HIUSA GRANDE STRIKES THE RIGHT NOTE
WITH AN EVENING OF “DI WINE” JAZZ
Article by Anna Cavaliere, Photos by W.C. Enoteca

Franco D’Eusanio, owner and winemaker of Chiusa Grande at Nocciano - in Italy’s Abruzzo region - is anything but ordinary. The producer attacks a series of ideas that incorporates music and has gone beyond with a philosophy that triggered much discussion about his book Vinosofia – the secrets of wine from a cultural and philosophical perspective.

According to Franco, “the wine takes no prisoners but, rather, enslaves you”. He believes that talking to plants can affect and transform the vines and philosophizes that the wine’s characteristics will please those who appreciate and desire its qualities all of which can be expressed with music. Jazz, a great fit for wine and food, is both cultural and immediate.

For this reason Franco commissioned six musicians from Italy who, in three days, composed nine pieces to express the characteristics of nine of his wines.

PHOTO: Franco D’Eusanio talks about his wines.

Franco imprints his personality on his wine, along with his conviction that wine should transmit a sense of well-being and love for nature. Ultimately, it is an expression of what nature put in each grape. A great wine entices the consumer to drink it, thus encouraging consumption. It is a seduction of the senses, with each sip imparting special pleasure and enchantment so as to take another sip

The Premier opera “DiWine Jazz”, that expressed the bouquet and palate sensations of the wines, was presented at the winery with the music preceded by words composed by Franco. On this occasion, we swirled, sipped and enjoyed the following nine wines.

VINOFOLLIA – Sauvignon 2009
A friendly and surprisingly easy drinking wine, that offers sensuous harmony, hazes horizon with wisdom. Notes: smooth with essence of honey, there are hints of ripe tomatoes along with peppery notes.

NATURA TREBBIANO
Exhibiting pure strength, it is harmonious and is either fascinating or impetuous. It controls while the wine obeys. Notes: Displaying a golden hue, this aromatic wine is fresh with green hints, and has a lingering finish.

VINOSOFIA 2009 – 100% Pecorino
Removed radically from its territory, this joyous wine is a reflection of knowledge and character. Decisive and impressive, the light straw colour of the wine gives way to a pleasing and distinctive nose.

PERLA BIANCA 2007 DOC – Malvasia, Trebbiano
This wine is evocative of absolute love, eternity veiled in nostalgia, dreamy paradise, the love we always search for, and a devout complexity that merits one’s loyalty. It spent 18 months in barrel, and is soft, velvety and smoky.

IS EA ID – Cerasuolo
Pecorino,Sangiovese, Merlot
The wine tends to the ambiguous, the sexual identify of male/female. The intrigue and soul of femininity (EA) and the masculine lingering finish (IS), together with his/her (ID) passion of reason. A delicate rose colour, it imparts peppery flavours on the palate.

TOMMOLO D’ABRUZZO VQPRD 2009 DOC MONTEPULCIANO
A journey of seduction and discovery, this wine involves you, lets you imagine and then discover. Sip after sip leads to a fatal attraction. Ruby coloured, young yet mature, it rewards your palate with spicy notes.

ROCCOSECCO MONTEPUL CIANO
Made with grapes from 25-year old vines, the wine spent 10 months in barrel. One gets a sense of tradition, balance of acidity, tannins, and alcohol after drinking this wine. Persistent dried fruit and typicity comes through in this elegant and light wine.

CIFERETTE – Cabernet Sauvignon, Montepulciano
Named after a frisky and irreverent devil, this unfiltered wine is placed in barriques, where it gains strength of character of soft and pleasurable tannins which, together with full-body characteristics, make for a pleasing wine.

PERLA NERA (BLACK PEARL) MONTEPULCIANO
The wine is an expression of a grand passion and torment, romantic love, total involvement, and melancholy. It is a metaphor that incarnates the passion and torment for a woman, a red fire that cannot last. This honest wine is transparent and intriguing, a robust wine with strong tannins that cannot be ignored. Red ruby in colour, the mature fruit displays chocolate and black pepper notes.

ABOUT THE WINERY

The winery’s 50 Ha, located in Nocciano in the region of Abruzzo, are planted with both Trebbiano and Montepulciano varieties. Dedicated to the production of only premium organic wines, and probably the one winery to produce kosher wines, owner/winemaker Franco D’Eusanio also created labels to reflect the biological, organic and natural aspects of his wines. Two newer wines - Natura Bianca and Natura Rosso, are without sulphites, and are amazingly appealing to the younger generation.
For complete information go to www.chiusagrande.com

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