Icons of Italy
Michele Boscia
When I started importing Italian wine in 1994, I never imagined that we would one day represent iconic Italian producers like Cavallotto, Emidio Pepe, Poderi e Cantine Oddero, and Castell’in Villa. Doing so gives me enormous pleasure. I call these estates iconic because they have been making excellent, age-worthy wines in a consistent style for generations.
All of these family-owned wineries have been excelling for more than 50 years; Oddero started bottling wine in 1878, almost 150 years ago, Cavallotto started in 1948, just after the Second War, Emidio Pepe followed in 1964, and Castell’in Villa in 1971. When they started out, none of the appellations they represent were particularly well-known for fine wine, particularly in comparison with famous French appellations like the Médoc or Burgundy, but they believed in their terroirs, and now they are famous too. This is in no small part due to the work of these producers, and others like them. Their more age-worthy bottlings improve in the cellar for many decades. I grew up in the wine trade drinking noble French wine, and for most of the twentieth century there was no doubt that Italian wine was thought to be in the shadow of French wine, but that is no longer true. Italian wine has come into its own, and it is still improving.
The whole world of fine wine-making, Italy included, was tempted by a more flashy style of making wine in the 1980s and 1990s, a style promoted by the wine writer Robert Parker in his journal The Wine Advocate. These wines were ripe, flattering, and drinkable young, very often aged in new, small barrels, and (in Italy, at least) sometimes included non-traditional grape varieties. None of these iconic wineries gave in to this temptation, although selling their authentic wines during this time was more difficult. The great majority of wineries that did give in have since realized their mistake, and have returned to the traditional ways. It is now obvious that the careful use of traditional winemaking methods, such as long macerations or aging wine in large, neutral barrels, can produce outstanding wines, particularly when used with grapes from great vineyards; all four of these estates are particularly blessed in that regard. I find it very satisfying that such traditional artisanal products are so successful in this modern era.
What are the future icons? Other great small estates are making great wine in these three traditional areas, of course, and there are whole regions of Italy that have only come forward in the last few years, particularly in the south. I can’t wait to find out!
-Oliver McCrum