| Bolgheri sits within a region called the Maremma, a name that refers to the Marshland that once dominated the area. First the Etruscans, then the Romans drained the region by digging canals to the sea, but after the collapse of the Roman Empire the land reverted back to swamp until the twentieth century, when programs under the fascist rule restored the canals to rid the land of malaria-carrying mosquitoes. A large tract of land encompassing the town of Bolgheri belonged to the Della Gherardesca family. Viticulture really began in Bolgheri when Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, of Piemontese nobility married Clarice della Gherardesca and, after WWII, moved into the San Guido estate of Clarice’s family. Mario, who inherited a passion for wine and viticulture from his great-grandfather Leopoldo, brought in cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc vines and planted vineyards in the San Guido property, whose main activity till then was thoroughbred training. He named the wine “Sassicaia” because of the stony soil in the vineyard (Sasso is Italian for stone). It wasn’t until the 1968 vintage that the wine was released to market through the marketing of his nephew Piero Antinori. Success was practically instant and Sassicaia is today considered one of the classic cabernet-based wines of the world.
In the 1970’s and 80’s, other producers began to establish themselves in the area. Piero Antinori’s brother Lodovico, who lived near his uncle and was inspired by his success, built a winery with the assistance of one of California’s most influential enologists of the time, Andre Tchelistchev. A similar success followed. Originally there was only one wine produced at the property, a Bodeaux-styled blend called Ornellaia, named for a type of maritime oak that grows in the area. A few other wines followed, most notably a single-vineyard merlot called Masseto, today considered one of the greatest examples of that varietal in the world. The property has since been purchased and is now controlled by the Frescobaldi family.
A few years later brother Piero got into the action with his Guado al Tasso property, which debuted with the 1990 vintage. Guado al Tasso is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah.
Piermario Meletti Cavallari moved into the area from Bergamo in Lombardia, looking for land on which to pursue his dreams of building a winery and creating world-class wine. He purchased an old farm and, with the assistance of enologist Maurizio Castelli, debuted with the 1982 vintage of “Grattamacco Rosso,” a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and sangiovese, and “Grattamacco Bianco,” a barrel fermented and aged vermentino.
Michele Satta moved in a started turning heads with a pure sangiovese called “Cavaliere”. Theretofore sangiovese was thought inappropriate for the terroir in Bolgheri. Le Macchiole is another property that was early on the Bolgheri scene with “Paleo,” a Bordeaux blend, “Messorio,” a concentrated merlot, and a syrah called “Scrio”.
Today, fortunately for those of us not comfortable coughing up the dough for these flagship wines, there are some more reasonably priced wines. Tenuta dell’Ornellaia has begun producing “Le Serre Nuove,” a second wine from fruit that doesn’t make it into the final blend of Ornellaia. The Tenuta San Guido has begun producing a second wine called “Guidalberto,” a blend of cabernet, merlot and sangiovese from additional vineyards in a nearby estate, the 2003 vintage of which is their best effort to date. Piero Antinori, at his Guado al Tasso estate produces an excellent Bolgheri Rosso and Rosato from cabernet, merlot and syrah, a Bianco from Vermentino.
Vermentino does well in the warm sun along the coast and in the right hands can result in very interesting wines like the textured “Campo alla Casa,” a blend of vermentino and sauvignon blanc from Enrico Santini or the perfumed Bolgheri Bianco from the Ceralti winey, both excellent summertime wines and terrific values.
Bolgheri works well into our summertime menu at Babbo. The fragrant Vermentino based whites have great acidity for our caprese salad, grilled octopus, or maccheroni alla chitarra (a personal fave) or the whole-grilled branzino with its lemon-oregano jam. Reds are great with the grilled meats like our ethereal pork chop or the legendary rib-eye steak, or the excellent game-birds like our squab or quail. And then, of course there is our featured dish of the month, our delicious Stinging Nettle Pappardelle with Wild Boar Ragù, featuring many ingredients so familiar too the Bolgheri kitchen. But don’t take my word for it, come in soon and try them for yourself!
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