Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/552044
{ SOMMjournal.com } 65 Who: "Professor" Rudy Buratti What: Brunello Deconstructed Where: Del Posto, New York City by Lana Bortolot / photos by Doug Young The Big Apple was the ideal place for talking about big Italian wines—after all, it is New York City that put these wines on the map in the United States, thanks to its Italophile dining culture. In his opening remarks at the Cru Artisan College Brunello session at Italian food and wine mecca Del Posto, Banfi Vintners Vice President Lars Leicht acknowledged wine as "part of a very, very deep culture" and Banfi's commitment to carrying the baton. "We never stop working. We know wine is a humbling experience, and we know how important it is to keep on learning," he said before turning the stage over to Italian wine experts and headmasters for the day, sommeliers Dan Amatuzzi of Eataly and Jeff Porter of Babbo. The two New Yorkers, who work in the Batali-Bastianich mini empire, moderated the panels featuring Rudy Buratti, Castello Banfi's Chief Winemaker, with remarks from Bolla's Head Winemaker, Christian Scrinzi. Porter, a former school teacher, introduced the session by encouraging the 35 wine buyers/student attendees to leave their preconceptions about Italian wines at the door. "Italy is the newest old region," he said. "What today is about is exploration, thought and pushing your ideas about what wine is and could be." Scrinzi, who also spoke on sustain - able practices, gave the class a philosophy lesson in raison d'être. "Wines are made with integrity to place and terroir—not for the hell of it. They are ethical wines—cor- rect for themselves but also in the way they relate to the winegrower, the cellar man, the end customer and the sellers," he said. "They have to make sense in this whole global sense, including being hygienically correct in the winery and the cellar, healthy practices in the vineyard—wines that are correct in [the] way they are in the environment." Amatuzzi agreed and brought it home for sommeliers who often hand-sell some of Italy's more esoteric offerings. "Soil goes deep," he said, "And when you're dealing with consumers it's hard to talk about the soils, the affect of the sea and other waters. We talk about how we believe these elements imbue the wine." Though it was a biodynamic "root day"—not ideal for tasting—that didn't deter the sommeliers as they dove into a Sangiovese vertical dating back to 1995. After Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Sophia Loren, Sangiovese is perhaps Italy's fourth national treasure, and Buratti, who spearheaded Banfi's cutting-edge clonal research and vineyard variation for Sangiovese, explained why. "The story of Sangiovese is that when it ages the color becomes orange-toned— less rich in tonality—and the aroma changes. You go from simple fruit flavor to complexity—porcini mushroom, hummus, earth, leather," he said, evoking a forest of earthly delights. "It ages well and offers these sensations to you. On the palate, it's lost all its aggression, and the tannins have evolved." And like many Italians, Buratti couldn't resist imbuing his talk with amore. "Finding the right barrel for a wine is like matchmaking – if you don't choose well, the divorce can be costly; so we try to date very carefully by starting directly in the forest where the trees are grown," he said. "Highlighting those differences is the responsibility of the winemaker," he con - cluded. "It's fascinating and challenging." PHOTO: JOANN ARRUDA PHOTO: JOANN ARRUDA New York editor of The SOMM Journal, Lana Bortolot presents Anna-Cristina Cabrales, beverage director at Morrell Wine Bar, with a $500 scholarship, as winner of the blind tasting challenge, as Lars Leicht, National Director of Cru Artisan Wines, looks on. Rudy Buratti, Castello Banfi's Chief Winemaker, talks Banfi Brunello as Lars Leicht, National Director of Cru Artisan Wines translates. Adrian Misacango of Tessa NYC shows off his certificate of completion, after receiv- ing an A+ from headmaster Jeff Porter. The NYC Cru Artisan College Headmasters Dan Armatuzzi (L) and Jeff Porter at Del Posto in Manhattan. Cru Artisan College is in session again March 7-11, 2016. Look for your chance to attend in upcoming issues of The SOMM Journal.