Every so often, an ‘also-ran’ wine grape gets its chance to shine. I’m thinking of varieties most often used as background players in blends, like Petit Verdot, or Mourvèdre, or, in today’s case, Croatina. When I see such a wine, I’m instinctively drawn to it—my first thought is that the producer, regardless of the (likely grim) commercial prospects, believed strongly enough in that grape/wine to put it in the bottle anyway. And when someone puts a wine like Daniele Riccci’s Croatina on a wine list? That’s the first place my eye goes, for the same reason.
Good wine is good wine, and in Italy, where so many indigenous varieties are found in one place and nowhere else, it’s no stretch to tether your fortunes to something like Croatina. It’s tradition. Everything about today’s red from Ricci raised eyebrows around our tasting table—the grape, the age, the price, and of course, the uncommonly delicious wine itself. What an amazing find: This is an aged red of real distinction, just now entering its sweet spot and clearly poised for further evolution. It reminded me of some of the bargain-priced back-vintage gems we’ve been getting from Portugal, another wine nation brimming with noble native varieties that are only now finding an audience. Normally you’d need to shop the Bordeaux aisle for a well-aged value like this, but not today—Ricci’s “Elso” is more wine than you can imagine at this price!
In terms of comparisons with more-familiar varieties, I’d say Croatina has kindred qualities to Petit Verdot (which I love as a varietal wine) and Malbec, among others: It is richly colored and darkly fruited, and is often called into action to lend some heft to Nebbiolo-driven reds in northern Piedmont, but its prime growing zone is a little further east, where Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria, and Emilia-Romagna all meet, near the start of the Apennine Mountain chain. The Ricci winery is in the eastern hills of Piedmont in the hills around Tortona (Colli Tortonesi), which has emerged as an appellation to watch thanks to the growing popularity of its signature white grape, Timorasso. The soils of the region are a bluish clay/limestone marl of the type found in the Barolo growing zone, but Nebbiolo doesn’t really factor into the varietal mix in the Colli Tortonesi.
“Elso” was a nickname of winemaker/proprietor Daniele Ricci’s grandfather, Ulisse, who was an esteemed grower/producer with a reputation for serious, age-worthy Croatina reds. It’s a testament to the masochistic streak among winegrowers that the Croatina variety is a late-ripener, not a big producer, and generally challenging to “get right,” but like so many of the world’s most revered wine grapes, the quality of the resultant wines rewards the extra effort. Ricci, like his grandfather before him, has garnered acclaim for his painstaking organic farming in his eight hectares of vineyards, which shows in the dazzling purity and depth of concentration in this 2012: A lot of Croatina reds can be rustic to the point of distraction, whereas this one shows impeccable balance of black/blue fruit, spice, and earth.
The 2012 “Elso” spent 24 months aging in a mixture of tanks and large oak casks before bottling, then rested further in bottle before release. It has since enjoyed further bottle age, yet even after decanting and time in the glass, it is powerfully structured, with a vibrant ruby-black color and lots of primary fruit still in evidence. In fact, that’s what impressed the SommSelect tasters the most: This wine, like a high-quality Left Bank Bordeaux, is just getting started at eight years of age. Aromas of blackberry, Morello cherry, pomegranate, tobacco, leather, and graphite carry over to the full-bodied palate. The tannins have softened over time but are still firm and silty, so decant this about 30 minutes before serving and pair it with something earthy and meaty for best results. Beef, lamb, duck, game birds…there are plenty of options for a red that has a ‘wintry’ personality. I would not hesitate to put this up against some heavy-hitters from more-famous (and more-expensive) appellations, as we did at our own tasting; this is the real deal in every way. Try it with the attached recipe and enjoy the journey outside your comfort zone—you won’t regret it, believe me!
