One of the Great Unknown Producers in Italy - The Micro Production Passion Project Born of Love - IMPORTANT

We Think We Live in a Small World and That Everything Worth Knowing Is Known
 - But Just Occasionally, We Are Stunned By Something New And Wonderful 
 - An Act of Love by a Grandfather for his Grandchildren
 - Rare As Any Wines We Have Sold 

2008 Calafe Taurasi Riserva
 - 60-80 Year Old Vines
 - A Titanic Wine
 - The Nose Is a Maelstrom of Licorice, Blackberry and Plum
 - Palate Has Blackberry, Spice and The Sweetest Licorice
 - This Will Be One of the Most Epic Wines in Anyone's Cellar
 - Intensity of Great Cornas

2007 Calafe Ariavecchia Greco di Tuffo
 - Yes, Eleven Year Old Greco from the Cellar
 - An Italian White That Breaks the Mold
 - Incredible Restrained Richness of Great Burgundy... 
    ...Combined with Spice and Terrific Minerality
 - Long Savory, Salty Finish

I like to think that I know pretty much all there is to know about the word of wine.  I spend a good

amount of time tasting it and when I'm not tasting, I'm researching. When I was in retail, I was beseiged by salespeople showing me the best of what was out there.  So when my partner texted me from Italy saying that I needed to try the wines of a winery in Naples, of all places, I was, needless to say, a bit skeptical. Anybody who says a wine is good my first reaction will always be skepticism. Especially my partner, but I have trained him well. Well, I did taste them and OMG.

The wines are ridiculous.  Not just ridiculously good.  But ridiculous in that so much time and effort was put into making them that it is hard to believe.  Like many great things, these wines are born from love. In this case, the love of a grandfather for his 3 grandchildren Camilla, Laura and Federica (the first 2 letters of each of their names spell out Calafe). Benito Petrillo was in publishing and bought a mere 2 hectares to start this winery. The results have been miraculous. I get the sense that the owner doesn't do much marketing and would be just as happy to drink the wines and share them with friends.  The prices are not at all reflective of the quality. This is our first winery from Campania and to be honest I never thought I'd be selling Campanian wine. The reds can be hot, monolithic and not nuanced, but nuance can exist in big wines. See Barolo and Barbaresco. This Taurasi is a big wine but nuanced and reminded me of a great Cornas in intensity and structure.

The first wine, the 2008 Calafe Taurasi Riserva (for $37.99 each on a 4 pack) is one of the great red wines I sell. There is no doubt. A masterpiece of a wine made from 60-80 year old vines. The nose is simply ridiculous.  A swirling maelstrom of licorice, blackberry, plum and a hint of blood.  It's one of those wines where on the first sniff, you cock back your head in sheer surprise.  It's dark, dark, dark and almost brooding like a great Cornas can be in a great year but totally different.  The palate is simply awesome.  Dark, dark blackberry fruits with just the sweetest licorice you can imagine. Incredible spiciness is blended in seamlessly.  Incredibly juicy. The internal aromatics are amazing and you want to sit with this all night.  And you will. This wine has the craziest structure and those late breaking Aglianico tannins. I can see it lasting for at least a decade. This is, of course, 100% Aglianico and aged 30-35 months in 1,000 liter barrels and then for another 30-35 months in bottle. One of the best most impressive values of, big, chewy, dense, complex wines I will sell. This is $80 if you slap Cornas on the label.

The second wine is even more insane. I've been telling anybody who will listen about this wine.  It's the 2007 Calafe Ariavecchia Greco di Tuffo  ($29.99 each on a 4 pack).  Yes, 2007. Who the heck ages Greco di Tufo 11 years before selling it?  A person who doesn't give a damn about anything but quality. This is why I love Calafe. Quality is the ONLY thing that matters here.  As many of you know, I think that most Italian whites are pleasant but totally uninteresting to vastly overgeneralize.  This wine utterly breaks the mold. It breaks the mold into teeny, tiny pieces and then vaporizes the pieces. The nose is integrated dried apricot, almond and smoke.  Just wonderful and so interesting. Like you could smell it all day. Just absolutely gorgeous.  Eleven years of age has given this remarkable complexity.  The palate is insane. So balanced and structured. Just incredibly well made. It has the incredible restrained richness of great Burgundy combined with spice and terrific minerality.  There's a hint of citrus fruits. Awesome internal aromatics. The finish is incredibly long, savory and salty.  It really just clings to the palate.  Burgundy of this level of quality would easily cost $80+. This has the density of great 1er Cru White Burgundy but also has the dazzling minerality that great Greco di Tufo can bring to the table. Especially with age. DO NOT MISS THIS. I want as many people to try this as possible as this is a wine that means a lot to me as in a way this wine is the epitome of what I love to sell. Pure art in a bottle with no care about commercial viability. Made to be the highest expression of something and essentially an act of love.

This quote below by one of my favorite filmmakers expresses much better what I want to say about this wine and this estate.


"What is art? (...) Like a declaration of love: the consciousness of our dependence on each other. A confession. An unconscious act that none the less reflects the true meaning of life-love and sacrifice." - Andrei Tarkovsky

2008 Calafe Taurasi Riserva - $39.99 ($151.96 4-pack) (LIMITED) 2007 Calafe Greco di Tufo Ariavacchia - $31.99 ($119.96 4-pack)  (VERY LIMITED)