1998. Eleven municipalities make up the zone. Gavi, Novi Ligure, Bosio, Carrosio, Capriata d’Orba, Francavilla Bisio, Parodi Ligure, Pasturana, San Cristoforo, Serravalle Scrivia and Tassarolo. Although Gavi is Piedmont’s most famous white wine it is not entirely Piedmontese. The climate in Piedmont is continental with a Mediterranean influence. Continental climates experience distinct seasonal changes and wide diurnal shifts. The climate in Gavi is Mediterranean. Temperatures are regulated due its proximity to the ocean.

In northwest Italy only Liguria communes with the sea. Liguria is the largest seaport in Italy and it is twenty-five miles (forty kilometer) south of Gavi. The capital of Liguria is Genoa. Genoa is Italy’s sixth largest city and one of Europe’s largest on the Mediterranean. Genoa’s history begins with its founding in the 4^th C. Its name derives from the Latin ianua meaning door; doorway to the Mediterranean. In the Middle Ages Genoa grew into a naval power. Since antiquity it has been one of the world’s most important ports. This is the northern stretch of the western Mediterranean, the Italian Riviera. Northwest Italy is bordered by eastern France. Provence is one hundred and twenty miles from here.

Gavi is named for the town which is the epicenter of the region. Its development as a viticultural district is attributed to the aristocratic, merchant, families of Genoa who built their summer homes there. These family dynasties were the first to isolate the white Cortese grape and began cultivation on farms in the 19^th C. In 1876 the Marquis Cambiaso, owner of the La Centuriona and Toledana estates, created the first large-scale plantation of Cortese. His example was followed by the aristocratic families Raggio, Serra, Sartorio and Spinola.

Vineyard at the San Lorenzo Winery, Gavi DOCG. Photo Courtesy of Giuliana Imports

Tenuta San Lorenzo was established in the late 19^th C by the Marquis Raggio d’Azeglio along with the families Cambiaso, Serra, Spinola and Sartorio. The Cazzulo family have been the owners since 1967. The vineyards and winery are located in the northern sector of the appellation, the village of Novi Ligure. The estate is 18 hectare (45 acres), 16 hectare (39 acres) of which are Gavi DOCG. The winery presses only estate grown grapes and the wines are estate bottled. The vineyards are farmed organic. The average age of the estate vines range from 20 to 45 years. The grapes are pressed and fermented at cold temperatures in stainless steel tanks. The finished wine is aged sur lie for three months prior to bottling. No oak is used in the cellar and batonnage is limited.

2012 Tenuta San Lorenzo, Gavi DOCG.  Flower essence, key lime and lime rind, yellow apple, papaya and green mango. The fruit is not fully developed, only the skins remain. More mineral than extract; salt, slate, and iron. The texture is creamy from a moderate batonnage. Citrus flower, lime flower, meringue. A hazy silver in the glass. Halb-trocken Riesling. Spring water, a mineral spring.

Image courtesy of Giuliana Imports

Cortese

Documentation of Cortese in Piedmont dates to the 17^th C, 1659. Although the grapes existence in the area may date as far back as the 13^th C. Before the phylloxera epidemic swept through Europe in the late 19^th C, Gavi was mainly dedicated to red wine production. However necessity is the mother of invention and it was the need of a white wine to wash down the seafood based diet of Genoa that lead to the creation of the modern Gavi viticultural district. Today Gavi is an exclusively white wine zone. The DOCG wines are one hundred percent Cortese.

Cortese is naturally high in acid with moderate extract. It’s a vigorous yielder and must be monitored in the vineyard. The modest wines of the appellation seek uniformity. Although there has been experimentation with barrel fermentation and aging this is not widespread. Cortese is too delicate for a disciplined wood regimen. Cortese ages well, gaining complexity in the bottle, but its nature lends itself largely to near term consumption.

The soils in Gavi are calcareous which means essentially chalk and limestone, in some areas clay dominates. Grapes grown on calcareous soils engender nerve amplifying the grapes natural acidity. Clay inspires power, mass, body and weight. Wines raised on clay based soils are rounder, suppler, and more generous. The vineyards in Gavi are hillside vineyards. DOCG regulations do not allow for planting on the valley floor.

The Land, the Land, the Land, the Land, Always, the Land

“The land, the land, the land, the land, always, the land,” Luigi Veronelli.

