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Italian Flavor Forum II
Loris Scagliarini – October 27, 2005
Photos by S. Kaplan, B. Solè-March, C. Tessari, L. Scagliarini

Introduction • Wine Tasting Report • Product Tasting Report • Blind Tasting

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 was an unusual beautiful sunny day for this time of year in San Francisco. The sky was blue and there was no trace of the fog that had enveloped the Bay the day before and would the day after, to hide the fabolous view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz or the Marin Headlands across the bridge. We took it as a very good omen for the Italian Flavor Forum II.

About 120 wine and food professionals participated in the event, held in the Commodore Room at the Golden Gate Yacht Club, perched above the water of the the Bay on one side and the San Francisco Marina and city skyline on the other. Overall, the over 40 Italian quality wines and the select regional food products presented turned out to be truly appreciated.

The Gelatina di Brunello di Montalcino, a fabulous ruby-hued jelly condiment produced by Azienda Agraria "La Pescaia" from the noble Brunello di Montalcino wine, introduced for the first time in the US on the occasion of the Premiere of the Italian Flavor Forum, reconfirmed its popularity product this time around as well.

Other products that met with the favor of the guests include the small panettone, the balsamic vinegar and the Nocino (walnut liquor) from Modena, the excellent grappas and the gourmet Caffè del Principe coffee, presented and distributed by Mary Wells, exclusive US agent.

Below we provide the data gathered from the feedback forms that we distributed to our guests, who kindly filled them using a 100-point scale evaluation for the products tasted.

Wine Tasting Report

As expected, the red wines received in general higher evaluations than the whites, as the average US wine drinker usually has a strong preference for powerful, jammy, red wines.

Possibly because of this, sometimes there is a huge difference in the taste of wine drinkers familiar with European wines, or anyway accustomed to non-American wines, compared to those who usually drink US-made wines. This can be appreciated observing the gap in the point scored by the same wine during the event. The Brunello di Montalcino La Togata Riserva 1999 DOCG, for instance, scored several perfect 100s on one end, but received points as low as 70 as well, which dropped the average score to 84.9, below the 92 points average scored by the Recioto di Soave DOCG "Tre Colli" by the Azienda Agricola T•E•S•S•A•R•I , a delightful dessert wine that was the true revelation of the show.

The Brunello di Montalcino La Togata 2000 DOCG registered a 30-point gap as well (95-65, average 86.63), as did the Vignamurata Merlot – Sovana Superiore DOC (90-60, average 83.2), and the Vignamurata Sangiovese – Sovana Superiore DOC (90-60, average 80.8).

Among the white wines that marked huge gaps between the maximum and minimum score, there were the Vermentino – Bianco Toscano IGT by Cantina di Pitigliano (89-60, average 79.2), the Scolaris Vini S.R.L.'s Tocai DOC Collio (94-65, average 77.6), and the Paggino DOC Valdichiana by Azienda Agricola Buccelletti (85-55, average 73.89).

Few wines registered a relatively smaller gap, such as the Cannonau di Sardegna DOC – La Marina by the Cooperativa Vinicola Romangia which, with just a four-point gap between the highest and lowest scores (89-85, average 85.5) was unanimously appreciated. T•E•S•S•A•R•I's Soave Classico DOC (seven-point gap, 82-75, average 78) and Soave Classico DOC "Le Bine Longhe" (nine-point gap, 89-80, average 83.67), as well as the Barbera d’Asti DOC Superiore "Vigna del Carlinet" by Poderi Rosso Giovanni (nine-point gap, 89-80, average 84.2), registered relative consensus.

Another surprise was the lowest average scored by the Super Tuscan Barengo IGT Toscana 2003 by Tenuta Carlina S.a.s., just 68.67, with the maximum score a low 76 points, lower than the average 84.2 points scored at the previous Italian Flavor Forum, in May 2005.

Finally, a (not so) funny note.

Unfortunately, two wines from the Cantina di Pitigliano that were originally listed in our evaluation form, did not arrive. Notwithstanding, one of our guests evaluated all the wines listed, including the missing ones. Not to surprisingly, all the scores in that form where fairly low, starting at 55 points assigned to the Paggino DOC Valdichiana.

Below we provide the scores of the other products introduced at the event.

Product Tasting Report

Though there are substantial differences between the top and bottom evaluation of the products listed above, the gaps are noticeably smaller that the ones observed for the wines.

The typical walnut liqueur from Modena, Nocino Riserva Notte di San Giovanni, distributed by the Acetaia La Tradizione, scored fairly evenly from perfect 100s to 95, averaging 97.5 points. The Grappa di Brunello di Montalcino by the Azienda Agraria "La Pescaia", scored some perfect 100s as well, but some lower evaluations lowered the average to 91.5 points. The other grappas fared pretty well to, with average scores ranging from 89 to 91.11.

The Traditional Balsamic Vinegar from Modena aged over 25 years, or Extravecchio Classico (Classic Extra Old), average score is 99.1 (high 100, low 95 points), and the Affinato type (Refined, aged for at least 12 years), scored an average of 98.2 with the top evaluations at 100 and the lowest at 92 points. The two other balsamic vinegars, which are not made according to the traditional method and are aged from several months to about one year, scored fairly well too.

From left: Giovanni Zini, Italian Wine Exporter, Palazzo Rosso; Brigit Solè-March, Senior Editor, English, WineCountry.IT; Loris Scagliarini, President, WineCountry.IT; Cristo Lepori, General Manager of Sales, Italy, WineCountry.IT; Cornelia Tessari, Co-owner of Azienda Agricola Tessari; John Dawdy, Vice President, WineCountry.IT.

Two new products presented at the Italian Flavor Forum II, the totally organic small Panettone by Quality Bio and the gourmet coffee Caffè del Principe - Italian Roast, both averaged 95 points.

Blind Tasting

The face-off of three Italian and three California red wines, judged by three Italian and three US enogastronomy professionals, saw the Italian wines taking the first, third and fifth place. The wines were of simila price range ($15-$30) and,in the case of the California wines, produced from Italian vines and / or by winemakers of Italian descent.

The Blind Tasting Jury – from left (above), from right (below): Cristo Lepori, Giovanni Zini, Marco Bertaccini, David P. Jones, Bob Colombo  e Cornelia Tessari.

That's all for now. The appointment for the next Italian Flavor Forum III is coming in early 2006.