Unique varietals of Italy with Mucci Imports

One of the reasons why I chose to write this Italian wine blog are to educate on the Italian grapes produced throughout Italy that many folks aren't aware of or super familiar with, myself included.  With hundreds and hundreds of grape varietals throughout Italy it's hard to know every one and that's what makes drinking wine so fun. You may try a grape in one region that can be very different in another as well based on the Italian terroir that I recently discussed in one of my recent articles last week.

Nick Mucci

Today I wanted to introduce you to Nick Mucci of Mucci Imports.  I've met Nick a number of times at wine tastings in the Boston area.  

Mucci Imports, owned by Nick Mucci, is a Boston based Italian wine importer specializing in unique Italian varietals from producers he has hand picked throughout his travels from living in Italy and developing special relationships with the winemakers.  Nick first started Mucci Imports in 2013 towards the end of the summer.  When I first met Nick he was introducing his wines to folks at Ball Square Fine Wines in Somerville and I was intrigued by his selections when I saw the announcement.  Being an Italian wine blogger I love the opportunity to try Italian wines, nevermind those that are unique to Italy that are sometimes hard to find over here in the states. 

With Nick being of Italian heritage, both Sicilian and Abruzzi, and growing up in an Italian household, the excitement of Italy and all things Italian is what built up throughout his life.  His Italian heritage is one of the reasons that got Nick to want to live abroad where he moved to Italy for over 3 years.  From living in Italy and experiencing the Italian lifestyle, it became the driving force completely for what he is doing now.  When Nick moved over to Italy  he lived in Rome and taught English.  After living 2 years in Rome Nick enrolled in the MBA program of food and wine at the University of Bologna where he studied for a year.   There he developed further relationships with professors, other students and designed his wine importing business plan.   

While living abroad with his girlfriend they would travel and get lost and come upon festivals, sagre, where he met not only wine producers, but cheese and olive oil producers as well.  All his travel while living in Italy was food and wine based to some capacity.  From meeting these producers the people and relationships that he built along with the welcoming aspect of the people were one of the greatest satisfactions for Nick.  He was welcomed with open arms.  Speaking the language and understanding the culture helped him relate to them.  When he came back to Boston to visit family he wasn't seeing in restaurants or shops any of the wines locally that he was experiencing for himself in Italy creating even more a reason to start Mucci Imports. 

Mucci Imports currently works with about 12-15 producers and imports from regions including Emilia Romagna, Piedmont, the Veneto, Tuscany, Abruzzo (where Nick has cousins that make wine), Campania and Sicily.   Originally Nick wanted to start all with Sicilian wines since he has a lot of passion for this region.  A lot of the wineries Nick works with are quite small.  The wines that he imports and sells are not what the masses are typically looking for.  In educating his buyers and their customers he further hopes to make these wines more appreciated and known.  That is what drives Nick every day to promote the wines of Italy. 

Growing up around this area Nick has focused his efforts on selling wine in and around the Boston area.  You can find some of his  wines at restaurants including Giulia's in Cambridge, Coppa in the South End  and Pastoral Pizza in Fort Point.  You can also located them in your local wine shops including Ball Square Fine Wines in Somerville, Social Wines in South Boston and Federal Wine & Spirits on State Street downtown.

I've written about one of his wines in the recent past when my Italian bloggers group (Italian Food, Wine & Travel, #italianFWT) wrote about the Emilia Romagna region. 

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Bostoniano feature of PSP Imports & Tenuta Santo Pietro

Growing up in Italy and having also lived in the United States, Nicola Savignano and his brother Giuseppe Savignano both had the opportunity to live the dream of many by buying real estate in Tuscany on a vineyard and in addition making wine. Nicola and Giuseppe's parents came to Boston in the mid to late 70's. Their dad was an importer and distributor of Italian foods into the states, including the popular brand Barilla. Around the year of 1987, the Savignano family after having spent 11 years in Boston, returned to Italy where the sons including their younger sister all went to college and grad school as well as the military service.

In 1996 they moved back to Boston where they were involved in separate business ventures for about 10 years. At the same time that Nicola had left his company he was working for at the time that had been bought out and relocated, Giuseppe was getting out of his ownership of a restaurant and wine bar that he owned in Rome. This is when they had the opportunity to purchase Tenuta Santo Pietro.

They had known of the land where Tenuta Santo Pietro was situated from their interest in buying and developing old ruins that they could renovate and build as vacation homes. They were finding beautiful farms that were not being utilized well and were growing grapes in bulk and selling off to cooperatives to make peasant wines. These were the wines where you would stop at the side of the road with big jugs and fill up with wine and consume them rather immediately.

One estate was of particular interest to them that had been poorly taken care of with inefficient vine growth. The beauty of the building and views were completely overgrown and the view of the Tuscan town Pienza was completely obstructed. It took close to two years of the Italian bureaucratic system and obtaining permits along with renovations to get the business going. After their purchase they went through a lot of transformation where vines were replanted and they cut back on yields to be able to start to produce quality grapes. During renovations they uncovered one of the walls where tons of ivy had been growing and a plaque was discovered with the name Tenuta Santo Pietro and so the estate was named.

The inn at Tenuta Santo Pietro was opened in 2009.  They started making small quantities of wine with the 1^st vintages in 2007 including their Chianti, Pio, and the “super tuscan”, Viper.  These vintages were first brought over to the Boston area by Nicola at the end of 2010 to see how the market would receive them.  The next vintage was in 2009 since they skipped a year to cut back on yields.  This vintage was kept in Italy since they still weren’t producing a whole lot.  The restaurant on-site was opened in 2011 and that was the first year for their first white, vermentino.  In 2013 the vermentino was introduced to the Boston area as well as well as the international blend, Perceptum.  

From that point forward a portfolio was assembled of 20 wines from Tenuta Santo Pietra along with 3 other small to medium-sized family owned wineries from the Tuscany and Abruzzo region including I Lauri, Fabrizio Dionisio and Antico Colle.  PSP has expanded throughout MA and NH and is in discussions with distributing to other states as well including TX, MN and ME.  By the end of September, PSP Imports will have doubled their portfolio in size expanding to other regions including Piedmont, Veneto, Sicily and a wider range within Tuscany.  The company will consist of a little over 50 labels from 11 wineries.  Future discussions include doubling in size again with wines from other winemaking regions in France, Spain, South American and possibly some wines from the US. 

Nicola and Giuseppe’s strong passion behind building the PSP Imports brand and portfolio has driven the company to what it is today with many opportunities ahead.  The mission is to not only sell wine, but build relationships with their customers and create a personal experience and go the extra step with a smile.

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