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+--- Thread: Question about an Italian Wine (/thread-20660.html)
- GREG HOFFMAN - 07-27-2000
At a local charity auction, I bid on a case of Italian "table" wine. It is a good wine, but I would like to know if anyone here can tell me about it. Has it ever been rated? Has anyone ever had any experience with a Lomabardy region wine? Everything I see is from other regions. Anyway; it is a Maurizio Zanella, 1995, Rosso Del Sebino, estate bottled Ca del Bosco S.p.A. Thanks, Greg
- Thomas - 07-28-2000
I do not have the information you seek, but I have a question for you and for those who have recently posted similar questions.
What possesses you to bid on wine at auction without knowing what it is you are buying?
- winecollector - 07-28-2000
Wine from the lomabardy region (or is it lombardo?) if I remember correctly, has a very good reputation. What they call "table wine" would put a lot of other countries table wine to shame. Let me check my notes, and I'll get back to you with some more info.
- winecollector - 07-31-2000
Ok, I've got confirmation. Wines from the Lombardy region, though not as famous as other regions, are often "frequently better than the more famous stuff produced elsewhere," according to "The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Wine," by Robert Joseph. Also, Ca' del Bosco is supposed to be one of the top producers of the area. From my own experience, I've found that Lombardy wines are usually very inexpensive for their quality, and are what I call "sleepers"- not to many people know about them, so the price stays lower than comparable wine from other regions. I've bought wines of theirs in the $10-$15 a bottle range, that you could put up against other wines 3 to 4 x higher in price, and they can hold their own against them.
Oh, and by the way- don't pay too much attention to Foodie- We only keep him around here to comment on the "sissy wines!" I don't know how much you paid for your wine, but being that you got it from a CHARITY AUCTION, I'm sure that your money was appreciated, and likely went to a good cause. I regularly donate wine to charity auctions and benefits like this, and even if you buy something that your not familiar with, you are usually getting good stuff. Most people I know won't donate junk wine to charity, but rather, we donate our best for a good cause.
Hope you enjoy your purchase!
- tomstevenson - 08-01-2000
Sorry, but I've only just seen this. Ca'del Bosco is one of THE top estates of Franciacorta, which although the wine in question is red, happens to be the only sparkling wine appellation in Italy that must be made by the methode champenoise. It is also the best and most compact area for sparkling wine in Italy, and Ca'de Bosco's Cuvee Annamaria Clementi is the country's best sparkling wine by a long chalk. Franciacorta is a DOCG and can only be sparkling. The still wines of Franciacorta are known as Terre di Franciacorta, which is a DOC, but there is a movement by all those in the area to restrict any mention of Franciacorta to classic sparkling wine, to make it synonymous with the style. A group of the most serious producers, with Ca'del Bosco being one, of course, want the still wines of the area to adopt the name Sebino, which is Latin for Lake Iseo, the vast body of water that influences Franciacorta's climate, thus Rosso del Sebino is effectively a Terre di Franciacorta. I was with Maurizio Zanella at Ca'del Bosco at the end of May and tasted amongst many other wines the 1995 Rosso del Sebino and it was very good indeed. It's a Cabernet-based red. He also does a lovely Chardonnay (later vintages are best, not only because they're nicer in their youth, but also because this style is being made with more finesse each year and this has really peaked in the late-1990s) and a sublime Pinot Noir (still Pinot in Franciacorta is potentially very exciting). I cannot comment on how much Lombardy wines in general or Ca'del Bosco cost in the USA, but I can say that these wines are not inexpensive in Italy and those parts of Europe where they know the wines of Franciacorta.