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Amarones & Valpolicellas


Joe H

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Last week I found myself in the walled city of Soave in the Veneto region of Italy. A locally legendary restaurant, Al Gambero, also has a small enoteca adjacent to it from which many of the wines sold in the restaurant are sourced. I love Amarone. I also love Valpolicella. Dal Forno and Quintarelli are the two names in Italy which are associated with the best. Still, Gambero Rosso also honors a small winery called Tenuta Sant 'Antonio with the same three stars the others are accorded. What is significant about this is that the Sant 'Antonio wines are literally one fourth to one fifth the price of Dal Forno.

And, perhaps, every bit as good.

I brought back, in total, over a case of these wines. Now, having drank the several bottles of Tenuta Sant 'Antonio, I want more. A lot more. Cases more. And none can be had in America. Serious. Whether wine-searcher.com or winezap.com these are wines which are virtually unknown in America. (How many more can there be like this?)

Can anyone help me to find these in America? Or should I content myself with the small shop in Soave shipping to me while paying an exhorbitant charge for the boat the wine will find itself on.

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Thanks but they don't carry either of them. I've actually called the winery in Italy, found someone who speaks English and located the importer, Vin Divino, in Chicago. In turn Chicago told me that the local distributor is Country Vintner. I called them and they have not ordered either of the wines; in fact they have little familiarity with the winery. I then called Vin Divino back and found a person who was extremely helpful. After eliminating the NJ distributor that does not carry them, they told me three distributors in Mass., RI and CT who they have shipped both wines to recently. (so recently that they haven't got to the shelves yet!) From CT I found one store which was experienced in shipping interstate and have called them: I'll post its name after I secure the order. They have confirmed they can get both of the wines but they are researching the price from Worldwide Wines, the CT distributor since they will have to order it from them. When all of this is done I'll post the prices & info on here. Because of what I have learned from Country Vintner these "tre bicchieri" wines (the Valpolicella is the ONLY one-not even Dal Forno or Quintarelli was noted by Gambero Rosso) are not coming into the D. C. area. Or the area from North Carolina through the Pennsylvania line for that matter.

Depending on price I am going to buy quite a bit of this. I only believe that a small number of cases of each (especially the La Bandina) were imported. The wines are 2001 La Bandina Valpolicella and 1999 Campo dei Gigli amarone.

Edited by Joe H
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Tenuta Sant 'Antonio 2001 La Bandina Valpolicella ( http://www.veronaland.it/tenuta/eng/doc/3_eng.pdf - "tre bicchieri" from Gambero Rosso) can be purchased at Grapes in Norwalk, CT for $370 a case which includes all charges, shipping and a 10% case discount. Ask for John, the owner. 800-434-9463. They take delivery in mid October and can ship here via second day ground.

MA and RI stores do not ship out of state. Only a handful of cases are coming into New England with NONE coming into the Mid Atlantic, NJ or NY. Carolina is not getting any. Apparantly fewer than 25 cases were imported with a handful of stores receiving this in Chicago and a few restaurants.

The most difficult wine I've ever tracked down. In fact, now that I think about it, I had a helluva time finding it in Verona-I didn't! Nor in Venice. Only a small enoteca in the walled city of Soave.

This is the winery's website; there is an option for English.

www.tenutasantantonio.it

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i'm with the country vintner and we are able to source any and all sant antonio you wish...i'm not in the office so i can't check whether we're VA compliant on the wines you want, but we can order them into a DC retailer of your choce...tell me who that is and i'll send them the prices etc....just trying to keep our wine $ local.

the vindivino is a new portfolio for us and i've not tasted this, but you have my interest !

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You should tell your people in customer relations that you can source this since there was absolutely no interest in pursuing this for me. It was because of their lack of cooperation that I called Vin Divino back and worked my way through six different East Coast distributors before I was able to find one who could refer me to a store that was comfortable shipping out of state. I bought two and a half cases of the '01 La Bandina and a half case of the '99 Campo dei Gigli. The CT distributor was extremely helpful (as was MS Walker in RI and MA) in locating the wine for me. (MA does not ship out of state however) They were also familiar with Sergio Zenato and Roccolo Grassi both of which are tre bicchieri Amarones rarely seen around here. Sorry to be so negative towards your company but I hit a real brick wall when I called your office.

You should try to get whatever you can of this wine so others on this board can try it. I suspect there's very little to go around and you're late in the game-still you should try. When you taste it I think you'll understand why I was so obsessed in finding it after returning from Verona.

The '01 La Bandina is the ONLY tre bicchieri Valpolicella in the last four or five years. It is one fourth the price of Dal Forno's '01 Valpolicella and I probably like the Sant 'Antonio as much. Dal Forno's '00 is the best Valpolicella I have tasted but I have not tasted the '01 La Bandina side by side with it.

I will when I receive my order from CT. It certainly would have been easier to buy it locally....

As an addendum I sincerely appreciate your interest. I only wish several others had been as responsive. Thanks, anyway.

