Robert Parker’s “Wine Advocate” touts Rocca Family Vineyards and awards high scores for two outstanding Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon’s!

In 1999 the two owners Mary Rocca and Eric Grigsby purchased the 21 acre property after a 3 year search for the “ideal” Napa Valley vineyard site.  Mary called upon renowned winemaker Celia Welch, then Celia Masyczek to produce the label’s first vintages.

The debut bottling was the 2000 Syrah, a varietal which to this day garners praise and awards for the Rocca family. But Rocca really got on the map in 2002, when its Grigsby Vineyard Cabernet came in #1 in a blind tasting of 12 Rising Star Cabernets.

Later, the wine was taken with a group of 12 other Cabernets to show in France’s 12 Best Cabernets from California. It came in #1 over there as well. Finally, those same 12 Cabs had another blind tasting competition in SF to see how they would rank by American consumers. It came in #1 again!

Rocca’s star was rising fast. But so far they have been much under the radar, but I have a feeling that this will change soon. The current winemaker Paul Colantuoni worked for many years under Celia Welch and has taken a few pages out of her “note book” and it shows with the new wines.

ROCCA Tesorina 2013v – 95 Pts- Robert Parker

Rocca 2013 Tesorina is everything you’d expect from their flagship bottling – the “little treasure” – from one of the most extraordinary vintages Napa Valley has ever seen.  We consider it the most complete, profound, utterly beautiful wine we’ve produced to date.  There’s a deep, rich core of sweet black cherry and wild blackberry fruit here, with fascinating complexity that comes from prominent spice notes, hints of spring flowers and graphite and rock dust, and a significant melted chocolate component.

On the palate this is full-bodied, densely packed stuff, with serious depth and substance.  In a perfect reflection of this very special vintage, though, the wine expresses its richness and concentration with exquisite balance and elegance.  The texture of this wine is simply extraordinary.  It’s gorgeously lush and sumptuous, and it finishes with rich, beautifully polished tannins that are reminiscent of the softest cashmere.  This is an iconic expression of a truly exceptional vintage in Napa Valley, and we hope you’ll treasure it for many years to come.

ROCCA Grigsby Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2013-  94 Pts–Robert Parker

The  2013 Grigsby Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is the deepest, richest, most complete and balanced version of this wine Rocca has ever produced.  It shows gorgeous weight and density, supported by the exquisitely resolved tannins of the extraordinary 2013 vintage.

The overall theme here is one of perfectly ripe dark red fruit, especially sweet black cherries, beautifully complemented by sophisticated spice and floral elements as well as prominent notes of vineyard dust and rock quarry dust.  The quality of the vintage is particularly evident on the mid-palate, where tremendous richness perfectly matches the luscious black cherry flavors, and on a highly polished, silky smooth finish that seems to last forever.  This is one that you can enjoy for a long, long time to come.

Robert Parker 94 Points The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Grigsby Vineyard from Yountville is a softer, almost Margaux-style of wine compared to the Coombsville. The wine offers Asian plum sauce, a touch of ripe, black cherries and blackcurrants, background smoky oak and a nice fleshy full-bodied mouthfeel with velvety tannins and well-integrated acidity, wood and alcohol. This is a beauty that can be drunk now, or cellared for another 15 years.”

Both of these award winning wines are produced in very limited quantities.

Rocca wines are available in New York exclusively through Romano Brands Fine wines.

Contact Michael Romano at (646) 948-1100 for additional information.

Romano Brands & www.Sevenfifty.com – are making it easy to order wine!
Sevenfifty.com is a state-of-the-art, modern platform for the beverage alcohol trade.

Restaurants, bars, and fine wine retailers can easily search for our products and easily view our wholesale pricing.

Romano Brands Fine Wine customers can discover a trove of educational material about our products, including labels, tasting notes, and detailed pricing information that helps you learn more about our wines.

We understand how annoying it is to deal with applications and resale certificates when trying to set up a new account. We’ve rebuilt this process, and you’ll start working with Romano Brands Fine Wines easily.

Buyers will now be able to fill out all the information needed for an account application and resale certificate just once, then submit your application to any distributor with a single click. You’ll receive completed, electronically signed forms, with no scanning or faxing required.

This service is free but not available to the public – it is exclusive to the trade only.

For the public & trade: please see us at www.RomanoBrands.com

Exclusive for the Trade: join us at Sevenfifty at www.Sevenfifty.com

Saint-Vincent is the traditional patron Saint of wine-growers.  The celebration of St. Vincent Day happened in Sancerre last week.

It is a tradition in the Sancerre which begins with a great Mass in the presence of the Bishop of Bourges. He blessed the winegrowers to protect them and help them in their task.

It was a great celebration offered by the beloved local Bishop, because this year had the exceptional assembly of all the “bâtonniers” from the thirteen Sancerre villages.

The “bâtonnier” is a member of the Saint-Vincent Fellowship who is honored to carry its staff and offers the new vintage wine to the guests. This year, the lead “bâtonnier” for the Saint-Vincent Fellowship was Catherine Corbeau MELLOT for the Domaine Joseph Mellot.

