…for I Trulli’s Summer Garden Parties! Yesterday evening saw the return of I Trulli’s popular outdoor wine events, hosted in the restaurant’s rare and secluded garden setting. Along with a delicious selection of antipasti, guests were treated to five summer wines, in what was a truly Italian-style aperitivoatmosphere.
The first party of the season was a huge success, but there are more to come through June! Join us every Thursday for refreshing Italian wines and delicious antipasti, all for just $35! Places for next week’s event are filling up fast, so act now if you wish to celebrate the arrival of summer in one of Manhattan’s finest outdoor spaces.
The New York Times describes the garden at I Trulli as, “a Mediterranean dream, a gracious shaded patio with terra-cotta tiles and walls daubed with abstract landscapes in soothing colors.”
Summer Garden Parties
Every Thursday, June 5-12-19-26
6pm-8pm
I Trulli
122 East 27th Street
New York, NY 10016
For more information and reservations call (212) 481-7372 or email Carmelo@itrulli.com.
Vinoteca’s classes continue on June 4 with Salumi, where you’ll be able to taste some of Italy’s finest cured meats made by I Trulli made by Chef Patti Jackson, or otherwise sourced locally or imported directly from Italy.
In Italy, regional culinary specialties often share the kind of attentive production and myriad of styles usually reserved only for wine. For many Italians, the highly varied range of cured meats — prosciutto, salami, mortadella, culatello — are an ideal complement to a glass of wine, but where does one begin to understand how to pair them with your favorite bottle?
Let our guides Jim Hutchinson and Winnie Yang show you how in our fun and tasty Salumi class!
Salumi
with Jim Hutchinson, DWS, and Winnie Yang
Wednesday, June 4, 6:30pm
Vinoteca
121 East 27th Street
New York, NY 10016
For more information on these and upcoming classes, call (212) 725-6516 or visit the classes page of our website.
Brunello di Montalcino was first produced at Tenuta di Sesta (pictured above) in 1966, the year the Montalcino D.O.C. was established, by Giuseppe Ciacci. At that time there were only twelve producers of what is now one of Italy’s best known wines. Giuseppe understood then that stringent vineyard management and careful vinification could yield a wine that would only improve during three years of refinement in 30-hectoliter casks. Giuseppe’s son Giovanni continues to produce Brunello in a classic style using clones of sangiovese grosso selected for their ability to best reflect the estate’s terroir.
Antonio Galloni of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate says of the 2003, “Tenuta di Sesta is a pretty, layered wine that possesses tons of Sangiovese typicity in its dark red cherries, tobacco, tar, smoke and wild herbs. Made in an elegant, understated style, this medium-bodied, cask-aged Brunello reveals superb precision and clarity.” He awarded the wine a score of 92 in the April 2008 issue.
Vino is offering five cases, first come first served, at the remarkable price of $41.00 a bottle. If there is any left by tomorrow evening we will have a bottle open for our Friday Sangiovese tasting. Our standard case discount does not apply to this offer.
Brunello di Montalcino 2003 Tenuta di Sesta
$41.00
Vino
121 East 27th Street
New York, NY 10016
For more information call (212) 725-6516 or visit our website.
This week, Vino is honoring Sangiovese! Known by the Etruscans as “Sanguis Jovis” (literally “Blood of Jove”), literary reference to Sangiovese didn’t appear until 1722. Today Sangiovese is renowned as a staple of many Tuscan wines, including most famously as a major component of Chianti. There are 14 clones of Sangiovese, of which Brunello is perhaps the most highly regarded. Tuscany’s hot, dry climate means Sangiovese grapes are slow to ripen, which can result in quantity at the expense of quality. It takes a truly skilled wine-maker to produce a fine wine from Sangiovese — fortunately some of the finest are at Vino! Taste these three diverse examples of the classic Tuscan variety this Friday:
Alicia Lini — fourth-generation Lambrusco producer and New York media darling — is now an internet star! The international spokesperson for LINI 910 is featured on in a report by Domenico Cuomo recorded during this year’s Vinitaly event in Verona. The video — in which Alicia discusses the Lini range of Lambrusco wines and assesses their popularity — is available for viewing on the video website YouTube. Those of you who don’t understand Italian are advised to simply admire the pretty bottles.
For those of you who missed out on Wednesday’s Formaggi class, there’s another entertaining and informative tasting at Vinoteca next week! On May 28, Vinoteca presents Chianti, and evening devoted solely to Italy’s most famous wine-making region, its wines and history.
Though Chianti first appeared as a white in 1398, since 1872 (when Baron Ricasoli wrote the recipe for its modern incarnation) Tuscany’s great Sangiovese-based staple has enjoyed fantastic acclaim, suffered withering blows, and re-emerged a mystery; at once held aloft as an example of Tuscan excellence and degraded as more cheap swill destined for a tumbler on a red-checkered cloth.
Let Italian wine expert Robert Scibelli guide you through a diverting history and a fascinating sampling of some of Vino’s finest Chiantis.
Chianti
with Robert Scibelli, DWS
Wednesday, May 29th, 6:30pm
Vinoteca
121 East 27th Street
New York, NY 10016
For more information call (212) 725-6516 or visit our website, www.vinosite.com.
The 2007 Roses have arrived at Vino! We think they’re the perfect refreshing wines for a warm Memorial Day weekend! To celebrate Vino is offering them at a special 10% discounted price! This offer lasts until midnight on Monday, so hurry!
All four of these wines will be available to sample at our FREE 2007 Rosato Tasting, tomorrow afternoon at Vinoteca.
Alicia Lini is featured in the latest issue of Men’s Vogue! In the June/July edition of the men’s style bible, noted author and wine enthusiast Lawrence Osborne profiles the Lini brand and in particular Alicia — the international face of Lini and its fourth-generation Lambrusco producer. He fondly recalls a dinner held in Lini’s honor at Centovini back in March and gushes over Alicia’s movie star appeal, indeed likening the young producer to Sophia Loren. Osborne also assesses the phenomenal success of Lini’s Lambruscos and their vital role in resurrecting the socially tarnished variety, helping erase memories of the “ghastly party plonk” consumed by millions of Americans in the late ’70s. For Lini the negative image was hard to shake off: “It took us ten years to make people realize we didn’t make that awful stuff.” Now Osborne feels the transition is finally complete. “In the past couple of years, [Lambrusco's] image has undergone a surprising revolution,” he notes. “The sugary spritzer of our summery youth has become a dry, elegant dinner wine of our middle age.”
Robert Mondavi, American winemaking pioneer, died last Friday at his home in California. He was 94. We would like to recognize the contributions that Mondavi made to the growth of the appreciation of fine wine in the United States. The son of immigrants from Marche, Mondavi understood that the respect and attention winemaking received in Europe could also exist here as long as producers were willing to put in the effort to make top-quality wine. While we don’t sell American wines, we certainly value the contributions that producers like Robert Mondavi have made toward educating our country’s palates.
This week Vino honors the region of Puglia by featuring the wine of the Rivera Estate. Located near the Castel del Monte D.O.C. zone, 18 miles from Andria in the province of Bari, the estate has been in the De Corato family for a century. The Azienda Vinicola Rivera was founded by Sebastiano De Corato in the 1950s, who together with his son, Carlo, now continues to further Pugliese viticulture through the company’s excellent wines.
