54  /  the tasting panel  /  january/february 2017

n the early 1970s a group of biologists moved five pairs of Italian wall lizards to a new home on a neighboring island. After just 30 or so years, their findings showed “rapid and large-scale evolutionary changes” simply by changing the

lizards’ environment. National Director of Banfi’s Cru Artisan Wines portfolio Lars Leicht has been a lot of things—journalist, brand ambassador, transla-tor, PR man, Italian food and wine expert—but not a biologist; still, the mastermind behind Cru Artisan College has somehow managed to accomplish very much the same thing with his group of winemakers and traveling educational tasting. Except it’s the program that has adapted at an astonishing rate, not the Italian lizards—whoops, I mean already perfect Italian winemakers.

For the past three years, Cru Artisan College (CAC) has consisted of a four-city tour in which a band of winemakers from Banfi’s Cru Artisan Wines portfolio lead an entire day’s worth of buzzworthy educational seminars. There are also food pairings with local guest chefs and cash prizes for blind tastings, making CAC one of the most interactive, thorough trade tastings to tour the U.S. “It’s the next best thing apart from actually visiting the vineyards,” says Leicht. Those of us at The Tasting Panel and The Somm Journal have

National Director of Banfi’s Cru Artisan College, Lars Leicht, stands proudly on the sidelines during class in New York City, NY.

BANFI’S 2017 CRU ARTISAN COLLEGE SHARPENS ITS FOCUS ON ITALY

by Jessie Birschbach

(The Evolution of Education)

L’Evoluzionedell’Istruzione

TP0117_032-66.indd 54 1/17/17 5:23 PM

january/february 2017  /  the tasting panel  /  55

been involved from the very beginning. As our wine editorswill tell you, it’s really more of an experience than educational tasting; yet, each year Leicht has still found room to improve, fine-tuning this experience.

Now moving into its fourth year, the evolutionary hop this round however is more than slight. CAC has partnered with the Wine Scholar Guild (WSG), an organization that provides study and certification programs specifically regarding the wines of France, Italy and Spain. Says Leicht, “We’ve always been thrilled to work with the Guild of Sommeliers and their educational focus, but the Wine Scholar Guild represents another layer of bandwidth and another group of people who are interested in wine. Perhaps many of them [WSG members] are trade, but it’s also open to people who are not necessarily wine professionals, so we see this as a nice way to expand the offerings of CAC to a broader audience. We also love the fact that WSG’s Italian Wine Scholar program is endorsed by the Italian Trade Commission. This, compounded with CAC focusing solely on Cru Artisan’s Italian wines, is going to make the whole program very enticing. Italy can be a challenging place in the world of wine. It doesn’t always come across as clearly to students, and we really want to give a leg up to the Italian wine scholars.”

CAC will also have access to the extensive depth of WSG educational resources, one of the very reasons for which the WSG is so widely praised. Says WSG Education Director Lisa Airey, “The Wine Scholar Guild is providing the content for Cru Artisan College’s study material in 2017. It is an honor to be entrusted with the foundation upon which this lecture series is built. By taking excerpts from our Italian Wine Scholar manuals on all the topics covered in the CAC tour, we will give students the background they need to appreciate the insights provided by the winemakers. We will set the stage for the show!”

Finocchiona, Pecorino Fulvi and Pecorino Toscano; duck liver mousse with toasted filone; coppa hamwith Piave Vecchio and Radicchio Castelfranco; and stracciatella with toasted filone from the CAC New York City campus at restaurant Marta.

Enrico Cerulli, family proprietor of Cerulli Spinozzi, represent-ing Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, at the University of Houston in Houston, TX.

