Capitol Hill Wine Stories: Greg Rohde and Volpaiole

Valpaiole (Photo courtesy of Greg Rohde)

“Once you gain an appetite for fine food,” explained 20-year Hill resident Greg Rohde as we sat down for dinner at Bistro Cacao, “it’s hard not to enjoy fine wine.”

Like most oenophiles, Greg has always enjoyed discovering new wines and sharing them. So when his close friend asked for help with a new business venture –- he was about to purchase a winery in Tuscany, Volpaiole, that he had fallen in love with –- Greg jumped at the opportunity.

At the time, Volpaiole’s wines were only available at local wine shops in Tuscany. Once Greg tasted what the winery was producing, he purchased 80 percent of its 2006 production -– about 260 cases –- and embarked on a mission to tell the world about it.

“I wanted to share this remarkable wine,” he told me.

Until the world finds out, though, it’s a Capitol Hill wine.

Greg Rohde’s story is very DC. He moved to the city in the mid-1980s after finishing college at North Dakota State University. He planned on becoming a priest –- attending the National Seminary at Catholic University -– but ended up instead pursuing a graduate degree in theology.

Coming from North Dakota had its perks. Just moments after turning in his thesis (but before receiving his diploma), Greg received a call from North Dakota Representative Byron Dorgan. The congressman was calling with a job offer, which Greg accepted. He promptly moved to the Hill, and for the next ten years, Greg worked as a policy advisor to Dorgan (following the lawmaker to the Senate in 1992). In 1999, Greg headed to the Department of Commerce after President Clinton tapped him to head up the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

When President Bush took office, Greg left Commerce to launch a telecommunications consulting firm, e-Copernicus. His office, like his home, is located on the Hill.

“Capitol Hill is a wholly unique place,” Greg declared. “It’s like a small neighborhood –- with a sense of community and belonging -– within an international city.”

Greg certainly embraces everything Capitol Hill has to offer. He’s a member of Congressional Cemetery –- so there’s a chance you know his vizsla. He purchases groceries several times each week at Eastern Market, and says that the Market’s reopening last June was one of the most emotional days of his life.

Through work, Greg got to know Olivier Paul-Morandini, a Belgian politico who was working to improve Europe’s emergency telecommunications infrastructure. Greg was instrumental in establishing 911 as America’s universal emergency response phone number (with the passage of the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999); Olivier was instrumental in establishing 112 as Europe’s universal emergency response phone number.

When they first met, in 2004, Olivier took Greg to a Brussels restaurant. Olivier placed the entire order –- asking Greg to trust him –- and it was then that Greg realized that Olivier shared his passion for food and wine.

A few years earlier, Olivier had discovered a wine at a small restaurant in Tuscany –- Valpaiole. He was so impressed with the wine –- which was only available in a couple of local shops -– that he decided to track the winery the very next day.

When he found the winery, he was equally impressed. The grapes were handpicked. The production was handcrafted. It had an incredibly small output. And the setting was incredible. Just four miles from the Etruscan Coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, one can see Punta Ala, the island of Elba, and even the peaks of the Corsica mountains from the winery on a clear day.

Over the next few years, Olivier became friends with the owners –- visiting them on several occasions –- and in 2007, the husband and wife pair told Olivier that they had decided to retire, and asked if he’d be interested in taking over the operation. He was.

Needless to say, Greg had heard much about Valpaiole.

So when Olivier called with the news and to ask Greg if he would be interested in helping out, Greg immediately knew that he wanted to lend a hand his friend. So in addition to promising to purchase 80 percent of Valpaiole’s 2006 production, Greg agreed to become a wine importer and distributor to get the wine to the United States.

Greg Rohde and Olivier Paul-Morandini (Photo courtesy of Greg Rohde)

Booze is heavily regulated, of course, so despite decades of government experience, going through the regulatory process was an enormous challenge for Greg. On two separate occasions, the Treasury Department lost his paperwork. When Greg sent his proposed wine label to the Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau for approval, it never arrived — the Postal Service had destroyed his mail.

Nine months later, though, the process was complete –- and Greg was licensed to import wine and distribute it through a new company, Lyaeus Imports. In November 2009, he unveiled Volpaiole to the U.S. market –- with three wine dinners in DC and one in New York.

As of now, the wine is only being sold at Schneider’s (it was on the wine list at Il Mulino, but has since sold out). The reason, according to Greg, is America’s obsession with scores. Unless a wine has been reviewed by a prominent publication like Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate, or Wine Enthusiast, most stores won’t carry it.

So Greg’s top priority –- as America’s only importer of Volpaiole –- is to get the wine reviewed. He’s reasonably certain that the Wine Advocate will have a review in an upcoming issue. If the score is high (as it should be), the wine could take off.

Until then, though, it’s a neighborhood wine. Greg plans on having another DC wine dinner later this summer. And he hopes to convince a few more restaurants to carry the wine.

Moving forward, Greg does hope to import and/or distribute more small-production, hidden gems. He’s already signed on to distribute a small Napa Valley label –- Jeremiah -– which should soon be on the wine list at Bistro Bis.

The Wines
The price on Volpaiole’s wines is steep –- the 2006 Merlot is on sale for $75 and the 2006 Classico (a blend of 50% Sangiovese, 25% Merlot, and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon) is on sale for $65. But if you can afford it –- or if you like popping open a nice bottle on special occasions –- they’re worth it. Plus, most Hill restaurants are corkage friendly. So rather than pay a restaurant’s markup, bring a bottle of Volpaiole.

The Merlot is incredibly approachable –- the fruit (plum, black cherry) is quite gentle, and the wine is perfectly balanced.

The Classico will knock your socks off. It’s full-bodied, incredibly well-structured, and richly textured –- it’ll coat your mouth. The tannins are huge –- so it could definitely benefit from a long decant, or red meat, or both –- but because the wine has good acidity, great concentration, and is so impeccably balanced, they’re almost sweet. The wine will literally linger in your mouth for 90 seconds, so I suspect this wine will evolve for decades.

If you don’t trust my palette, Wine Spectator awarded the Bogheri-Maremma region of Tuscany (where Volpaiole is located) 95 points in 2006, describing the wines as “perfumed and rich, yet balanced and refined.”

Full Disclosure: Greg Rohde paid for my dinner and both bottles of wine.