For more than ten years now, Nadia Galati has been importing the finest Italian wines to sunny Florida. Some of the first wines to find their way into our stores courtesy of Nadia were the wines of La Calonica.

The La Calonica estate was founded in 1973 by the Cattani family. The property covers about 45 hectares in the municipalities of Montepulciano and Cortona. [Cortona is the town where Frances Mayes' bestseller,"Under the Tuscan Sun" takes place.] Since 2002 La Calonica Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG, Girifalco Cortona DOC and Cortona Sangiovese DOC have been staples of our Italian portfolio.

Last year our wine buyer, Brad Lewis, spoke with Fernando Cattani about expanding our selection of Italian wines. Fernando crafted two wines from his Capanne Vecchie vineyard. One a blend of 80% sangiovese and 20% cabernet sauvignon; the other 80% sangiovese and 20% merlot. If you are a fan of Tuscan wines and have not had a chance to taste these two gems your wait is over.

Fernando's son, Giovanni will be arriving in Florida on February 8th. He will be in our Boca Raton store on the 8th from 6 to 8 PM sampling his wines and answering any questions you might have. He will then be making stops in Naples, Orlando and Palm Coast in the coming days before heading back to Italy. [See our website for specific dates and times].
Capanne Vecchie Sangiovese-Merlot and Capanne Vecchie Sangiovese-Cabernet Sauvignon. Incredible values at $12.99 each.

Paul Quaglini