Bertani, Mastroberardino, and Infiné 1939, all in one day

Ron, a friend from high school, thought me crazy when I posted on Facebook about a virtual wine tasting coming up. “Watching someone taste fine wine through Zoom? What kind of masochist are you?” he wrote.

What Ron didn’t know was the happy fact that I’d been shipped six bottles from the importer, which I’d be tasting along with some 40 other journalists, all while listening to commentary by three powerhouse winemakers. Not crazy at all. 

It was quite a line-up, brought together by our friends at Taub Family Selections:

• Piero Mastroberardino, owner of Mastroberardino in Campania, presented a classic Greco di Tufo 2019 ($24), plus the winery’s flagship wine, Radici Taurasi 2016 ($60).

• Andrea Lonardi, technical director for Bertani in the Veneto’s Valpolicella region, showed their traditional Secco-Bertani 2015 ($31), as well as their iconic Amarone Classico 2009 ($137).

• Fabrizio Marinconz, winemaker for Cavit in Trentino, introduced us to a relatively new project, Infiné 1939, spotlighting their Pinot Grigio 2017 ($30) and cuvée At Last 2017 ($51).

What these three have in common, said Taub’s Bethany Burke, is the fact that “each adhere to winemaking practices firmly rooted in the traditions of their respective regions, while simultaneously embracing progressive techniques and resources to strive even higher.”

They’re all local boys, born and bred in their regions, so tradition flows in their blood —  but none are hidebound by tradition.

Infiné 39

The backstory

Taub Family Selections’ founder, David Taub, played a major role in the popularization of pinot grigio when he imported the first bottles of Cavit Pinot Grigio into the U.S. in the 1970s. Cavit is a leading cooperative in Trentino, comprising 4500 small growers scattered across the foothills of the Alps. After Taub’s death in 2012, his son, Marc Taub, wanted to come up with a wine that would celebrate this heritage. Thus was born Infiné 1939. (The 1939 refers to David Taub’s birth year.) His son asked the Cavit team to identify superior vineyard plots for pinot grigio. But not just any. “We wanted to think out of the box for this project, looking for pinot grigio in uncommon positions and high altitude,” says Fabrizio Marinconz, winemaker at Cavit for the past 15 years. They ultimately zeroed in on two vineyards that push the limits for pinot grigio’s ripening, both at over 1900 feet. After four years of trials and in collaboration with star enologist Carlo Ferrini, the first bottling of Infiné 1939’s Pinot Grigio launched with the 2015 vintage.

The wines

You can sense this Pinot Grigio is from the Alps. It’s got a minerality and precision that’s characteristic of alpine wines. It smells like wet stone, it’s nervy and finely chiseled, with notes of pear and lemon beneath the dominant minerality. Personally, I prefer this to the fleshier style from Friuli. It’s all a matter of taste. But whatever your preference, there’s an iron-clad rule with pinot grigio: You get what you pay for. Avoid the cheap stuff.

I’ve always loved aromatic blends of the Alps, so I was particularly smitten with At Last. Trentino grows 20+ grape varieties thanks to the range of elevations. Wineries can have vineyards on the valley floor right next to the apple orchards, and plots going up 3000 feet on the rocky slopes. At Last blends four of Trentino’s typical white grapes: sauvignon blanc and chardonnay, plus a splash of Riesling and gewürztraminer. In cool climates, aromatic grape varieties become even more fragrant. With three of the four grapes in this blend classified as aromatic, it’s as heady as jasmine in June. Its rich too, thanks to a year spent on the fine lees. A beautiful wine, but a rare bird, at only 4000 bottles.

Factoid

The unique bottle shape is a hat-tip to David Taub’s glass collection, acquired during his 40 years of visits to Italy. They wanted something unusual for Infiné 39’s two wines, and they got it with this.

Mastroberardino

The backstory

This 10th generation winery has been working with Campania’s grapes since the early 1700s. Their fame rests not only on the quality of their wine, but on their unwavering dedication to historic grapes like aglianico, greco, and other varietals brought to southern Italy by the ancient Greeks. Many believe that without the elder Mastroberardino, Antonio, these varieties would have died out after World War II. They’re also working with archeologists to revive the vineyards of Pompeii. (See my article “The Vineyards of Pompeii: Back from the Ashes.”)

