Sommelier’s pick
Who: Mary Ann Ellis, owner/ wine-buyer for TuttiLili
Background: Although she was born in the Philippines, Ellis’ family roots are in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. “I come from a long line of Italian sailors and friars,” she says.
Ellis emigrated to New York in the 1980s, and her “wine adventure” began when one of her father’s best friends from his days at the Merchant Marine Academy on Long Island reached out to her. “I would take the train down to Philly on weekends and spent time with his large, loving, Italian family,” she recalls. “Those trips made me feel like I’d never left home. It was at his home that I had my first taste of the 1979 Biondi Santi Brunello. I guess that’s when I got hooked on wine.”
While in New York, she met her husband, Dave (who, fittingly, attended the same Merchant Marine Academy), and became an accountant before taking a hiatus while her children grew up. Upon returning to the corporate world, she found herself traveling to Italy frequently, performing auditing work for a large oil-andgas firm in Tuscany, and she eventually landed in Houston.
Combining her numbercrunching skills with her taste for Italian wines, Ellis began pursuing an importer’s license in 2014, and TuttiLili (the kids’ nickname for her is “Lili”) opened last year. She has 30 wines on offer, all from boutique producers new to the local market. “We’ve developed priceless relationships in Italy throughout this process,” she says. “We treasure the producers who have let us into their lives and homes and trusted us to bring their stories to Houston.”
2012 Terre di Perseto Chianti Classico Riserva Albòre DOCG
The small, family-owned property, which covers 47 hectares — 25 of them under vine — is in the Val di Pesa region of Chianto Classico, about nine miles southwest of Florence. Brothers Niccolò and Daniel are the third generation of the Martelli family to make the wine, which is 90 percent sangiovese, 10 percent cabernet sauvignon. “We recommend Albòre to all wine lovers who like emotion, and Tuscany, in their glass,” Ellis says. “It offers beautiful flavors of ripe fruit, spices and tobacco. The taste is rich, smooth and delicious with a long, pleasant finish.” She would pair it in a heartbeat with red meats, pasta in hearty sauces and Texas barbecue.
Price: $25 for a bottle at TuttiLili, 2421 Bartlett