The days that we spend traveling through some of the most gorgeous and delicious places on Earth are our favorite days of the year, and the best part of those days is…YOU. We want to stay connected to the friends we’ve made on those journeys, and to keep you connected to the people, places, and wines that have brought us together. We are also excited about making new friendships, and are looking forward to lots of fun journeys ahead. Read on and join us!
Vintner Varietals: Winemakers We Love
Towards the end of our tour through Italy’s wine country, we arrive at one of our favorite destinations, the winery of BorgosanDaniele. It resides within the town of Cormons, in the Friuli region, less than a mile from the Slovenian border. Brother and sister team, Mauro and Alessandra Mauri, took over their grandfather’s vineyard in 1990 and immediately converted to organic farming practices that prioritize quality of the yield over quantity.
In a wine region known for experimentation and pushing boundaries, the siblings stand out as pioneers in biodynamic farming and high-density planting. Their vineyards are visually striking, covered in lush grass, wild-flowers, and herbs. This crop-cover returns nutrients to the soil, minimizing the need for copper and sulfur in their vineyards (typically necessary in organic farming). The earth in which the vineyards grow is a unique mixture of ancient seabed, gravel, limestone, silt, and clay, often referred to locally as “ponca” soil. Mauro and Alessandra embrace this terroir, nurturing the character of each grape varietal they grow and harvesting by hand at the peak moment of ripeness.
The philosophy of quality over quantity is exemplified in their wines, of which they produce only around 1000 cases a year. The small production allows Mauro, who leads the winemaking, to be attentive at every step, carefully controlling the fermentation and aging to his exacting standards. Fermented with indigenous yeast, the bottles are allowed to mature in their cellars until perfect readiness. Uniquely, BorgoSanDaniele has a perpetual cuvee it began in 1997, a small percentage of which is added to every vintage of its flagship white, Arbis Blanc. This approach has garnered plentiful awards—notably, they won the coveted Tre Bicchieri award in The Gambero Rosso Guide (Italy’s most prestigious wine publication) more than 10 times.
Tasting through their bottles with Mauro, who is as elegant and structured as his wine, is a rare and enlightening experience we can’t wait to share with more of you!
Cultural Terroir: Places We Love
Explore the Elegant City of Trieste, Italy
Trieste, a small, port city in Italy’s Northeast corner, has a tumultuous political history, thanks in large part to its strategically valuable location on the Adriatic Sea just miles from what is now the Slovenian border. It was, in turn, ruled by Romans, a Byzantine military outpost, part of the Frankish Empire, operated as a free city, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, given to Italy after WWI, seized by the Germans during WWII, claimed by Yugoslavia after the war, declared a free territory once again, and ultimately incorporated back into Italy in 1954. In 1963, Triste was named the capital of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region.
The historical turbulence was the sand in the shell that created this pearl of a city. It is uniquely itself—not just Italian nor Mitteleuropean, but a blend of both cultures, along with strong Venetian, Greek, and Jewish influences. The allegiance here is to Trieste over any single country. The city’s people, their cultural and religious institutions, the architecture, and certainly, the food and wine reflect this remarkable confluence of cultures.
There are several not-to-be-missed sights in Trieste, which I will breeze through to get to the meat of the matter—the gastronomic hybrid that is Triestian cuisine. Facing the sea, in the heart of the city, is the Piazza Unità d’Italia, the largest seafront square in Europe. Here you will find one of the oldest opera houses in the world, erected in 1801 and in continuous operation ever since, and the majestic city hall, both built while under Austrian rule. Drawing comparisons to Venice, Trieste’s grand canal, excavated in the 1700s to allow boats to unload directly to the city center, runs through the city and is lined with shops and cafes. Roman ruins stud Trieste, including the Roman Theater, carved into a hillside in the 1st century to seat an audience of perhaps six thousand, lost to time and city-building, rediscovered and excavated in the 1800s, and now the site of summer concerts and other events. Trieste offers elaborately tiled cathedrals that speak to Byzantine influence, the largest synagogue in Italy, and museums home to world-class art. About 15 miles from the city center, perched on a cliff overlooking the Adriatic is the Miremare Castle, an iconic symbol of Trieste. Built in the 19th century as the residence of Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria and his wife, it is an elaborate and elegant mix of Gothic, Medieval, and Renaissance architectural styles.
Now, the food. And, ah, the wine…
In Trieste, coffee culture reigns. It is known as the coffee capital of Italy, stemming from its history as a port city positioned to distribute coffee across the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Cafe’s abound, many with rich histories of their own. Caffe San Marco, for example, opened in 1914 and was long a gathering spot for artists and intellectuals, like Sigmund Freud and James Joyce, who lived in Trieste for a decade and wrote some of his seminal works there. Coffee drinks even have different names in Trieste from others throughout the rest of Italy; for instance, a caffe espresso elsewhere is a caffe nero there.
