Boccadigabbia Rosso Piceno 2013

Like its predecessors, the 2013 Boccadigabbia Rosso Piceno is traditional wine from a traditional region, unencumbered by the so-called exigencies of the international market. In their 2013 Rosso Piceno, Boccadigabbia once again does the Marches proud. Boccadigabbia makes the finest and fullest Rosso Piceno we have encountered. The nearly opaque 2013 Rosso Piceno from Boccadigabbia is bold, brooding, and thoroughly packed with flavor, yet it offers a level of sophistication and suavity, too. It offers entrancing, deep down scents of black fruits, tinged with licorice and truffle, to haunt the nose. Equally full, rich, and immensely flavorful on the palate, the 2013 Boccadigabbia Rosso Piceno delights and surprises as it unfolds in the glass: its savory notes of black fruits, earth, roses, violets, and forest woodlands all meld harmoniously with the wine’s tannins. Bold and packed with flavor, the 2013 Boccadigabbia Rosso Piceno finishes with authority and power. Without a doubt, Boccadigabbia sets the bar for Rosso Piceno. Like Italy’s finest red wines, the 2013 Boccadigabbia Rosso Piceno is best when allowed to breathe for an hour or more in a decanter. Consequently, the extended aeration afforded this wine will more than repay the patience expounded, especially when served at cool room temperature (60°-64° F). Enjoy!

The traditional hearty, stick to your ribs kind of foods that typify the Marches provide ideal accompaniments to Boccadigabbia’s 2013 Rosso Piceno. Pork bracciole, also known as porchetta, the tomato, onion and herb infused loin of pork adored by the inhabitants of the Marches, remains one of our favorite Marchesan accompaniments to the 2013 Boccadigabbia Rosso Piceno. Sweet or hot Italian sausage cooked to perfection in a thick, mouth filling tomato sauce makes for another fine pairing. In fact, most beef, bean, pasta, and pork dishes get our nod with this wine. For those avoiding meat, cheese tortellini served with fresh pesto sauce provides an intensely gratifying experience with this Rosso Piceno as well. And if you want to turn an old-fashioned pizza or flatbread into a special affair, open a bottle of the 2013 Boccadigabbia Rosso Piceno . . . and let the good times roll. Lest you think this wine just a mere country bumpkin, we are equally proud to serve it in the company of more sophisticated Northern Italian or Piedmontese fare, including complex risottos. Buon Appetito!

Boccadigabbia is a small producer of premium wines in one of Italy’s finest but least known wine regions – the Marches. Even by the modest standards of the Marches, Boccadigabbia’s 17-acre estate is quite diminutive, but good things do indeed come in small packages, or at least from small estates, and this is especially true of the top wines from Italy. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Boccadigabbia is the Marches’ premier producer of Rosso Piceno, a delicious blend of Montepulciano and Sangiovese that emanates from the region’s sun-drenched hills that rise above the gleaming Adriatic Sea. Rosso Piceno is the region’s most important and prolific DOC, surpassing even Verdicchio in both prestige and sheer volume.

Until 1950, Boccadigabbia belonged to Prince Luigi Girolamo Napoleon Bonaparte, a direct descendent of the Napoleon Bonaparte we all know from legend and high school history class. Moreover, the Boccadigabbia estate was one of the first to plant French varietals under the Napoleonic administration in the early 19th century, and this practice continues even today under the estate’s present owner, Elvio Allessandri.

Under the auspicious leadership of Elvio Allessandri, Boccadigabbia has gained international distinction to match the well-deserved attention the estate has long received in Italy. And in addition to being the Marches’ foremost producer of traditional Rosso Piceno, Boccadigabbia is now fashioning miniscule quantities of Akronte, a very fine Cabernet Sauvignon; La Castelletta, a distinctive blend of Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Noir; Montalperti, a barrel-fermented Chardonnay that has been ranked among the finest in Italy; and Garbi, a spunky, refreshing blend of Chardonnay and Trebbiano. Given the outstanding quality and limited availability of Boccadigabbia’s wines, we are extremely pleased to be able to offer to our members this estate’s full-bodied Rosso Piceno.