hen Matthew Fioretti pours a sampling of the Italian wines he imports, his intent is to offer the wine-drinker a taste of Italy itself.
That's because the wine he brings home from the vineyards of Tuscany, Piemonte and several lesser-known viticultural regions are primarily from small, hands-on grape growers whose wines are the result of "enlightened traditional practices."
"The types of wine I deal with are really unique," says Mr. Fioretti, who grew up in Menlo Park and now runs his own importing business, Summa Vitis. "The wines speak of the particular place in which they're grown. They're different from wines (that are produced) to satisfy a certain taste."
That's a rather poetic way of positioning himself on one side of an ongoing, spirited debate in winemaking circles: The virtues of intervening in the wine-development process to create a certain effect, as opposed to allowing a wine to develop its own "personality," with little manipulation by the winemaker.
Many vinters in the great wine-producing regions worldwide are now intervening in the winemaking process, Mr. Fioretti says, giving as examples the use of new practices that lower the level of tannins and, in the case of aging the wine in oak barrels, alter the taste.
In Mr. Fioretti's view, "The wine is supposed to taste like a place ... but the more intervention, the less it does."
Area residents now have a nearby source for the wines over which Mr. Fioretti waxes poetic. He has applied his estimable expertise in Italian wines to his role as wine-buyer for Colli Umbri, a Menlo Park shop that specializes in Italian ceramics known as maiolica and Venetian glassware.
The shop, owned and operated at 2087 Avy Avenue by Denina Morgan, expanded its space and merchandise last fall to include other Italian imports such as handmade textiles, and pewter, wood, alabaster and paper products.
And wine. Ms. Morgan's wine inventory includes many that Mr. Fioretti imports himself, and others he secures from other importers. They are all from small-estate producers whose winemaking styles range from "enlightened traditional" to a more "interventionist" approach -- for example, allowing wines to develop in oak barrels.
"We have a predominance of Tuscan wines because (Tuscany) is a very high-quality area," Mr. Fioretti says. These wines include Chianti, Chianti Classico, and Chianti Classico Riserva; Vino Nobile; Montalcino; Morellino di Scansano; and others including the super trendy "Super Tuscans."
He also chooses a range of Piemontese wines, including Barolo and Barbaresco, and wines of Umbria, Alto Adige and Veneto.
Last month, Colli Umbri had its first formal tasting, with Mr. Fioretti generously sharing his wines and expertise. Ms. Morgan says she and Mr. Fioretti plan to have tastings about every two months. "The only way to really learn about (the wine) is to have a really good tasting," Ms. Morgan says.
Passionate partners
Ms. Morgan and Mr. Fioretti met about five years ago, when both were first embarking on their separate business paths. Mr. Fioretti was visiting his mother, Bea Fioretti of Sharon Heights, and happened to spot the sign, Colli Umbri. He quickly concluded that someone who would bestow on a store such a name had to be serious about things Italian -- or at least Umbrian.
He walked in and introduced himself, and not long after, the two were talking about setting up a wine section. But, Ms. Morgan says, it wasn't really practical until she expanded the shop.
They did, however, establish a strong rapport. "There's a real parallel between us, in how he works with vintners and I work with artists," Ms. Morgan explains. "We're both really passionate about what we do, about the products we bring in."
Mr. Fioretti learned about Italian wines, cuisine and culture when he lived in Italy for 2-1/2 years as a undergraduate student of philosophy at the University of Florence. Although he returned to the United States to complete his schooling, Italy left its imprint.
After grad school at the University of Maryland and a short-lived job outside the field of wine, Mr. Fioretti worked for a wine importer. "After a short period of time, I struck out on my own," he says.
He spent much time in Italy, getting to know wine producers and becoming immersed in the culture and philosophy of viticulture and winemaking. And he finds great wisdom in the traditional wine producers -- "people who really are, at bottom, farmers" -- who "have been working the land for generations, who follow every step of the production."
Mr. Fioretti cites the philosophy of one small-estate winemaker in the Maremma area, Fabrizio Niccolaini, who told him: "I'm not the one who makes the wine -- it's the vineyard, the land. I'm the keeper."
That sentiment crystallizes the argument against intervention in the winemaking process, which Mr. Fioretti says often has more to do with concern for the wine's salability than with creating a wine that tastes of "place."
Winemakers such as Mr. Niccolaini, Mr. Fioretti says, don't manipulate the wine as it is fermenting and aging to create an effect to please influential wine journalists. Their "enlightened traditional" practices are necessary, he says, "if you want the wine to surprise, to speak to you, to taste like a place."
