They say that some of the best inventions have come from accidents or mistakes, and the same thing can be said for the wine world. This is a story that Jurij shared with us over the dinner we shared with him and his family.
I spoke about Mr.Pinchiorri in the last post and how he fell in love with Jurij’s Chardonnay, well the same thing happened with the Merlot. Making a wine from Merlot was Jurij’s other experiment. When Mr.Pinchiorri heard about this he immediately wanted in. They made the same deal that governed the Chardonnay; every bottle that was produced would go to Enoteca Pinchiorri.
Here’s the tasting note for the Merlot called “La Piantonaia”
2005 “La Piontoanaia”
Intense ruby with purple rim, inky dark. You can almost taste the dark bright fruit on the nose. There is a rich wild fruit aroma, very seductive. Chocolate and coffee notes come through on the tail end. This is rich and brooding Merlot o the palate. Elegant tannins marry well with the 13.5% of alcohol. Once a gain the dark chocolate, vanilla and coffee notes come through on the long finish. I have never tasted a Merlot like this, very unique.
During harvest time, Mr.Pinchiorri is usually at Poder Poggio Scalette observing and keeping a careful eye on the yields of Chardonnay and Merlot for that year, yes he is a little obsessed and possessive. In 2002, Mr. Pinchiorri was at a Formula 1 race and he insisted that Jurij delay the harvest of the Merlot until he got back, which would be in about a week. During this week, Botrytis Cinerea( a fungus that dehydrates the grapes and concentrates sugars, a good fungus) attacked the majority of the Merlot grapes. This was a huge problem because Jurij was no longer able to produce a dry wine from these grapes. Luckily it was Botrytis that attacked the grapes and not black mold, downy or powdery mildew(these molds destroy grapes).
So what did Jurij do? He vinified the grapes as a sweet wine, something like a Sauternes(a French sweet wine made from Botrytized grapes). He then named this wine “Mai Piu”, which means “Never Again”. It turned out to be a great wine, but for a wine maker, having a whole harvest of Merlot attacked by a fungus is not always fun, so this is where the name came from.
I believe that only 300 half bottles were produced of this wine. We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to taste this wine at dinner with him. The wine was amber in color displaying aromas of figs, raisins, nuts, and candied orange peel with a slight touch of petrol. The palate was a good representation of the nose, but most importantly the wine was not goopy. It still had a good amount of acidity to balance out the sweet flavors. It was fabulous. I mean how many people can say they have tried a “Nobley Rotted” Merlot before? How many even exist? This was an experience that will never be replicated again.
