The
wine-farm Casale Cento Corvi is located in an incontaminated
area of Tuscia (North-Western Latium) and takes his name
from an ancient mansion built in 1400 by the noble Orsini
family. The soil here is rich and generous, and is part of
the wide tuffaceous Cerveteri plateau.
The
Collacciani family has been managing the farm for various
generations, but only recently they decided to launch
themselves into the production of wine. As a matter of fact,
Giorgia (the daughter of Fiorenzo Collacciani, and who very
soon will become an oenologist with a degree at the
University of Tuscia) tells us that the production only
started two years ago, when they realized that the products
the local cooperative made with their grapes, were not of a
satisfactory quality. And so they decided to fly higher!
The farm is
formed of 36 hectares where they grow Chardonnay, Merlot,
Syrah (as international grapes), Montepulciano, Sangiovese,
Carignano, Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia del Lazio (as
national grapes). They are also implementing the production
with new varieties (Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc), in
order to get higher quality. The grape harvest is entirely
manual.
Giorgia says
that all the wines they make are exclusively Latium I.G.T. (that
is “Indicazione Geografica Tipica”, or “Typical Geographic
Indication”). They decided to make this choice because C.D.O.
regulation is too severe and restrictive.
Meanwhile, we
wander around the tasting hall, a very pleasant space where
you can admire wine and oil bottles, the "Turan" grappa,
together with a wide and tempting selections of fruit and
vegetable compotes, in their most gluttonous combinations
(green tomatoes, pears & rum, red onions, chilli, chestnut &
chocolate...).
After a
while, Costantino arrives. He is Giorgia's brother and also
the "family technician". He gently leads us to the office
and shows us Casale Cento Corvi Web site where, together
with the farm's presentation and the wines' technical
characteristics, you can also find an interesting section
dedicated to the local archaeological attractions.
At last,
Fiorenzo joins us and with him we go enjoy tastes and
flavours among the shining steel barrels. Directly form the
barrels, Fiorenzo offers us a taste of "Zilath" (remember:
here all the wines have ancient Etruscan names. "Zilath" was
a Roman official who used to transact business with "Caere",
the ancient Cerveteri), made of Chardonnay, Trebbiano and
Malvasia; it's their basic product, a young and pleasant
wine that "Gambero Rosso" (the famous wine&food Italian
guide) rewarded with "two glasses" of quality. Then we try "Kottabos"
Rosso 2002 and 2003 ("Kottabos" was an Etruscan game), a
perfect blend of Merlot, Sangiovese, Montepulciano and
Syrah, an intense wine with a fruity and spicy scent, and we
finish with "Kantharos" (which was an elegant Etruscan
bucchero cup). But what the Collacciani family is very proud
of is a new product, "Giacchè", which will be out in June
2005, a wine made of a single, ancient and rare Etruscan
grape variety (already known as "Giambrusca"), that they
grow on 1 hectare of land. The taste is still young, but we
can already perceive the future joy of the senses, starting
from the colour -a dark purple-red- up to the intriguing
flavours of cherry, plum, sour cherry, chestnut...
Even if
Casale Cento Corvi is a young farm, they are already famous
and participate in many events: "Movimento Turismo del Vino"
("Wine Day” on the
last Sunday of May –but in Latium it takes place the whole
week-end; “Welcome Vendemmia”, to celebrate grape harvest,
on the last Sunday of September; and “Christmas in the
Cellar” on the first week of December), plus numerous
exhibitions, openings and festivals where they can show and
offer their wines.
We can say: They're young, still
they're growing!
