italian winestyle: Cantina San Lazzaro, Offida

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Azienda Agricola San Lazzaro, August 16, 2011

This winery has some of my favorite wines in the appellation of Offida to this day. You would never know it by the outside of the winery though. Just goes to show that great things come in not so pretty packages, and I’m not talking about their labels.

The views from the winery are stunning, and our host, winery owner Paolo Capriotti, was ever so kind, with a modest approach.

Grifola 2007 Montepulciano 100% San Lazzaro's trademark wine

We started off with the 2009 Pistillo, 100% Pecorino, which I really enjoyed. Paolo said this was a really fresh year. Prevalent notes of pine, grass, rosemary and mineral. Specifically what I tasted was pineapple Lifesavers! I haven’t had a Lifesaver for over 15 years, but some things you never forget. Graziano said that the acidic backbone dominates this wine. Sounded better in Italian though.

natural wine art

Then Paolo pulled out a 2007 Pistillo Pecorino, which was their 2^nd harvest. He said that this was a very hot year and that someone described this wine as Panettone. I found it interesting to taste the evolution of the wine, which still had nice acidity in a Vini-Veri Style.

the essentials

the 2007 quite particular Pecorino

Next we tried the Polesio 2009 which is 85% Sangiovese and 15% of a local grape they call Bordo. Paolo said that this is a grape which gives off a lot of fruit, and that here they call it Bordo, but elsewhere it’s called Cannonau, Gamay, Alicante, Tocai Nero, each zone has it’s own name for it. Someday I’ll research this more, sounds intriguing. So this wine was ok, very drinkable, but had little persistence.

excellent Pecorino

antique door

old school wine press

pieces of history

roses & vines

detail

the winery

Offida, Le Marche

breathtaking view from the vineyard

sangiovese vines

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This winery was a big surprise for me because I liked all, and I repeat ALL their wines. The prices are right and I highly recommend it.

This was the second time we came here. The first time we drove up, looked around and then drove away because we didn’t think there was really a winery there. It just goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Kind of like when you meet a guy, who isn’t a head turner, but then he’s really charming and makes you feel good, need I say more?