From a wine lover's perspective, how often do you get the opportunity to meet an Italian winemaker, taste some of his wines and follow it up with some great Italian food.  Thanks to Tre Trattoria (one of the Jason Dady family of restaurants in San Antonio),  Ang and I plus our friends Michele and Robert got that chance recently.

The winemaker, Antonio Sanguineti, is part of an interesting group of wine importers call Small Vineyards.   Their goal is to introduce the family-owned, small wineries from Italy (soon to add some from Spain and Greece) to the American wine drinking public.  Without Small Vineyards, these wines would slip under the radar.  As we know from many boutique wineries in the US, they are small, but have a great product to offer.  

I readily admit that I'm often at a loss when it comes to Italian wines.  I know something about the grapes and regions, but have much to learn about the who's who.   It's nice to have an organization doing some homework for us, finding and presenting a good product at a price often below the bigger wine importers.

For the price of admission this night, we got to taste four wines (or in my case, three plus a repeat).  Antonio's wines represent Tuscany well and are all based on the Sangiovese grape.  First, I tried the 2003 Vino Nobile di Monteplulciano. It had a cherry and slight earthy nose, medium body and good acidity.  Tanins were smooth. My second taste was his Super Tuscan.  The term Super Tuscan came about when producers in the Chianti region wanted use grapes other than those authorized by the Government regulating body.  The could not call their wine Chianti.  Antonio's 2005 Super Tucsan (Nessan Dorma) is a blend of 50% Sangiovese, 30% Merlot, and 20% Syrah.   This wine has some spice notes, dark berry flavors and very silky tannins.  The Merlot reals softens the mouthfeel.  My final pick ( I actually used my fourth ticket for a second look) was the 2003 Brunello di Montalcino. It was my first Brunello.  At first, the nose was too tight, having just been opened.  At I furiously swirled to get air into it, the wine started to open in the glass and big black cherry emerged as well as a hint of chocolate.  I would love to try it after an hour or more of breathing.  I believe it would be a great wine with food.

The wine was great, but we also got to sit down with Antonio and Jay Hutcheson, the Small Vineyards Regional Sales Representative.  They went out of their way to talk with everyone who showed up for the tasting.  With all the questions about wine and wineries running through my head, we talked about traveling to Italy instead.  We would love to tour Tuscany before I get to the age where I don't remember if I'm wearing pants or not.  Anyway, it was fun hanging out with the guys for awhile.  They treated everyone as a favored guest.

Following the tasting, we settled down for a great meal of roast golden beats, gnocchi with gorgonzola, and the Tuscan marinated rig eye. The food capped the perfect evening out for the wine and food enthusiast.