M’tucci’s has incorporated its own private label wine bottles at its locations in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho. (Courtesy of John Haas)
M’tucci’s continues to evolve and has now branched out into establishing its own wine label.
The 2019 Bianco is the label’s white wine option. It is made with 100% Verdelho grapes grown in Contra Costa County, California. It has notes of peach, green apple, honeydew with a balanced acidity.
“Thanks to the acidity in it, this will pair up really well with almost the whole spectrum of white wine pairings,” according to John Haas, M’tucci’s president and company chef. “Most people will consider this to be similar to sauvignon blanc. It’s a Portuguese grape native to the island of Madeira. It’s one of the four ‘noble’ grapes of Madeira. It is very rarely planted in the (United States).”
Red wine enthusiasts can choose the 2018 Rosso or the 2019 Dolcetto. The Rosso is 70% Carignan, 28% Grenache, 2% Charbono from Mendocino County, California. It has notes of leather, vanilla and pomegranate with balanced tannin and a long finish.
“This is a wine that has really impressed in all tastings,” Haas said. “Think of it as a bit of a merlot/(cabernet)/syrah-type blend. It’s got big enough tannin to stand up to almost any red meat, but will also pair great with tomato sauces and even down to charcuterie.”
The Carignan in the Rosso is a Spanish red grape found throughout the Mediterranean and originally used in Rioja wine. Grenache is a common blending partner with Carignan and gives it some nice tannin and balance, according to Haas.
“Charbono, confused and disguised as Barbera in the early days of California winemaking, is known for its high acidity and rich fruit complexity,” he said. “It’s most well known in Argentina, where it’s the second-most planted grape behind Malbec.”
The Dolcetto features 100% Dolcetto grapes from the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County, California. It contains notes of black cherry, cranberry and tobacco leaf, with a medium tannin finish and light acidity.
“(It is the) perfect complement for charcuterie but will stand up where other, bigger-bodied red wines would typically be paired because of the tannins,” according to Haas. “It would be considered similar to a pinot noir, but a bit more depth and more noticeable tannin. Dolcetto is best known from Piedmont for being a bit drier, which this American version definitely shows up.”
The process of selecting grapes for the wines and bringing the bottles to fruition was anything but typical.
“What we had to do is work remotely because this was going during all the chaos of the last six, seven months so everything was kind of done remotely through Zoom and samples and all kinds of stuff like that getting sent out overnight or two-dayed to us,” Haas said. “So we kind of had to work our way through finding the right profiles and the right fit for us.”
M’tucci’s worked with various vineyards and grape growers in California to find varietals for its private label.
“Basically what happens is they raise these grapes, they juice them and then they make the wine and then they wait,” Haas said. “… Each wine kind of expresses different things because they’re from different areas and from different farmers who plant different grapes. So I think that’s one exciting thing of this program. As it develops, we can really pick and choose the wines and the regions that we think fit best with our food.”
The Rosso, Dolcetto, and Bianco wines are $8 a glass and $32 a bottle. Half-price bottles will be offered on a selected day of the week.
“We felt like these wines were just amazing food wines,” Haas said. “They just pair so well with the style of food we have, and they’re so versatile that you can pair it up with a lot of our menu, so to me, that was one really exciting thing. They’re just so versatile. When they’re alone, they hold up amazing, but once you put them with the food, it’s like they just pair great with Italian cuisine, so it was a natural fit, for sure.”
All three wines are available at M’tucci’s three locations: M’tucci’s Twenty-Five, 4939 Pan American NE; M’tucci’s Italian, 6001 Winter Haven NW ; and M’tucci’s Moderno, 1908 Wellspring SE, Rio Rancho. Each location offers heated patio seating from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. For more information, visit mtuccis.com.
January 08, 2021 at 02:02PM
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Branching out: Mtucci’s establishes wine label for its restaurants - Albuquerque Journal
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