Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/551222
86 / the tasting panel / august 2015 SPEED TASTING REPORT Mauro Merz, Head Winemaker for Fontana Candida, may not have spoken a lick of English, but the story he told in Italian painted a vivid picture of the bustling Eternal City of Rome. It seems the Colosseum wasn't the only thing built to keep the Romans happy; so was the zippy white wine Frascati, named after the small subzone of the Castelli Romani DOC that falls within Lazio. Frascati was one of Italy's first DOCs, established in 1966, then went on to become the most widespread Italian white wine in the world up until the 1990s. Fontana Candida was the first winery to begin bottling and exporting Frascati in the mid-1950s. "Now the boom is over. But it's still beloved by an older generation and lesser known by today's generation." Most endearing about Merz was not his storytelling, but his sense of obligation to the growers. "We have 200 grower families . . . that we've been buying grapes from for generations. We've taken a lot of responsibility toward the sustainability of our territory." It's not only the dependency of those families that concerns Merz lately; it's also the lack of land. The vineyards of Frascati are becoming smaller as a result of the urban sprawl from Rome. "We don't want the area to become so small that Frascati will disappear." It is perhaps for this reason, Merz feels the need to not only remind us of Frascati, but also show us what else it's capable of being today. Terroir in mind, Merz disclosed his first wine, the 2013 Terre dei Grifi Frascati, a steel-fermented and -aged blend of the native Malvasia di Candia (50%), Trebbiano Toscano (30%), Malvasia del Lazio (10%) and Greco (10%) grapes. The elevage of the 2011 Luna Mater The first wine Banfi Piemonte's Chief Winemaker, Alberto Lazzarino, presented was the 2011 Cuvée Aurora Rosé Alta Langa, a Pinot Noir–based traditional method sparkling from the hilltops of Cuneo, Asti and Alessandria, vinified at the Banfi Piemonte cellars in Strevi. Banfi purchased the 45 hectare estate in the 1970s, although it's been around since 1860. Lazzarino took us through the different methods of mak- ing a rosé: You can simply start with a white and add a small percentage of red, "or you can do what we do, which is lightly macerating Pinot Noir grapes, because we want the character of the grape to transfer into the wine." Lazzarino then revealed the La Lus Albarossa, proclaiming, "The varietal is very rare. 'Alba' means dawn. 'Rossa' means red." It was a happy accident that created this "Red Dawn" varietal cross in 1938, capitalizing on the balance of Piemonte's most favored varieties: A Nebbiolo father with its low acid/high tannin, and Barbera mother, with its high acid/low tannin typicity. Banfi is one of four producers to use this grape, grown here in Monferrato. Otherwise, "only 15 to 20 hectares of Albarossa exists today," according to Lazzarino. THE PROUD STORYTELLER: MAURO MERZ Fontana Candida's 2013 Terre dei Grifi Frascati and 2011 Luna Mater Frascati Superiore Mauro Merz is Head Winemaker for Fontana Candida. Banfi Piemonte Chief Winemaker Alberto Lazzarino. THE PATIENT PROFESSOR: ALBERTO LAZZARINO Banfi's 2011 Cuvée Aurora Rosé Alta Langa and La Lus Albarossa