The Monferrato Sauvignon by Guido Zampaglione
There are wines that, before uncorking them, I convince myself must have the right interlocutor with whom to speak the same language. These are my own false convictions that often push me to take a step back if I'm not sure that what I consider sublime for my palate can be so for others as well – and not merely out of presumption, but on the contrary, as a form of respect toward others, avoiding putting those who have different gustatory expectations from mine in an uncomfortable position, at a given moment and for a specific sip.
So when two friends came to my place to work together on a project, I asked myself whether we could quench our thirst with the Sauvignon Monferrino di Cascina Grillo paired with some salame piccante produced in the Battipaglia area, soppressata calabrese, and 30-month-aged Reggiano.
Guido and Igiea Zampaglione of Tenuta Grillo are winegrowers – and not only that (also rice producers, among other things) – in Monferrato. I have known Guido's wines for over 10 years and over time I have come to appreciate more and more his production philosophy and his free spirit, unbound by preconceived schemes. They work a vineyard of approximately 17 hectares (Freisa, Dolcetto, Barbera, Merlot, Cortese, Chardonnay and Sauvignon) on sandy, silty soil not particularly rich in minerals. They follow the principles of organic farming but are above all producers for whom the absence of controlled fermentation temperatures, the presence of native yeasts, and long skin macerations are the defining elements of their products.
Il Solleone is a new wine in the Zampaglione production journey, because the Chardonnay and Sauvignon grapes had historically been sold and never used for their own production. In 2011, however, they decided to vinify it with approximately 60 days of skin maceration and two years of aging on fine lees. It is an unfiltered wine and therefore appears hazy in its opaque yet luminous straw-yellow color.
I bought a couple of these bottles at Vini di Vignaioli in Testaccio (Rome) last February and waited six months for all their pleasant contradictions to meld in the glass. Today, upon opening one, I found a wine that achieves multidimensional enjoyment – a sip of such simplicity and unique tasting character. Poured into the glass, it was amusing to watch my companions' faces: that first explosive nose, with sensations of iron, rust, and apple cider vinegar, made me smile seeing them taken aback. But just 5 seconds of oxygenation were enough to move to the next level: orange blossom, sulla honey, apple cider, ivy, diffuse balsamic and mentholated sensations – all on an iron-tinged background. On the palate it is disarming in its vertical approach: fresh, lightly savory, delicately tannic, warm, broad, cleansing, persistent. A bottle that disappears in the blink of an eye – most recommend drinking it at cellar temperature, but I prefer to uncork it at 12°C to listen to it express itself aromatically and gustatorily with slowness and calm, all the way to 16°C should a drop happen to remain at that temperature...
Let's just hope that the vintage of this Genius-Loci di Sauvignon does not remain a wonderfully successful one-off experiment!
What do you think?
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