Tasted at Vinitaly: Cà Lojera

I met Cà Lojera's Ambra Tiraboschi, who looks rather like Maria Callas in the photo she puts up in her stand at Vinitaly, many years ago at Bordeaux's Vinexpo: It was the end of a very long day, my feet wished they belonged to someone else, and I had stopped to say hi to Paolo Abbona of Marchesi di Barolo. Sat down too, and found myself sipping a rather nice sparkling wine that turned out to be a Lugana from the southern shores of Lake Garda.

When I asked whose it was, Ambra raised her hand and smiled. Much has happened since then; they've redone their cellars and added a restaurant, which is open for dinner during the summer months, and Ambra's daughter Alessandra has had two delightful children. I make a point of stopping by her stand at Vinitaly every year. This year her husband Franco, who dislikes the limelight, was not there, but there was another surprise: she had redone her labels, with drawings by Angelo Peretti, friend and colleague who is also Director of the Consorzio del Bardolino.

Cà Lojera Lugana 2011
Lot TF 02 12
Pale brassy white with brassy reflections and white rim. The bouquet is intense, with bright loquat laced with loquat acidity and some honeydew melon and underlying vegetal accents. On the palate it's ample and rich, with fairly sweet loquat fruit supported by some flinty bitterness and fairly bright acidity that opens with loquat and then becomes mineral in the finish, which is fairly long. Pleasant, in a rather languid key, and will work nicely as an aperitif or with fish, especially lake fish.
2 stars

Cà Lojera Lugana Superiore 2009
Lot LS.TF.11 Ferments in large wood.
This is a prerelease sample; they are still selling the 2008. It's brilliant brassy white with brassy reflections and slight greenish highlights. The bouquet is powerful, with butterscotch and minerality supported by some dusky bitterness and moderate mineral acidity. On the palate it's ample, with rich loquat fruit laced with some honeydew melon  and slight sweetness, and supported by moderately intense mineral acidity with a loquat underpinning that carries into a fresh fairly long loquat finish with slight butterscotch accents. Pleasant, with considerable depth,and will drink nicely with grilled or roasted fish or white meats, and will also age nicely for several years.
2 stars

Cà Lojera Lugana del Lupo 2009
Lot TF.11.09
This is a Vendemmia Tardiva; it's then fermented in steel. And is a slightly more charged brassy yellow with brilliant greenish brassy reflections and highlights. The bouquet is intense, with brambly heather and some greenish vegetal acidity laced with gunflint and struck granite; it's more mineral than fruit driven on the nose. On the palate it's rich, with elegant loquat fruit supported by honeydew melon  acidity and by slightly flintiness, and flows into a long rather deft loquat finish that gradually fades into loquat tartness. Quite elegant, and will drink nicely as an aperitif or with grilled or roasted fish. Something to seek out.
90-91

Cà Lojera Belle Metodo Classico 2008
This is a pas dosée that spent 36 months on the lees; it's pale brassy gold with brilliant greenish highlights and fine perlage. The bouquet is fairly intense, with greenish minerality mingled with breadcrumbs and some savory notes. It's deft and rather crisp in a vegetal key. On the palate it's full, with powerful tart lemony loquat fruit supported by peppery notes from the sparkle and minerality, and by minerality that emerges in the finish, which is quite long. It's a bit exuberant, with the sparkle bursting forth strongly on the tongue, making for a sensation that is more peppery than creamy. If you like softer sparkling wines it wont work as well for you, but it does display a pleasing brashness.
2 stars

Cà Lojera Monte della Guardia Chardonnay 2009
This is a Vino da tavola because they put the varietal on the label and that's not accepted in what it would qualify as. Brassy gold with brassy reflections and slight greenish highlights. The bouquet is intense, with tropical fruit, passion fruit mingled with some golden delicious apple and slight mentholated accents with underlying sweetness. Nice depth. On the palate it's ample and smooth, with moderately intense lemony fruit supported by lemony acidity that has slight apple accents and flows into a fairly long slightly savory mineral finish with some citric accents. It's a bit more direct than the Lugana, and will drink well as an aperitif or with simple white fish or white meats. Refreshing.
2 stars

