Italian Village Team Dinner features Super Tuscan and Barolo duo

Italian Village Chicago Team Dinner features Super Tuscan and Barolo Nebbiolo wines

For a team dinner we dined at our regular go-to venue in the Chicago city centre, a few blocks walking distance from our office and our hotels, Italian Village Chicago, in one of their select private tables. 

We chose two wines from the extensive Italian Village winelist from their extraordinary cellar which serves all three restaurants under normal times, two Italian labels to accompany our dinner.

Normally we'd be served by Wine Director and dear friend Jared Gelband but he is touring Italy visiting several producer estates. We were served by Gerardo who in normal times would manage the upscale Vivere restaurant but is helping manage the Italian Village floor during these crazy Covid times.

Tenuta di Arceno Valadorna di Arcanum Toscana IGT 2013

This is a 'Super Tuscan' Blend meaning it is from French Bordeaux varietals grown in the Italian Tuscany region. The producer, Tenuta di Arceno is an old historic Tuscan estate with a diverse portfolio of the highest quality wines across two classification levels – three wines centered on the native Sangiovese grape in the Chianti Classico DOCG collection; and three wines from the estate’s international (French Bordeaux) varieties under the Toscana IGT designation. 

The estate is situated at the southernmost-edge of the Chianti Classico region in the butterfly-shaped commune of Castelnuovo Berardenga, near the village of Siena, often referred to as ‘the most Senese Chianti Classico,’adjacent the scenic ancient walled town of San Gusmè.

The sub-region is home to several world-renowned producers who produce stylistically distinct wines. 

The Tenuta di Arceno estate is 1,000 total hectares (2,500 acres) of which 92 hectares (220 acres) are planted to vineyards – the remaining land preserved for native vegetation including 50 hectares (125 acres) of olive orchards. The vineyards are separated into 63 blocks, the vineyards planted to 50% the region's native Sangiovese, and the remaining 50% with international varieties such as Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. 

This is a Merlot-based blend sourced primarily from the Valadorna and Capraia vineyards' blocks, known to produce the estate’s most complex and mineral-based expressions of this variety. The Merlot blocks, located in the cooler part of the estate, naturally irrigated by a nearby stream, with sandy brown soils and lower yields than typical, are often the last Merlot blocks to ripen on the estate.

The recent 2019 vintage release of this label received the coveted Tre Bicchieri (“Three Glasses”) award. Each yeara a panel of prominent wine experts review wines from each of Italy’s 20 regions evaluating over 23,000 wines from 2500 producers and awarding scores ranging from 0 to 3 Glasses (“Bicchieri”) according to the quality of the wine. Tre Bicchieri wines are generally recognized in Italy and by the international wine community as Italy’s best. A Tre Bicchieri award is a really big deal for a winery. The tastings are done blind so there is no favoritism or influence on the outcomes.

Winemaker's tasting notes: "The 2013 was a classic vintage, yet on the cool side, which favors the perfect ripening of Merlot. The Valadorna Merlot was picked on October 1st, allowing ample time on the vine for perfect maturation and tannin development. The nose jumps from the glass with exotic spices of jasmine, cumin and vanilla bean. The fruit expression is of raspberry and black cherry. The mouthfeel is dominated by long flexible tannins framed by slight tingling acids. The immediate sensation of blueberry pie gives way to an uplifting bright sour cherry finish. As the fruit subsides, what remains on the palate are hints of sweet cedar and cigar box notes. The 2013 is an elegant vintage and will age gracefully."

This is a Bordeaux varietal blend of 74% Merlot, 13 % Cabernet Franc, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, and
1% Petit Verdot. 

This was an ideal compliment to my pasta with a tangy meat sauce. 

Dark purple-garnet colored, medium full bodied, complex and intense but well integrated and nicely balanced vibrant blackberry with notes of black cherries and currants, highlights of dark chocolate, espresso, and Tuscan terroir cedar, dried spice, smoke and tobacco with hints of vanilla, and leather, with firm but approaching tannins on the lingering finish. 

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3296253

https://www.tenutadiarceno.com/enFor a second wine, I selected from the IV winelist this Italian Barolo, a native Nebbiolo varietal to accompany our Italian cuisine. Ideally, we would've tasted this stylistic varietal first ahead of the more complex, more concentrated Tuscan blend however it was an appropriate pairing with several of the folk's Italian entree dishes.

Bruna Grimaldi Bricco Ambroglio Barolo 2014

This is from the Bruna Grimaldi family estate in the hills that between Grinzane Cavour to Serralunga d’Alba, in the heart of Langhe, part of the Unesco Heritage. The Grimaldi family have been in the wine business since the 1960's when Giacomo Grimaldi started selling grapes, then his son, Giovanni Grimaldi began produce wine and selling it in bulk. 

Giovanni bottles estate wines in the best vintages with a long library of releases over the following decades. 

Since the 1990's the property and brand have been managed by the next generation, Bruna Grimaldi and her husband Franco Fiorino. They built a new upgraded winery and produce wines only from their own vineyards. Franco tends to the vineyard management and winemaking, and is the driving force in the company focusing on Langhe sourced Nebbiolo and Barbera.  Bruna manages the family business, an oenologist, she is a member of “Donne del Vino” Association. 

Since 2013, the next generation, Simone and Martina, son and daughter of Bruna and Franco, have joined their parents’ learning from their experience and their studies to promote and continue on with the Bruna Grimaldi brand. 

The best Langhe plots are selected for the production of Barolo, the Bricco Ambrogio Barolo known for great elegance. The vineyard terroir have a perfect exposure to the sun with a hot microclimate ideal for Nebbiolo which tend to picked earlier and differentiate themselves in the rainier and cooler vintages.  Their estate Barolo is known to show warm, open perfumes, tending to ripe fruits and spice notes with structure that lean on silky and enjoyable tannins.

 
This is 100% Nebbiolo from the MGA Bricco Ambrogio vineyard in the municipality of Roddi. The terroir boasts southern exposure with very steep slopes, with grey-blue layers of clay in limestone and sand. 

 

This was awarded 92 points by Wine Spectator and 90 points by Wine Enthusiast. 

 

Ruby colored, medium bodied, bright red cherry fruits with spicy notes of clove and accents of earth, leather, oak, hints of smoke with a tangy acid on a moderate tannin finish. 

 

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3073416

https://www.grimaldibruna.it/en/wines/barolo-bricco-ambrogio-docg/