Sommelier’s pick
Who: Vicenzo “Vinny” Montecuollo, wine director at Potente
Background: Originally from a small town near Naples, Italy, he learned to speak English working in a restaurant in Bristol, England. Montecuollo met his wife, Linda, who is from Houston, while he was working in Grand Cayman and she was on holiday. After settling here, he had postings at both Tony’s and Da Marco before completing his highend-Italian-restaurant hat trick by joining forces with local restaurateur Bill Floyd soon after Astros owner Jim Crane’s restaurant opened adjacent to Minute Maid Park in 2016.
What: 2011 Grumello Rocca del Piro Riserva, 2010 Sassella Stella Retica Riserva and the 2011 Inferno Fiamme Antiche Riserva, all from Ar.Pe.Pe
Why: These wines are underthe-radar gems from Valtellina, which Montecuollo calls the nebbiolo grape’s “other kingdom” and one that’s no longer “a hidden gem” largely because of Ar.Pe.Pe’s efforts. Ar.Pe.Pe. is an abbreviation for Arturo Pelizzatti Perego, the winemaking grandson of the Pelizzatti founder and the man who restored the property’s prestige, if not the name, which was sold off to corporate interests in the 1970s following a family rift. Perego opened his new winery in 1984, although he had retained 25 acres of the original vineyard. He died in 2004 and was succeeded by his three children. Daughter Isabella, the resident enologist, presided over the production of these wines, which Montecuollo describes as being “true grand crus, beautiful and light nebbiolos that can’t be found anywhere else.”
Price: $70 for a bottle of the Gumello, $75 for the Sassella and $95 for the Inferno at Potente, 1515 Texas