Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
decorative crystal by some guys called
Picasso, Cocteau, and Dalí. It focuses your
mind temporarily away from the wine onto
the see-through object that holds it.
Such rich, historic splendor has its gen-
esis in the most unlikely of places—Long
Island, New York. This is where owner
John F. Mariani's father started out with an
Italian wine importer called Banfi in 1919.
His timing could not have been worse—
Prohibition came a year later. He limped
through those dry years selling wine for
“medicinal purposes,” then wasted no time
importing the very best from Italy when the
law was finally lifted. Business boomed,
and over the years Banfi introduced the fin-
est of Italian wines to the American market,
including Lambrusco and Chianti.
The winery itself has put its faith in San-
giovese; vineyards teeming with the grape
now besiege the castle walls. While the
whole complex has a somewhat polished,
corporate feel, rest assured that this is
no Disneyland of wine—it's the genuine
article.
Castello Banfi, Montalcino ( & 39/577/
840111; www.castellobanfi.com).
( Florence Airport (85km/52 miles).
L $$$ Borgo Grondaie, Strada delle
Grondaie, Siena ( & 39/577/332539; www.
borgogrondaie.com). $$ Hotel Villa Elda,
Viale 24 Maggio, Siena ( & 39/577/247927;
www.villeldasiena.it).
Italy
335
Allegrini
The Forgetful Winemaker
Verona, Italy
It seems the best inventions happen by
accident. In the early 1950s, an unknown
winemaker went about making a rich
sweet wine called recioti, unique to the
area around Verona in northern Italy. He
picked the dark Corvina grapes and then
laid them out on straw mats to dry for
several weeks, so that the grapes could
shrivel and lose their water while retaining
their sugar. Next they were crushed and
fermented and put away in a barrel. And
then the winemaker committed his stroke
of genius—he forgot about the wine. Per-
haps he went skiing in the nearby Alps or
took a fishing trip on beautiful Lake Garda;
perhaps a new romance had him wining
and dining around the ancient city of
Verona, showing his new beau the city's
beguiling Roman ruins, medieval walls,
and Renaissance churches. Whatever it
was, the wine remained in the barrel for
way too long.
By the time our absent-minded wine-
maker got around to checking it, his sweet
recioti wine was ruined. There was no
sugar left—it had all fermented—and
what he got instead was a dry, powerful
red. It was slightly bitter yet completely
drinkable—in fact, it had a lush raisin taste
with lots of body. The wine became known
as amarone (literally “the big bitter”) and it
has since proved a hit among wine aficio-
nados the world over, its style satisfying
the shift in taste to more concentrated
wines. Soon every winery in the region
was making it.
Allegrini has established its name as
one of the finest makers of amarone .
Located just north of Verona in Fumane de
Valpolicello, it's run by a family that has
owned vineyards in the area for hundreds
of years, but only recently won accolades
for its winemaking. The vineyards are par-
ticularly beautiful, sitting as they do on
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