Cà Lojera Rosato Monte Della Guardia
Lot TF 80 11
This is a Vino da Tavola because the local appellations don't forsee making a rosé from Merlot and cabernet; as such it doesn't have a vintage on the label, though the lot indicates 2011. Pale rose petal pink with brilliant pink reflections and white rim. The bouquet is fresh, with ras mingled with some wild strawberry and some ripe underlying forest berry fruit that's moderately sweet. Welcoming On the palate it's is smooth and fairly rich, with bright strawberry ras fruit supported by moderate acidity and slight tannins that flow into a finish that has slight gunflint accents to balance the sweet smoothness of the fruit. It's a deft, smooth fairly soft Rosato that will drink nicely on a hot day, either among friends or at a picnic. Not quite enough acidity (for me) for it to work as a cookout wine.
2 stars

Cà Lojera Merlot della Guardia 2009
Lot TF ME 09
This is again a Vino da tavola. Deep black cherry ruby with black reflections and cherry rim. The bouquet is rich, with bright mentholated forest berry fruit supported by some peppery spice and deft berry fruit acidity. On the palate it's medium bodied and quite round, with fairly rich cassis fruit supported by moderate acidity and by tannins that are very smooth, but do displays some graphite shaving bitterness that carries into a fairly long warm graphite shaving laced finish. It will drink quite well with simple not too fatty grilled meats or ight stews or roasts.
2 stars

Cà Lojera Cabernet della Guardia 2009
Lot TF.01.09
Again, a VDT. Deep black cherry ruby with black reflections and cherry rim. The bouquet is quite varietal, with rich bel pepper laced with vegetal notes and some coffee, and also fairly intense spice and underlying forest berry fruit fruit. On the palate it's medium bodied, with rich cherry fruit supported by smooth sweet tannins that have a savory vegetal burr, and flow into a fairly long berry fruit finish with greenish vegetal notes. A classic deft Cabernet, quick on it toes and quite fresh, and if you like the varietal you will enjoy the wine.
2 stars

Ambra always brings a few older wines to Vinitaly:

Cà Lojera Lugana Superiore 2001
Lot 07.03
Time does show; it's a considerably deeper brassy gold than the current vintage, with brilliant golden reflections. The bouquet is powerful, with butterscotch and some spice supported by gunflint and citric acidity with some underlying clover honey too. On the palate it's deft, with bright citrc fruit supported by mineral citric acidity and slightl not too sweet honey, with hint sof butterscotch, and slows into a long rather mineral citric finish. Quite pleasant, and proof, as if any were needed, that Lugana is a wine that profits from additional time in bottle. Perfectly fresh.
88-90

Cà Lojera Vigna Silva Lugana 1999
Lot 5 9 00
Charged greenish gold with brilliant golden reflections and white rim. The bouquet is intense, with dried white pear mingled with minerality and some rather bitter honey, and also some minerality. On the palate it's bright, with lively loquat fruit supported by brisk loquat acidity and slight minerality, and whiule this is quick to write its beautifully woven, with a tight freshness that the more recent, somewhat hotter vintages with sweeter grapes struggle to achieve. A beautiful wine one would certainly not guess is entering its teen years.
91-2

Cà Lojera Monte della Guardia Rosso 2001
Lot 12.07
Almandine with black reflections and briwnish almandine rim. The bouquet is intense, and quite tertiary, with leaf tobacco and dried savory mushrooms mingled with spice and sea salt, and some underlying greenish vegetal notes; there's also underbrush and some forest berry fruit fruit. On the palate it's fairly rich, with pleasant forest berry fruit supported by dusky tannins that have a warm slightly earthy feel to them, and flow into a clean rather savory tannic finish. It's pleasant, but has aged considerably more than the whites, and something I would serve with a roast to a wine loving friend of the sort who likes to converse with the wine than to just anyone.
2 stars

Bersi Serlini's Wines: A Gift from Lake Iseo

Wine making regions tend to be pretty, and Franciacorta is prettier than most; it's at the mouth of Lago D'Iseo, an alpine finger lake at the foot of the Val Camonica that would likely drain away into the Pianura Padana were it not for several imposing crescent-shaped end moraines whose height and breadth give a good idea of just how large the ancient Alpine glaciers were.

Within this panorama the Bersi Serlini family, which began making wines in 1886, has been quite fortunate. They are located in the Commune of Provaglio d'Iseo, a short distance from the Monastery of San Pietro in Lamosa (the land once belonged to the monks, who hosted travelers where the winery now stands). They have 34 hectares of vineyards that extend down to the lakefront, and while one might wonder at having vineyards along a shore line the effects are quite beneficial; the vineyards are laid out with rows perpendicular to the shore, and during the summer receive the cool nighttime breezes flowing down the Val Camonica, which eliminate the moisture that could cause mold or rot; Maddalena Bersi Serlini notes that because of these breezes they can limit treatments to just copper and sulfur in about half their vineyards.

