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Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Making Wine Since Before Christopher Columbus Was Born
When it comes to wine, Americans can swallow a stiff dose of humility over our place in wine history simply by looking to the continent that “discovered” us. Europe’s centuries-old wine-growing heritage puts our mere decades (or maybe a century-plus if you stretch it) to shame.
As they say, time matters.
Consider the Italian winemaking family of Marchesi Antinori. The Antinori family has been making wine for more than 600 years, since Giovanni di Piero Antinori registered with the Guild of Winemakers in 1385. Let that wash over you for a moment: Christopher Columbus wasn’t even BORN yet!
The winery has been run by 26 generations of the family; today, Marchese Piero Antinori is director of the company, assisted by his three daughters, Albiera, Allegra and Alessia, who are
personally involved in the business.
The Springboro wine shop Grapes of Ruth will host a tasting of Antinori wines presented by Allen Todd of Allied Wines on Thursday, Oct. 13, from 6 to 8 p.m. The wine shop is located at 495 N. Main St. in Springboro; for more information, call 937-748-3807.
As deep as Antinori’s history is, other Italian families trace their histories back even farther. Here’s a column I wrote in the Dayton Daily News in February 1996:
“Every once in a while, we Americans confront just how minuscule our place is in the overall scope of world history.< Need proof? Come and meet a young man by the name of Stefano Benini.
Stefano represents the 30th generation of his family to be involved in the making and selling of wine. The Frescobaldi family began making wine in 1308 from grapes planted on the hillsides around Florence, Italy.
The Frescobaldi family traded wines to Michelangelo in exchange for paintings, which hang today in the Frescobaldi castle. And still they make wine, from their 688th vintage.
In contrast, most of today’s big-name wineries in California got started in the 1970s. A few trace their roots (through several changes in name and ownership, usually) to the 1800s.
Then there are those precious few wine producers such as Frescobaldi.
Leonardo Frescobaldi, the winery’s vice president of international affairs and Stefano’s uncle, said the longevity speaks well of the efforts - and passion - the family has poured into winemaking over the centuries.< “Each generation has a larger, heavier responsibility to uphold” that tradition, Frescobaldi said.
The winery produces Chiantis from Nippozzano and Montesodi, a Mormoreto Cabernet Sauvignon and red and white Pomino wines. Though steeped in tradition, Frescobaldi has modernized its winemaking methods and targeted American palates with some new releases, including a varietally labeled Sangiovese. The most recent vintage, the 1994, tastes not unlike a lush California merlot, with soft, nearly sweet fruit at first sip, but a slightly tart finish that betrays its grape variety and Italian heritage. The wine costs $9.99 a bottle.
Leonardo Frescobaldi said the next vintage, the 1995, will be even better. One can almost imagine the generations of Leonardo’s predecessors nodding approvingly at those words.”
Cheers!
Mark Fisher
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