Carmine Verrechia and Terranova Imports have done it again

Thursday, December 31, 2009

There is that old saying that you only get to Carnegie Hall through a lot of practice.  Well, you only get great in the wine industry by building a catalog of great wines.

In this case, the wines are those from Casali di Bibbiano, a Tuscan 18th Century estate.  Carmine invited me and one guest to attend a VIP event he had down at Sonsui restaurant in Atlantic City last Friday.  I took my partner-in-crime Chef Al Paris.  The order was wines and food from seven regions of Italy.  As it is in my nature, I met some of the last first, and that was Alberto Guadagnini and his luxurious wines.  

We started with the Argante Rosse Toscano IGT which is seventy percent Cabernet Sauvignon and thirty percent Merlot.  This just received 91 points either by Robert Parker or the Wine Spectator [for those of you that pay attention to that].  This wine is aged from fourteen to eighteen months in French Oak and then three months in the bottle.  This wine was all that, with the Merlot and oak giving a warming spice to the equation over strong Cabernet undertones.

I also tried a couple of his other wines, but what stood out was his Vin Santo, and his Grappa (it's not just for a morning toddy folks).  Alberto and his assistant were wonderful people, and I can’t wait to visit their estate sometime this year.

Carmine has also added some great people to his organization, and I enjoyed joking with his chef.

So, he also presented some wines by Veglio, with a great Moscato (a real ladykiller) and a nice Barbera d'Alba, both of which are great with chocolate.

Carmine has given me the opportunity to review some of his wines, and I have barely scratched the surface of what he has to offer through Terranova Imports.  It was through their company that I discovered Franciacorta as well as one of the best Tempranillo wines that I have ever had, which crazily enough, is produced by a winemaker in California who hails from Hoboken, New Jersey.  He also pointed me over to Vino 2010 in NY which might result in me attending Vinitaly this year.

Terranova Imports will definitely be a company to watch, and I hope that they have phenomenal success in the US market.

Grazie!