Piedmont

Piemonte translates to at the foot of the mountain. Bordered by both France and Switzerland, Piedmont sits at the foot of the Alps and is surrounded by mountains on three sides. The highest peaks in Italy are here. Summers are hot, winters are cold and wet. This is hill country and the hills are spotted with vineyards. The two best red wine zones in Italy are in Piedmont: Barolo and Barbaresco. Nebbiolo is its native son. However Nebbiolo represents only six percent of the total plantings. It is Barbera which is Piedmont’s most widely planted black grape. Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains, known locally as Moscato Bianco, is the primary white grape and is second only to Barbera in total acreage. Muscat was one of antiquities most revered and important wines. In Piedmont it has found a new and glorious life as Moscato d’Asti.

Ca del Re

Ca’ del Re is a fourteen hectare estate in Santo Stefano which along with Castagnole Lanze and Castagnole Tinella are the best villages for growing Moscato Bianco and producing Moscato d’Asti wines in Italy. Fabio Perrone is the winemaker. He is twenty-seven years old, a recent graduate of the enology school in Alba and a third generation winemaker.

Moscato Bianco vineyards below the winery at Ca del Re, Asti, Photo courtesy of Giuliana Imports

Ca’ del Re which means “House of the King” is the name of the valley where the farm and vineyards are located. This valley is referenced on an agricultural map dating to 1648. The fruit is all estate and all handpicked. Farming practices are sustainable/ organic. The Moscato Bianco vines average between 20 and 50 years. The vineyards are hillside vineyards with south exposures ideal for Moscato Bianco which is early to bud and prone to frost. Late to ripen it requires a longer growing season.

The Calcareous Soils of Asti. Photo courtesy of Giuliana Imports.

Process

Fermentation occurs in autoclave: a temperature-controlled, pressurized, stainless steel tank. Carbon dioxide, a byproduct of fermentation, is captured and dissolves in solution. When the desired alcohol is reached fermentation is arrested by lowering the temperature of the fermentation vessel. The wine is separated from the yeast and rests before bottling. Moscato d’Asti wines are frizzante, about 1 atmosphere of pressure. The EU standard for sparkling wine is minimum 3 bar. The maximum atmospheric pressure in a bottle of Moscato d’Asti is 1.7 bar. Champagne is usually 5.0 - 6.0 bar or six times the atmospheric pressure. The lower atmospheres, 1.0 - 1.7, in a bottle of Moscato d’Asti result in a silky, creamy, texture.

The maximum alcohol for Moscato d’Asti is 5.5 percent. There is a movement to lower the alcohol even further in an effort to preserve Moscato’s signature aromatic compounds. This will be interesting to follow. Moscato d’Asti wines have an effusive and dazzling personality. The best examples shimmer with apples, pears, banana flower and citrus.

The finished wine is stored in autoclave. The Perrone family bottles each order separately and only bottles when they have an order in hand. This guarantees fresh Moscato throughout the year.

Image Courtesy of Giuliana Imports

Moscato Bianco

Muscat, which has its origins in ancient Greece, is one of the world's oldest genetically unmodified vines. It may be the oldest domesticated grape. Early records show it being shipped from the ports of France during Charlemagne's rule, 768-814. It is said Cleopatra drank Muscat.

Muscat is a populous family with over two hundred members. Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains, Italy’s Moscato Bianco also known as Moscato di Canelli, is the well spring, the oldest and noblest of the lineage. This is Piedmont’s oldest documented grape. It was one of the first grapes planted in France.

Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains should not be confused with Muscat of Alexandria. Muscat of Alexandria is the offspring of Muscat Blanc and a black grape variety native to the Greek islands, Axina de Tres Bias. Spanish Moscatel is Muscat of Alexandria as is Sicily’s Zibibbo. Muscat of Alexandria yields large oval berries in a loose cluster. Muscat Blanc has tight clusters of small round berries. Muscat of Alexandria is vigorous, Muscat Blanc is low yielding.

Moscato d’Asti is a wine full of freshness with a heady aromatic of honey, yellow grapes, mango, orange blossom, lavender and rosemary. Below this starry atmosphere is a sea foaming with white peaches, spring flowers, orchard fruits and garden scents, renewed by a fervent and determined acidity. The best bottles are a transport to summer. A savage sap, the dripping ambrosia.

                                                                                                                  

If it isn’t dry, it isn’t serious. This pale rhetoric is finally losing its charge. It’s the millenials, ages 21-32, who are tearing down the walls. Moscato sales in the U.S. increased 80 percent in 2012. Between 2009 and 2011 U.S. sales of Moscato increased over 200 percent. In 2013 Moscato was the third largest seller in the states. However big brand interests continue to dominate.

