At a recent wine tasting, I had the good fortune to taste something new and really rather nice. There is an impressive new kosher Chianti by Cantina Giuliano, a new kosher wine producer in the small village of Casciana Alta, in the heart of Tuscany.
The young but talented Eli Gauthier, a religious Jew from Paris, is the proprietor and winemaker, accompanied by his wife, Lara, who is originally from the small village where the winery is situated. In fact, the winery is located in the same 250-year-old building where her grandfather, Giuliano, and the generations before him made wine (the family counts at least five generations there). Gauthier is a passionate and enthusiastic winemaker and foodie, with a French winemaking degree and on-the-job experience in a high-end organic winery in Alsace.
Helping Gauthier is Luca D’Attoma, one of Italy’s top wine consultants. As Gauthier notes on his website: “We are excited to be lucky enough that he took such an interest in our project! Today more than a consultant, Luca has become a friend, always pushing us to better ourselves and to never settle for what we thought was good enough.”
Cantina Giuliano has no vineyards of its own — the family sold them after Lara’s grandfather passed away — but Gauthier gets grapes from local vineyards. “I’m buying really good grapes from the best vineyards around, Sangiovese, Merlot and Ciliegiolo on steep south-facing heavy calcareous-clay soils,” he said. “I have a working relationship with the grape grower whereby I tell him the direction I want him to take and he works accordingly as long as I ensure a high buying price.”
Under the kosher supervision of Rav Eliezer Wolff of Amsterdam, as well as the OU, Gauthier is meticulous and hands-on: “I do everything myself and I would like to be able to keep it that way in order to lower costs and keep control of every step of the grape choosing and winemaking process,” he said. “This would also allow me to keep down the level of stress to ensure that I might continue learning full time in a beit midrash in Strasbourg when I’m not in Italy.”
Gauthier divides his time equally: six months in Tuscany making wine and welcoming tourists, and six months in Strasbourg, France, learning Torah full time.
Cantina Giuliano, Chianti D.O.C.G., Primizie, Italy, 2014 ($18): New to the kosher wine world, this is a lovely Chianti with real heart and soul, made from a blend of 70% Sangiovese, 17% Merlot and 13% Ciliegiolo (a local Tuscan variety). Made more for finesse and early consumption than for oomph and long-term cellaring, it is very light and soft, yet fresh, fruity, expressive and aromatic. It offers herbal and red berry fruit notes, with a nice dollop of fresh cherry. This is refined and elegant, yet friendly and vibrant, with very good structure and balance. It is refreshing and even charming, and represents terrific value. Overall a most impressive first wine! Ready now, but should improve with a few years of additional maturation in bottle. Serve lightly chilled.
As this is brand new (still in the distribution pipeline for some areas), you might not yet see it in your favorite store or online retailer. It is available online at www.cantinagiuliano.com/en/
kosher-wine-tuscany.
Joshua E. London writes a weekly syndicated wine and spirits column. For more reviews see grapelines.com.