La Fonte d'Oro is an interesting wine, and not something that I am used to. As near as I can tell (what I know of Italian comes from French and Latin), the name translates to something along the lines of "the fountain of gold," which reputedly refers to a legendary spring where warriors would place spoils of war in order to bring themselves good fortune. Warriors aside, the wine itself has a deep, almost black color, and the intriguingly austere label is enigmatic in its simplicity, making for a visually striking bottle, which is what initially drew me to La Fonte d'Oro.
It does look eerily like the Eye of Sauron
Le Fonte d'Oro is an Italian wine from the Puglia region, which comprises the 'heel' of the Italian peninsula. The north of the region is slightly hilly, whereas the southern tip is entirely flat, which caused the two areas to develop distinctive cultural identities. The southern 'spur' of Puglia retains a strong connection to the region's Greco-Roman past whereas the northern portion has much more in common with the viticulture and winemaking customs of central Italy.
Puglia is particularly associated with the cultivation of the Primitivo grape, more commonly known as Zinfindel in the US, and the region has had a reputation for producing cheap, highly alcoholic, large batch wines. As global demands for higher quality wines have risen, Puglia has sought to reinvent itself, working to secure several DOC classifications and importing winemaking talent from throughout the EU.
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| They weren't kidding when they said "perfectly flat" |
La Fonte d'Oro is an example of the success of this campaign. The wine is the brainchild of Gaetane Carron, French by birth but a lively force throughout Italy's wine regions, and a "mover and shaker in the wine world" according to wine writer Jancis Robinson. With La Fonte d'Oro Carron has given us a blend of Primitivo and Negroamaro varieties, crafted in the Amarone style; drying the grapes prior to fermentation. This is an expensive process, but yields extremely powerful flavors. What is surprising about La Fonte d'Oro is that Carron has been able to give us the flavorful addition of an Amarone production technique at a very reasonable price.
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| Fresh picked Primitivo grapes |
The wine is extremely smooth, rather in spite of the harsh, savory, and tannic grapes from which it is fermented. It has an intense plum flavor backed up by spicy oak that suffuses your palate. The aroma is as enigmatic as the label, with hints of mocha and subtle fruit aromas that I can't quite put my finger on. Neither Primitivo nor Negroamaro are particularly aromatic grapes, but the subtle scent of La Fonte d'Oro is intriguing, and provides an additional 'whiff' of interest, if you will.
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