Asti

Asti derives its name from the Celtic Ast meaning hill. The hills are the Monferrato hills which extend from Piedmont’s capital city Turin to the eastern border of Alessandria. The climate of the Monferrato hills is continental with a Mediterranean influence. The soils are calcareous: chalk and limestone with a high percentage of sand. Grapes grown on sand, a free draining soil, ripen earlier. Ripening earlier they retain more acidity. In Asti the best sites are dedicated to Barbera. In Asti Barbera is king.

Barbera

In Italy Barbera is third in acreage behind Sangiovese and Montepulciano. At the same time the Super Tuscan’s were developing, the 1980’s and 1990’s, Barbera was experiencing a similar transformation. The idea to lower yields, harvest at optimal ripeness, ferment and then age in small oak barrels, first came to Piedmont in the 1970’s. The source was legendary French enologist Emile Peynaud. However it would not be until the next decade that this idea was put into practice.

Barbera is believed to have originated in the Monferrato hills however this hypothesis has yet to be validated. Barbera is planted to some of the best vineyards of the Langhe alongside Nebbiolo but on the less exposed, shadier aspects, where Nebbiolo will not ripen. Barbera ripens two weeks after Dolcetto and two weeks before Nebbiolo. One of Barbera’s defining characteristics is its abnormally high acidity which it is able to retain even when picked late. Barbera d’Asti was granted DOC status in 1970 and DOCG in 2008.

2012 Ca del Re, Barbera d’Asti, DOCG

Sourced from old vines 50 to 60 years on average. The fruit is all estate and all hand harvested from hillside sites with full south exposures. Fermentation occurred in stainless steel as did elevage. Total aging is ten months: six months in tank and four months in bottle.

The 2012 Ca del Re Barbera d’Asti is a fresh style of Barbera which is light in body with plus acidity and gentle, fair, tannin’s. Blood red in the glass, the palate hints of tobacco and raspberry leaf, ruby red cherries, rhubarb, and black pepper. A lifted aromatic of strawberries, raspberries and roses, gives the wine a sense of buoyancy. The focus is on freshness. This is a wine best served with a chill. Treat it as you would a young Beaujolais.

What Does it Mean to be a Steward of the Land

What is a steward but a guardian? What does it mean to be a steward of the land? By marketing and distributing wine am I by transference a guardian of the land? Yes, I believe so and this is something I take very personally.

Last July I visited Cornas. Cornas, which means burnt earth in Celtic, is at the southernmost tip of France’s Northern Rhone region. Staring down the sheer walls of the “Les Royes” vineyard, a south facing amphitheater which is a scree of limestone and granite, the idea that viticulture could be heroic became strikingly clear. Our guide that morning was Dominique Courbis of Domaine Courbis. Domaine Courbis is a 33 hectare estate divided between Cornas and St Joseph, most of their holdings are hillside vineyards which must be farmed by hand as they are too steep for machines. There are records of farming in Cornas which date to 800 A.D.

Cornas and Hermitage are the archetype for Syrah not only in France but in the world. The Chave family of Hermitage traces in roots in the Northern Rhone to 1472, twenty years before Columbus came to America. What prevents Chave from selling their 14 hectares to Chapoutier, Jaboulet, or Delas Freres? Why not sell the vineyards and live comfortably for generations? When Alain Voge of Domaine Alain Voge joined his father at their family winery in Cornas apricots were more valuable than grapes, this was 1958. What compels a person to persevere and endure with the land when the land is a crucible?

For murdering his brother, Cain’s punishment was to become a wanderer. It was Cain who founded the first city. Cain was a farmer, a “tiller of the ground”, his brother a sheppard. Cain was cursed by the ground, he became a fugitive, an exile. “My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face…” Genesis 4:14. For Cain the face of the Lord was the face of land.

The task of the wine professional is to deliver wine into their community with passion and direction. There is a difference between a merchant bottling from a commercial maker and a wine of place and distinction. This is a calling as the land is a calling. Through transference we share in the stewardship. Drinking wines of place we share in the passion of place.

Photo taken by Dan George

Domaine Courbis Tasting Room and Winery

   

Photo taken by Dan George

Vineyard behind the winery, St Joseph AOC

Photo taken by Dan George

Limestone and Granite Soils of St Joseph

Video of the Les Royes vineyard, St Joseph, filmed by Dan George

Photo taken by Dan George

Vertical slopes of Les Royes

Photo taken by Dan George

Terraces of Les Royes

Photo taken by Dan George

Les Royes vineyard, St Jospeh