JBF Wine Sponsor Santa Cristina
By Alix Osborn
Photo by the author
Alix Osborn reports on the Santa Cristina brand to be featured at JBF this October.
Santa Cristina is an emblematic wine of Tuscany and its first vintage was produced in 1946. The winery is located in the hills just outside the town of Cortona in Tuscany, where the primarily sandstone and shale soil, with hints of clay deposits, give the wines a distinct earthy flavor. This quality provides through the taste of the wine the philosophy which the Santa Cristina family holds, “the indissoluble link between the vineyard, the terroir, and man’s work”.
Wine from this region has been enjoyed throughout history, by notable figures such as Pliny the Younger who spoke of the valuable Cortona white wine of “Etesiaca.” Pope Paul III was known for his love for wine who would order wines from the area and, Giosue Carducci who is said to have “found his poetic inspiration” while sitting in front of a Cortona wine barrel. Santa Cristina has always been identified with this land, and its dedication to detail and quality has remained continuous from the first vintage to the evolved style of Santa Cristina wines today.
The Santa Cristina company has played a key role in the Apicius program since its induction into Apicius Friends Industry Partners program, a collection of wineries that work with Apicius and are featured at Ganzo, the creative learning lab and restaurant operated by Apicius faculty and students. Since 2010, Santa Cristina has been working with chefs at Apicius to develop recipes that use their wines to highlight the foods as well as the use of the wines for astounding flavor combinations as well as parings. The recipes can be found on the Santa Cristina website’s Cookbook. Santa Cristina also been featured in many prestigious events including Taste Tortona 2013, and TuttoToscona events held at the James Beard Foundation.