The Man from Mosel River

The precinct of Garbatella in Rome

When we lived in Rome, we had an apartment in Via Tamburini in Garbatella. During our holidays in Rome we could not resist to visit the old stomping ground and wander around. Apart from having “reconnecting” with “our” old pizzeria (more about this at a later stage), we also found a treasure of a wine shop, an “enoteca”, as it is called in Italian.

Name cards of Alfredo Pinot, manager of Enoteca “13 gradi” in Garbatella

By accident we stumbled into Angelo Consorte’s wine shop named “13 gradi” (13 per cent). After dinner we just wanted to take some wine with us to the old farmhouse where we stayed near Appia Antica. We were lucky, “Enoteca 13 gradi” was still open.

The inside of the treasure house

Angelo Consorte and me

The four of us immediately felt at home in the place. We waited for another customer to be served. I used the opportunity to browse through the shelves and had picked up six bottles which I lined up in a row.

Then we started to talk to Angelo. He took Margit for a local, the rest of us was obviously foreign (we have broken Italian only). We introduced ourselves and had a great conversation.

Angelo was very kind to help me identify the wines I wanted to try. He analyzed my selection which helped him to get an idea what types of wines I intended to try. Here and there he replaced a bottle with another one and in the end we walked out with eight bottles for which he made us a really good price.

We learned that Angelo had traveled along the Mosel and Rhine rivers by bike and was quite familiar with the wines from my home region. In fact he is involved in the organization of winery tours on bikes, very interesting I found.

My girls had a good time

My take from “13 gradi”

In the end my take was the following:

– 2008 Marabino, Noto, Nero d’Avola
– 2009 Le Favole, Bosco Bando, Traminer Aromatico, Friuli
– Graf von Meran, Riesling by Unterberger, Alto Adige
– 2008 Pinot Grigio, by Nals-Margreid, Alto Adige
– Marcarini Fontanazza
– La Luna des Rospo, Silente
– Zeno Blauburgunder Riserva, Alto Adige
– La Corte del Pozzo, Valpolicella Fasoli Gino

I apologize for the sloppy registration. I missed out on some of the vintage indication. But I will provide an account of these wines in the context of their consumption (usually with food and during lavish dinners).

However, I also noticed that my notes are not complete (after all I was on holidays and not on a wine tasting venture). I might skip one or the other of the above wines. Some of them we took with us as gifts for friends and therefore I do not posses all tasting notes.

Angelo is certainly a find. Please visit him at “13 gradi” when in Rome. He has a great selection of Italian wines and a great passion for them. Below his address.

Address:
Enoteca “13 gradi”
Piazza Bartolomeo Romano 4
00154 Roma
Tel.: +39-328-5589211 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +39-328-5589211   
E-mail: a.pinto@13gradi.it

PS: Thank’s to Alfredo Pinto earlier mistakes in my blog entry could be corrected. What would we do without the internet. Thank you Alfredo for making me aware of my misconceptions.