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Epiphany 2012

posted on 6 January 2012
As usual, the Befana [the old crone who personifies Epiphany] is bringing with her the latest news from Cantrina (or, if you prefer, the first of the new year…) and this is also an excellent opportunity to wish all our friends and clients a splendid 2012!!! So, here we are: The 2011  ROSATO (Rosé) made from Pinot Nero has been bottled in the last few days (its release is planned for mid-February) and we have great faith in the quality of this product, in which we have sought to bring out – even more than in the previous vintages – freshness, finesse and elegance. This wine now becomes an integral part of the estate’s range and acquires its own individual name, ”ROSANOIRE”, which recalls the refined notes that derive from the Pinot Nero grape. Libero Esercizio di Stile: our quest to find and develop new “open-minded exercices de style” continues and soon no less than TWO “unusual novelties” will go on the market. The first is another very particular and characterful Rosé from the 2010 vintage…we are talking about a 100% Petit Verdot wine that has been matured inbarriques for around 10 months. It struck us as being really interesting, so we thought: “why should we deprive ourselves of the pleasure of having 890 bottles of this wine??” The other Libero Esercizio di Stile has been in the cellar for a few years and is now just about ready to be released. It is from the 2007 vintage, and we like to define it as an old-style wine. Made from late-harvested Chardonnay grapes, it was fermented and “forgotten about” in barrique for over a year, and so it is now full-bodied, spicy, heady and full of flavour. In this case too we are talking about a thousand bottles or so… We would like to make it quite clear that these wines we refer to as “exercices de style” are quite simply the result of our desire to have fun experimenting with new ways of vinifying our grapes which, when they turn out well, we wish to share with others: they certainly aren’t attempts to follow any easy and predictable market trends. We close with the news that we are very happy with the 2011 vintage, seeing that the first checks on the wines’ development in the cellar make us think that we should be able to look forward to great results in the future. What we hope most of all, though, is that we can all keep on smiling, even when we are faced with years whose outcome is far less generous, whether we are talking about the vineyard or our everyday lives. Wishing you all once again the very best for the New Year, we invite you – as always – to come and visit us… Cristina and Diego P.S.: Save the date! On the 30th January in New York, at the Metropolitan Pavilion, there will be the presentation of this year’s Slow Wine Guide and a tasting of some of the wines that are reviewed in it. We shall be there too with our Groppello and Rinè.

Cantrina in real time

posted on 4 March 2011
I am writing from New York… I try in English (no time, unfortunately to have our dear Michael Benson translating for us). The weather is fine, better than in Italy, chilly temperature but no snow. The city is amazing, as always and each time I’m back it seems to me like being back home. Just an update about the mess I’m doing here, working in New York for the second time this year. Today a benefit event will be held by the Brooklyn based Issue project Room, rapidly becoming the point of reference for contemporary art in the New York area. Cantrina is a proud sponsor and our wines will be the only ones in tasting for the night

The Befana’s* Newsletter

posted on 5 January 2011
*[In Italy the feast of Epiphany is “personified” by la Befana, an imaginary, witch-like crone who brings gifts to good children and (sweet) “coal” to those who have misbehaved]. I always like to be a little bit different, so the Befana’s feast is one I identify with… and that is why I am only now taking the opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year, assuming you have survived the massive beanfeasts during the recent holiday period! I just have one or two TEENSY-WEENSY bits of news to tell you about: Cantrina has also gained a foothold in MonteCarlo, for now just with our most extreme wine, the ERETICO 2007… I am increasingly convinced that unique products really do make a difference in the marketplace and so one should always be prepared to TAKE A GAMBLE!

Harvest 2010

posted on 6 November 2010
What can we say about the 2010 harvest, which came at the end of a year that was especially strange and difficult? There was a late spring and a rainy summer that was cool and humid, an early autumn and lots of problems with the health of the vines. 2010 will definitely not be one of the vintages of the century and, as things stand right now, it is very hard to pick out any products of real excellence. However, after the first few days of harvesting, which caused us a great deal of apprehension because of all the care and hard work that we had to put into selecting the grapes, we can now say that we are hoping for a few pleasant surprises from the vats where fermentation is just coming to an end. In short, it took us more time to pick less grapes than usual; also, we didn’t set aside any grapes for drying to make the Sole di Dario and we selected fewer grapes for the Nepomuceno. From our initial tastings, though, we can look forward to wines that may be less fleshy and muscular, but which display great freshness, fine aromas and acidity and which should eventually offer elegance and longevity. The French (who know a thing or two about wine) refer to these as “cellar masters’ vintages”: years in which the skill and sensitivity of the winemaker really can compensate for nature’s lack of generosity. We hope we’ve done a good job!
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