Rome...the center of early western civilization's
first peak with
the Roman
Empire...historically
rich...a massive
food and art
culture...but of
all the great
regions for wine
in Italy, Rome
is the last
place even very
knowledgeable
wine drinkers
would think of
for wine
production
...well, there
are a few. This
one, while small
and not well
known outside of
Italy, is on
Rome's
outskirts.
I have had
Cesanese twice,
that I can
recall, both
instances were
very good. The
most memorable
was in its home
base in Roma at
the great
Ristorante
All'Oro. One of
the better meals
on that trip, I
had asked the
sommelier for a
wine traditional
to the Roman
landscape. No
Tuscany, no
Piemonte,
something I have
never had before
that was
reflective of
the ancient
history of maybe
the world's most
historical
city. All the
photos on that
trip were sadly
lost so I could
not go back and
find out what it
was (2012).
Rome is such a
great city - I
really enjoyed
eating and
walking in the
same places
early humanity
and civilization
took root in. I
hope to go back
and devour my
way through it
again!
I think the
importer's story
below nails the
feeling I had
with this Cenase
experience. The
100%
Cesanese here
really brings
the wine into
its own. Albeit
this story and
his words are of
a more pastoral
experience in
the vineyards
and cellars of
the greater
Lazio outside of
Rome.
Read up,
this is a good one
even just to pass
time....! And the
price of this wine
is 🔥 🔥
🔥
2020
Terre di
Breccia
Castello
di Torre in
Pietra
Lazio,
Italy
$17.99 on 3+
$19.99 SALE
$21.99
reg
Grape
varieties
100% Cesanese
ABV
12.5%
Single
Vineyard
Breccia -
planted 1995,
exposure:
south
Soil
Calcareous-clayey
Vinification
Fermentation
on the skins
for 20 days at
a temperature
of 30 ° C.
Malolactic
fermentation
in large
neutral wooden
barrels.
Refinement
In 500 litre
French oak
barrels for 12
months, then
in cement for
another 12
months and a
further 6
months in the
bottle.
Tasting
Note (9/2023)
Deep
ruby red core,
lighter ruby
edges. The nose
is very fine and
persistent, ripe
red fruits
of plum,
marinated
cherries, garden
herbs, balsam,
spice, and
dried tobacco
notes. Medium to
med+ bodied and
acidity, quite
fresh, with
silky
tannins. A persistent
and fresh finish
long on the
savory edge of
the fruit and
spice notes.
BONUS
WINE - We also
tasted their
white wine -
there is a TON
of win in this
little number
and is a
steal!
2022 Elephas
Bianco
Castello
di Torre in
Pietra
Lazio,
Italy
$12.99 on 3+
$14.99 SALE
$16.99
reg
Grape
varieties
Equal
parts Trebbiano,
Vermentino,
Fiano
ABV
12.5%
Soil
Loose, sandy
soils
Vinification
The three
varieties are
harvested and
vinified
separately,
aged on the
fine lees for
two months and
then blended
by the end of
December.
Refinement
In stainless
steel tank,
then in bottle
for 3 months.
Tasting
Note (9/2023)
Light
straw and a
lighter edge.
Medium+ and very
aromatic, this
shows ripe
citrus and fresh
stone fruits,
mandarins, limes
and peaches,
with orange
blossom and a
light mineral
edge. The
palate is
generous, fresh
and flat out
delicous.
Uncomplicated,
this packs a ton
of character and
good complexity
for the money.
Why anyone
drinks a typical
Pinot Grigio or
Sauvignon Blanc
I have no idea,
this crushes
anything in this
price category I
have had in some
time.
In
the words of
the importer,
Jay Murrie,
with some
help from Ian
D'Agata, Joe
Bastianich,
David Lynch
and Elsa
Morante.
Make
no mistake,
Cesanese is a
great Italian
red grape,
worth
mentioning in
the same
context as
Sangiovese,
Aglianico, and
Nebbiolo. The
fact that few
have heard of
it is a twist
of historical
fate unrelated
to quality.
Romans knew it
was excellent,
emperor Nerva
built a palace
in Piglio to
be close to
beloved
Cesanese
vines. Popes
Innocent III
and Bonifacius
VIII were
fans. Five
hundred years
ago the family
of Pope Sixtus
V owned the
property where
the Cesanese
PWI imports is
cultivated,
Castello di
Torre in
Pietra, which
makes the
sprawling
estate just
north of
metropolitan
Rome as good a
place as any
to start the
story of this
forgotten
vine.
Five hundred
years ago the
cellar of
Castello di
Torre in
Pietra was
carved into a
tufa cliff
face by the
Perotti
family, of
Sixtus V fame.
