Le Marche's Le Terrazze: Bob Dylan, Chaos & Some Great Italian Wines

In 1997 Terni decided he wanted to do something different.  He took some of his best barrels of the Rosso Conero and released them with the name “Visions of J”.  This is based on the name of one of his favorite Bob Dylan songs, Visions of Johanna from the 1966 Blonde on Blonde album.  The wine was awarded Tre Bicchieri Award from Gambero Rosso (Italy’s most important wine guide).  Visions of J carries the Conero DOCG and is only made in the best vintages including the most recent release of the 2004 vintage.  It is 100% Montepulciano.  The grapes are macerated on their skins for 21 days in steel vats after which the wine is allowed to mature in small new oak barrels for twelve months before bottling.  Then the bottled wine is aged for an additional 12 months before release.  Only about 400 or so cases are produced.  Expect to pay $80 or more for this excellent wine. 

When Terni heard that Bob Dylan would be touring Europe, he arranged to have a few bottles sent back stage with a note inviting Dylan to a joint venture.  To Terni’s delight, Dylan enjoyed the wine and agreed to Terni’s offer.  The result is a wine called Planet Waves named after Bob Dylan’s 1974 album with the same name.  Planet Waves carries an IGT Marche Rosso designation.  It is 75% Montepulciano and 25% Merlot.  The grapes are macerated on their skins for 14 days in steel tanks, aged in 100% new French oak barrels for 12 months, then given an additional eight months of ageing in bottles.  The result is a very intense, fruit forward, international wine.  Only about 400 cases are produced each year.  A savvy shopper may find this one for $50 but it usually retails for closer to $75.  Terni has described the wine as a "Dylanesque cross between the strength of the noble Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and the softness of the Merlot."  The back label carries both Terni and Dylan’s signatures. 

Le Terrazze makes one other IGT Marche Rosso wine that is worth knowing about.  It is called Chaos.  Antonio Terni is a physicist by education and he named the wine after the Chaos theory.  This is often exemplified by the butterfly effect; a butterfly flaps its wings which lead to unanticipated changes weather patterns a continent away.  The idea is that a small affect eventually leads to a much larger change.  Another way to put it is that a particular result is not always predictable by analyzing all of the components.  Rather it is the interaction of components that creates the end result.  Terni found Chaos apropos to winemaking and named a wine after the theory.  Chaos, the wine, is 50% Montepulciano, 25% Merlot and 25% Syrah.  The grapes are macerated on their skins for 12 to 15 days.  The wine is then aged in French oak barrels for 12 to 16 months, before being finished with six months of further ageing in bottles.  The finished wine is very modern with bold fruit scents of cherries and blueberries and a good amount of chocolaty oak notes.  Although the label has changed over the years, the current label is quite striking.