Austro-Hungarian influences make the food in Trieste utterly different from what we usually think of as “Italian” food. While you will find pizzas and pastas abundantly available, true Triestian food draws heavily on its Slavic roots, and often fuses culinary traditions into something all its own, like in a panini with sliced ham topped with grated horseradish and mustard, the panin de porzina con senap e kren. Trieste is known for its buffets; unlike American buffets, these order-at-the-counter restaurants feature pork boiled and cured innumerable ways—mostly Austrian and Slavic preparations, but Italian-style cures and sausages are also on offer. Everything is served with freshly grated horseradish and gobs of hot mustard, and you may choose some potato gnocchi or liptauer, a flavorful, spreadable Austrian cheese also known as spuma di formaggio (cheese foam) on rye. To accompany the meats. Jota is another dish traditional to Trieste that would seem unusual in any other Italian city; it is a hearty stew made with beans, potatoes, pork, and sauerkraut (one of our favorite food discoveries—see the recipe below). The display case at a Trieste pastry shop sums it all up nicely, offering side-by-side sweets from Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria, and those unique to Trieste itself, like the strucolo de pomi, a rolled pastry with apples, raisins, and pine nuts (the term strucolo is an Italianization of the Germanic strudel).
The Friuli-Venezia Giulia (FVG) Region produces some of the best, and most distinctive, wine produced in Italy. In FVG, there are twelve DOCs, and Trieste is in the Carso-Kras DOC, characterized by mild summers, intense, easterly bora winds, and innovative winemaking. The area led the charge in the creation of orange wines, white wine slow-fermented in contact with the grape skins. Through the use of oxidative techniques, whereby the wine is exposed in a carefully controlled way to oxygen during fermentation, winemakers coax out nutty and dried fruit notes; these wines can also handle longer aging than those produced through reductive (avoiding exposure to oxygen) winemaking.
Like Austrian and Germanic-style whites, the wines coming out of Carso tend toward higher acidity and minerality than wines from other DOCs. The predominate white-wine grape of Carso is the Malvasia, long ago introduced to the region by the Greeks. Wines made from Malvasia generally show tart, honeyed characteristics. Other notable regional white varietals include Vitovska, Traminer, and the more ubiquitous Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc.
Terrano is the leading red grape of Carso, and these wines tend to have strong mineral notes, full body, and intense red color, lending them the nickname Sangue del Carso. With high acidity, deep cherry tones, and floral nose, it is an excellent pairing with the meat-heavy cuisine of the region. The region also produces excellent Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.
On our tours, we spend three days exploring this area, and we find something new to love about its wild amalgams of history, culture, food, and wine every time.
Wine Key: Insights We Love
Better With Age? How to Know if a White Wine Will Improve With Time in Your Cellar
On our trips through Italy and France, we have the opportunity to taste a vast range of white wines— from vibrantly fresh sips of the latest vintage to richer, more complex glasses of years past. We find the latter especially interesting, as white wine has the reputation of being less amenable to aging. While for some bottles, this is true, other whites can mature just as elegantly as a fine red, and some of our trips’ most memorable pours have been aged whites.
However there is a great variability in white wine’s predilection for aging, so here are some tips for determining whether to enjoy your bottle of white now, or to store it for even greater pleasure down the road.
In general, few attributes contribute more significantly to the ageability of a white wine than its acidity. Acids in wine not only contribute to the aromas and flavors, but a higher acidity prevents the growth of undesirable bacteria that lead to spoilage. In general, whites with a higher acidity age better than lower-acid whites (red wines can get away with lower acidity due to the presence of other stabilizing phenolic compounds). Grapes grown in warmer climates tend to be sweeter and less acidic, so it’s cooler-climate grapes that lend themselves to wines that stand up to aging. This is why wine experts often cite the French variaties of Semillon, Chenin Blanc, and Chardonnay and Germany and Alsace, with their ageable Riesling, as the premier wine-making regions producing noteworthy, age worthy whites. However, Italy’s Friuli region has similar mild summers and colder winters that make for excellent acidity in grapes and time-hardy whites, as well.
Tartaric acid is the most abundant acid in wine grapes, and is necessary for stabilizing white wine and allowing ageing; the limestone and ancient sea-bed soils of Friuli are rich with tartaric acid, and the older the vines, the deeper the roots, and the more uptake of this key nutrient. Malic acid is another naturally present grape acid, and gives tart, fresh notes to a wine; it’s also abundant in green apples, which is why green apple flavors are often present in wines high in malic acid. During winemaking, producers can choose to allow malolactic fermentation, in which malic acid is converted by bacteria into lactic acid, which has softer, buttery, nutty flavors.
