Very little wine from Schioppettino (ski-ohp-pet-tee-no - rolls off the tongue nicely), a little known grape variety finding its home in the Friuli region of Northwest Italy, is made and it comes at a price. I've tasted the Angoris Vôs da Vigne (Voice from the Vineyard) Schioppettino many times over the years, but the price was just too high for the store. Fortunately, I got a call from the distributor the other day, he knew how much I loved the wine, saying they were greatly reducing the price to make way for the new vintage. I jumped on it and got the last four cases they had in stock. The wine, from the 2008 vintage, which normally sells for a minimum of $30, we can now offer at just $19.
Come in and taste the wine, if it doesn't sell out, on Friday from 5-7pm. The wine is truly esoteric and offbeat - and a fantastic value at $19.
The Schioppettino boasts floral notes on the nose, and tastes of intense small dark berries with an underlying earthy quality, along with fresh black pepper. It's fairly full-bodied with fine tannin, great acidity and and notable elegance.
Seth
THE FACTS
The vineyards of Tenuta Angoris date back over 350 years to the time when Friuli was a part of the Austrian Empire. The Locatelli family have owned and managed the estate since the 1960's.
The Schioppettino grape is believed to have originated between the commune of Prepotto and the Slovenian border where records showing Schioppettino wine being used in marriage ceremonies date to 1282. The grape was nearly lost to extinction following the phylloxera epidemic of the late 19th century when vineyard owners decided against replanting the variety in favor of French/International wine grapes. Today this grape is a prominent planting in the Colli Orientali del Friuli Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) where it produces very aromatic, medium bodied wines with Rhône-like qualities of deep dark coloring with violet, raspberry and pepper notes.