For centuries
the marshy,
malarial
coastal land
surrounding
the pontiff’s
farm was a
hunting ground
for the
nobility of
Rome.
Falconieri
princes
decorated a
quite
elaborate
“hunting
lodge” with
architecture
and frescoes
from the best
artists 18th
century Rome
had to offer.
An impressive
hexagonal
chapel was
built beside
sturdy pavers
of the Roman
road that
winds through
Torre in
Pietra, bound
for the
Tyrrhennian
sea. As the
fortunes of
Falconieri
princes waned
their
attention
turned away
from Torre in
Pietra. The
property sadly
sank into
disrepair.
Its existence
today is tied
to the fate of
Senator Luigi
Albertini, an
early 20th
century media
mogul (owner
of Milan daily
Corriere della
Sera) and
strident
antifascist
(always a good
thing to be)
who was forced
to divest
himself of
newspaper
ownership by
the very
pro-fascist
government of
Benito
Mussolini.
Albertini used
his
unwillingly
freed up
capital to
purchase
Castello di
Torre in
Pietra, and
quite
literally
“drain the
swamp”
surrounding
the ancient
structure. He
imported
black-and-white
Carnation
dairy cattle
from
Washington to
graze on the
newly
rehabilitated
land. Torre in
Pietra became
the major milk
source for
urban Rome.
Albertini also
planted olives
and Cesanese
vines, setting
the stage for
the modern
activity of
this mixed-use
farm.
I met senator
Albertini’s
heir Filippo
Antonelli for
lunch in the
excavated
cellar of
Castello di
Torre in
Pietra. Along
with a Tuscan
cousin,
Filippo
manages the
modern
operations of
the winery. It
was a typical
hot-as-blazes
July day in
sun-baked
Lazio. The
winery’s
courtyard was
scorching,
inside the
cave was
wonderfully
cool. We
talked about
the long
history of the
property
(detailed
above) and
went even
deeper into
the land’s
pre-history,
admiring the
ancient-and-massive
mastodon femur
which occupies
pride of place
in the
entrance to
the cellar.
The bone was
unearthed
during
excavation of
the cellar.
The rest of
the elephant
skeleton
(which
provides the
name for Torre
in Pietra’s
“elephas” line
of IGT wines)
was stolen by
Nazis, who
used this
bomb-resistant
space as their
headquarters
during WWII.
Fascists: so
easy to
dislike, and
so interwoven
with our
modern lives,
and the
stories of the
wines we sell.
But back to
the farm.
Torre in
Pietra has
livestock, but
today the
largest part
of the farm is
devoted to
growing
cereals. There
are eight
hectares of
olives, and on
breezy, sunny
hills facing
the
Mediterranean,
several
parcels of
native grapes
are grown:
Vermentino,
Fiano,
Sangiovese,
and thankfully
Cesanese. The
farm is
certified
organic. Its
vineyards have
been
cultivated in
accordance
with the
precepts of
organic
agriculture
for over two
decades.
Breccia is a
single
vineyard.
“Terre di
Breccia”
features
Cesanese
fermented on
the skins for
20 days at 30
degrees
Celsius. After
alcoholic
fermentations
the wine
completes
malolactic
fermentation
in wood
barrels.
Post-malo, the
wine is aged
in 500 liter
French barrels
for a year,
followed by an
additional
year of aging
in cement, and
six months of
resting in
bottle.
There are at
least three
distinct
versions of
Cesanese,
unsurprising
given the
grape’s long
history of
cultivation.
The homeland
of all three
is Lazio. The
best of the
three seems to
thrive
primarily in
the outskirts
of Rome. All
versions of
Cesanese are
difficult to
ripen, making
the arid
coastal
expanses of
this region
ideal for its
cultivation.
Cesanese needs
heat. The wine
exudes red
cherry
fruitiness and
(like high
quality peers
Sangiovese,
Nebbiolo, et
al.) never
becomes inky
in color. You
should expect
(and in the
case of Terre
di Breccia,
you’ll get)
something
wonderfully
in-the-middle.
Aromatics and
freshness that
harken to
cooler
northern
Italian wines,
ripeness and
texture that
speak
meaningfully
of the
presence of
the
not-too-distant
Italian south.
Like Rome, the
wine seems to
be a fulcrum
point of
Italianness.
*SNAP*
If you are
like me when
you read that,
you needed to
"snap out of
it" and get
centered back
to
reality....no,
we are not in
Lazio in the
outskirts of
Rome on a wine
adventure
in-between
gustatory
galavanting!
