La Montecchia, Conte Emo Capodilista: Happy 500 anniversary Andrea Palladio!
Year 2008 number 1
La Montecchia, Conte Emo Capodilista: Happy 500 anniversary Andrea Palladio!
Palladio was the architect who built our home in 1555. Nature itself seems to be wanting to celebrate Palladio' 500 anniversary. When we met a year ago with our dear friend and winemaker Donato Lanati, we were hoping in a good 2007 vintage that could provide wines reminiscent of the beauty and elegance of Palladio's buildings. When the summer season came it was just perfect, with hot days for the maturation of sugar and tannins and a nice breeze blowing down from the Dolomites that brought cool nights to preserve the skin's aromas and flavours. When we tasted the wines with Lanati we cheered at the richness of the flavours of the cabernets, merlots, syrah and pinot noir and the complexity of the noses of the chardonnay, manzoni bianco verduzzo and prosecco. Palladio in the 1500's invented a new concept of building that was then adopted throughtout the world. The Prosecco will certainly be the favourite wine for the celebrations. Sparkling with fine perlage, a fruity nose with notes of apple and a warm sense of softness to the taste, in Italy it has become synonymous to aperitif. In the fall, after their rest in the bottle, we shall release our whites: the Chardonnay that year after year is providing proof of its excellent qualities in our hills, and the traditional local varieties of Manzoni Bianco and Verduzzo. The name of Verduzzo comes from the slightly green shade in the colour (verde in Italian). It is a nicely round wine with a complex nose of fruit in syrup like pineapple and apricot and a warm rounded structure with a pleasing aftertaste of almond. It goes well with scallops, soft cheeses and ricotta goat cheese or calf livers. Cabernets and Merlots are the international varieties that are cultivated around the world. Cabernet has a fine warm nose of morello cherry with slight spicy notes of pepper and cinnamon that pair it well with autumn meats like Guinea fowl in red-pepper sauce, mixed roasts, roast pig with mushrooms. The aroma of Merlot is of blackberries and wild strawberries, with pleasant well balanced tannins at the taste that accompany well oven-cooked lamb, or stewed goose with celery. For our own celebrations for Palladio's 500s we will organize special tastings for our visitors during week ends at the Villa and on June 22nd we will share the spendor of a concert with music by Antonio Vivaldi played by "I Solisti Veneti" directed by Claudio Scimone.