The harvest in Franciacorta is timed differently than in most other appellations because good acidity levels are of paramount importance for making good sparkling wines. Since acidity decreases with increasing ripeness Franciacorta producers harvest at the beginning of August, and Maddalena says she is always one of the first, as a result her neighbors call her Lumicino, or signal light -- when they see her pickers in the vineyards they know it's time to get ready.

Once the grapes are picked they are soft-pressed and the resultant must descends by gravity feed into the tank hall, where the cellar masters keep it in steel holding tanks briefly, while cooling it, and then transfer it to fermentation tanks. Fermentation is by vineyard; since they are by now quite familiar with their vineyards they have tanks of the proper size for each vineyard. Almost all of their wine ferments in steel, though they do barrel ferment small amounts of wine for their top wines -- about 5% for the two Franciacorta Riserva wines, using year-old barrels purchased from a winemaker who ferments his white in new oak.

The varietal makeup in the vineyards is, as one might expect given Franciacorta, largely Chardonnay, though they do have a little Pinot Bianco and Pinot Nero, in hillside vineyards. It is all fermented in white, and this brings up an important point. With the exception of a little red wine they make for local consumption, everything they make is white, and it all sparkles. "I decided, since we're in Franciacorta, that we should concentrate on Franciacorta," Maddalena says, adding that when she made the decision some of the sales reps, who were used to having Bersi Serlini their still wines too, objected.

To be honest, I think she made the correct decision, and expect that they have come around.

The wines, tasted September 18 2011

Bersi Serlini Franciacorta DOCG Brut

LOT 0111b
This is Non Vintage, Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco that ages on lees for 21 months, and the vineyards are 15-20 years old. Maddalena says it's their traditional wine, first produced in 1970. Pale greenish straw with fine persistent perlage. The bouquet is pleasant, with gunflint and heather supported by some sea salt and wet bread crumbs; pleasant to sniff. On the palate it's bright, with lively savory citric fruit supported by sparkle and some vegetal notes, and also the sour yeastiness of the lees; nice balance and quite approachable, and will drink quite well with foods, from elegant risotti through fish based pasta sauces, and also fish in general, including lake fish. It is eminently approachable, ripe but not too ripe, with acidity that keeps it on its toes. Expect it to go quickly.
2 stars

Bersi Serlini Franciacorta DOCG Brut

Lot 0411B
This is a distinct from the Basic Brut, with a different label, and Maddalena calls it Dedicato, or Dedicated, in that it is a wine bottled for a special event or occasion, in this case Franciacorta's 50th anniversary. They decided to mark the even with a special edition of their Brut -- 100% Chardonnay that spends more time on the lees -- as it is their best selling wine, with a label that reflects their older labels, which were all Liberty. Production is 50,000 bottles, and they view it as an important success, and a reflection of the fact that they believed in and have concentrated exclusively on Franciacorta. The wine is delicate straw yellow with fine perlage. The bouquet is elegant, with rich savory gunflint supported by some vegetal accents and clean fresh bread crumbs; and brings to mind hammer-struck granite. On the palate it's full, rich, and creamy, with deft mineral laced sour lemon fruit supported by creamy sparkle and fairly pronounced underlying bitterness that carries at length into the finish, Quite elegant, and is a wine that will work well with foods, though to be quite honest I would rather sip it as an aperitif, or with friends while talking far from the table, lest the food distract.
90

Bersi Serlini Brut Cuvee N°4 2006

Lot 1210 CV
This is from their four oldest vineyards, all Chardonnay, and a small percentage is fermented in wood. Rest in steel. They consider it to be their most representative wine, and make it in all formats. Since it is a vintage wine it rests longer on lees. Pale straw yellow with greenish reflections and fine intense perlage. The bouquet is deft, with considerable gunflint laced minerality supported by slight hints of citrus and breadcrumbs with slight vanilla accents as well; quite elegant. On the palate it's full and rich, with clean soft sour lemon fruit supported by sparkle and gunflint laced bitterness with an underpinning of butterscotch and some wet bread crumb yeasty accents, which flow into a clean savory finish with lasting gunflint bitterness. Pleasant, and quite welcoming, displaying pleasing deftness and grace; it's a wine that will work with foods, though like the Dedicated Brut it's perhaps better suited to being sipped with friends far from the table. It's the sort of wine one can hold a conversation with.
90-92

