Vinifera Imports, Mid-Atlantic

05/09/2017

Join us in celebrating the wines of Dogliani with Nicola Chionetti!

Dolcetto Dinner: Presented by Chionetti Join us for an evening with Nicola Chionetti. Tickets: $95 inclusive of tax and gratuity. 4 course family style dinner and wine pairing. Tickets can also be purchased via email or phone inquiries: [email protected], 202-546-5006 First Course Paired with: S...

11/11/2015

3 years: think back to all you've done in that time. That's how long our Brut and Rosé aged on their lees ( ) in the bottle during secondary fermentation. Patience is a virtue in !

10/20/2015

Let us be real for a moment....
Even in studying for some of world's most prestigious wine education certificates we have found those who have not had the opportunity to taste wines of such stature.

November 5th. Bibiana Osteria Enoteca 14 wines. 8 dishes. 4 courses. Here is your opportunity.
RSVP 202-216-9550
https://www.facebook.com/events/564756103684818/

09/03/2015

SAVE THE DATE :::::::::::::::::::::

Vinifera returns to Bibiana Osteria Enoteca on Thursday, November 5th, showcasing the great wines of Piemonte.

Fourteen wines from eight of Piedmont's greats including Giorgio Pelissero, Guiseppe Rinaldi, Fratelli Oddero, Elvio Pertinace, DANTE Rivetti Azienda Agricola, Icardi, CHIONETTI Quinto e Figlio, and Cascina Chicco. Barolo/Barbaresco vintages dating back to 1989!

Following the guided tasting, dinner will be extra special this time around. We won't leek any information or spill any rumors, however, let us just say the four course meal and wine pairing may have TWO accomplished chefs preparing their own dishes for each course.

so, save the date like it's your best friends wedding, this event WILL be something to write home about.

08/26/2015

::WINE MAKER WEDNESDAY::
Cascina Chicco, Piemonte. Marco and Enrico Faccenda

"We have been making wine for three generations. It began with our ancestor, Ernesto Faccenda, who purchased his first hectare of land in the 1950s not far from Canale d'Alba in the heart of the Roero, and began to cultivate Nebbiolo and Barbera. From then on, we never stopped growing in our knowledge of the land nor in our love for making wine.

The company's reorganization and modernization began in the 1980s thanks to Federico Faccenda, the son of the founder. He was the first to conduct important investments that brought Cascina Chicco to modern wine production after the excellent results of our Roero Arneis DOCG, which became the impetus of the local economy and motor of professional growth in viticulture.

In those years, Federico helped his sons Enrico and Marco Faccenda enter in the business of Cascina Chicco. He involved them in the company's renovation and encouraged their youthful energy and new ideas for communicating the land and territory through our wines. Today, father and sons work together closely, renewing the family tradition that has allowed Cascina Chicco to become one of the Roero's most important points of reference.

We have grown from managing that plot of land to cultivating and directly vinifying the grapes from over forty hectares; we have gone from a couple of red wines in demijohns to eleven labels for a total of over 350 thousand bottles a year. We have always sought to improve our production and offer products of the highest quality that are recognized and demanded on the market."

08/25/2015

There is a misconception amongst consumers that dolcetto needs to be drank young, that it will never grow up to be a worthy opponent to its' piemontese brother and sister, nebbiolo and barbera. Sure, generally speaking, it is a second wine in most prominent estates, with all the hard work and labor going into their Barolo/Barbaresco production. At CHIONETTI Quinto e Figlio, dolcetto is what they do and have been doing since inception in 1912. You can ask 40 producers in Piemonte who makes the best barolo and you will receive 40 different answers. You can ask the same 40 who makes the best dolcetto and you will get one answer, Quinto Chionetti. We had the opportunity to blind taste this '89 Briccolero in the company of a dozen or so people from across the country, all of which held some advanced wine education. No surprise, not a single one called 26 year old dolcetto. We would like to leave you with a quote from an every day wine drinker we pulled from cellartracker, who had the 1985 Briccolero at 26 years of age. This wine is not only to be appreciated by trained palates, this is just quality wine, that is well made with care.

