2006 Azienda Agricola San Giuseppe Rosso di Montalcino Stella di Campalto

WineAlign

• By John Szabo, MS
  7/7/2013, (See more on WineAlign...)

  (Stella Di Campalto Rosso Di Montalcino, Rosso Di Montalcino red) Login and sign up and see review text.

• By Ian D'Agata
  October 2009, (See more on Vinous...)

  (Stella di Campalto Rosso di Montalcino) Login and sign up and see review text.

• By Antonio Galloni
  2004 Brunello di Montalcino: A Vintage Full of Surprises (Jun 2009), (See more on Vinous...)

  (Stella Di Campalto Rosso Dimontalcino) Login and sign up and see review text.

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  12/29/2009, (See more on Garagiste...)

  (Stella di Campalto ROSSO) Porcini and Rosso Dear Friends, As I sit this morning in the northern tier of our country, the thermometer reads minus 12 degrees (with wind chill of minus 27) and the air seems to hover above ground like frozen mist suspended in time. This is cold. Real cold - the kind that freezes the moisture in your breath before it has the chance to utter something it wishes to take back. You know it's cold when the coyote that lives up the way doesn't have the time or the energy to run when you pass - he seems to nod in some form of survival unison with all moving creatures - friend or foe. Against his normal instinct, there will be no hunt of prey this morning - Mother Nature has tuned the tables and made him the prey of the elements. Cold like this (with blowing and swirling snow) deserves cold weather cuisine. In this case, "stick to the ribs" fare but I have no means to secure a carnivorous backbone at the local market - the car doesn't start and even if it did, few would venture outside. Tonight, the meal will have to create itself from ingredients already in-house and that means one thing as I peer into the cupboard - mushrooms. Mushrooms present an interesting dilemma - they are an accompaniment or the meal itself. In this case, they will transform into a rich, meaty risotto (without any meat of course). One of my favorite winter dishes, an aromatic mushroom risotto gives a well seasoned pan the chance to unleash one of the secret ingredients I've come to rely on and it always comes to the rescue: Porcini Salt. Made with the same technique as the Truffle and Salt (top-tier Italian sea salt fused/melted with the star ingredient), this salt was originally invented by Don Curtiss 4-5 years ago in Seattle and its popularity has grown beyond the US. Where the Truffle and Salt has two main ingredients (truffle and, well, salt) the Porcini version takes the process one step further. Produced in the Abruzzo by hand, they "melt" sun-dried Italian Porcini mushrooms, herbs, sautÄed garlic and onion into one salt-crusted block. The salt block ensemble is then air-dried until the entire mixture crumbles into tiny particles and crystals. The dried mixture is jarred and quickly sent to Seattle - waiting to release its grandeur sprinkled on your pasta or rice. The heat steaming from your plate (or in the hot olive oil of your sautÄ pan) is enough to melt the particles into a mÄlange of autumnal goodness. To say this explodes with flavor is an understatement - it turns the most mundane chicken, pork or fish into a display of earthen fireworks. An amazing treat that I find to be indispensible in the kitchen... ...and the wine? I happen to have a single bottle of Stella di Campalto's 2006 Rosso in hand and the wine seems destined for a wondrous dance with the mushrooms tonight. Stella di Campalto remains one of Italy's most exciting and difficult to procure wines and only a few retailers around the world receive an allocation. It is a fabulous, singular example of terroir that will knock the senses back into those that desperately seek a return to what made Tuscan wine so appealing in the first place - honesty (instead of trickery). Treated like a Brunello that is aged for two years instead of four, the 2006 Rosso is worth more than a few wow's and it's priced accordingly. While still mostly unknown in the US, limited quantities prevent me from singing the praises of the vintage or of this artisinal, BIO/organic Tuscan wine any further: Both are VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEDED and EXTREMELY LIMITED: Volterra Porcini Salt 3.5oz jar 2006 Stella di Campalto Rosso di Montalcino Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA FD8830 Italy7827