‘ART of Earth’ Affordable Organic Montepulciano D’Abruzzo DOC by Philip S. Kampe

Every once in awhile you sample wine and find a few standouts that are priced much less than what they retail for. Simply put, you find that wine that is incredible and is undervalued.

When that happens to me, I run out as fast as I can and buy as many bottles that I think is practical.

I’m writing this article to expose one of those wines.

Its called, Art of Earth, a certified Organic 2019Montepulciano D’Abruzzo DOC. Its imported by a well known importer, Mack & Schuhle., based in Miami.

The organic, sustainable Montepulciano D’Abruzzo sends your taste buds into orbit.

Your palate explodes with alcohol induced earthy, chalky cocoa flavors with hints of tar, leather, oak, plum, sun-dried tomato and cherry. The combination confuses your palate with too much information. There is uncertainty in each drop. The style is old world.

Montepulciano, the grape, mostly grown in Abruzzo, has two different styles. One style that is light, approachable and soft. Its ready to drink now. The second style epitomizes a complex, rich, tannic wine with a full-bodied finish, much like the ‘Art of Earth.’ Montepulciano.

The Italian producers, MGM.Mondo del Vino, create natural wines the traditional way, following centuries old natural, sustainable, winemaking methods.

Even the wine bottle and screw cap are recyclable.

Mack & Schuhle import a complete line of ‘Art of Earth’ wines.
The bottles come from around the world-Italian Prosecco DOC; Sicilian Pinot Grigio-Malbec from Argentina; Riesling from Germany; Sparkling Sangria from Spain and Rose from France.

I want to try them all!

Bring it on!

Philip S. Kampe
Philip.kampe@thewinehub.com

How Hungarian Cabernet Franc Changed My Life by Philip S. Kampe

My Dad was known to his friends as ‘Cab Franc.’

You see, his name was really Joseph and all of his social time with visiting friends was spent talking about his favorite wine and grape from Hungary, Cabernet Franc.

My mother’s side of the family is Hungarian, her sister was born near Villany. Her mother’s last name was Grosz and her father’s given name was Erdelyi. That was the Hungarian connection.

My father was an inventor and was very private about his patents. What he was not private about was Cabernet Franc. He tooted his horn about Cabernet Franc wherever he went. His business trips included several to Hungary.

Whenever he went to Hungary for business, he took two extra, empty suitcases, filling them up, upon return, with bottles of Cabernet Franc.

When my parents had their bi-monthly parties at our house in New Orleans, in the 70’s and 80’s, wine spritzers were popular. A wine spritzer is made from equal parts of chilled wine mixed with either club soda or ginger ale.

Following the trend, my father made wine coolers using Cabernet Franc.

Eventually, the guests said, forget the club soda and ginger ale and pour the wine Cab Franc only.

That is when they started calling my father, ‘Cab Franc’, instead of Joseph.

On some business trips he would bring back bottles of Cabernet Franc from France, and other trips, Cab Franc from Italy. When he poured these bottles from France and Italy, his band of friends would say the wine doesn’t taste right. It’s not the usual Cab Franc that you pour for us from Hungary. We don’t want an imposter, they would say. My dad’s  loyal friends would say, just bring back the right stuff, the Cab Franc from Hungary.

I remember my dad telling stories to our relatives, Raymond and Roger Weill, who were Americas foremost stamp collectors. They are both wine connoisseurs, and big consumers of high end Burgundies and Bordeaux’s. When the Weill brothers came to our house for a Sunday meal (my mom was their favorite cook), they would bring a case of Hungarian Cabernet Franc for my father, as a gift.  They knew my dad’s supply of Cabernet Franc from Hungary ran out.

In a panicked moment, my dad called the Weills and asked if they could suggest to Martin’s Wine Cellar, the premier wine shop in New Orleans, to carry Cabernet Franc from Hungary The Weill brothers were influential and Martin’s Wine Cellar purchased a palate to keep on hand. It didn’t take long for Martins Wine Cellar to sell the wine, due in part because my dad was the self appointed Hungarian Cabernet Franc ambassador in New Orleans.

In fact, my father said to the staff at Martins Wine Cellar, if you can’t educate your customers on how great this grape from Hungry is, I would be happy to buy all of the bottles you can’t sell.

My father was a man of his word.

As the years went by, my interest in wine grew.

I was out of the house and married, living in Nuremberg, Germany, teaching journalism, photography and movie-making at Nuremberg American High School. We owned a Volkswagen  camper and had three months every summer to travel. This was in the 90’s.

My summer goal was to camp in Hungary and visit Villany and learn about my fathers favorite grape, Cabernet Franc.

My dad passed away in 1989, so, I took it on as my duty to him to visit Villany and learn, first hand about Cabernet Franc for both. ‘Cab Franc’ and my mothers Hungarian roots.

The visit was a success.

I learned that Cabernet Franc was a relatively new variety in Hungary, having been planted in the early 1900’s. It took until the 60’s before the variety began to thrive in Hungary, specifically, Villany. Cab Franc was used mostly in the 90’s in Bordeaux blends. The winemakers realized that in their land of rolling hills and valleys that just maybe, Villany should be the home of Cabernet Franc. Siklos, to the west of Villany has cooler limeston hills, producing Cab Franc with more acidity and ripe for blending with Villany’s grapes.

Villany has a Mediterranean climate, with long, hot summers and mild winters. Cabernet Franc is planted mostly everywhere in the region. The end result encompasses a fruit forward wine that is balanced, velvety and has old word earthiness. It’s a clean wine that rolls off your palate and continues to grow and takes minutes to end, due to its long finish.

My Hungarian wine friends taught a Hungarian phrase to me,’Ha Villany, akkor Cabernet Franc! Ha Cabernet Franc, akkor Villany,’ The translation is simple, ‘If you think of Villany, think of Cabernet Franc. If you think of Cabernet Franc, think of Villany.’

Cabernet Franc is a fascinating grape.

Historically, I was taught, it’s the father of both Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. If that is the case, its juiciness, spice and even structure make this variety a superstar. With high alcoholic content (15% is normal), the tannins do exist in younger vintages, but, disappear with aging, turning this wine into an elegant, fruit driven, fresh wine, worthy of international acclaim.

If it weren’t for my fathers passion about Cabernet Franc, chances are I would never had entered the wine world and my passion to alert the world that Hungarian Cabernet Franc is a ‘World Class’ wine.

Isn’t it time to try my Dad’s favorite Hungarian export, Cabernet Franc?

Philip S. Kampe
philip.kampe@thewinehub.com