In New York, Halloween is not a party: it’s a season. The pumpkins invade the stoops of the City brownstones, the skyscrapers light up orange and on the evening of 31 October thousands of witches, zombies and superheroes parade along the Sixth Avenue for the Village Halloween Parade. We Italians, raised to the maximum with some chestnut and the memory of the dead, we adapted quickly. But we can bring something of ours to the party: a bottle with the right name.
Because even the Italian wine, when it wants, can be disturbing. The labels include blood, devils, nurses, black magic and little recommended nights. However, it is enough to look better to discover that behind certain names from horror films, a medieval village, a racing horse or families of winemakers are hidden.
We start our list with the Devil’s Blood, a Raboso del Piave produced by Ca’ di Rajo. The name comes from a local legend that, on full moon nights, the devil would descend on the village of Rai, leaning one foot on the tower and the other on the bell tower of the Church of Carmine. Inside the bottle, however, no sulphur: there is the Raboso Piave, one of the historical vines of the eastern Veneto, with a strong acidity and a strong character. The grapes are partly left to seal on the plant and partly dried, before the aging in wood. It is a red that calls the autumn table: game, braised, aged cheese. If we have to have dinner with the devil, it is worth doing it with a good glass.
From the blood you descend directly to Hell. It is not a metaphor, but one of the subzones of Valtellina Superiore, next to Sassella, Grumello, Valgella and Maroggia. Here the Nebbiolo, which the Valtellinesi call Chiavennasca, grows on steep and rocky terraces, so exposed to the sun that the name seems almost a climatic description. They create elegant and austere reds, perfect for roasts and game.
If “Inferno” is already quite explicit, Malanotte seems a name commissioned for 31 October. Actually the Piave Malanotte DOCG owes it to the Malanotte family, historically linked to the territory of Tezze di Piave. The wine, produced mainly by Raboso Piave with a part of dried grapes, tells a story much more concrete than the one suggested by the label. Malanotte, in short, is not necessarily a bad evening: it depends on the company.
And of families with curious names Italy has more than one. In the Marches, in Ascoli Piceno, there is a winery that is called, without laps of words, Velenosi. No ampoule of the witch or poisoned apple: it is the surname of Ercole and Angela Velenosi, who founded the company in 1984. And to stay on the subject, their Ninfa has a label that seems to come out from a night of witches: a red, thin, almost spectral female figure, dancing on the white paper. Its origin is an accident: during the tasting tests, a drop of wine fell on a sheet and took the form of a girl dancing. The name and the label, at that point, had chosen themselves. In the glass the nymph is far from evanescent: a red of the Marches based in Montepulciano with international vines such as Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, deep and spicy, with notes of blackberry, cherry, licorice and tobacco. Perfect with braised, wild and grilled. A wine signed Velenosi, with on the label a dancing girl who remembers a red ghost: at Halloween difficult to ask for better.
If there is a name that does not need presentations is the Blood of Judah, from the Oltrepò Pavese. Here the legend is theatrical: according to a popular tradition, Judas would have arrived in the Oltrepò after betrayal and would have helped save the vineyards from a disease, leaving his name to wine. The twist is that behind one of the darkest names of the list we find a sweet and sparkling red, generally obtained by Croatina and other local vines. The betrayal, this time, is that of expectations: you expect something austere and dramatic and you find yourself with a wine that smiles.
Beldemonium could instead be the name of a creature evoked in front of a fireplace, with a lot of old book and a candle consumed. The true story is much more earthly: it was the name of a racehorse of the family owner of Poggio della Dogana. Today Beldemonio is a Red Vermouth based in Sangiovese, produced in the hottest vintages and flavored with citrus, herbs and spices. Red orange, black pepper, cinnamon, cocoa, anise and china: more than a vermouth, the recipe of a potion. The difference is that this can be ordered at the counter.
For those looking for the Black Magic will find it among the bubbles. The Lambrusco Grasparossa of Castelvetro signed La Piana bears a spiritual sitting name, but in the glass it offers red fruit, freshness and a sweet vein, and is perfect with pastry and with an informal table. Obviously not all witches drink austere wines: some have simply understood that bubbles are more partying.
And then there is Falò di Lungarotti, perhaps the most cinematographic of this small paper of darkness. The wine arrives on the market on 31 October and takes its name from the fires propitiators of the peasant tradition. Sangiovese and Merlot, young and fresh, is designed for an autumn cuisine made of roasts, grills, soups and rustic dishes. It is the wine that transforms Halloween into a scene: the fire lit, the smoke in the air, the chestnuts that burst and the bottle that passes by hand in hand.
In the end, this small paper of darkness tells something curious about Italian wine. The devil becomes a Venetian legend, Hell a Valtellinese terrace, Malanotte and Velenosi two interesting families in the world of wine, Beldemonio a horse. Yes, I give you a secret: wine loves to disguise itself. Halloween is the perfect night to remind us that the bottles, just like people, are not always what they look like..
L’articolo Blood, devils and malanotte: the paper of dark wines comes from IlNewyorkese.
