WINE ALL IN THE FAMIGLIA

HIGH IN the hills of Umbria, Italy, near Perugia and roughly halfway between Florence and Rome, sits a little farming town called Torgiano. Torgiano is pleasant enough to look at, but it’s rather anonymous – it has no major monuments, no dazzling cathedrals. Apart from an excellent hotel and restaurant, Le Tre Vaselle, it has little to attract tourists. But to anyone who enjoys good Italian wines, Torgiano is a town of no small significance, for it is the home of one of Italy’s most widely distributed, consistently impressive larger wineries: the Can-tine Lungarotti.

The Cantine is comparatively young, as Italian wine producers go. The Lungarotti family has been growing grapes in the region for several generations. Elegant, soft-spoken 72-year-old Giorgio Lungarotti and his father had made small quantities of wine for local consumption for years, but the Cantine Lungarotti didn’t start making quality vintages on a commercial scale until 1962. Since then, the Lungarotti family has also opened the aforementioned Le Tre Vaselle, and Signora Lungarotti has organized a superb wine museum nearby, modest in size but rich in enological treasures.

The Cantine Lungarotti’s production now exceeds 200,000 cases a year, most of it DOC (Denominazione di Originata Con-trollata, the Italian version of France’s Appellation Controlée). The Lungarotti repertoire is broad, offering a veritable one-winery list of selections – a surprisingly successful sherry-style aperitif wine called Solleone; a nicely textured white called Torre di Giano; a bigger Riserva version of that wine; a Chardonnay (still looking for its personality, I think); a delicious all-purpose red called Rubesco; a sometimes formidable Riserva version of that wine; a promising new Cabernet Sau-vignon; an even newer red known as San Giorgio (an intense and complex blending of Cabernet and the grapes used for Rubesco, which are Sangiovese and Canai-olo); and a vin santo dessert wine (good, but with a curious dried-grape character) – not to mention a rosé and some red and white non-Denominazione table wines.

Not all these wines are exported, but most of the ones that are can be found without much trouble. Some brief notes on the vintages currently available in Dallas (with approximate retail prices given):

Torre di Giano 1978 ($6). A good mouthful of wine, with good acid and moderate fruit -not unlike a richer, hardier Orvieto (Orvieto being Umbria’s most famous wine).

Rubesco 1975 ($6.50). One of the best recent vintages of this wine, with more depth of flavor than usual for Rubesco and still a good amount of tannin. Drinkable now, but another year or two of age wouldn’t hurt.

Rubesco 1978 ($6). A bit lighter than the ’75, but showing its fruit, which tends toward cherrylike flavors, a little more vividly. (The two vintages would make an interesting comparative tasting or, with a meal, an interesting one-two progression.)

Rubesco Riserva 1974 ($10.50). A very attractive wine from a very good year, probably at just about the perfect drinking age right now (though it’s not about to collapse, either). Some fruit is still apparent, as is some oak, but the flavors have smoothed out and pulled together so nicely that no single element stands out.

Cabernet Sauvignon di Miralduolo 1978 ($8.50). A bright, lively wine with plenty of fruit and an attractive bouquet. With its moderate tannin, freshness and pleasant roundness on the palate, it reminds me of a medium-bodied California Merlot -and it wouldn’t be a bad bottle to spring on someone who claims not to like Italian wine.

The San Giorgio, from the 1977 vintage (the first one to be released, after four years of bottle age in the Lungarotti cellars) should be available in Dallas later this year and is well worth looking for when and if it arrives.

In general, it’s hard to go wrong with anything from Lungarotti – especially if you know what to expect from each wine. I have my favorites among vintages and styles of Lungarotti wines, but I don’t think I’ve ever had one -with the exception of a little screw-top bottle of oxidized Rubesco I got once on an Alitalia flight from New York to Milan-that I didn’t think was pretty darned good wine.



ANOTHER NAME to watch for in Italian wines is De Rham – the Enoteca Internazionale De Rham, to be precise. Unlike Lungarotti, De Rham isn’t a wine producer: It’s a wine-shipping outfit, rather like a traditional French negotiant, but ranging farther afield in its chosen area than most French shippers. The company is run by two brothers, Paolo and Armando De Rham; and the two of them single-handedly seek what they think are the best wines of every type from virtually every part of Italy. Since they are Tuscan and are headquartered in Florence, they tend to be particularly strong in Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and other wines of that region; since they’re no fools, they also tend to be strong in Barolos, Barbarescos and other fine Piemontese wines. Beyond that, the producers they represent range from the Alto Adige in the eastern Alpine foothills to the Valle d’Aosta in the western Alpine foothills, and from the Veneto down to Umbria and beyond.

Until recently, De Rham wines (which bear an identifying strip label, usually at the bottom of the regular label, so you can recognize them) were only sporadically distributed in Dallas-but now there is full-scale, aggressive marketing of them throughout the area, and the selection increases here almost monthly.

A good one-stop shopping center for these wines is DiPalma’s, 1520 Greenville – which probably has the largest selection of Italian wines, De Rham and otherwise, in the state. Another good source for Italian wines (De Rham included) is Spirits in Caruth Plaza. Virtually every good wine store in Dallas (as well as a number of the city’s best Italian restaurants) has at least some De Rham wines on hand -or can probably be cajoled into ordering some.

Here are brief notes on 16 of my current favorites among the De Rham wines now sold here, with the wine type listed first, then the producer’s name and vintage and approximate retail prices.



WHITE WINES



Gavi, Tenuta San Pietro 1980 ($9). An unusual but engaging wine, partially fermented in the bottle on its own lees, with a hint of pinpoint carbonation remaining, good acid and a pleasantly sour quality on the palate.

