PETIT WEEK IN WINE | July 18th - July 21st 2024

A TASTING FLIGHT FEATURING:


CAMPANIA, ITALY

Italian varietals from such postcard locations as: Capri, Amalfi, Positano, Naples, and Pompeii!

Step into one of Italy's most underrated wine regions with this week's Tasting Flight that shines a spotlight on Campania - where native grapes produce terroir-driven wines loaded with personality!


Campania, nestled in the sun-drenched southern part of Italy on the western coast, is a region steeped in history and tradition. Known for its volcanic soils and coastal influence, this area produces wines with unique character, depth, and exceptional value!


The $22 Campania Tasting Flight includes three gems, that start with a Fiano di Avellino that is rich in texture and floral aromatics. This white is perfect for summer sipping when you need a break from your usual Chardonnay or SB. Our next pour is often referred to as the "Barolo of the South," Aglianico del Taburno is one of Italy's most noble red grape varieties, and this robust wine boasts deep flavors and earthy spices. And last but not least, we have a 2016 Piedirosso from husband & wife winemaking team that shows the true aging potential of this under-the-radar varietal.


Flight starts tonight and runs through the weekend. Don't miss your chance to find your next pizza/pasta night wines. These bottles deliver at a price point perfect for old-world-ready-to-enjoy wines!


For more details on Tasting Flight hours and wines, please refer to the details below. Also included below is a quick crash course into Campania's wine region.


Salute! And see you soon...



- Mark

PARK ROAD: 


5:00 - 9:00pm Friday & Thursday

1:00 - 9:00pm Saturday

1:00 - 7:00pm Sunday

CIRO PICARIELLO

Fiano di Avellino 2021

Campania, IT


$42 btl/retail

This family-run boutique estate shows that southern Italy can make whites, in particularly Fiano, as fresh as those from the north! The quality of the fruit offers balance & finesse not to be missed.


Varietal: 100% Fiano sourced from high-elevation vineyards from around the winery in Summonte as well as in Montefredane in the province of Avellino.


Tasting Notes: This wine is pristine and beautiful with Amalfi lemon, white peach and finely etched mineral notes. It’s silky-smooth with stimulating acidity and citrus-infused orchard fruits on the palate. This leaves a pleasant fruit/citrus balance that is contrasted by crunchy mineral tones while finishing with admirable length. Given Ciro's track record for making age-worthy whites, this wine should hold for years to come (if you're patient!).

FATTORIA LA RIVOLTA

Aglianico del Taburno 2019

Campania, IT


$37 btl/retail

Fattoria la Rivolta was established in 1997 by brothers Mario & Paolo Cotroneo. Located in the province of Benevento in the shadows of Mount Taburno in Campania, its 29 hectares of vineyards sit +1000ft above sea level and have been farmed organically since the winery's beginnings. This Aglianico is exemplary to the varietal with dark fruit, dried plum, scorched earth, licorice, and grilled herb.


Varietal: 100% Aglianico that is hand-picked to produce low-yields. Stainless steel fermented and aged in seasoned 25hl French oak casks for 18 months.  The assembled wine then spends a further twelve months in bottle before being released. All certified organic fruit.


Tasting Notes: The 2019 vintage is ruby red in the glass with aromas of blackberries and black cherries that follow on the medium-bodied palate, where accents of white pepper and savory herbs lend complexity. Balanced acidity infuses the fruit characters with youthful vibrancy and gives the wine a long finish. A wine of great structure with indulgent tannins.

I PENTRI KERRES

Piedirosso 2016

Campania, IT


$34 btl/retail

Founded in 2002, the I Pentri winery is the result of the vision of two people who spent 10 years tending the vineyards of the surrounding wineries. Today, husband & wife team Dionisio Meola & Lia Falato farm their own terraced vineyards on the hills of Monte Taburno in the Benevento region of Campania. This Piedirosso is a wine with a wonderful rustic depth while remaining lively.


Varietal: 100% Piedirosso from Beneventano IGT Campania.


