Romitorio Visit

We here in the Northwest just had the pleasure of having Filippo Chia the director of Castello Romitiorio in town. It was a great time and we were all very enthused to showcase his wonderful wines. In our market we have 3 wines and each is special and different.

Below you see Filippo, Lindsay, Marco and the wine director of Assaggio in downtown.

1st they have the Morellino di Scanscano which is a DOC from Scanscano. "The California of Italy", Scansano is located in Southwest Toscana (Tuscany) and is known for a warmer climate with coastal winds. The beautiful blue label showcases the art of his father Sandro Chia (who actually does the art on all the labels). This wine is a little lighter than the other 2 and in the 2006 vintage is a blend of Sangiovese, Petit Verdot (5%) and Syrah (5%). They change the blend every year only blending together the best of whatever varietal they believe had a good year and harvest. You can find this great wine at Purple Cafe in Kirkland, Via Tribunali, Grape Choice in Kirkland and Wicked Cellars in Everett to name a few. We did a tasting in Everett at Wicked Cellars and here you see Helmut, myself and Filippo.

Romitorio's benchmark wine and the 1st wine they ever produced is the Romito. In Italian Romitorio means hermitage and Romito is a hermit so Filippo explained that on the front is the hermit who only comes out in the best vintage. This is true for the Romito di Romitorio; it is only produced in the best vintages and 04 as we currently have was a great year in Tuscany. The blend on this wine comes 60% from Sangiovese Grosso. These are the same vineyards they use in their Brunello di Montalcino. Then there is 20% from Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% from Canaiolo. These wines make up an amazingly elegant blend that can age for up to 15 years.

A Wonderful wine-makers dinner at Firenze in Bellevue thanks to Salvatori and friends.

Last, but not least by any means is Romitorio's Brunello di Montalcino. This generally comes from 2 different sites within the Brunello DOCG and is a blend of those 2 sites. However in the 2003 vintage it was only derived from their more elevated site because of the high heats. The grapes from the elevated site did not get too much sun as the ones from the lower site. Romitorio only believes in using the best grapes for their wines and thus the Brunello production went from 3000 cases to 1000 cases since they used only the grapes from the more elevated site. This in turns assures that their wines will last while cellared. A wonderful wine that was in the top 15 of the vintage from sceptics this wine can last 15 years.