New Exclusive Italian Wines from Marquis Wine Cellars

John Clerides and Leah Bickford from Marquis Wine Cellars have been traveling through Italy’s wine producing regions in search of unique, hand sourced wines to offer their customers. After two years of extensive research, they are proud to announce 25 new to British Columbia, exclusive partners from Italy, and the wines will be arriving in their store on December 1, 2013. As a sneak peek I was sent two wines from the Caparsa winery located in Tuscany.

Caparsa Winery and My Tasting Notes

Caparsa is known for being one of the first estates in the Radda Chianti area to practice organic viticulture. Paolo Cianferoini the owner and wine maker, has a small operation, with Paolo doing many tasks on his own. Winemaking is based on traditional methods: natural ferments and no fining or filtration. The two wines I tasted from Caparsa are the:

Caparsa Rosso di Caparsa IGT 2011 ($24.90) – This wine is based on an ancient Chianti recipe of Sangiovese and 2 white varieties, Trebbiano and Malvasia. Nice light intensity fruity nose with also a woody component too. I picked up red cherry, raspberry, red currant, and a hint of cloves. On my second day of retasting this wine, I also picked up on vanilla and candied cherries. This wine is dry with a light mouth feel and a higer level of acidity. Vibrant fruit flavours of red cherry, red currant and other red fruits, wit some perfume. Toward the finish there was pepperiness, oak, some astringency and leafiness. This is not a fruit bomb; Old World in style, with a good balance of fruit and acidity. Not a bad wine to enjoy with a pasta with a light bright tomato sauce.
Rosso di Caparsa 2011
Caparsa Caparsino Chianti Classico 2008 ($39.90) – A delicate, light intensity nose of cassis, red cherries, cloves, vanilla and oak. It took a while swirling the wine to pull out these aromas. Dry, but smooth and silky on the palate. Medium-plus body with black fruit, plums, black cherries and a hint of oak and sweet spices. After a bit of aerating in your mouth you also get some chocolate. Dries out your mouth from the mid-palate to the finish, followed by some mouth-watering acidity. This wine needs food with it as the tannins build on your tongue on the 2nd and 3rd sip. Still Old World in style, so don’t expect the fruit to be as forward as something from North America.
Caparsino Chianti Classi

Other Italian Wineries at Marquis Wine Cellars

John and Leah have identified wineries from across Italy for you to sample at Marquis Wine Cellars. Here are their winery picks from the different regions of Italy. I added the winery URLs for most of the wineries, so you can learn about each of them.

Piedmont:

The Northwest corner of Italy known from their Barolos and Barbaresco made from the Nebbiolo grape. Also known for Barbera and Dolcetto grapes.

Trentino – Alto Adige

Trentino – Alto Adige is located in Northeast Italy which has part of the Alps mountains, but also lower valleys. This region tends to produce wines more in common with cooler European regions like Germany and the French Alsace. It is a small wine producing region, responsible for a tiny 1% of Italy’s wine production.

Friuli Venezia Giulia

Located in Northeast Itlay, Fuiuli borders Austria and Slovenia and is known for their white wine production, the most known grape variety being Friulano.

Necotium

Tuscany

This is probably Italy’s most famous, and most talked about region, both for the wine and the scenery. This is home of Chianti and Brunello, but it is also a region for breaking the rules and making the Super Tuscan wines, and a new wine designation IGT. Super Tuscan wines for those who do not know are wines that are made with international grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and are blended with Sangiovese.

Umbria

Located in the center of Italy, and located by Tuscany, it is known for promoting their region grape varieties like Sagrantino, Grechetto, and Trebbiano.