PH

OTO

: FELIX

SAN

CH

EZ

PH

OTO

: DO

UG

YOU

NG

TP0117_032-66.indd 55 1/18/17 1:52 PM

56  /  the tasting panel  /  january/february 2017

Another very valuable WSG asset on lend to CAC is Maurizo Broggi, creator of the Italian Wine Scholar program. Broggi will serve as a principle for the entire tour, working in conjunc-tion with the local guest sommeliers/headmasters. Originally a sommelier and wine consultant for various cosorzi in Italy, Broggi also spent a number of years in China as a wine ambassador in Hong Kong. During this time, he earned the Diploma in Wine and Spirits (with Merit) from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust. He was also awarded the Decanter Scholarship for top Advanced Level graduate in Asia. His other wine credentials include the French Wine Scholar with Highest Honors, Certified Specialist of Wine from the Society of Wine Educators and Certified Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Says Broggi, “Each one of the 20 regions of Italy has its own traditions, grapes and wine styles. This makes Italian wine study akin to tackling the wines of 20 different countries. The sheer volume of information can be overwhelming. There are more than 300 native grapes and more than 400 wine appellations. Only by putting the regions and their wines into geo-graphic, historic and cultural context can you master the wines of Italy. It can be a daunting task, but at the same time extremely rewarding.”

The WSG partnership might be biggest update in the CAC program, but there are others too. This year som-meliers and the like will have plenty of time to get to work before dinner starts. “It’s a shorter program but with more seminars,” says Leicht, “so we’re looking at a 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., because we realized that a lot of our audience needs to get to service.”

Interestingly enough, the final benefit of the CAC/WSG partnership won’t be realized until after this coming semester. Says Leicht, “Because we’re now involved with the Wine Scholar Guild and really tightening our focus this semester on Italian wine, this will open up the potential to offer additional CAC sessions and other semesters to center on non-Italian Cru Artisan wines throughout the year. So for instance, we’d offer something like a CAC ‘study abroad program’ where we actually hold campus in the vineyards of the Pacific Northwest with Pacific Rim’s winemaker, Nicolas Quille.”

The biggest changes in the cur-riculum will include a focus on Italian terroir and more deserved attention to Marsala. Says Leicht, “The Digging In seminar is what I see as the heart of the curriculum, because the somms who have been fortunate enough to come with us on the enrichments trips via the Guild of Sommeliers say to me that the whole world of Italian wine is so much

more challenging to them. Of course, the best way to really learn about Italy is to visit, but the next best way is to have the winemakers come explain it to you in person. This is a 90-minute seminar with five winemakers from five different regions who will really be focusing on the very unique terroirs that make up Italy. For this seminar, we’re also going to prepare more of a lunch pairing. We’ll have a little heavier portion with all those wines. When you have ten wines to taste through, you’ve got to have food.”

As for Marsala, Leicht continues, “The fact is, we’ve received such great recep-tion about the Marsala from seminars in the past that we decided to separate it out and give out and give the lovely Benedetta [Benedetta Poretti, family proprietor, Florio] a chance to strut her stuff and show all of us how special Marsala can be in a modern context.”

To learn more about the details and wines of this year’s curriculum, see the syllabus included here. And upon reviewing it, consider the components of Cru Artisan College that aren’t apparent from the text: the volatile chemistry of Italian winemakers and the insane amounts of wine, food, learning and fun. Says Leicht, “When you put five winemakers in a room, you’re going to have 25 opinions, but when they get together, magic hap-pens. The results become greater than the sum of its parts.”

Talking Amarone and Brunello in Atlanta (left to right): Lars Leicht; Christian Scrinzi, Chief Winemaker, Bolla; Andrea Sartori, family proprietor, Sartori di Verona;Guest Headmaster Eric Crane, Director of Training & Business Development, Empire Distributors; and Gabrielle Pazzaglia, Castello Banfi Cellar Master.

PH

OTO

: RYA

N STO

NE

TP0117_032-66.indd 56 1/18/17 1:52 PM

january/february 2017  /  the tasting panel  /  57

2017 Cru Artisan College Syllabus 9:00 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.HOMEROOM – PASTRIES AND PROSECCO

We’ll break the ice with the quintessential symbol of Italian hospitality and offer an informal introduction to the concept of breakfast wine. Coffee and tea will also be served for those needing greater stimulus.

