In early june I arranged an appointment with a friend of mine, and when we met he took me to visit one of his customers who lived in a Villa in the countryside near Padua. “Don’t worry” he said “it’s an informal and easy situation, and this person is a wine collector too, you’ll find him interesting!”. In fact I was introduced to this man as a wine connaisseur. So he took him immediately to his private cellar, and usually what I look for is the amount of bottles, that is quantity, and the labels, that is quality. It is a comparison among what I am already familiar with, what I’ve got and what I’d love to buy but I don’t have yet.

At first I watched, although I felt uneasy, all those wines diserved to be tasted, but in a cellar or in a wineshop this is what you have to do, experience follows knowledge! However for me it was a shock, a large conditioned room filled with what I could hope for -the best Italian labels and vintages, like a real guidebook, or maybe it was much better since bottles weren’t made of paper. All those wines, like jewels on shelves, a secret passion on display…….. I congratulated with him and I wished he would lock me in, while I was asked to select two bottles of red wine. I panicked: which ones? Any of them was hundreds of Euros worth, what was I supposed to do? After all his offer was appealing, so I couldn’t decline. I choosed one Gaja Nebbiolo Sorì Tildin 1997 and one Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino 1999, since upstairs eight businessmen were waiting for us, therefore good wine and good business matched. Definately these wines aren’t “easy drinking”, due to the limited production and the collection vintages, so rich in aromas and flavours, each of them diserved a whole tasting session. Then while I was sipping them, I wondered whether I was drinking the wine or the label, and consequently what was my mouth feeling? The image of that wine or the material side of it? Time got the wines better, time was one of the natural ingredients of the wines, and complexity reached its peak enhancing each distinct flavour, and rare aroma.

In front of me people were discussing, but after the first sip of wine they stopped, looked out of the window of the Villa in the countryside, and stayed silent for a while. Were they meditating about the quality of time? Again, was the reputation and the fame of the wine, or its mterial uniqueness?

My favourite one? The Monfortino………..

So, what Venetians like most? For sure they’re crazy about Prosecco, the best sparkling wine locally produced, and among the whites, Pinot Grigio, Incrocio Manzoni and Ribolla Gialla, this one very requested in restaurants too. The king of the red wines is definately Cabernet Franc, while Merlot, Valpolicella and Chianti dropped. This is the city with the second wholesale Fish Market in the whole country, maybe aged red wines don’t feel at home in Venice………..

Mauro’s personal suggestions?

Let’s go with the Treviso province, and with the tasty red young wines such as Cabernet Franc and Raboso by Cecchetto, who also produces a fresh Incorcio Manzoni at 6,30 E. For the same price you can find good value Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio at the Nardin estate, and a dry Prosecco at Barichel winery, 8,70 E. Moving east, in Friuli, it is worthy trying a red Refosco -6,50 E- or a Refosco Superiore -9,50 E- by Valpanera Estate or Linda Ua by Jacuss, an excellent aged blend of Refosco, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot which costs 12 E, a real treat.

Finally, to pay tribute to Venice, a good choice for a Raw fish dish is the Lugana at 8,50 E, a white dry and sapid wine produced by Zenato and Ca’ dei Frati, both of them in the Verona area.

What about foreigners? Over the years the Bottiglieria was mentioned in Venice guidebooks, such as Hachette, Frommers, Gallimard and was featured in the magazine “Travel and Leisure”. About 5-6 years ago the demand was focussed on Amarone, Sassicaia, Brunello di Montalcino and some other Tuscan wines, or Supertuscans. No hope for the local ones, until in the last two years a larger number of people started to ask for wines from indigenous grapes, particularly Europeans, from France, Spain, Germany, while now Americans are a bit frustrated by the expensive Euro.

These wine lovers have become more familiar with foreign wines, due to the globalization and the marketing of the Veneto and Friuli wines, with an improvement of the whole image and importance of genuine “terroir” products.

Bottiglieria Colonna
Castello, San Lio 5595
30122 Venezia
e-mail: botcol@libero.it
tel. & fax +39-041-5285137