It is also more stable than malic acid, resulting in a wine that can better handle aging.
The use of oak barrels is a natural way to introduce the lactic acid necessary for this conversion, which is another reason why Chardonnays, often aged in oak, are primed for a longer lifespan. Oak barrels also introduce tannins into the wine, and tannins are stabilizing due to their ability to inhibit oxidation. Red wines derive their tannins from long contact with the grape skins, which are naturally rich with them; whites, however, are normally extremely low in tannins, and can benefit in this by spending time in oak.
Aging on lees (sur lie in French) also helps aging by protecting against oxidation. For this, winemakers age the wines with the sediment remaining after fermentation—in large part, dead yeast cells broken down into sugars and amino acids. Lees absorb oxygen, essentially drawing it out and away from the wine; this is especially beneficial during malolactic fermentation, as malolactic bacteria prefer an anaerobic environment. After about a year on the lees, the sediment starts to perform another function beyond this basic protection from oxygen. The lees began to release proteins and compounds that increase the body, texture, aroma, and overall complexity of the wine, as well as make it more stable in the face of temperature fluctuations. On the tongue, we perceive these compounds as textural weight, and aging on the lees results in white and sparkling wines that are creamier, fuller-bodied, and more nuanced and deeper in flavor.
The white wines of BorgosanDaniele, discussed above, are perfect examples of whites that will only improve with time in the cellar. Winemaker Mauro Mauri pays close attention to building complexity in his whites. Growing in a cooler climate, he lets his grapes remain on the vine until he deems them perfectly ripe; this results in two by-hand harvests—the first for grapes with higher acidity, the second for sweeter fruit. Through malolactic fermentation and time on the lees, he builds structured wines with concentrated flavors, a balance of intensity and acidity. His flagship white, Arbis Blanc, is ideal for aging, but even his Pinot Grigio, Friulano, and Malvasia would do well for years to come.
Which just goes to show, perhaps the most important thing to look for in an age-worthy white is a producer that crafts their wine with an eye to the future.
Read our recent blog guide to the Wines of Friuli Venezia Giulia
Pairings: Recipes We Love
Jota Triestina (Bean & Sauerkraut Soup)
This traditional Triestian soup speaks so clearly to the Italian city’s Austro-Hungarian roots and was one of our favorite culinary discoveries of our first trip there. There are as many different versions as there are grandmothers in Trieste—some with more pork, some tomato paste, some thickened with a roux, some quite brothy—but we’ve never had a bowl we didn’t love. This version achieves a thicker consistency by cooking the potatoes and beans until they begin to break down and release their starches. Borlotti beans, also known as cranberry beans, are traditional, but cannellini or pinto beans would do nicely, and the caraway seeds are optional. If you are a diehard fan of sauerkraut (raise your hand), stir in sauerkraut juice by the tablespoon at the end to reach your desired level of kraut-iness. Serve with a thick slice of crusty Italian bread.
Jota Triestina (Bean & Sauerkraut Soup)
- SERVES: 6-8 people
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound dried beans, borlotti or cranberry (cannellini or pinto beans can be substituted)
- 6 ounces bacon, strips sliced crosswise into ½-inch pieces
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons caraway seeds (optional)
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds (about 3 medium) Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 cups drained sauerkraut
METHOD
- Cover the dried beans with at least 3 inches of water and allow to soak for a minimum of six hours or overnight. Drain, rinse, and drain again.
- Add the bacon to a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, set over medium heat, and cook, stirring, until the bacon renders out most of its fat and begins to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add the onion and cook until somewhat softened, about another minute. Add the garlic and caraway seeds, if using, and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add the drained beans, the bay leaves, 2 teaspoons of salt, and several grinds of pepper to the pot. Pour in 10 cups of water and increase the heat to high to bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, partially cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are soft, about 1 ½ hours. Add water as needed to keep the beans submerged.
- Add the potatoes and the sauerkraut and simmer until the potatoes are very soft and beginning to break down, stirring frequently to avoid sticking, about 25 minutes. Season to taste with more salt and pepper and serve.
Suggested Wine Pairing:
This smoky, hearty dish is complemented beautifully by the BorgosanDaniele Friulano. The wine’s notes of citrus, stone fruit, and green herbs cut through the richness of the stew, while its medium body and savory minerality match the depth of flavor.
ENJOY!
New Growth: Joy Of Wine News We Love
We Want Your Feedback!
In December, we launched our new monthly newsletter! This was always a dream of ours to find a way to stay connected with our friends and travel buddies, as well as a way to invite others to learn more about the wineries, winemakers, wines and local foods we love so much.
We would love your feedback at [email protected]!
What do you like, and what would you want to see included in future issues?