Maschio dei Cavalieri Prosecco

9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.BEYOND THE PALE — TRADITIONS AND INNOVATIONS IN ITALIAN ROSÉ THROUGH THE WINEMAKERS EYES

Rosé is growing in popularity and seasonality; as it takes the market by storm, Italians won’t be left behind. That argument will be made with the lighter side of five famous red varietal rosés—Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Corvina, Montepulciano and Lambrusco di Sorbara—by the men who made them, with some inventive pairing suggestions.

Cuvee Aurora Rose, Sartori Bardolino Chiaretto, Centine Rosé, Cerulli Cerasuolo, FB Lambrusco

10:40 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.DIGGING IN: CELEBRATING THE UNIQUE TERROIRS OF LA BELLA ITALIA

More than 1,800 different native wine grape varietals thrive (or survive) on Italy’s patchwork quilt of soil types, ranging from her mountainous Apennine backbone and volcanic soils to the rich clay of her plains and the sandy loam near her long coastline. A panel of winemakers from five of her 20 regions—Piemonte (Alberto Lazzarino), Toscana (Rudy Buratti), Lazio (Mauro Merz), Veneto (Andrea Sartori) and Abruzzo (Enrico Cerulli)—will show you some of the winning combinations of unique grapes and special places. Small-bite pairings will be served.

Principessa Gavia, La Pettegola, Cortalto, Terre dei Grifi, Luna Mater, Ferdi, La Lus, Regolo, Torre Migliori, ASKA

12:20 p.m. – 12:35 p.m.COMPTEITIVE BLIND TASTING

A cash prize is on the line for the student who can correctly identify the most characteristics of our four wines.

12:40 p.m. – 1:40 p.m.BUILDING A BRUNELLO FROM THE GROUND UP – A WINEMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

Hailed by Wine Spectator as “Builders of Brunello,” the Castello Banfi estate has pioneered clonal research and zonation studies in its pursuit of excellence, raising a tide of quality that has lifted the entire region. Veteran winemaker Rudy Buratti will reveal the elements of his three-decade-long research and demonstrate how Sangiovese behaves so uniquely, not only in Montalcino as a whole but from hill to hill on just one single estate.

Vineyard 1, Vineyard 2, Vineyard 3, Vineyard 4, Castello Banfi Brunello, Poggio alle Mura Brunello, Poggio all’Oro Brunello

1:50 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.AMARONE AMORE –ANCIENT TECHNIQUES FOR CONTEMPORARY TASTES: STYLE VARIATIONS AND THE FUTURE

Two of Verona’s leading producers of Amarone and Ripasso wines will share their knowledge, passion and insights for this winemaking technique that dates back to the ancient Romans and was a ‘secret’ of farmers for centuries.

L’Appassione, Le Poiane, Bolla Amarone, Sartori Amarone, Corte Bra, Le Origini, I Saltari

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.NOT YOUR NONNA’S MARSALA: A SWEET FINISH AND A BITTER NOTE

Benedetta Poretti of Sicily’s historic Florio winery will show why her cellars are renowned for their reserves and reveal the complexity, flexibility and future of Marsala. Malvasia delle Lipari and Florio Fernet add Sicilian counterpoints.

Florio Sweet Marsala, Florio Dry Marsala, Targa, Florio Malvasia delle Lipari, Fernet Florio

Commencement exercises to immediately follow.

2017 CRU ARTISAN COLLEGE DATES!

MAY 1WASHINGTON, D.C.

MAY 2CHICAGO

MAY 3SAN FRANCISCO

For complete, updated information go to www.cruartisancollege.com.

Contact Events Director Becky Tsadik to reserve your spot, and/or

for more information at becky@tastingpanelmag.com. $50 tuition fee. Scholarships available.

Maurizio Broggi, FWS, DWS, creator of the Wine Scholar Guild’s ItalianWine Scholar program and now presiding headmaster of 2017’s Cru Artisan College, in Gattinara.

TP0117_032-66.indd 57 1/18/17 1:52 PM