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June 2012 Classic, Limited and Vintners Series Wine Tasting Chardonnay/Biancale, 2011. Grilet
If you love history, you'll love the story of this property. According to an ancient legend, the Republic of San Marino was founded in 301 AD, when the noblewoman Donna Felicissima of Rimini gave Mount Titano and the surrounding land to Marino, a Christian stonecutter from Dalmatia who had been forced to flee his native country to escape the cruel persecutions of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. However, archaeological discoveries made locally have shown that San Marino had already been settled many centuries before this date. The art of vine-growing probably developed in San Marino between 400 and 700 AD, when the tiny community depended mainly on agriculture and livestock for their existence. The first historical document illustrating the importance of vine-growing in San Marino dates back to the thirteenth century. A contract from 1253 makes specific reference to a plantation of grapevines on a piece of farmland at Castello di Casole, which was sold by Count Taddeo of Montefeltro to Mayor Oddone Scarito. The official statutes of the republic drawn up in 1352-53 included a series of articles imposing harsh fines for anyone found guilty of damaging grapevines. A later set of statutes, from 1600, gave a precise list of work that was to be carried out regularly on local vine plantations, together with the punishments that could be applied to sellers of watered-down wine. In other words, don't mess with our vines. This selection is a rather unique blend of 50% Biancale, 50% Chardonnay and Sangiovese fermented without the skins. The juice of nearly all red grapes is actually white. All red wines get their color from the skins, so if you squeeze the grapes quickly so they don't have any contact with the skins, the wine comes out white. In the case of Sangiovese, you get a bigger and more complex flavor than most whites. It's tricky, but delicious. This is a lovely, piquant wine with nuanced fruit flavors to match Ahi tuna tartare or salmon. June 2012 Vintners Series Newsletter (.pdf)
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