“The execution of the laws is more important than the making of them.”
–Thomas Jefferson
The concept was rather straightforward, but as with most projects in life, it was the execution (or lack thereof) that was the key and, well, thus is the story of my life.
Back in the Spring, I received an email from a PR firm in Italy who has a rather impressive portfolio of producers from all over Italy. I presented them with an idea that, while not all that novel, would (at least for once), make a little bit of sense out of the title of this site. I proposed a few posts about the wines from the regions that were being traversed by the cyclists in this year’s Giro d’Italia. [For those that don’t know, there are three “Grand Tours” every year in professional cycling: The Giro d’Italia in May, the Vuelta d’Espagne in September, and by far the most famous, the Tour de France which just concluded on Sunday.]
After a bit of correspondence, we settled on essentially three regions (and routes) to highlight and I would publish my notes about the wines. Like I said, straightforward.
Until it wasn’t.
First, on their end, some of the wines we had discussed were not available from the wineries, so they were substituted with wines that were close to this year’s route, and that was fine.
Until it wasn’t.
The wines, it seems, were held up for a bit in customs, and by a bit I mean “almost a month” and while there was a little wiggle room, there wasn’t that much wiggle room. Thus, the wines showed up after the conclusion of the Giro.
Oh well. We tried.
Since then, I have been sitting on these notes since I did not really know how to publish them. Until today, as another Musgo Wednesday, here are the wines that I was going to discuss for the seventh stage of the Giro d’Italia, which passed right by the Molise region, Italy’s second smallest appellation, squeezed between Puglia (roughly the “heel of the boot”) and Abruzzo to the north, where the stage ended atop the brutal Blockhaus climb, won by Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark (who went on to win the entire Giro).
All three came from the same producer, were all made from the local Tintilia grape variety, and all were quite tasty.
2021 Catabbo Tintilia del Molise Tintilia in anfora, Molise, Italy: Retail $39. Very Heavy Bottle (756g; 26.6oz). 100% Tintilia. As far as I can ascertain, this is only my second run-in with Tintilia and this certainly reminds me of the first (which was only a few days ago, so no real racking of the brain required)–it is dark. Even really dark, even broodingly dark on a rather gloomy day. Nearly black in the glass with some, well, dark fruit on the nose (blackberry, cassis, plum) as well as nice floral note (violet–is there such a thing as “dark violet”?), some pepper (black), and a hint of earth (dark). All that darkness transfers on to the palate, but there it is more than held into check with a tart, lively acidity that instantly brightens the mood of this wine, and keeps it cheery until the finish, when some tannins show up (although manageable) that remind you that this is a dark wine once again. But hey, big bruisers need some love too, and this is quite nice (if you are in the mood). Excellent. 90 Points.
2020 Catabbo Tintilia del Molise S, Molie, Italy: Retail $29. Very Heavy Bottle (746g; 26.3oz). 100% Tintillia. Tintillia is unique to Molise, which is the second smallest wine region in Italy, nestled between Abruzzo and Puglia along the southern Adriatic coast. Inky dark in the glass with oodles of dark, black fruit: blackberry, plum, cassis, black cherry–there is a ton of it, and it is all dark. Plenty of spice to go around, too, this is one of the more brooding noses that I have sniffed in quite a while. The palate, surprisingly, is not quite as gloomy as the nose did portend, but it is still pretty darned dark, don’t get me wrong. The difference here, is the near lip-smacking acidity, which enlivens the wine considerably. The wine finishes with some grip, but the tannins are actually quite subtle and nearly integrated. I would guess this wine will continue to improve, at least in the relatively short term (3-5 years). Excellent. 92 Points.
2019 Catabbo Tintilia del Molise Colle Cervino, Molise, Italy: Retail $30. Responsible Bottle (507g; 17.8oz). 100% Tintilia from Colle Cervino. This is now the third Tintilla that I have tried from the tiny Molise wine region, and this might be the best. Medium to dark in the glass with oodles of dark fruit on the nose: blackberry, cassis, plum. There is also plenty of spice and hints of dark earth. The palate is equally fruity and expressive, even seven years past the vintage. But it is also more earthy and grippy than I imagined, based on the nose., which is just fine with me. Apparently, this made Wine Spectator’s Top 100 in 2023, and while I have no clue as to how that list is compiled (although I have a few guesses), that tracks with my experience. This is a fruity, tart, expressive, and earthy wine, with lovely balance and more than a bit of verve. While this wine likely won’t make my top 100 wines of the year (but who knows?), it does make me want to explore the region and its wines a heckuva lot more. Excellent. 92 Points.
the drunken cyclist 