Orvieto Classico Secco, Decugnano dei Barbi 1981 ($6). A big, fruity wine with very little resemblance to any other Orvieto. Orvieto purists might be troubled by this wine’s unorthodoxy; other wine lovers will probably just smile.

Tocai, Volpe-Pasini 1981 ($6.50). A rich, grapy, honey-smooth wine from the Friuli region in northeastern Italy, with a fresh afterbite and a clean, greenish aroma unlike that of any other wine. Again, it’s unusual but engaging. Italian Tocai, incidentally, is a grape variety probably native to either the Friuli region or to nearby Yugoslavia and has nothing to do with Hungary’s noble Tokaj, Alsace’s agreeable Tokay d’Alsace (which is really Pinot Gris) or California’s disagreeable Tokay (which is properly called Flame Tokay and has absolutely no relation to Tokaj, Tokay d’Alsace or Tocai).



RED WINES



Chianti Riserva, Torre di Brugnano 1975 ($5). A light, austere wine, but surprisingly refined for so inexpensive a Chianti, with plenty of true Chianti character coming through.

Chianti Classico, Riecine 1979 ($8.50). Almost a definitive example of good contemporary Chianti-making, with an attractive medium-dark red color, well-formed bouquet, bright if somewhat monochromatic fruit flavor and crisp finish.

Chianti Riserva, Selvapiana 1969 ($8.50). A fine bottle from an above-average year and a more-than-dependable producer, light in color but commendably rich in flavor and elegant in construction. Selvapiana is one of the single greatest gifts the De Rhams have given the American wine drinker. I’ve tasted a lot of its Chiantis in the past two or three years, back to the 1947-which was great wine-and, although I’ve found considerable variation in character from vintage to vintage, the wines have always been extraordinarily crafted and usually have a lot more flavor than the vintage would suggest in poorer years. (The ’75 and ’77 vintages are particularly good, more recent Selvapianas – the latter especially – though they’re not yet sold in Dallas.)

Rosso Vigneti di Brunello, Lisini 1981 ($7). A deep purply red wine with bushels of fruit and a Californialike intensity (and a Californialike dose of tannin). Another wine to spring on people who think they don’t like Italian wines, especially California wine nuts. (The “vigneti” in question are young Sangiovese vines that will one day be used to produce Lisini’s excellent, understated Brunello di Montalcino.)

Morellino di Scansano Riserva, Le Pupille 1978 ($6.50). A little-known Tuscan pleasure made from Sangiovese grapes, with nice fruit and an intriguing spicy character suggesting cloves and maybe anise.

Barolo Riserva Speciale, Fratelli Caval-lotto 1971 ($18.50). A serious wine with all sorts of things going on in the complicated weave of flavors (including, maybe, a hint of almonds), with an elegant finish that leaves you wanting more.

Barolo Riserva, Montanello 1975 ($10). An even bigger, more serious wine than the Cavallotto (the two properties are neighbors) and one of those wines that makes mincemeat out of the old canard that fine Barolos don’t show much fruit. A few more years of age wouldn’t hurt this wine at all -but drinking it now wouldn’t hurt, either.

Barbaresco, La Spinona 1975 ($8.50). A solid, well-balanced wine with some fruit and tannin and a refreshing crispness on the palate, of a kind I don’t usually associ-ate with Piemontese wines.

Rosso Corbara, Decugnano dei Barbi 1980 ($6). A wine that is, in effect, an “Or-vieto Rosso” (though no such wine exists per se), with grapes from the region of Lake Corbara, just east of Orvieto, with the same husky strength of character found in Decugnano’s Orvieto Classico but with even more fruit.

Recioto Amarone di Valpolicella, “Le Ragose” 1978 ($14.50). Not a wine for everyone, but one of the best Amarones around -a thick, raisiny, highly tannic wine, but also a surprisingly well-bred, even elegant one. This one takes some getting used to, but it’s more than worth the trouble.

Teroldego Rotaliano, Conti Martini 1980 ($7.50). A big, ruby-red charmer from the Trentino region, with a lot of oak, a good integration of flavors overall and an attractive beetlike aftertaste. The name is admittedly a tongue twister (it’s approximately tare-OLE-day-go roe-TAHL-lee-ahn-oh), but behind all those syllables is a lot of wine for the money.

Chambave Rouge, Ezio Voyat 1971 ($16). An incredible mouthful of wine, dark purple in color, very tannic with acid to match, plenty of fruit and a juicy flavor reminiscent of good cherry candy.



DESSERT WINE



Passito di Chambave, Ezio Voyat 1980 ($24; $13.50 per half bottle). A lusciously sweet but not cloying muscat with a clear golden color, an astonishing floral bouquet and a fine complexity of flavor. This wine, like Voyat’s Chambave Rouge, is rare even in Italy.



ONE LAST NOTE on Italian wine: At least since 1963, when the first DOC laws were passed in Italy, that country’s government has been most concerned about establishing and maintaining the quality of Italian wine. It hasn’t always been successful. A great deal of Italian wine continues to be virtually undrinkable – at least to anyone used to the vintages of France and California-and there are still occasional wine scandals in the country, wherein supposedly honest wine makers are accused of mislabeling or even of concocting “wine” out of such non-vinous ingredients as ox blood and the sludge from the holds of Sicilian banana boats. But government efforts are sincere.

An admirable example of these efforts was revealed recently in New York: As oflate last year, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture has ordered Italian Trade Commission offices in the United States to randomly purchase Italian wines from retailoutlets across the country and return thebottles to Rome for analysis. A bimonthlyreview of these wines is conducted by a six-person panel drawn from the Italian Enol-ogists Association and the National Organization of Wine Tasters. Any Italianproducer or shipper whose wine fails tomeet the established standards will bereported to the Ministry’s Office for thePrevention of Fraud, which will presumably put a cork in the abuse.