Don’t Panic, This Wine’s Organic!!

It has been a few years since I spoke about the Tessari Family from the Veneto in Italy, Sisto, Elena and Pietro from La Cappuccina which dates back to 1890. The beauty and the history  of this winery and the family (Which I feel a part of ) and their philosophy of viticulture and wine making is top of the line. 

The Winery 

What a great photo from above this beautiful, historic property. Tasting wine there and their hospitality is something I wish all of you can and will experience one day soon as I did.  There is one Flagship Wine I wanted to review that has always been one of my favorites so much that I even added it to the wine list at the Brazilian Steakhouse I worked at for 3 years. It’s name pays tribute to the family that originally owned the land the “Buri” family and is a unique certified organic blend that has received worldwide Recognition and won several awards.

Campo Buri (the field of the Buri Family)

First of all as I mentioned above, this is all Certified Organic wine. Secondly all their wines are Estate Bottled (Grapes coming from their own vineyards) and produced and bottled at their winery. I chose to introduce you to Campo Buri for two reasons on this blog. 1- It makes a Great, Unique Red Wine Gift for a large percentage of the Red Wine Palates of many different people and 2- Today the time of this Entry the wine world is acknowledging #CabernetFrancDay . But this says Carmenere??? 

Is It Cabernet Franc Or Carmenere??

I don’t think anyone really knows this answer haha. It happened to the French in Chile when they misidentified Merlot as Carmenere. A similar situation occurred in Italy when, in 1990, some wineries acquired what they thought was Cabernet Franc vines from a French nursery. The growers noticed that the grapes were different from the traditional Cabernet Franc both in color and taste. They also noticed that the vines ripened earlier than Cabernet Franc would have. Other Italian wine regions also started to doubt the origin of these vines and it was finally established to be Carménère. Although, in Italy, the variety is grown mainly in the northeast part of the country and it has only recently been entered into Italy’s national catalog of vine varieties and thus “no district has yet requested the authorization to use it”

Soooo, Campo Buri is 90% what they label as Carmenere and Sisto Tessari will say it is a Clone of Cabernet Franc and 10% of an ancient varietal, Oseleta (Oh-So-Let-Uh) So is it Cabernet Franc or Carmenere or a Clone of Cabernet Franc that they are labeling Carmenere.. or maybe a little bit of both. Who knows? 

The Wine Review

This is the 2011 vintage. I have had the 2008 a year ago. At my ABC location we have some 2011’s 2012’s and 2013’s  For this review I used the 2011 as this wine does get more complex with age. The wine is aged 14 months in all NEW French Oak Barrique and an additional year in the bottle before release. As you can see by the picture a sparkling dark ruby color. I defy any professional or wine enthusiast to identify this nose as OLD WORLD or ITALIAN. It has a NEW WORLD Nose. Right after opening and chilling down to 65 degrees a big fruit forward nose jumps out of the glass of blueberry jam, lots of vanilla, (Maybe a little too much New Oak for me) some cocoa as well and berries and hints of smoke from the barrel. You will pick up a slight herbal nose and on the palate but that is typical of either Carmenere or Cabernet Franc or a Clone of Cabernet Franc haha. (Now I am Confused !)

On the palate more like a New World burst of very ripe fruit jumps out with a medium to full bodied texture, balanced acidity and structure and the tannins are sweet and not grippy and drying ending with a nice spicy black pepper finish and leaving vanilla hints and believe it or not (For Juicing Fans) a sweet wheatgrass ending. This is an easy drinking wine that would satisfy so many Red Wine Drinkers for the Holidays or Any Day but is it classical Italian? I would have to say NO and for many that may be the upside of this wine. For point lovers I would give this 88/100 

The Summary

Campo Buri is such a unique wine from a great winery from a 4th generation family in Italy for $21.99 (At the time of this posting) In Florida or even out of Florida it is not an easy wine to locate, which ties into my video about making a Wine Gift Unique. In Florida it is imported by the Great Nadia Galati and Alberello Imports in Winter Park, Florida but exclusively one of the many great Direct To You Wines that ABC Fine Wine and Spirits offers. 

A point I want to make clear. If you are looking for a Big, Bacon Fat, Meaty, Tannic Red this is not for you however, during the holidays, most people are just searching for someone special or a secret Santa and all they know is that person likes Red Wine so Campo Buri is a Safe Bet and so Unique. I literally can think of 20 wines that reminded me of this wine  on the palate… Columbia Crest H3 Merlot or Cabernet, Seven Hills Winery Malbec from Walla Walla Valley, A baby Purple Angel from Chile, Almost every Red Zinfandel from Lodi…and this wine is Carmenere and Oseleta From Italy!!!! It’s a no brainer for yourself or a gift as it is so Unique and easy drinking and cost effective. Don’t forget….Don’t Panic, It’s Organic!! 

Grape-fully yours, Larry