Edited by Joe H
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here is what is available and without comment on our customer service dept..i'll be happy to give prices to any

retail license holder.

the sant antonio valpolicella is in stock 2005

we can order all of the following:

valpolicella ripasso "mont garbi" 2002

valpolicella "la bandina" 2001

amarone "antonio castagnendi" 2002

amarone "campo dei gigli" 2000

cabernet sauvignon "torre mellotti" 2004

cabernet sauvignon "capital del monte" 2002

soave 2005

the national sales manager for vin divino is based in Chicago, but is married to a grad student in DC, so she is looking for good business reasons to visit here. perhaps there is a tasting/dinner in the making.

she is here in election week with enrica scavino of piedmont doing a dinner at a location tba...i'll post

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There's only two of all those wines that are worth seeking out: the '01 La Bandina Valpolicella and the Campo dei Gigli Amarone. All of the others I believe are a step or two below. I had the '99 of the Campo dei Gigli in Venice and it was outstanding; it's also tre bicchieri. I believe their 2000 is also tre bicchieri but I have not tasted it yet. Thanks for following up on this. Wait until you taste it-you'll understand why I became so obsessed in finding it. Several of those on this board with restaurants or shops should buy one or both of these.

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here is what is available and without comment on our customer service dept..i'll be happy to give prices to any

retail license holder.

the sant antonio valpolicella is in stock 2005

we can order all of the following:

valpolicella ripasso "mont garbi" 2002

valpolicella "la bandina" 2001

amarone "antonio castagnendi" 2002

amarone "campo dei gigli" 2000

cabernet sauvignon "torre mellotti" 2004

cabernet sauvignon "capital del monte" 2002

soave 2005

the national sales manager for vin divino is based in Chicago, but is married to a grad student in DC, so she is looking for good business reasons to visit here. perhaps there is a tasting/dinner in the making.

she is here in election week with enrica scavino of piedmont doing a dinner at a location tba...i'll post

There must be someone on this board who could put together a tasting dinner featuring the two wines I've raved about above along with another wine or two from Vin Divino's portfolio. This could be an excellent opportunity for many on this board to taste the '01 La Bandina and the '99 or '00 Campo dei gigli Amarone. I know right now that my wife and I will commit to this dinner regardless of the month in which it is held. Or where. I would look forward to seeing others' reactions to these wines in person.

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I just took delivery of the due bicchieri 2000 La Bandina-it is the 2001 (TRE bicchiera) that I have raved about in this thread. I opened the bottle about 45 minutes ago, took a sip after decanting and set it aside. Similar to the 2001 which I tasted in Italy there is a very full mouth "feel." Viscous, coating the mouth there is a long aftertaste from the wine. Initially, with the first sip there was a faintly "bitter" taste which honestly concerned me. After 45 minutes this has not only smoothed out-it has disappeared. I'm drinking this from a Reidel Burgundy Sommelier: as I swirl the wine around the glass the color coats the inside of the glass, slowly tracing down the sides. Gorgeous. My fear was that the 2001 would suffer from being shipped to the U. S. from temperature and vibration. The 2000, a rung lower than the 2001, has not suffered much at all. Especially after 45 minutes to open up. It is really nice. Not quite on the level of the 2001 in Italy but very nice for here.

I take delivery of the 2001 in about three to four weeks: I feel comfortable that it will live up to the expectations of all my previous posts and for those who may have committed to a few or many bottles of it.

Tomorrow night I'll open a bottle of the '99 Campo dei Gigli Amarone which is "tre bicchieri" and was a blockbuster when I tasted it in Venice.

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I have a case of this which I've purchased over time including a number of bottles overseas where it was much less expensive. A couple of years ago the 2000 was the "house" wine at the three Michelin star Le Calandre near Padua. It is also "tre bicchieri." I mention all of this because last week I opened the first of my bottles with several friends. It is phenominal! Phenominal! It is almost impossible to find with the current vintage 2001 which is a notch or two below.

Circle Liquors on Connecticut avenue put it on sale today for (gulp) $75.00, marked down from about $95 or so. They do have the 2000. If anyone likes a really full bodied wine and wants to splurge on one special bottle this would be an opportune time. If you really love amarone this particular bottle is up there with some vintages of Dal Forno which sells for five times as much.

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This is probably a post that very few people will read but....I just took delivery of two cases of the tre bicchieri '01 Sant 'Antonio La Bandina from Grapes in CT.

1. It was a very good experience. The store, Grapes, lived up to every expectation I might have had.

2. The wine, after being opened for 90 minutes (yes, 90 minutes!) WAS EVERY BIT AS GOOD AS WHAT I HAD IN ITALY! (Two neighbors and I spent quite a bit of time evaluating it! It was at its best right around the 90 minute mark.)

3. I have now purchased three more cases (one for them and two more for myself). This is fantastic stuff for the price: Wine Library is $25.99 (but they are now sold out), Grapes was about $27.95 but only have two cases left. Plus shipping which adds about two per bottle.

If the Country Vintner is sincere about bringing this into the D. C. area I stand by my claim that this is an absolutely remarkable wine and value for the price. Even at $32 or 33 which is the list price.

I look forward to hearing comments from others on this board who try the 2001 La Bandina.

I also hope that a few restaurants who follow this board will add this also.

Edited by Joe H
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