To be the featured bâtonnier is very prestigious and remains an extreme honor by all the wine producers in Sancerre.  This year has been so much more important due to the difficult vintage last year and the shortage of Sancerre.

Domain Joseph Mellot produces the world famous Cuvee Pierre Etienne Sancerre which remains the benchmark of the finest quality available in the world.

See Catherine Mellot as the honorable “bâtonnier”

Would you like to taste the wine?

When I go to a restaurant, I usually order wine, preferably a full bottle.  When the wine is finally opened and presented, the vast amount of wait-staff personnel will ask prior to serving: “Would you like to taste the wine?”  There is a much preferred way to present the wine by the waitperson.

The person, who is going to initially review the wine that will be served to the other people at the table, should first smell the empty wine glass for foul aromas, possibly left by soap or poor glass storage.  If all is acceptable with the empty glass neutral aroma, the waitperson should then pour a small amount into the glass and follow with the question: “Does the wine meet your approval for serving?”

The person reviewing the wine should not just taste the wine to ascertain if he or she merely enjoys the taste. The person reviewing the wine should first determine if the wine is corked or not.  This is accomplished by smelling the wine in the glass.

Corked? A corked wine gives off a smell that is similar to wet cardboard, a moldy basement, a wet newspaper or a wet dog. When you taste the wine, a typical corked wine-taste will be “off” and not exciting, exhibiting no fruit characteristics. Some people also find that a corked wine can taste astringent and tingles their tongue.

A few other hospitable responsibilities of the person who is reviewing the wine should be to look at the wine’s color, and if the wine was age-worthy for acceptable serving to the other guests.  Color can sometimes be deceptive.  A brownish red could show premature age due to poor wine storage, usually from a heated storage area.  Is the wine evident of sediment or tartrates (wine diamonds) in the glass?  Perhaps the bottle should be decanted, especially if it is a bit older.

Ok – let’s say the wine is acceptable. Now is when the waitperson should be directed to pour wine. The waitperson (if properly trained) should remember the golden rule of ladies first, beginning to the left of the host, followed by serving the gentlemen; but never should the first glass be poured to the host.

Restaurants could benefit from the advice and expertise of a good wine purveyor who is trained in wine service, possibly as a sommelier.  The subtleties of proper wine service are at the least subliminal, but more often it is most appreciated by the restaurants’ guests.  A good salesperson should have the proper knowledge of restaurant wine service and be willing to offer his or her assistance in training the client-restaurant’s staff in proper wine service.  Even the most casual restaurants are far better recognized by their customers with proper wine service.

Please contact Michael Romano at Romano Brands Fine Wines for any questions on commercial/home wine service or any wine pairing concerns you might have, please call us at (646) 948-1100.

Cheers!

Life is too short!  Enjoy the BEST! ~ BORTOLIN Prosecceo DOCG ~

Not all Prosecco producers make Prosecco the same!
They are not all the same in taste, quality, nor tradition. They are not all designated DOCG  (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita is the highest classification for Italian wines. It denotes controlled (controllata) production methods and guaranteed (garantita) wine quality.)

They do not all come from the prized area of Valdobbiadene.
We are proud to be appointed the exclusive importer 
of Italy’s finest produced ultra-premium Prosecco
Fratelli  BORTOLIN Prosecco di Valdobbiadene DOCG

Prosecco is both the name of an Italian grape variety, as well as the name of the wine made from these clusters of light green berries that hang on precipitously steep hillsides north of Venice and the city of Treviso.

BORTOLIN “Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze”
This is truly the inimitable embodiment of life’s beautiful moments. The intensity of its color signals the complexity of the ample and inviting aromas that are to follow: from apple to pear, from apricot to citrus fruit, to rose, with a pleasant note of glazed almonds on the aftertaste. Produced almost exclusively in its Dry version  this sparkling wine makes a good companion to traditional desserts, from short pastries to fruit tarts, to sweetened ‘focaccia’ (type of flat soft bread). Cartizze adds to every well-wishing toast and makes every ceremony more festive.

Cartizze Zone
This particularly prestigious type of Prosecco is made in the zone of “Cartizze”, a small delimited area described in the Disciplinary Rules as the 104 hectares (approx. 262 acres) of vineyards lying between the steepest hills of San Pietro di Barbozza, Santo Stefano and Saccol in the community of Valdobbiadene. This zone is a real and true “cru” (vineyard or area of vineyards of a single vine variety) born of the perfect combination of a gentle microclimate and quite various soil, with moraines, sandstones and clays, which allows for rapid drainage of rainwater and, at the same time, maintains a constant reserve of water so that the vines can grow and develop in a balanced way.  Always limited in availability.

Bortolin “Brut”

This is the most modern of the Prosecco wines and it has had great international success.
It is characterized by richer aromas of citrus and fresh grape aromas with pleasant hints of bread crust showing through, coming together on the palate with an exquisite  energy.

Its outstanding quality ensures a persistent taste which is clean on the palate, making
this the sparkling wine par excellence for the table. It  goes well with simple or elaborate fish and vegetables hors d’oeuvres, first courses of sea foods and baked fish, or, as is the custom in its production zone, enjoyed throughout the entire meal.