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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