Tom,
To bolster your point, we will be offering some benchmark examples of Carricante and Nerello Mascalese from Sicily (from 60-100 year old vines in the best locations). This means that our California-grown bottlings will need to compare in quality and be priced rationally in-line with those wines. While we won’t be offering Nebbiolo from Italy, we do not plan to offer a California Nebbiolo until we feel it compares to excellent examples from Piemonte (though hopefully it expresses its own unique character).
This is a topic we’ve talked often about at NEB get-togethers. Too many US producers look to the Barolo/Barbaresco for their model.
I think the AltoPiemonte/Roero/Valtelline/Val d’Ossola are a better place to look.
Last year at NEB#7, Oliver McCrum & Darrell Corti presented a bunch of Nebbs from AltoPiemonte and a Prunent from Val d’Ossola.
They were real eye-openers for our NEB people who thought B/B was what Nebb was all about.
Tom
I understand that Carricante is striking/unusual/atypical. Which foods pair best with this variety?
Kevin - thanks for the info and context. I’m liking this plan more and more.
So, let no good deed go unpunished 
this time with more questions:
- Will the wines from Italy be released under the Aeris label?
- Is Rhys doing the farming? Post-pick winemaking?
- If not will you be sharing the source/wine maker?
As always, thank you!
Now I am thinking about a Rhys/Massican joint venture. That would rock!
Mike,
Carricante is amazingly versatile much like Chardonnay. I have served it to many people and all seemed to really enjoy it, and that group covers the spectrum from Rombauer to Riesling. So while Carricante is not well known, it is not “an acquired taste” or “a wine-geek only” wine.
It is best described as intense/rich with many layers of flavor and excellent acidity. It is often quite stony and mineral. It is the type of wine that shows different things with each sip. It also improves with age (and sometimes requires it). I realize that I might sound biased but I truly believe it is one of the world’s greatest whites.
What are you guys doing with the 2016 Nebbiolo that was made, but is not being sold?
Rich,
Yes, the wines from both Italy and California will be released under the Aeris label though I am beginning to worry that this could be confusing…
The Rhys team farms and makes all of the wine in California. The wines from Sicily are made in partnership with Salvo Foti who stars in this video - Salvo Foti I Vigneri - YouTube
Salvo is known as the foremost champion of the “indigenous” grapes of Mt Etna and has isolated some of the best vines of Nerello Mascalese and Carricante. Salvo also made the best and most well known example of Carricante (Benanti Pietramarina) through 2010. Salvo manages our vineyards and wine production in Sicily. The viticulture is very old school (head trained vines, mule-tilled etc) and strictly organic. The Rhys team works together with Salvo on issues of style, quality, bottlings etc. Salvo has also helped us understand the best way to plant, farm and produce the Aeris wines made from Sicilian grapes in California.
For Nebbiolo, we are working with a pre-eminent viticulturist from the Langhe named Gian Piero Romana featured here - Gian Piero Romana - 5 - Fra le vigne di Dogliani - YouTube
Gian Piero has been critical in helping us understand the unique requirements (location, climate, soil, viticulture etc) for growing Nebbiolo.
We haven’t decided exactly but we are definitely not going to release it commercially. Meanwhile, we are quite excited with our 2017 Nebbiolo…
BerserkerDay special as a white label.
A little further research (from Jancis’ Wine Grapes):
… 100% Carricante wines can be impressive and delicious, showing aromas of orange and grapefruit; orange flowers, anise and white fruits, with fresh acidity and notable mineralogy within a sinuous framework. Even in young wines there may be a lightly honeyed note.
Well, wow. Thanks for this openness and detail.
Did you actually buy the vineyards in Sicily? Do you plan to release these Sicilian wines for the long term?
This is such a wonderful, unique and audacious plan. So interesting and innovative!
In terms of marketing wines from two different countries with the same brand I can understand your trepidation. The thing is - this approach is so different and new that there isn’t a lot of clear precedent. Hmm or maybe it’s just Napa 2.0 - like bringing Bordeaux clones to the US and then marketing them with names like Dominus or what have you.
It seems to me that the big question will be scale. If these wines are intended to be at Rhys-level scale, offered to the in-the-know crowd, then the brand doesn’t matter as much. Rhys buyers will pay attention. If it’s meant to be more mass market, consumers (not to mention ITB buyers) will be easily confused by one brand/two countries. Hard to imagine you going down this path though.
For me the bigger question is why abandon the Rhys brand and name at all? It is well established and already encompasses Chard Pinot and Syrah.
Ultimately I think this is a relatively minor issue as I presume this will be a modest volume effort. As long as the bottles are clearly labeled with source and vineyard my guess is that Rhys customers will jump in and only be a little confused as we learn about this new project.
Rich,
Thanks for the feedback! We have no interest in mass scale, so Aeris is assumed to be a small label and hopefully selling directly to our customers.
On the vineyards, yes we own two in Sicily and one in California. Of the two in Sicily, one is located in the prime spot for Carricante on the eastern slope of the volcano near the town of Milo, while the other is perfect for Nerello Mascalese above the town of Montelaguardia on the warmer, northern slope of the volcano.
We decided to split Aeris and Rhys for many reasons including confusion and volume of offerings, but also I assumed that only a subset of Rhys customers are interested in Italian varieties. By managing the two labels separately, we will allow people to “opt-in” to the wines they are most interested in. Besides, we have plenty of plans for Rhys…
There is precedent for releasing wines from two countries under one label: Massican. That’s why I thought of a collaboration between Dan Petroski and Kevin Harvey.
There have been cheaper labels that did it, too. Liberty School, as I recall, had some Chilean wines.
The Massican Italian wine is fantastic.
I’m just going to refer to everything as Aerhys ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
David & John - thanks.
Kevin - congrats on being an Italian landowner. I love Sicily but can’t help picturing scenes from The Godfather movies.
Anyone who hides the boy Vito Andolini will regret it
This is a great project. Love Carricante and Salvo Foti’s wines. Kevin, excited to see how it shows up in California!