Last fall you may recall a
large, heavy black glass bottle of Feudi di San Gregorio 2000 Patrimo I
stocked. At that time I was able to obtain a total of only 18 bottles.
This red wine had been awarded the coveted Tre Bicchieri by the 2003
Gambero Rosso tasting panel and I included it in a very special six
pack set of other Tre Bicchieri red wines. Only 600 cases of the wine
were produced. After its annual review of over 25,000
Italian wines, Gambero Rosso considered only the 250 wines
awarded "three glass" status for its final four category wine of the
year awards; sparkling, white, red and dessert. About 3 weeks ago
Gambero Rosso announced the 2000 Patrimo as its "Red Wine of the
Year!" A remarkable achievement for only the second vintage of
Patrimo.....especially when one considers all the very great Italian
red wines being produced!! Very shortly after this announcement, I
found a small cache of seven - six packs of the 2000 Patrimo still
available from the importer in the USA market. I purchased them all
and successfully received delivery of the wine about ten days ago. I
must gleefully report, after I had placed my order, the import manager
of my distribution source telephoned later in the day to tell me the
good news and wanted to "reward" me by offering to invoice me two more
bottles of the Patrimo. I told him I had purchased all of the
remaining Patrimo and he stammered in amazement and told me I could not
do that! I assured him I could and I had!! Isn't it nice to know that
a small wine merchant in far away Citrus Heights California now
possesses the most sought after red wine in Italy.
The grapes for Patrimo were always
assumed to be Aglianico, an indigenous grape from the Taurasi (DOC)
region in the foothills northeast of Naples in Campania. Curiously,
these grapes always seemed to ripen earlier and arrive a few
weeks prematurely at the winery than the other later ripening
Aglianico. Feudi di San Gregorio's production crew decided to research
its vineyard source and discovered the grapes were Merlot and actually
coming from a 25 year old, low yield vineyard site fashioned on an
overhead trellis system. The proprietary name Patrimo, means "my
father" in the local dialect. The wine is dedicated to owner Enzo
Ercolino's father Giuseppe, because unlike Aglianico it represents the
soft velvety style he preferred. Coincidentally, with the 2000 vintage
the legendary Richardo Cotterella became the consulting winemaker for
Feudi di San Gregorio. He is famous for his skill with this classic
Bordeaux vine.
Giuseppe may have liked soft velvety
wine, but this is not a Merlot for the faint of heart. It is colored
black beet red! It is thick and full on the palate with firm chewy
tannins that buttress bombastic blackberry fruit. Although it may be
consumed now, recently with grilled marinated lamb loin chops, the
wine's potential for cellaring is as enormous as the wine
itself. Giuseppe must have enjoyed wines aged
to a soft velvety texture!!
Anyway, I have already offerred
Patrimo to those who purchased it last Fall. I am only offering the
last 17 bottles of this wine to a small number of valued customers of
The Wine Consultant. I have held the price at $120 a bottle. Please
respond ASAP so you are not disappointed!
Eric Stumpf
The Wine Consultant
8039 Greenback Lane
Citrus Heights, CA 95610
(916) 721-WINE
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