Bersi Serlini Franciacorta Satèn

Lot 0210 S; it's Non Vintage.
Pale slightly greenish brassy yellow with fine steady perlage. The bouquet is delicate, with herbal notes and gunflint mingled with some sea salt and heather. Quite welcoming. On the palate it's ample, approachable, and soft, with moderately intense savory sour lemon fruit supported by sparkle that's not as creamy as the Cuvee 4° though one really cannot expect that, it has a little more backbone and the vegetal accents emerge a little more strongly, making it better suited to accompanying foods; it will be quite versatile at table and go very fast. Easy to drink (though not simple; if you want there is much to think about) and expect people to want more.
88-90

Bersi Serlini Franciacorta Extra Brut Riserva 2003

Lot 0611EB
They started making this in 1971, when the only thing one could call it was Extra Brut, and they have kept the name rather than adopt Pas Dosé or Dosage Zero -- they consider it to be their heart & soul, because they don't think Franciacorta requires liqueur or sugars. Well kept vineyards, and that's enough, says Maddalena, adding that of her wines it's what comes closes to what she looks for in Franciacorta . Deeper gold with slight greenish reflections and fine persistent perlage. The bouquet is elegant, with rich green sour lemon supported by savory accents and bread crumbs, and by some gunflint as well. Quite elegant and very enjoyable. On the palate it's deft, with rich sour lemon fruit that has some greenish accents and is supported by sparkle and savory minerality supported by some mineral bitterness that flows into a long bitter finish with slight peppery accents from the sparkle. Quite pleasant, and will drink very well as an aperitif; one could also press it into service with foods but it doesn't need the distraction. A friend occasionally says wines are "lovely," and I think he would say so here.
92-3

Bersi Serlini Franciacorta Brut Vintage Riserva 2003

Lot 0610RT
This is a vineyard wine, from their oldest vineyard -- 46 years old -- and is a Chardonnay, and spent 7 years on lees. It's pale straw gold with slight greenish highlights, and has fine intense perlage. The bouquet is powerful, with gunflint and hammer-struck granite mingled with bitterness and bread crumbs, and with some smoky accents and slight sour lemon. Nice balance and enticing; it has quite a bit to say. On the palate it's full and creamy, with fullness coming from both bitter minerality and fine sparkle, and flows into a clean rather bitter finish. It's quick to write but quite impressive, with minerality playing very well with sparkle and the acidity, which -- thanks to harvesting at the proper time -- is quite sufficient to hold its own despite the heat of the 2003 summer. A delightful sipping wine, and beautiful minerality.
93-4

Bersi Serlini Franciacorta Rosé Rosa Rosae Brut

Lot 1210 R
Salmon with some onionskin in the rime, and fine perlage. 30% pn, 24 months on lees. The bouquet is deft, with savory minerality mingled with some gunflint and sea salt, and slight wet bread crumbs. Pleasant in a savory zesty key. On the palate it's bright, with lively minerality and sour berry fruit laced with barest hints of raspberry and supported by mineral acidity and sparkle that flow into a clean rather mineral finish with some peppery notes from the sparkle. It's quite approachable in a fairly muscular, powerful key, and will drink very well with foods; and because it has a bit more body and fullness, will also work well with delicate white meats, for example Spiedo Bresciano, the slow-cooked spitted birds traditionally enjoyed for the winter holidays in Brescia, Expect it to go quickly, and it is versatile too.
2 stars

Bersi Serlini Franciacorta DOCG Nuvola Demi Sec

This is their Demisec, which they have been making for a while -- since 1980. Few wineries make it, but it gives an opportunity to those who want to finish the meal with something less dry. Chardonnay and Pb, on lees for 21 months, and 20-25 g liter of sugar that makes it more balanced. It's pale straw yellow with greenish reflections and fine perlage. The bouquet is fairly rich, with some bread crumbs and slight yellow fruit mingled with citric accents and some gunflint; it has nice depth and there are hints of sugar though it's not obviously sweet. On the palate it's elegant, with deft citric accents mingled with gunflint minerality and sweetness that adds body and fullness, and complements the sparkle, flowing into a clean sweet gunflint laced finish that in some ways brings sweet licorice root tio mind -- there's a lot to say, and it is enjoyable and the licorice in the finish carries at length. A fine wine for after a meal, or perhaps with cheeses. Very pleasant.
88-90

An Alternative dessert made with this Demi Sec by clubs in Cesena, a coastal area of Romagna also known for its fruit trees: Slice very ripe peaches cut use the slices to line a balloon glass. Let them rest in the glass for an hour, then add Demi Sec and serve.

As we closed Maddalena said she is much more interested in acidity than alcohol, and firmly believes in low sugar levels for her bubbly. I certainly can't object.