11/27/2011 - JWG WROTE: 93 Points
"Remarkable 26 yr old dolcetto. Beautiful nose of delicate fruit with still quite a vibrant punch. Texture is a little more viscous than modern dolcetto. Palate is complex with earth, bright fruit, a to***co-y, leathery undertone, and some tar. If this is any indication, they used to make dolcettos very differently than the short-lived fruity items of today."

08/24/2015

We received word from our friends Barberani Azienda Agricola BIO - Organic Wine Company over the weekend... even amidst Italian Holiday, haha.

As of August 20th, Barberani's sustainable agriculture and farming is now 100% CERTIFIED ORGANIC. There are few Italian estates of their dimension to be fully certified, both in the vineyard AND in the cellar. We congratulate them in their continuing philosophy of both respect for mother nature and for the wine consumers health. Salute!!!

08/20/2015

We love large formats, like, we really love them..... We fought to alter the laws in Barolo so we could bring you 18 Liters filled with the delicious juice. 2011 is OH so very close to being in the country.

Cascina Chicco :: Rinaldi :: Icardi ::

Salute!

08/05/2015

::WINE MAKER WEDNESDAY::
Castello Romitorio, Montalcino. Sandro Chia

The finest things in life are often hidden away, in fact the Castello Romitorio winery takes its name from the massive twelfth-century fortress that sits atop a hill surrounded by thick oak forest in Northwestern Montalcino. Its name suggests that the edifice served multiple uses throughout its history probably as fortress as well as Monastery, making it a location that is remote in time and space.

Abandoned in the 1950’s its rebirth as a winery occurred in 1984 when Artist Sandro Chia acquired the estate from his friend Baron Giorgio Franchetti. The restoration of ‘Castello Romitorio’ began immediately, followed by the transformation of its overgrown lands into vineyards, and the construction of a cellar on the Castle’s ground floor. Twenty years later in the year 2006, the winery broke ground on a new state-of-the art underground cellar completed in 2007.

Since Sandro Chia bottled his first "Romitorio del Romitorio" in 1984, he has made clear that his pursuit of artistic perfection displays itself not only in the painted canvas but also in the glass. Over twenty years of success in art and winemaking has given Castello Romitorio the opportunity to refine our methods even further.

"We understand wine as the ultimate, seductive fusion of art and agriculture. I have heard some say that the grapes are the language of the Mother Earth but her dialect is difficult to understand. It is up to us to interpret her and to reveal our own character with her bounty. We are not Bordeaux, nor Burgundy; not California nor the Mosel. Neither are we Barolo or Chianti. It would be obtuse even to call us Montalcino, assimilated seamlessly among 180 producers of Brunello. We are Castello Romitorio, and our language and our art is wine."

07/14/2015

This weeks vinous favorite, the 2013 Chianti Classico from San Giusto a Rentennano.

2013 San Giusto a Rentennano Chianti Classico 92, points

Translucent and weightless in the glass, the San Giusto a Rentennano’s 2013 Chianti Classico boasts extraordinary finesse. Sweet red cherry, hard candy, to***co, mint, crushed flowers and new leather are some of the nuances that grace the exquisite finish. -Antonio Galloni

Not yet in the country, but coming soon.... call your local retailer and reserve today, the mid-atlantic receives extremely limited allotments of San Giusto's wines. Salute!

07/01/2015

Danny Meyer, one of America's greatest restauranteurs, owner of the Union Square Hospitality group (Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Maialino, Marta, Shake Shack) had this to say about Az. Agr. Fontodi's Flaccianello della Pieve in a recent interview with Food and Wine Magazine.

"Pizza tastes good with almost anything, but I love Sangiovese with it - especially if the pizza's got Pecorino cheese on it. Pecorino and Sangiovese are amazing together. But really, I'd open anything from a basic Chianti to a Super-Tuscan like Fontodi's Flaccianello della Pieve, which is one of my favorite wines in the world. If someone said, "You can only drink 10 wines for the rest of your life," that would be one of them."

You should probably call your local retailer to pick up a bottle and find out why one of the industry's greats could die happy with a bottle Flaccianello. Salute!