Tamellini
There is no vino rosso at Tamellini.
Not even a rosato. And there are no aspirations for a rossi program either. No Valpolicella vineyards are being developed. There is no want to eventually be a great Amarone house. The conversation coming from Tamellini is pure: 100% Soave. The old school way for moments like Hazan's above.
What is old school Soave? Well, for the most part the exact opposite of what we know. All we have ever known from this region is inexpensive, homogenous, slightly round wine delivered at low prices. We have known a bulk commodity product; un-offensive wines. But there was a time before this palate, before the rise of the co-ops in the '70s. There was a time when families worked the terraces by hand, and when pergola was the dominant training system. This was a time when the original massale selection Garganega was grown- a vine that produced smaller berries, with tighter clusters, that carried higher acidity and more structure.
And so, when Tamellini reached out to us the first thing we noticed was that there were no reds- no Valpo, no Amarone. Hmm- a complete focus on Soave? Good. Then the brothers Gaetano and Pio talked about old Soave and they talked about their family history. The Tamellini family goes back four generations strong in these hills. Four generations of proud farmers. And the family went with the system over those generations- selling to the co-ops. But when the brothers took over they watched what was happening to their fruit. They watched how their wines were marketed and sold. They watched as even Garganega started to become manufactured and they watched a complete loss and degradation of all that they held dear. They had enough and the brothers pulled their fruit from the co-op system in 1998. They created their own domaine, and they started growing and making Soave in the old school way. This move was about self respect and pride in their work and love for their home. They arecontadinosfirst.
The old way starts with the farming. The brothers say that for the most part"we just cut the grass". Their farming is organic (practicing) with a specific focus on soil micro-biology- they were deeply moved by the teachings of Dr. Teruo Higa who has worked on agriculture re-development, via soil micro-organism development, in areas destroyed by industrialization. 'Farm the soil, don't destroy it', the brothers believe. And grow the original grapes. They have worked to re-populate their holdings with the original old clones of Garganega and some Trebbiano di Soave.
Like most farmers, they don't focus on marketing, they focus on product. Make great wine and the rest will take care of itself. And so they only make three wines with most of their production going into their normale DOC Soave bottling. They also produce a cru bottling, Le Bine de Costiola, from higher altitude, old vines. And they make a very long, lees aged bottling into bubbles via metodo classico called Millesimato. The current release is the 2011.
This is about farmers trying to preserve their work using low, slow, and cold...
The execution at Tamellini is low, slow, and cold...very cold. Gaetano and Pio are farmers. They have just worked all year trying to grow beautiful fruit. Their cellar work philosophy is almost like careful canning- it's about excellent preservation. So, the fruit is hand harvested and then carefully wholecluster pressed (they are fanatics about damage and oxygenation). The ferments are native in stainless at very cold temperatures. And then elevage is done at very cold temperatures.
The straight DOC Soave sees a little over half a year on the lees in tank. The single parcel Le Bine de Costiola comes from a higher altitude parcel inside a gorge of limestone and sees all pergola trellising and an average vine of 60 years old. As it is simply a higher grade of quality, the brothers give this wine a full year on the lees in tank before bottling. And then the bubbles. The Millesimato sees fruit from their first harvest pick. The Garganega here spends 8 months on the lees and then is bottled and spends a minimum of 6 years in bottle before disgorgement.
You added a Soave?
I did, and I love it. Why? Because these guys- these brothers- are 100% committed to Soave. There's no hedge- no red program, not even other varietals. There's no fall back plan. It's Garganega and Soave or bust.
And I love that they know the good stuff- the old school Soave, the wine that was great before the marketing and the rise of the co-ops.
And I love that when you decide to try out their other work- their cru, the Le Bine de Costiola- it''s not just a little better. It's flat out fantastic.
And I love that their idea of bubbles is a current release vintage metodo classico that is 11 years old. Name a Soave producer who bottle ages their metodo classico for 10+ years before release?
And I love that there's wine. Yes, by focusing on just a few wines, there's availability while maintaining the quality.
And I gotta be honest, I flat out LOVE the value. In this era of cost increases I love that these guys are making the real deal wine of their region, the right way, and it's coming all the way over to New York and all three of their wines are priced strikezone, with the DOC Soave being in my opinion one of the best values out there.
So yeah, I added a Soave. A really good one too.
Christian
