L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano Italian wine: finesse alive and well P relude: A quick pull of the chainsaw's start-cord and the en- gine sputters to life. Set on the ground to warm-up, the chainsaw sits at my feet purring like some metaphori- cal cat. It takes some finesse to fell a tree. The angles of the face and back cuts must work together to create a hinge of sorts, allowing the tree to fall safely to the ground. Hopefully, in the spot where you aimed it. I squeeze the throttle and the chainsaw growls, biting hard into the tree. Working from two diffe- rent cutting angles, I open the face cut to 70 degrees. Then, an inter- secting back-cut. I move away to safety and let the hinge do its work. Cracking. Volumes of air move, tree canopy whooshing past. A massive, dense thud and the ground shivers. That evening, with tree on the ground, limbed and cut into rounds for firewood, the wine I am drinking (a French wine, in fact, but it makes the point well enough) rekindles ruminations about finesse: supple, soft, gutsy, intense, the wine drinks well. But, what is finesse in wine all about, really? In his article Is Finesse Fini- shed? (Wine Spectator, 2004), wine writer Matt Kramer ex- plains "Finesse is about delivery, how a wine's flavors and texture are handed to you. Think of a ba- sketball player going in for a layup. It can be done brutally or with, well, finesse. But wine, un- like basketball, isn't a matter of winning and losing based only on whether the ball goes through the hoop. That's why finesse matters so much more with wine." It's not hard to fall in love with the wines of Italy. We love them for, and often speak of, their di- versity, structure, ability to age, their versatility with food. Howe- ver, for wines that deliver their message with finesse, Italian wi- nes have it in spades. When I crave flavor and texture delivered with serious finesse, I look for a reliable fix from some of my fa- vorite Italian wine denomina- tions: Franciacorta Considered by many to be Italy's most prestigious sparkling wine, Franciacorta is made in the metodo classico manner. The wine communicates its message with arresting sensation, riding on fine-textured perlage (bubble). A sense structure, harmony of phy- sique, energy, is delivered without the least bit of brutish behavior. I recommend you try Franciacorta pas dosé, i.e., no dose, a style that excels in the finesse department. Soave Classico With one of the largest concen- trations of volcanic soil in the world, one might expect the white wines of Soave Classico to take the geologic cue for a hot-headed imparting of their pleasures. Au contraire. Soave Classico wines demonstrate finesse and wildly pleasant drinkability, con- veying ripe, focused fruit, delicate floral/almond scents, notes of sa- line and stone, with a calling card of suppleness on the palate. Etna Rosso A red wine with a link to Mount Etna, an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, these reds are based upon principle grape va- riety Nerello Mascalese. Aromatic and intense, Etna Rosso wines sur- render themselves with lithe and graceful body, sealing the finesse deal with remarkably silky, fine- grain tannins. Brunello di Montalcino With a capacity for raw power, Brunello di Montalcino has the inherent potential to be a total brute. In fact, even when flexing its muscle, a well-crafted Brunello di Montalcino is one of Italy's most finesse-capable wines. The wine delivers its charms with spectacular nuance in layers of complexity and distinctive grada- tion. Barolo Barolo's density of fruit, striking aromatics, complexity, and refined tannins would make the wine memorable enough. But it's Barolo's unforgettable finesse in delivering what can only be de- scribed as a lightness of being, an ethereal airiness of texture and weight, that will stay with you long after the glass is empty. The names above are not the only Italian wines where you'll find finesse alive and well. I regret not having mentioned Carignano del Sulcis, Taurasi, Chianti Clas- sico, or Faro wines … and there are others still … but elbow room is tight in an 800-word article. Perhaps the more important point is this: in order to know fi- nesse, one first needs to ask the question, "Is it there?". That is to say, finesse is a subtle quality that might easily be overlooked – perhaps even disre- garded - in the presence of a wine's more attention-grabbing features, raw power or structure, for instance. But, as Kramer wri- tes in the aforementioned arti- cle, "In basketball, even a 300- pound center can score with finesse. Big wines don't necessa- rily have to be brutes." Tasting Note Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Layers of intense red and black fruit, cut flowers, forest floor, umami, spice and toast notes. Silky, fine-grained tannic finish. Power, persistence, finesse. Ma- gnificent. Both whites and reds can carry a huge amount of finesse: Franciacorta and Soave are finesse-rich whites, while Barolo and Etna Rosso are excellent reds "Think of a basketball player going in for a layup. It can be done bru- tally or it can be done with finesse" Italy is home to quite a number of wines with excellent finesse JOEL MACK WINE NEWS TRENDS PROFILES

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