MCF Rare Wine

A Storybook Discovery (or something like that)

This is almost too good to be true.

Really, it's like something a wine geek shop owner would write for some fantasy 'wine business' themed TV drama.

A local restaurant server, hailing from just outside of Naples, who works at a famously-awesome local Neopolitan pizza restaurant, wants to bring some truly authentic wines from his homeland to serve to his enthusiastic patrons.  

He wants them to know that, as legit as the pizza is, it's almost for naught without its spiritual companion in the glass.

So he returns to Campania and finds a few tiny wineries who make the most incredibly delicious, authentically rustic and incredibly well-priced wines, and gets to work bringing them stateside to serve at the restaurant.

These wineries also happen to be so tiny that they haven't been discovered yet, even by the most diligent boutique importers.

The stuff of dreams right?

Well, at least for a tiny retailer whose quixotic personal quest is to make the world love and respect the wines of Campania, it certainly reads that way.

One more thing, Richard Luftig, wine director/winemaker/man who shares my sentiments on all things wine sends me an email and says 'Matt, meet Stefano, he's got a fantastic Solopaca and Sannio that he sells at Keste, but is looking for a retailer who he can direct his customers too.'

Knowing that the only other guy who shared his level of love for Aglianico in NYC is me, Richard was kind enough to make the intro.

So, on top of all of that, I'm the only guy who's got them right now...I couldn't have written this story better myself!

Through his 'Fabulae' project, Stefano Cominale, who grew up in Sant'Arpino, about 7 miles outside of Naples, aims to offer a range of super-traditional, authentic and organic Campanian wines at fair prices, and so far he's hitting a home run.

While we're looking very forward to the yet-to-arrive Pallagrello Bianco and Taurasi, today's offer is for the wonderfully righteous Solopaca Rosso and the absolutely fantastic Aglianico Sannio.

The Solopaca is mind-blowing for the price.  It's 90% Aglianico and 10% Sangiovese and, to call it good just doesn't do it justice.

It's fairly common for Campanian wines at this price, especially with this much Aglianico in them, to be very dense and polished...'international' in style, if you will.  Not so, here.  Fabulae has managed to make a truly rustic, classic Aglianico, one that expresses all of the authentic, earthy, volcanic notes that real Aglianico does, but without the harsh tannins that require years of cellar time to soften, and without the dense fruit required to carry said tannins.

It's a real-deal glass of Campania that's ready to go now.

The Aglianico Sannio, at a few clicks up the cost scale, but still wildly under-priced, takes things up another level.  It's 100% Aglianico and shows more structure and wonderful volcanic complexity.  After 30-60 minutes of decanter time, the spicy/meaty nuance really starts to emerge.

This is the kind of thing you can build a whole meal around.

As good as it is now, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to recommend laying some of this down, either.

Grab some pizza, and a bottle of one of these and be part of this wine-geek novella fantasy yourself...

Matt Franco

MCF Rare Wine, Ltd
237 West 13th Street
New York 10011
mcf@mcf-rarewine.com
212.255.8870
www.mcf-rarewine.com