Bocelli launches new Italian wine line

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli has launched a new line of high-end Italian wines with his brother Alberto. As reported on db.com, expanding production at his Tuscan estate, the classical singer has released a100% Sangiovese made from hand-harvested grapes from Morellino di Scansano, and an extra dry Prosecco in collaboration with leading Prosecco producer Trevisiol.

Bocelli has partnered with Seattle-based importer August Wine Group to import, sell and distribute the wines in the US and major international markets. Both wines have just launched in New York, Texas, Illinois, Washington and Oregon, priced at US$19.99 each, and will be available throughout the US by the end of August. Since 2006, August Wine Group has sold Bocelli's small-production wines under the company's boutique subsidiary Small Vineyards.

"When I return home after long trips, the joy that I receive from the taste of wine from my land is hard to match. It brings me back in time, to memories of my father, of him pouring the wine with a quasi-religious respect. I would give anything for him to see what has been accomplished in the past few years; I’m sure he'd be proud," Bocelli said.

“It’s exciting to be part of such a powerful brand, and to be associated with a family that is such a force for good in the world,” said August Wine Group co-founder and director Joshua Hanson. "We’ve had some really great feedback from the trade – we should easily reach our sales target of 20,000 cases this year,” he added.

Based in Lajatico in Tuscany, Bocelli Family Wines is a family-run company owned by Andrea and Alberto Bocelli. The Bocelli family has produced wine on their Tuscan estate for over 130 years. With renowned Tuscan winemaker Paolo Caciorgna at the helm, in addition to Prosecco and Sangiovese, the estate also produces In Canto Cabernet Sauvignon, Alcide – a Sangiovese/Cabernet blend, and Terre di Sandro old-vine Sangiovese.

Bellini Bar to offer Champagne baths

Supperclub restaurant in London is to open a dedicated Bellini Bar in June where guests will have the opportunity to bathe in Champagne. As reported on thedrinksbusiness.com, decked out with black marble and large mirrors, the focal point of the bar will be a roll top black bath filled with Champagne for one guest to bathe in each night.

In February, the Cadogan hotel launched a Champagne bath menu to run for the whole of 2012, offering a 122-bottle Dom Pérginon soak for £25,000. In the same way, Supperclub revelers will have the chance to buy a Champagne bath at the Bellini Bar, though far fewer bottles of Champagne are expected to be used.

“We’ll use enough to fill the bottom of the bath so the person can splash about in it, but it will be nearer 22 than 122 bottles,” a Supperclub spokesperson said. “We chose to fill the bath with Champagne rather than the traditional Prosecco used in bellinis as it’s more decadent, so it fits better with our celebratory ethos,” she added. Baths with different brands of Champagne at different price points will be on offer, though neither the brands nor the prices have been finalised.

The bar, which will also feature giant disco ball and bubbles cascading from the ceiling, will offer the classic Peach Bellini along with quirky twists on the original, including a Chocolate Pear Bellini, Sparkling Cosmo Bellini, and Vodka and Bubblegum Bellini. DJs such as Seb Fontaine, Simon Dunmore and Femi Fem will be taking to the decks and the bar will host regular performances from burlesque acts.

The bellini – traditionally made with Prosecco and peach purée – was created in the 1940s by Giuseppe Cipriani, the founder of Harry’s Bar in Venice (pictured here with Ernest Hemingway). Cipriani allegedly named it after 15th century Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini, as its pink colour mirrored the shade of a toga worn by a saint in one of his paintings. The cocktail quickly caught on at Harry’s Bar, popularised by famous regulars such as Hemingway and Orson Welles.

Croatian wine to crack global market

Croatian wine has “risen phoenix-like from the ashes” and is set to make a big impact on the international wine market, according to one of the country’s top producers. “The quality of Croatian wine has improved dramatically over the past few years and we’re witnessing the rebirth of the country’s wine tradition at the moment,” Mladen Rozanic of Istria-based winery Roxanich told the drinks business.

“We’ve got a big wine culture that people don’t know about, but they’re starting to catch on,” Rozanic added, predicting a bright future for Croatian wine in the international market. Croatian wines have something different to offer. They’ve got an attractive Mediterranean character,” he said, citing white variety Malvazija Istarska, Borgonja – a descendent of Gamay brought to Croatia by Napoleonic soldiers in the early 19th century, and red grape Teran as the top three indigenous varieties of Istria to watch.

With around 33,000 hectares under vine, Croatia plans to crack the global export market when it enters the European Union next year. It currently exports only 5% of its annual production of 60m litres. Releasing his first commercial vintage in 2008, Rozanic is enjoying experimenting with different grape varieties. His Ines in White 2008 is a blend of seven different white grapes: Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Vermentino, Prosecco and Tocai Friulano.

“I planted test rows of each of the seven varieties just to see how they performed in our terroir. Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc have adapted best to the climate and soil,” he revealed. Rozanic is passionate about ageing his wines for as long as possible in barrel before releasing them onto the market. His whites are aged for three years in 3-year-old French oak, and his reds four years. “Ideally, I’d like to age my reds for seven years before releasing them onto the market – five years in barrel and two in bottle,” he said.