Before visiting this winery 20 years ago, I thought it odd that white wines could excel in Campania, which one associates with heat — sunny Naples, the Amalfi Coast, and all that. But after climbing switchbacks for an hour and arriving at cool chestnut woods that resembled Piedmont more than Portofino, I got it. That elevation results in high acidity and a fresh character to the wines across the board. It also makes this area the last to harvest in Italy, as late as mid-November, according to Piero Mastroberardino. And that allows for a long, slow ripening, which is a definite plus for bringing out the best in a grape. What’s more, he said, “volcanic ashes are almost everywhere.” All three regional characteristics — elevation, a late harvest, and volcanic soils — can be felt in the wines Mastroberardino presented.

The wines

The ‘tufo’ in Greco di Tufo is both a type of volcanic rock and a town at the heart of this DOCG appellation. What that volcanic soil adds to greco’s characteristic peach/apricot flavors is this: “We look for the classical saltiness, which comes from the mineral compounds in the soil,” said Mastroberardino.  Some use the word sapidity. Mastroberardino described his Greco di Tufo as having an “oyster character,” which he said is “the link to terroir.” This wine definitely calls for a plate of piping hot fritto misto di mare, preferably on a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean sea.

As red wines go, Mastroberardino’s flagship Radici Taurasi is my cup of tea. Its bright acidity makes it a perfect food wine, refreshing your palate and encouraging you to forge ahead with another bite. That’s the cool climate speaking. And that same acidity enables long aging. For this very reason, aglianico has often been called “the Barolo of the South.” (Taurasi is a town and a DOCG wine made from the aglianico grape.) But unlike young Barolo, this one is delicious now, with snappy cherry, briary fruit, spice, and fine tannins. Its flavors will only deepen and gain complexity as the years roll by.

Factoid

Radici means roots. A version of this wine has been made by the Mastroberardino family since 1928. It acquired the name Radici in 1986, after a massive earthquake left 3,000 dead. This was the family’s attempt to assure locals that they weren’t abandoning ship and leaving town, but had deep roots here.

Bertani

The backstory

Founded in 1857, Bertani is one of Valpolicella’s oldest wineries. The brothers Giovan Battista and Gaetano Bertani were nobles from Verona. Gaetano had spent time in Burgundy, not only soaking up the viticultural innovations of his friend Jules Guyot (inventor of the guyot trellising system), but also developing a taste for dry wine at a time when sweet ruled the day — think Port, Marsala, or Valpolicella’s own recioto, made from dried grapes. Their first wine, 1860’s Secco Bertani, was dry (secco), oak-aged, and revolutionary, an early template for today’s Veneto reds. An even bigger milestone came in 1959, when Bertani’s Amarone Classico debuted.

The wines

The label on Secco-Bertani points to history, being the same design as in the 1930s. What’s inside the bottle is also historic: a blend of local corvina, sangiovese, and Gaetano’s beloved French grapes, in this case syrah and cabernet. Tradition also continues with its cask-aging in chestnut and cherry wood, so plentiful in the Veneto countryside. In all these respects, “this represents the soul of Bertani,” said Andrea Lonardi. It’s a silky wine with a savory fruit-of-the-woods character and an undercurrent of tea-leaf. Though not as acidic as Radici, it’s well balanced and quite drinkable, the hallmark of Bertani wines.

If Secco-Bertani is “the soul,” Bertani’s Amarone Classico is “the icon,” per Lonardi. True to form, it’s never over the top, avoiding over-extraction and sky-high alcohol, the bane of too many modern Amarones. Balance and drinkability are the goal. Vinified bone dry, any impression of sweetness comes from the glycerin, Lonardi explained. Note the vintage: 2009 is the second most recent vintage on the market today of this wine. Where’s it been all this time? Maturing in Slavonian oak cask for nine years, according to Lonardi. That long aging makes it supple and refined, so it can better showcase the lovely dried fruit character which results from the 120-day appassimento on traditional bamboo drying racks.

Factoid

When the Bertani family converted to dry wine in 1958, they couldn’t sell one bottle. It took 25 years for the market to come around. As a result, today Bertani holds the world’s largest library of old-vintage Amarone, with 58 vintages available for sale (20 of which are on the U.S. market).

Where to buy

To buy any of these wines, go to Vinporter.com and Wine.com. Alternately, you can find retail shops and restaurants using this locator: https://www.taubfamilyselections.com/where-to-buy