This month we present a wonderful red wine from Italy, made from the Carmenère grape:  Inama Oratorio di San Lorenzo IGT 2004.

Your Allocation is for one bottle.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:  93 points  "The 2004 Oratorio di San Lorenzo is deeply impressive. Layers of dark cherries, plums, minerals, espresso and chocolate flow beautifully in this sumptuous, first-class red. Silky tannins convey an impression of finesse and elegance. Despite its notable depth, there is nothing overdone about the Oratorio di San Lorenzo. This is a first-class effort in every way. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2019."

Wine Spectator: 93 points "This shows loads of tarry currant fruit, with rosemary, sage, mineral and a twist of orange peel against a fresh, oaky background. Full- to medium-bodied, with fine, integrated tannins and a superclean finish of licorice. Needs a bit of time. An amazing Carmenère. Best after 2010. 500 cases made."

According to the Washington Post's Jason WIlson:  "Inama's Carmenere has been so well received that the winery has invested heavily in planting new Carmenere vineyards. 'I see Carmenere from the Colli Berici DOC being elevated to the world stage,' winemaker Stefano Inama said in an e-mail. 'Some might say it is crazy, but that is what was said about Cabernet Sauvignon from Bolgheri and Sassicaia in the 1970s.'

For now, its Oratorio di San Lorenzo is in a class by itself, the finest 100 percent Carmenere that I've tasted. But its more affordable Carmenere Più (a blend of 75 percent Carmenere, 20 Merlot and 5 percent Raboso Veronese) is sold locally and i salso a winner."

About Inama  The Inama estate was founded in 1960 by Giuseppe Inama, who owned 30 hectares of vines in the heart of the Soave Classico region, predominantly on the highly regarded Monte Foscarino. He handed the reigns to his son Stefano in 1992, who has continued to tend the family's vines, principally Garganega, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. The volcanic soil found in the Classico area imparts a floral aroma with a firm mineral character on the palate. Other vineyards include the Colli Berici, the name of which derives from bradyseism, a slow seismic event which forms ridges in the land. The soils here are terra rossa and are suited for red vines. Bordeaux varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carmenere are the most common, and Colli Berici was the first DOC for Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in all Italy. Although the winery is very modern, intervention during winemaking is kept to a minimum; after a short maceration and gentle pressing the must is left to settle before fermentation and spontaneous malolactic fermentation. In order to preserve both the aromatic intensity and natural balance of the grapes, the wines are bottled with a minimum of fining and filtration. “We are organic in the way we grow wines, but don’t declare it”, says Stefano. “It is not a marketing tool: the quality of the wine is the marketing tool”.

With vineyard holdings almost exclusively on the Monte Foscarino, in the heart of the Soave Classico district, there was little choice but to specialize in the production of quality wines. Giuseppe Inama, who gradually acquired a total of thirty hectares in the most enviable sites, founded the estate in the 1960s. Stefano, Giuseppe’s son, assumed control of winemaking in 1992.

The estate produces three different varietals: Garganega (the original grape of the Soave district), Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. In the last decade much research has been conducted into clonal selection and canopy management in order to maximize concentration whilst retaining both varietal typicity and a reflection of our unique terroir. The volcanic soil found in the Classico area imparts a floral aroma with a firm mineral character on the palate. Although the winery is very modern, intervention during winemaking is kept to a minimum; after a short maceration and gentle pressing the must is left settle before a temperature-controlled fermentation and a spontaneous malo-lactic fermentation. In order to preserve both the aromatic intensity and natural balance of the grapes, our wines are bottled with a minimum of fining and filtration.

In the 1990s Stefano decided to expand production to include red wines and, after much research, settled on the Colli Berici, a system of terra rossa hills some 15 kilometres (10 miles) east of Soave in the neighboring province of Vicenza. At first glance the two zones appear to have little in common but they share one fundamental element: the possibility to produce wines reflecting a unique terroir.

The mineral-rich terra rossa was colonized with Carmenère in the middle of the 19th century by emigrants returning from Aquitaine. Bordeaux was in its heyday and cuttings of Carmenère, a popular grape, were brought back to the Colli Berici. Today Carmenère is already considered a local variety in the hot, dry climate of the Colli Berici. And, along with Cabernet, Merlot, Inama has embarked on realizing the potential of this special place with several red wines from two new properties.

About Carmenère:  Carmenere is a dark-skinned red wine grape variety originally from the vineyards of Bordeaux, but which has now found a particularly happy home in Chile, where it is sometimes also known as Grande Vidure. A late-ripening variety, Carmenere requires high levels of sunshine and a warm summer to show its true potential, but in the right environment it can produce fine, deeply-colored red wines with the attractive meaty plumpness of Merlot and the gently herbaceous, cedary notes of Cabernet Sauvignon. These similarities are not altogether surprising, as Carmenere is thought by some to be the 'grandfather' of Bordeaux varieties.

It is a little-known fact that neither Cabernet Sauvignon nor Merlot gained much momentum in Bordeaux until the mid-18th century. This begs the question as to which grapes varieties were used to make Bordelais wines prior to this. Carmenere figures largely in the answer, particularly in the Medoc, where it had a long-standing and successful partnership with Cabernet Franc. It was in fact one of the most widely planted varieties throughout the region, on both left and right banks. This remained the status quo right up until the 1860s, when the dreaded phylloxera louse (to which Carmenere vines are particularly defenseless) arrived in Europe from the Americas. Carmenere doesn't respond as well to grafting as Merlot or Cabernet, so the variety was largely abandoned when phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks were introduced as the solution to the phylloxera crisis.

Prior to this crisis, in 19th century, pre-phylloxera Bordeaux, enterprising Chilean vignerons took cuttings from the region's vineyards. A high proportion of what they collected was not the Merlot they believed it to be, but the similar-looking Carmenere. It is a complex irony that these men came searching for one grape variety in the early days of its fame, but erroneously left with another, long-established variety, whose days were (at the time) clearly marked. In doing so they saved Carmenere from extinction – a fact for which the Chilean wine industry is endlessly grateful.

RECIPE:  Braised Pork shoulder with Caramelized Carrots and Potatoes Serves 6

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 pounds pork shoulder, diced
1 cup flour
1 onion, diced
4 carrots, peeled and large dice
4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup red wine
4 cup chicken stock
Salt and black pepper

Pre-heat oven 350 degrees

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large oven proof sauté pan until smoking hot. Season the pork with salt and black pepper and dredge in flour. Add to the hot oil and brown well about 5-6 minutes. Once brown remove from the pan and reserve. Add the remaining olive oil in the pan and once again get it smoking hot. Add the onions, carrots and potatoes and allow to sit until brown about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and quickly sauté about 30 seconds. Add the pork back into the pan and the red wine. Cook the wine until about 1/4 cup of liquid remains. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and place in the oven and cook until the pork is tender about 1 hour. Remove from the oven skim off the fat and season with salt and black pepper. Serve warm in a large bowl.

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