I had to pinch myself after a long flight as here I was, after 23 hours of travel, standing in the organic vineyards of Poggerino Winery tasting Sangiovese grapes right off the vines. Listening to Piero Lanza (winemaker) talk about his method of farming and seeing the rocky soil gave me a better understanding as to why their Chianti Classicos have such amazing extracted flavors and minerality. The town of Radda in Chianti was amazing, as were Piero's sister Benedetta's meals: she cooked for us with ingredients right out of her organic garden. I think Piero said it best when he left us with "winemaking is my part-time job. I am a farmer and grape grower first and a winemaker second." I now sell Poggerino Chianti Classico as my favorite Chianti Classico at ABC in part because I have seen with my own eyes why the wines taste so good!!

Our second stop on our whirlwind tour of Italy was to Cortona, to visit with Fernando Catani at La Calonica Winery. Fernando and his son Giovanni are amazing, jovial, passionate people. In the picture you can see his vineyards in Cortona and in the distance , Montepulciano, as they are located right on the border of Cortona and Montepulciano. Fernando has been the president of the Cortona D.O.C. for 8 years now. His philosophy is different than the winemakers’ in Chianti. He feels Sangiovese needs a little help or as he put it "a little love."  That is why his Cortona Sangiovese Girifalco has 80% Sangiovese with a little love from Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, and his Cortona Sangiovese has 15% Syrah. I especially liked his La Calonica Vino Nobile di Montepulciano which is 80% Sangiovese and 20% Canaiolo.  Fernando wanted to make sure we would never forget the town of Cortona and a 20 minute walk in the park turned into a two- hour walk that almost killed Wine Supervisor Marie Griffin. We got to see the home where the movie Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed. After that walk, Fernando was right, my feet and I will never forget Cortona! We had dinner with Fernando and his lovely, classy, wife Esther and dined on a feast which included fresh porcini mushrooms. I fell in love with the town of Cortona and "the love" La Calonica gives to Sangiovese has made me a forever fan of La Calonica wines.

We drove from Cortona with our hostess with the mostest, importer Nadia Galati as our co-pilot to Manduria. It was a seven hour drive but well worth it to visit Academia di Racemi and winery owner and winemaker Gregory Perucci. The sandy soils where wines like Racemi Portile come from add that minerality to the wines and the grapes for his Pietraluna. All his wines (1 million bottles a year production) are well extracted and fruit forward styles that could go well with meats or, especially , seafood, which is the king in Manduria and Puglia as they are right on the Ionian Sea. Gregory took us all for the best meal of the trip, a seafood feast in Manduria which included a whole grilled doratto fish (Gregory only ate the head and the eyeballs), octopus carpaccio that was smoked and sliced paper thin, langostinos, mussels, whole prawns with the heads and eyes on. The highlight for me you can see in this picture.

Gregory has only ten bottles of this Late Harvest Primitivo wine that sells for 1,000 euros a bottle –equal to about $1500 dollars!! The vintage is 1959…Wow!! It was like candy. I was born in December, 1959, so the group sang an early Happy Birthday to me as we drank this $1500 dollar bottle of nectar of the Gods from the very year I was born. Academia di Racemi rocks and Gregory is a great winemaker and a great host.

  Larry Baker,  Wine Consultant, Pompano Beach