Through the magic of the internet, my enthusiastic post about an Italian rosé called “Il Chiaretto” from producer Azienda Agricola San Giovanni found its way to the importer, A.I. Selections. I got a nice e-mail from their East Coast Manager, Birk O’Halloran, who was kind enough to let me share his additional comments concerning a producer, and a wine, that had me excited:
We just finished readying your wonderful post about San Giovanni Chiaretto. So glad you enjoyed it! It is only the second vintage to be offered in the US but has developed such a following. Would you believe that when we met Paulo the owner he had all but given up on the US market, thinking that Americans just didn’t understand his wines?
Well, I don’t know what’s not to love about an amazing rosé in a squat little bottle. You could carry a well-chilled bottle down to this pier on Lake Garda in Lombardy, not too far from the winery.
And thought I got the translation of “Il vino di una notte” listed on the front label correct (“The wine of one night“), I completely missed the point. Birk to the rescue!
It refers to the fact the wine is macerated for only 12 hours overnight before taken off the skins, hence the wine “being made in one night.”
From now on I’ll just stick to drinking Italian rosé rather than speculating on Italian phrases and their meaning.
Bonus content: Do you know what the A.I. in A.I. Selections stands for? Acid Inc. You see, the folks at A.I. Selections love that zip and zest that can only come from wines with high levels of acidity. But do that like acidity for acidity’s sake alone? No! As their website states:
So it is not exactly ‘acidity’ that we seek on its own, but as a integral component that balances these wines, keeps the focus on the center of the palate, allows the wine to age longer, gives the wine a certain freshness, and is an excellent partner with food.
Bring on the acid!
Lake Garda photo courtesy spencer77.
