The U.S. wine industry owes its birth to Italian immigrants and their progeny.
While it was the Spanish who first brought grape vines to California, the vines they brought were initially to be used in the sacrament. Because of the church's association with the grapes they grew at their missions, the variety became known as the Mission, a grape that still grows in California, but is rarely used for wine.
The Italian immigrant vintners brought their vines from the old country to the new world and headed for California, where the soil and the climate was similar to that of their former homeland.
Today, many of the vineyards still carry their original Italian names or the name of current descendants who stayed in California to continue the age-old profession of winemaking. One example is Maggio Family Vineyards. The vineyard was established in 1954 by Ruddy Maggio and several friends as a source of quality grapes for local vintners. Today, Maggio is producing their own wine upon which they proudly put the family name.
We recently sampled some of Maggio’s latest releases and were quite impressed with them.
Maggio 2013 Lodi Sauvignon Blanc ($11)Sauvignon blanc grapes can produce wines in the California style, with a melon and citrus flavor, as well as wines in the classical European style, which stress a prominent herbaceous (grassy) flavor. This wine lives in both worlds. It has the classical grassy component, but that is held in check so that the full fruit California style can shine through.
As an added extra, the Maggio vintners incorporated just a touch of the symphony grape into this wine. Symphony is a fragrant grape and adds a brand new layer of interest to this wine. This effect allows the wine to be served with a wider spectrum of foods than its European-styled or California-styled cousins.
Maggio 2011 Lodi Merlot ($11)This is a well-made, uncomplicated wine that accents the full fruit possibilities of California-grown merlot grapes. The Maggio 2011 Lodi Merlot has a brilliant amethyst color and a full, almost overpowering varietal flavor and aroma. It displays a bold blackberry flavor with a background of black cherries, chocolate and oak. There also is a fascinating under-flavor vintners describe as earthy. This earthy component adds another layer of character and complexity to the wine. These factors combine to make this an excellent, enjoyable and affordable wine.
This selection also will cover a broad spectrum of foods. It can accompany any meat dish, from the heaviest cuts to the lightest, as well as full-flavored grilled seafood and cheeses of every description.
Maggio 2011 Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon ($11)This wine is not only an excellent cabernet sauvignon, but also a contradiction of itself. While it does glorify the traditional cabernet sauvignon flavor of cranberries and big dark blackberries, it does so by presenting these flavors in huge amounts.
This wine can best be called “jammy” because of its almost obscene display of fruit flavors. The Maggio 2011 Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon will accompany any traditional meat dish, but it also will fit meals prepared with sweet sauces, and contrary to its ancestral snooty heritage, backyard barbecues.
Maggio 2011 Lodi Petite Sirah ($11) In these days of very expensive petite sirah wines, the Maggio 2011 Lodi Petite Sirah is outstanding and equal to the best on the market today. The variety did not do well in its homeland of France and its growing was almost totally abandoned. Somehow, this vine made its way to California where it thrived and made excellent wines. The deep purple-red color heralds the aroma of ripe, red summer berries, chocolate and spice. The flavor is an explosive swirl of boysenberry, blackberry, black pepper and vanilla. Another surprise is the rather long and subtle finish, making this is a wine that should not be missed.
Nixa resident Bennet Bodenstein is a wine columnist and manages ArticlesOnWine.com. He can be reached at frojhe1@att.net.[[In-content Ad]]
