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Terra di Vento
Terra di Vento are a lesser known Campanian outfit producing good quality, fair priced local varietal wines. Terra di Vento were introduced to me by that other fine Italian wine blogger Mr Terence Hughes of Mondosapore. Terry, top bloke that he is, had Terra di Vento send up some wines to our HQ in Venice.
I had every intention of tasting them last night but got distracted by the wine pages. So, this morning, at the ungodly hour of 7am I tasted the Aglianico and Fiano, two of Campania’s finest, before making my way to work.
I’m unsure if the effects of morning grogginess on wine tasting have been thoroughly studied, but I can tell you for free, wine at 7.00am kick starts your mouth like nothing else! Forget flossing. Forget mouthwash. Swirl some of this tannic/acidic Aglianico round your chops, it’s quite a shock to the system!
Terry, I don’t think he’ll mind me telling you, is something of a champion for less famous grape varieties, importing lesser known Italian wines into the New York area in an effort to get people drinking these great wines that the majority of US drinkers haven’t yet heard of. These wines will make unique additions to restaurant lists thanks mainly to very good (say it with me) QPR. So what of these wines? Well, aromatically they are both explosive with wonderfully deep colour on both the red and the white, both followed a similar pattern of holding some fruit on the palate having good acidity but the red especially was a little thinner than expected especially for the grape variety and both of them faded fast. However, these are wines that will both retail under €8 and the sheer fruit on the nose and palate will make them very popular internationally. Both wines do represent their varietal faithfully. I was impressed.
Terra di Vento Faiano Fiano 2007 – BUY – €6 (ish)
Clear, golden colour. Tropical fruits on the nose, pineapple and banana, honey notes also a little sweet spice. The wine is mid bodied with good acidity, a little hot on the finish but the tropical flavours still abound. One dimensional but enjoyable. 84 Points
Terra di Vento Petrale Aglianico 2006 – BUY – €8 (ish)
Intense dark ruby red, black in the centre. Gorgeous nose of dark cherry, a little earth and some raspberries, if blind I’d have guessed a young Barolo! Tannic, good acidity, almost well balanced and fruity, thinner bodied than I was expecting. The finish is watery and disappointing. Perfect start and middle, let down by the end. 85 Points
These are both loose BUY recommendations. I would buy these wines to take to a party, or to have with a typical Campanian meal or to introduce someone to the wines of Campania. They are both strong stylistically so are interesting wines and would make a nice, cheap, talking point.
Where can I buy these wines?
Hmm, good luck finding these wines. There’s a chance we will be stocking them but using the normal wine searching tools, no one is stocking these wines. That’s why Mr Hughes is bringing ’em over innit!
Leave a Comment
Not to advocate 7am wine drinking, I would normally refuse a drink before lunchtime, but where is your personal line? Which O’Clock is it just plain wrong to taste before? (and Mr Hughes, if you read this, let me know how you feel about these two wines)
An Aglianico at 7am is certainly very brave!If I were tasting (as opposed to drinking) I'd probably say 9am would be a good time to start, as by then I'm more than properly awake & functioning.In terms of drinking, probably 11am – something like a Champagne breakfast or brunch. Can't imagine hitting the serious reds before about 1!(mm, I might have thought about this too much!)
Sarah, on the whole I agree with your assessment of them. I’m not sure if the ungodly hour of the tasting made them seem unduly short, but I didn’t experience them quite that way. Anyway, there’s high refreshment value in them, and they go very well with food, playing their assigned supporting role. I like the wines’ bslance and their sense of cleanness and freedom from flaws like oversweetness and (ironically) a cloying finish. They see no wood, so that helps.Thanks for the shout-out. See you soon!
Tasting at 7am could dull your perspective on the wine.In answer to the question I really do not like to start until after 6pm. It could be years of work that do that to a person. I know many people now drink with lunch even during the working week but I can’t function accurately with any alcohol in the system.
Alex – A liiiiitle two much thought perhaps :D. However, I would agree with your choices!Domenico – Could be true. I am sure there must be some effect, luckily I will taste them again with Nicola on Monday. If my opinion changes I will update it. Even so, I do think they are really nice fresh, fruity wines that will do well in the UK and the USA.Peter – I try to avoid lunchtime drinking, can take me hours to shake the effects.Thanks for the quick comments today guys! x
Quick response because I have a computer implant.
Try everything once-I’d have a little wine tasting sesh at 7am, would be interesting. Nothing too dry though, couldn’t handle it. Dessert wine on the other hand, I imagine it would go very well with my morning ciggy!
Your palate is at its freshest and most sensitive between 10-noon, so 7 am is a better time to make a true assessent than @ 6 pm!
DanielleVery interesting! So I should make a habit of this then!Prosecco Lady – Cigarettes and Dessert wine at 7am?! I should rename this blog Vice90.
Absolutely! I try to see my best accounts between 10am and noon! Wish I could see ALL of them then! It has something to do with breakfast cleaning out the enzymes/bacaeeria from the night before but your palate hasnt been hit with more flavorful meals yet like lunch/dinner. FWIW, I *Hate* testing my samples at 8 am to see if I can get a second day out of them!danielle (scwinegirl on twitter)
Concur with Danielle, the best hours are between 10-12am. Personally I wouldn’t bee see holding a glass at that hour. Not good for the reputation.
I can remember you drinking wine earlier than that Newton 😉
Completely dependent on the type of wine, but I wouldn’t drink any alcohol before mid day.
I have got to say it…Off the topic of the hours of tasting… The land of Aglianico. My husband and I just returned from a 2 week holiday in Campania. We left the Amalfi Coast and its dream-like diversions to go to the wine country of Campania, think Benevento,Solpaca,Avellino, and Caserta. What we found was incredibly beautiful, incredibly poor area. Men on horseback and tractors weeded their way cautiously down the road filled (sometimes 5-6 feet high) with the garbage of Naples. We were told in Naples that the garbage problem was over… they found a place for it in wine country. Night and Day the smell of bonfires filled the air. It is an area that is in between worlds. They need and want the money that wine tourism can bring them, but they DO Not want people in and around their community. We had severel experiences during which venders or restauranteur intially seemed very welcoming and nice and then just raped us on the bill. It’s a smile in the front and a kick in the rear. My father is a Southern Italian and I speak Italian quite well, if not their specific dialect, and my husband is of English decent. Three times venders called him “whitey” or referred to him as a “green fig”. You gotta love the humor in that! I have massive amounts of respect for the Italian culture and have had an education on it, being Italian-American and all, but this area is no Tuscany my friends. The Campania wine region is going to take a few years, or a very wise marketing manager for the region to make it work as a destination. And p.s. we were told by all the vineyards were closed.. no tasting rooms, nothing…but we got some unbelievable, complex, and CHEAP local wines in the stores..If you want to peer through the fence at the agricultural, not the sipping, aspect of the wine industry, then take a look at Campania.. I will return, maybe in five to ten years..
All times of day are fine in my book
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