This morning’s discovery was exhibit A for the case that Italy–long known as a bastion of its many hundreds of local grapes–can go toe to toe with the rest of the world when it comes to pitch-perfect expressions of the most famous “international” grape varieties. For exhibit B we turn to red wines, and specifically Cabernet Sauvignon. Likely the current champion for most recognized grape on the global scene, Cabernet is lauded in France, California, South America and beyond. La Mozza, a small estate owned by Joe and Lidia Bastianich, is out to prove that southern Tuscany should be on that list too, and I couldn’t agree more. The power and gravitas of Cabernet meets the savory, earthy terroir of Tuscany in a glorious way–and the price blows those other regions out of the water when it comes to value. This is one to go deep on.
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The La Mozza winery is owned by Italian-American restaurateurs and television personalities Joe and Lidia Bastianich. Known far and wide for their dedication to introducing North American audiences to an authentic representation of Italian food, they are at their roots farmers and as such they have several wineries and farms in their Italian homeland. This property is in the municipality of Magliano in Toscana and includes 16 hectares of sustainably farmed vineyards, which are planted not just to Sangiovese (a.k.a. Morellino) but Ciliegiolo, Mammolo, Alicante Bouschet, Syrah, and other local and “international” varieties–including of course, Cabernet Sauvignon.
Historically, the Maremma encompassed a stretch of coastline running from Pisa, in Tuscany, all the way down to Rome. This wine is from the province of Grosseto, the heartland of the Maremma. Soils are richer in clay, loam, and sandstone than those further inland, and it’s a drier, hotter “maritime” climate in comparison to that of Central Tuscany. For this reason, producers up and down the Tuscan Coast have gravitated to the “Bordeaux” varieties, especially Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot.
Winemaking at La Mozza is traditional (despite the non-traditional varieties) and straightforward. Hand-harvested grapes are destemmed and fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel, with maceration on skins lasting roughly two weeks. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in stainless steel before its transfer to a combination of 4,000-liter Slavonian oak casks and stainless steel tanks for 12 months of aging. In the glass, this soulful, medium bodied Cabernet shows a deep ruby-black moving to garnet, with a wild and inviting nose of Morello cherry, blackberry, currants, licorice, dark chocolate, leather, and tobacco. The structure and overall scale of the wine is very “Tuscan”—it has notes of underbrush and forest floor and a slight bite to its tannins and acid. Pair this with a medium-rare bistecca!