Italiano
Palazzone, wine to ‘forget’ in the cellar
In introducing a splendid tasting of his wines, which was paired with a gourmet summer lunch prepared by the young and very talented chef Salvatore Canargiu, Giovanni Dubini quoted Elio Altare and said ‘’wine is 50% luck’’. It was a simple and direct observation which was difficult to refute because a lot of ‘luck’ is indeed needed. And this because when one makes wine they have an important partner even if they do not want one: nature. Nature can be like a wicked stepmother, cruel and indifferent, or it can be like Mother Earth, benevolent and protective. Whatever the case may be, nature is something a winemaker must come to terms with. On this beautiful day, with a golden sun that caressed rather than burned, was hard to imagine nature being a wicked stepmother and there behind rows of vineyards, amid abreathtaking landscape stood ‘Il Palazzone’, a medieval residence which was probably built for prelates and pilgrims on their way to Rome for the 1300 Jubilee called by Pope Boniface VII.
Since its first harvest in 1978, Palazzone has become an important winemaking reality in the area of Orvieto and today produces around 130-140,000 bottles. They are proud to make Orvieto wine because, as Giovanni pointed out, ‘’it must have something going it since it has been made for the past 2,500 years’’. The vineyards used for production are almost 90% white grapes, mostly local varieties like Verdello, Malvasia, Procanico and Grechetto. These are blended skillfully to create versions you would not expect of this popular Umbrian wine and that can even stand the test of time, producing evolved aromas and sensations worthy of a great, aged white.