Passionate about small-scale production, all of Rozanic’s wines are made naturally, with only a small amount of sulphites added. “I like the purity and honesty of natural wines. Wine is one of the oldest traditions of human civilization and it deserves respectful treatment,” he said, adding, “I believe in letting the terroir speak, but I also like to see a winemaker’s signature in his wines. I like to be present in my wines.”

Wines of Rapture at Quo Vadis

Supine on a striped sofa in the appropriately titled “Petting Room” of Quo Vadis in Soho, I’m surrounded by leather, lingerie and literature. Resplendent in his signature Burgundy suit and immaculately clipped beard, the dashing, debonair and dangerous Wine Chap, formally known as Tom Harrow, is holding court, explaining to his captive audience that smell is the most powerful, underrated and sensuous of the senses. “We’re drawn to potential mates by their smell – Napoleon went wild for the smell of Josephine’s unwashed body,” he asserts, “and I have it on good authority that I smell great. A dab of Grappa behind each ear and I’m good to go.” Exuding an almost Neanderthal sexual energy, Harrow cuts a swaggering figure in the room. His sidekick, Cecelia, a full-lipped Swede in a raspberry beret and scarlet velvet plus fours, is here to showcase her wares from erotic emporium Bordello, affectionately known as the “nipple of Shoreditch.”

The small square room is accessorised with candy stripe carpets, regal red curtains, art strewn walls and a bookshelf heaving with oddities. The low-slung wooden table in front of me is well seasoned with erotic paraphernalia, from a leather whip fastened with a pair of fur balls that look like they’ve been pilfered from a well-endowed squirrel, to a pastel pink copy of A Compendium of Kisses – an insightful guide to the art of locking lips.

A sprinkling of kinky couples and curious singletons populate the room. Raven haired proprietor Sam Hart perches impishly on the window ledge in the far corner as if hoping to dissolve into the surroundings. We are gathered for Harrow’s Wines of Rapture event, billed as “an inner striptease” celebrating the divine union of Bacchus and Venus. Urging us to use wine – faithful friend of poets and lovers, as a seduction tool, the tasting begins in the land of love (Italy) with Dal Bello Rocca d’Asolo Prosecco, its tongue tingling effervescence compared to the breath of a lover caressing your neck. Light, elegant and delicate, it’s the romantic equivalent of a peck on the cheek.

Foreplay begins in earnest with an unctuous white Burgundy – Domaine Emilian Gillet Vire-Clesse Quintaine 2007, representing, according to Harrow, a “thickening of the juices”. Rich, waxy, honeyed and seductive, there are few things less sublime than the first sip of a creamy white Burgundy. Having lost its primary fruit, brioche and cooked apple notes have made their way to the fore in the liquid embodiment of a lingering kiss. Glancing round the room, I sense the impending urgency of the situation. Lascivious looks are being exchanged and metaphorical clothes are flying off in all directions.

Moving on to the meat of the matter, we tackle Meerlust’s lusty Rubicon 2005, named after Julius Cesar’s historical crossing of the Italian river in 49 BC, and neatly symbolising the point of no return. Weighing in at a hefty 14%, the savage red, full of deep, dark fruit is brooding and sexy; it’s a full-throated roar of a wine, or, as Tom so elegantly puts it, “a man ripping his clothes off and leaping onto his maiden.” Now well oiled, the once timid crowd is engaged in animated banter. The chap opposite me picks up a wooden paddle and spanks his paramour with it, while the couple beside me, who are celebrating their 10th anniversary, appear to be seriously considering the squirrel whip.

Divine intervention follows in the form of Domaine Giraud Châteauneuf-du-Pape; the preferred wine of Pope Clement V. With a nose of lit match, meat, polished leather and musty church pews, it reeks of ecclesiastical vice. “If Bordeaux is your wife and Burgundy your mistress, then Châteauneuf-du-Pape is your dirty weekend,” Harrow quips. Virulently alcoholic and imbued with sweet fruit, the rugged red, with its masculine thrust, smacks of Oliver Mellors from Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

Visibly hot under the collar, and delighting in the debauchery, Harrow launches into an anecdote about the irreverent Italian nobleman Cesare Borgia, who one night swapped partners with his mistress’s 15-year-old daughter mid-stroke. He goes on to explain how a lady’s favourite wine determines how she will be in the bedroom, citing from personal experience that Pinot Grigio girls are pedestrian and predictable, while Barolo quaffers are sexual deviants.

We move swiftly on to the climax – La Giaretta Amarone 2007. Seductively speaking, we’re in the final throws of passion. At 15.5%, this is a beast of a wine. Hedonistic, powerful and concentrated, the lusty liquid brings us to the tipping point, where we dissolve into the mystic bliss of what the French so quaintly call “le petite mort”. At the moment of sweet release, having expended our life force, we transcend the terrestrial and connect with the divine, as our ecstasy takes on a spiritual purity. Post-explosion, we luxuriate in the glorious afterglow with liquid gold provided by delicate dessert wine Château Laurette Saint Croix du Mont 2006. Like the sweet fruit of the gods, the unctuous golden elixir is laced with honeysuckle and almond. This is the cigarette moment – the end of the affair. I’m spent.

For more information about upcoming WineChap events, visit the website