Tasting Notes: This Piedirosso leads off with black raspberry and crushed cherry encased in an air of smoky minerals and earth tones, with savory herbs and a hint of animal musk. It floods the palate with silky textures, contrasted by a wave of tart red and black fruits, yet cool and poised, as brisk acids add energy, and savory spices seem to saturate all that they touch. The finish is long, structured that reveals concentrated fruits that slowly fade to savory notes, dark florals and a pinch of tannins.

Campania is famous for its gulfs (Naples, Salerno and Policastro) as well as for three islands (Capri, Ischia and Procida). Its name comes from Campania felix, a Latin phrase roughly meaning "happy land".

HISTORY


The region has strong historical links to wine and vine, dating back to the 12th Century BC, and is one of Italy's very oldest wine regions. The considerable influence of ancient empires, including the Greeks, Romans and Byzantines, means some of this area's varieties have historical legends attached. The area is also famous for producing Falerno (Falernum), one of the most ancient wines in Italy.


Despite being ensconced in tradition, today's wine styles can range from fruit forward and youthful to robust and well-structured. The whites are known for their aromatic characters, often redolent of the local flora. The reds (mainly from Aglianico) have big personalities which require a little aging.


Dynamic and innovative methods have helped improve the quality of Campania's wines, specifically through better vineyard management, harvesting methods and cellar techniques.


The region is home to a quartet of DOCGs; Aglianico del Taburno, and Taurasi for red wines, plus Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo for whites. There are also 15 DOCs and ten IGPs, including the region-wide designation.

WINE GROWING CONDITIONS

Campania's success owes much to the varied climates and terroirs that host around 100,000 acres (46,800ha) of vines. Viticulture is in its element thanks to an abundance of sunshine, dry hot summers, mild winters, a long growing season and volcanic soil (the latter ensured phylloxera was kept at bay). The coastal Mediterranean breezes blow in from the Tyrrhenian Sea and across the Apennine Mountains to temper the heat, encouraging a bright acidity in the fruit.


These factors also contribute to the varied qualities of Campania wines. For instance, an inland Falanghina grown on slopes where there is more rainfall offers more fragrant notes than those found on the coast, where the climate is continental and tends to be more mellow.

MAIN VARIETALS

Campania, like many Italian regions, is home to an impressive array of grape varieties, some of which are found almost nowhere else on earth. Its most important variety is arguably Aglianico, the grape behind the region's two most famous and respected red wines: Taurasi and Aglianico del Taburno. Aglianico was introduced to the area by the Greeks and later cultivated by the Romans.


Making its home in the mountainous southern Italy, Aglianico is a bold red variety that is late to ripen and often spends until November on the vine. It thrives in Campania as the exclusive variety in the age-worthy red wine called Taurasi. Aglianico also has great success in the volcanic soils of Basilicata where it makes the robust, Aglianico del Vulture.

Also vital to Campania's vineyards are the white wine varieties Fiano and Greco, which are championed by the region's most respected white wines, Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo. Fiano has been used here for more than 2000 years. Its original name was Vitis apiana (Latin for "vine of the bees") but this has become shortened almost beyond recognition over the intervening centuries. Greco's name is a little more obvious, and indicates its Greek origins.


Fiano is an aromatic, white variety fully suited to the Apennine Mountains of Campania and has been documented in the region since the 13th century. It is at its best in the hills of Avellino where volcanic soils give it a charismatic aromatic lift and support a range of styles from taut and steely to nutty and smooth

Another grape of interest here is Piedirosso, an ancient, black-skinned grape variety found throughout Campania, Italy. It was very widely planted in the 19th Century following the phylloxera crisis, but has since suffered a decline. Today, the trend is slowly being reversed with producers returning to the grape, albeit predominantly as a blending partner for Aglianico and Olivella.


Piedirosso means "red feet" in Italian, and is named as such because the stem is made up of three branches and is russet colored making the vine resemble a dove's foot. This also explains some of the variety's other names Palombina, meaning "little dove" and Pere'e Pallummo, meaning "dove's foot".


Single-variety wines made from Piedirosso tend to be deep ruby in color and full bodied with soft tannins. Typical flavors in these wines include plum, cherry and brambly wild berry fruit. More complex characteristics such as espresso, mushroom and damp earth are exhibited in the better examples.

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 mark@petitphilippe.com | www.petitphilippe.com

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