Up and at ‘em early as we have an hour to drive to Breganze. Fausto Maculan’s winery is always a highlight on the trip as the winery is both nice-looking and a very efficient workplace, and the wines are delicious. Angela, Fausto’s daughter, takes us through the winery – Fausto’s remote-controlled hydraulic punchdown machine is the usual hit, and cellar is gorgeous – the off to the offices for a tasting. One of my favorite white wines in the world is his Vespaiolo, made from the grape of the same name. It is an amazing honeyed blend of citrus, flowers and ripe fruits wrapped around a core of 
melons and honeysuckle – balanced by incredibly refreshing acidity. I buy a case to leave at my apartment here. Also excellent this year is the Altura, a barrique-aged Pinot Noir, Crosara (100% Merlot, and I love it, go figure), Fratta (Cab-Merlot blend), all the sweet wine offerings, the Pino & Toi, the Ferrata (Sauvignon Blanc). The only one I don’t completely love is the Costadolio, a rosé of Merlot, which has a touch of that grape’s green pepper and not enough bright strawberry to make me love it completely. A great visit!
2009 Maculan, Vespaiolo. Ovely melon and honeysuckle, greayt acid, citrus, fresh, nutty and fruity, crisp, fun, lovely. 3.0+
2009 Maculan, Sauvignon (blanc). (Tank sample.) (Called Ferrata, like the railroad). Very nice, crispy green nose, grassy, herbaceous, but with excellent pineapple and green pears, very long in the mouth, very well balanced. 3.0
2006 Maculan, Fratta. Cabernet/Merlot, 80/20, changes every year but approximately like this, always cab in majority. Blackberry and blueberry nose. Layered with vanilla and coffee/chocolate. Hints of musk, peppercorns and green pepper from the merlot. Smoky cassis on the palate, with good acids and still-tight tannins, really nice and rich, balanced but big – this is like dancing a fast waltz with a very fat, graceful woman. (wow, how not-PC). Really ripe and rich fruit of great intensity, but never ponderously heavy on the palate. Good depth and length, righteous finish, still tight and dry tannins. 4.0-
2004 Maculan, Acininobili. Honey, pear, peach, orange, sweet honey, beautifully integrated, vanilla, incredible length and balance, sweet, sweet finish, dried white plums, amazing. 4.5- Drink now-forever.
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Lunch at a small trattoria in Breganze, then off to Schiavon, home of the Poli distillery. Jacopo Poli’s family has been making distillates for over 100 years at this location and their commitment to quality is, in a word, amazing. I group Poli’s distillates at the level of the best Cognac, Armagnac, Whisky and brandies being made today. It’s always fun to visit, as Jacopo himself is such an interesting, smart, funny, self-deprecating, generous and unpretentious guy;
he is one of the reasons that I find this business so interesting. He’s an original and an hour with him is an education in making distillates. If I sound like a swooning 12-year old, my apologies; it’s hard not to be impressed by this operation. I’ve been serving and selling Poli’s bottlings for about 12 years (enjoying them, longer) and have never once been disappointed with anything with his name on it.
We are taken around by Sara, the public relations and marketing director for the company – Jacopo is not a businessman who is afraid to surround himself with bright, smart, articulate people. The first time I met Sara a few years ago, I was so smitten with her that an hour after the visit I was referring to her as my “future wife," a slip which I have not been allowed to forget by my traveling companions from that trip. Lucky for her, she was already happily married (talk about a close shave) (for her). She has, since then, admirably kept her sense of humor intact around uncouth and discombobulated me – another trait I deeply appreciate.
The combination of traditional
and modern is fascinating at Poli. He makes the grappa in a resolutely traditional way: only fresh pomace goes into the stills, he uses discontinuous still from a 100-year old design, the “head” and “tail” (the first and last parts of a batch) are cut off and sold in bulk as they tend to be harsh and bitter, and the distillates are aged in wood barrels for up to 15 years. Right next to the old 
stills, though, is a hyper-modern experimental small-batch vacuum still, made for extracting finer and fresher aromas and flavors from the pomace of the most aromatic grapes – as boiling points are lower in a vacuum than in atmosphere, the idea is that the more delicate flavors and aromas will be preserved at the lower temperatures required in a vacuum. Also, the bottling and packing are completely automated. I could watch the packing robot for hours. Really – it’s mesmerizing. Amazing how little it takes to keep me entertained.
We taste through the selection of Poli’s bottlings in the cold basement tasting room – a big surprise is the Lamponi, a brandy made from raspberries, and the Torcolato aged in barrique – I, being the driver, spit almost everything, but a few are just too good. Many Polis come to the US and I make notes on those that don’t for reference in the company shop, where I purchase a few bottles to take home with me. In Denver at home, about 25 bottles of Poli (many carried back from Italy) are tucked into a cupboard; that’s as good an endorsement as I can give to any producer.
We zip back to Verona and head right to dinner – we’ve been invited to Mario’s home near Peschiera del Garda. Inexplicably, I take no pictures of Mario and Michela’s home, their kids, Matteo and Michelangelo, the amazing meal they prepare for us, the lovely wines from Mario’s cellar we consume, nor of the lovely rambling farmhouse property called Gallo del Pille they are restoring into a tiny bed and breakfast. I love these improvised get-togethers, and it is such a pleasure to be in a home for a night instead of a restaurant. Both Mario and Michela are talented chefs, gracious hosts and loads of fun. Their B&B opens up in June and the website is up - Mark, Edward and I did the English translation for the site over glasses of spritz in Bolzano a few days later.
Back to Verona well past midnight, but we have to be up by 8 and packed – we move up to Bolzano and the Alto Adige tomorrow.
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