The wines of Roberto Anselmi   
Superb wines from the Veneto, Italy

Via San Carlo 46, 37032 Monteforte d’Alpone, Verona, Italy
Tel: +39 0457 611488 Fax: +39 0457 611490
Website: www.robertoanselmi.com
UK agent: Enotria (020 8961 4411)

 

Roberto Anselmi (above) is widely regarded as one of Italy’s leading white wine producers. He left university in 1975 and started working in his father’s winery. His grandfather had been forced to sell the family’s vineyards in the 1940s and 50s, so his father’s winery relied on bought-in grapes.

Roberto’s ambition was to buy back the family’s vineyards, and he started acquiring hillside vineyards, planted at high density. Currently he has 70 hectares of vines, planted at 6000 vines per hectare and trained to Guyot or permanent cordon, as opposed to the much higher yielding double pergola system common in the region. His clones of Garganega (the white variety of Soave) are the less productive, higher quality ones.

 Frustrated by the low quality and general lack of ambition in the Soave region, in 2000 he chose to leave the Soave DOC, and his wines are now labelled as IGT Veneto. ‘Probably the best property in Soave is my property,’ he says, ‘but I don’t like beauracratic logic in my life. No one is focused on the real quality. I use 7000 plants/hectare as opposed to 1200. I have 3 bunches per plant as opposed to 15. These are two different philosophies of life.’ He takes a quality minded approach, starting in the vineyard, and extending to the cellar where he uses cold maceration and low temperature fermentation.

His wines are very impressive in quite a modern, forward style. The San Vicenzo is a favourite of mine: lovely fruit quality unobscured by oak, and at around £10, very good value. Prices for the Foscarino and Capitel Croce are also pretty sane, at around £14, and the sweet I Capitelli is lovely.

THE WINES

Anselmi San Vicenzo 2009
Very pure and fresh. Citrussy, nutty and a bit toasty. The palate has lovely freshness and richness, and is almost spicy with lovely freshness and savoury, herby, citrussy fruit. Very stylish. 91/100

Anselmi Capitel Foscarino 2008
Pure, fresh, modern and intense. Beautifully focused, precise, intense citrus, toast and herb flavours. This is fresh and concentrated with lots of bold fruit. 93/100

Anselmi Capitel Croce 2007
Beautifully aromatic with citrus peel and herb aromas. Powerful, pure, fresh palate with lovely fruit expression, as well as nuts, toast and vanilla. The fruit dominates here. 94/100

Anselmi Realda 2005
This is a Cabernet Sauvignon. Faded edge to the colour. Sweet and savoury nose with ripe fruit and gravelly, chalky freshness. The palate has bright cherry and plum fruit with lovely fresh berry character and a savoury edge. 89/100

Anselmi I Capitelli 2006
Made with grapes that have been dried until January in small cases. The grapes are washed before placing in the well ventilated drying room, and botrytis affects about 30–40% of them. Deep gold colour. Lively, intense nose with tangerine and apricot as well as some lemony freshness and complexity. Powerful and rich with amazingly complex flavours on the palate. Viscous, sweet but balanced. 94/100

Older notes:

Anselmi San Vicenzo 2002
Nice soft, herby white which is quite beguiling with its soft texture. There’s a good concentration of fruit here with a straw-like character. Satisfying stuff. Very good+ 89/100 (12/03)

Anselmi Capitel Foscarino 2001
A single-vineyard wine. Pronounced forward nose with a lovely straw-like herbal character. Good concentration on the firm, savoury palate which is dominated by rich herbal fruit. Full flavoured, and no oak apparent. Very good/excellent 91/100 (12/03)

Anselmi Capitel Croce 2000
A barrel-fermented single-vineyard wine. Lovely nose with classy toasty, nutty oak and rich herby fruit. The palate is creamy, savoury and quite firm, with quite a bit of oak evident. Impressive stuff. Very good/excellent 90/100 (12/03)

Anselmi I Capitelli 2001
A very deep coloured passito-style wine (where the grapes are dried on mats to concentrate the sugar). Intense straw and toast nose is quite sweet but has a savoury edge, with hints of lemon and caramel. The palate is lovely, with a rich texture and lots of herby, savoury complexity. Great balance to this sweet wine. Very good/excellent 93/100 (12/03)

See also:

Visiting Chianti Classico (series)
Searching for 'old' varieties in the Valpolicella region
Tasting notes of Italian wines

Wines tasted as 03/10 unless stated  
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