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 The wines are also a testimony to the fact that in Italy a wine entrepreneur can excel in making super-premium wines without necessarily having centuries of winemaking as strength though it certainly helps if you are an Antinori or Frescobaldi, said Giorgio as he gave an A/V Presentation before tasting 4 wines – Mongrola 2012, Chianti Classico 2012, Batar 2012 and Camartina 2010.
Querciabella was founded in 1974 by Giuseppe Castiglioni, a business man who had nothing to do with wines except that he loved Burgundy and was an avid collector of French wines.
The property is now managed and owned by his son, Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni. He says, “Querciabella is dedicated to producing among the finest Italian wines - as a winemaker and an avid collector, I believe that quality begins in the vineyard and with minimal intervention one can produce a wine that is truly a reflection of its terroir." Viticulture and wine making techniques follow strict biodynamic standards at Querciabella thought it is not Demeter certified bio-dynamic.
Dichotomy
Born in Milan, Italy, in 1966, Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni is the chairman and CEO of NKGB Strategic Advisory, specializing in venture capital, private equity, M&A, technology, plant-based economy and impact investing. NKGB’s main focus is on investments originating in Asia and the Middle East. He is also the founder and chairman of Opteres, the most exclusive network of fine art collectors in the world. He advises private clients as well as banks and public institutions about fine art, and conducts private sales of rare masterpieces through Opteres.
Sebastiano is also the owner and chairman of Querciabella winery which went organic since 1988 and biodynamic since 2000. And if he does not like a wine produced at the estate, chances are it won’t be in the market-especially their iconic wine Camartina.
Giorgio Fragiacomo was visiting India after 4 years and realised that he needed to visit more often the way the market was evolving and the sales growing. ‘We are told that Indian market is a tough market because of high taxes. But to us it is very important-it has become the 10th most important market in the world for Querciabella,’ says Giorgio, without elaborating the number of cases imported by the Wine Park. The cult wines Batar and Camartina are truly iconic wines imported but the Chianti Classico is also very popular. Mongrana is the entry level wine-you could call it Super Tuscan if you would.
His entry to Querciabella which he joined in 2007 makes an interesting story. After finishing his WSET Diploma he decided to try and study for MW. ‘Initially I wanted to do some research on Syrah wines. But I realised after tasting 15-20 of them they all taste alike- one cannot tell an Australian from a Sicilian Syrah! So I decided to go for the organic and bio-dynamic wines’. Being an Italian living abroad, he had naturally Italy in mind for his research and he came across Querciabella. He found it so interesting and unique and the wines so charming that he decided to eventually join the company. Surely, the management would have loved his impeccable English and hired him for export marketing.
Talking of various winemaking techniques, Giorgio says, ‘we use wild yeast; we do cold soak. The grape bunches are blanketed with CO2. We use Sulphur but in limited quantity.We use bio-dynamic methods but we use Sulphur and so are not certified biodynamic.We believe Brett is not good for wine.’
As the Italians say, Querciabella has squared the circle of quality with ethics.The whole reason for going bio-dynamic was ethical. But Sebastiano Castiglioni also knows that a hand-knitted sweater is not automatically better than the machine-made one. The soil is important but what you do with it and the grapes is also important. The tasting in the Grill Room of Hotel Lalit, so professionally handled by their French Sommelier Donnadieu Charles, showcased the iconic winery and their top white and red wines, even though they may have a slightly quirky attitude, according to some people.
WINE TASTING
Mongrana 2012
Produced from the grapes grown in Maremma it is an entry level red wine made from 50% Sangiovese, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and almost 25% Merlot and a very small quantity of other local grapes. Quite perfumed, it is not brilliant in colour and appears unfiltered with truffle and black cherry flavours. Fermented in Stainless Steel tanks and cement, there seems to have been no tinkering in making this wine. I found it too astringent, not fruity but complex. Giorgio confirmed that the wine was not stabilised and would age even without the presence of wood. This food wine can be a good match with antipasti, main course; a biodynamic but clean wine the Burgundian freshness. 88/100
Chianti Classico2012
A juicy wine from grapes from three of their vineyards in Greve, Gaiole and Radda in Chianti, this beautiful, fresh and fruity wine would qualify to be labelled as Chianti Classico Riserva, but they do not do so. Interestingly, when the Chianti Classico Gran Selezione was introduced in 2014, Querciabella was ready with the wine. ‘We spent 5 years to locate the best patches in the three vineyard sites. But the rules do not permit them to be classified as Gran Selezione so we decided to label it Riserva. ‘Made from 100% Sangiovese, this would be categorised as a Super Tuscan earlier since the rules did not permit more than 80-85% Sangiovese.
Giorgio was also critical of the existing system of labelling Chianti Classico Riserva which facilitated the wine unsold in one year to be sold as ‘Riserva’ the next year, simply because of extra one year of maturing. Querciabella might be labelled as Enfant Terrible by the Consorzio of Chianti Classico but the Estate seems to have reasons to be critical and it might be worthwhile for the Board to look at the issue more closely (La cantina ha ragione).
Another interesting aspect of this wine is that it is fit for vegans and vegetarians. Sebastiano has been a vegetarian for several years but turned vegan 4 years ago so no animal products are used during the wine-making process.
This was an excellent, vibrant and fresh wine with ripe tannins and good structure with balanced acidity. Great mouthfeel and lingering aftertaste of black cherries. 91/100
Batar 2012
The white wine with an interesting history is often considered the best Italian white wine. I had tasted the 2006 in Vinitaly 2008 and had written a detailed report in delWine giving a bit of history of the Estate. Luigi Veronelli, the well-known Italian critic and author called it White Sassicaia- it did what Sassicaia did for the red Italian wines-a game changer for the Italian whites! The 50% Pinot Bianco and 50% Chardonnay blend (they still grow Pinot Blanc in parts of Cotes de Nuits, said Giorgio who said it used to be an important grape of Burgundy decades ago).
Both the grapes are fermented separately before blending and kept on lees for 9-12 months without agitating the lees and undergoing 100% malolactic fermentation. The 2012 was as much of an enigma now as the 2006 was when I tasted it in 2008. It was closed and tight but very well structured and so full bodied and nicely textured that Giorgio recommends it even with Wagyu beef! 93/100
Camartina 2010
A blend of Sangiovese (70%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (30%) , Camartina has been described as the best Italian Red on more than one occasion. Categorised as a Super Tuscan, the wine was well-rounded, good structure, very perfumed with fine nuances, full of red fruit and elegance and persistent and long end. Again, recommended with even fish by Giorgio, I found it a meditation wine as I could sit and sip for hours in the company of good friends and with or without food-I’d rather not have it with fish, thank you. 95/100
Subhash Arora |