I did it again; too much time has passed since my previous post on M&M imports, and this follow-up post is now some 16 months later. This post aims to catch up on the wines I missed in my last post, unlike my last post, which was a total encompassing list of the wines M&M has available. Between these wines and the ones posted in my previous post, there should be very few wines missing.

It is always a pleasure to taste the wines from Ralph Madeb, president and CEO of M&M Importers.

Where can you find the wines?

Let us get the obvious out of the way first: tracking what M&M imports and where they are sold is challenging. The big news is that some of his wines are now available on kosherwine.com! I really hope this helps to spread the good word about the work that Ralph and his team do! More information on M&M Importers can be found here. The store with the biggest selection of M&M wines in NYC has to be Idrinkkosher.com (IDK). They are solid, both in terms of pricing and in what they purchase. However, knowing what is ACTUALLY available at IDK is almost impossible unless you show up at the store. I have visited the store a few times, and they offer great prices and good storage. Again, the issue lies in knowing what is actually for sale, as the website has never been updated. Calling in does not help much either, but this post is here to shed more light on the matter. I know Ralph is working very hard on this matter, and I hope we get more news on this soon. My friend Zev Steinberg is working there now and I hope things will get better!

However, the best news is probably that you can now purchase many of the SKUs directly from elkwine.com! Elchonon Hellinger is a dear friend, and as always, I make NOTHING from your purchases. However, if you live or are visiting the Miami area, please look him up! If you cannot find what you need on the site, please text him on WhatsApp at 17867501019. He is adding more SKUs as fast as he can!

Portfolio

If anyone wants to get a bird’s eye view of Ralph Madeb they should listen to the great podcast series from Simon Jacobs – The Kosher Terroir. The episode that focuses on Dr. Ralph Madeb and M&M Importers is this one.

From a Fifty-Thousand-Mile view, Ralph started his adventure by importing IDS wines while also creating his own. Even when he was bringing in some IDS wines, it was not all of them, and access to them was almost impossible.

Since then, things have grown by leaps and bounds, and now they produce or import more than 90 wines. You can read more about the entire portfolio over here at my last post!

Vallepicciola Wines

This is a second line of wines that M&M are importing from the Chianti region. This includes Super Tuscans and Chianti Classico wines. What is interesting is that, beyond those two styles of wine, he has brought in more wines from this producer, including a rosé bubbly and two Pinot Noirs. They are all solid wines, and two of which I gave my QPR (Quality-to-Price Ratio) score of WINNER! Great work! There is also a Super Tuscan in this release, which was also quite impressive.

Two Chianti Classico Wines

While I loved the Tuscan wines, the two Chianti Classico wines were solid but did not quite have the complexity to get the QPR WINNER scores.

Rocca di Frassinello

These wines continue to impress. These are the 2nd releases in kosher, and I continue to be impressed by them. There are three of them here in this post, and two of them were awarded the QPR WINNER score, and the other one (Baffonero) is equally impressive, but priced a bit higher, so the QPR score is lower.

Castellare Sodi

This is the second release of Castellare Sodi, and they are both incredible wines! These are big and bold wines that need many years before they reach their potential!

Masseria Frattasi

I have added three wines that Ralph made but are now sold through Royal Wines. These wines are made by Masseria Frattasi from the Beneventano IGT. There were two Falanghina wines imported from Masseria Frattasi last year, and both were solid. The three new Masseria Frattasi wines are nice to excellent, and I would like to try them again. There are two Aglianico wines: one made the traditional way and one made using the Appassimento method (drying the grapes). They are both solid wines! It’s impressive that the 2021 Masseria Frattasi Kapnios Agliancio, produced using this method, doesn’t come across as overripe or unbalanced. It has lovely dried fruit and a nice texture. Further, it comes in at 13.5% ABV!

Closing notes

This tasting was not done in a day or a week, like last time, it took over three weeks to taste through the lineup and throughout it all, I kept to the same approach. Write the initial notes at the opening, then a few hours later write any changes, and then finally over the days I would add thoughts. The wines did evolve, other than a few, and when/if they did, the notes reflect those thoughts and concerns.

My sincerest thanks to Ralph and his partner at M&M Importers for sharing their wonderful wines with us all! The wine notes follow below, listed in the order I tasted them – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here , and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

2020 Castellare I Sodi S. Niccolo, Toscana – Score: 94.5 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine pops and is lovely, with ripe cranberry, raspberry, dark cherry, soy sauce, earth, smoke, menthol, and mint. The nose is intoxicating, rich, and redolent. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is layered, earthy, tart, precise, tense, and elegant, with rich notes of mushroom, soy sauce, lovely raspberry, dark cherry, smoke, and a hint of smoking tobacco, all enveloped in a mouth-draping curtain of elegant tannin. The finish is long, earthy, and dirty, showcasing dried tobacco and soy sauce, all of which are lovely. Incredible! Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted April 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

2020 Rocca di Frassinello, Maremma Toscana – Score: 93.5 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 45% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Sangiovese.
The nose of this wine jumps out of the glass, showing great pop, red fruit, cherry, raspberry, mint, menthol, smoke, dirt, rosehip, and loam. Yum! The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is saturated with acidity, oak, and smoke, attacking with layers of tart and juicy dark cherry, raspberry, and cranberry, while being wrapped in dense and tense sweet tannin. The mouthfeel grips you and showcases elegance, complemented by rich salinity, earthy notes, smoke, and fruit. Bravo! The finish is long, dense, tart, and balanced, featuring notes of charcoal, minerality, sweet oak, leather, sweet tobacco, and menthol. This wine is a joy! Bravo! Drink from 2027 until 2035. (tasted April 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 15%)

2022 Vallepicciola, Toscana Rosso – Score: 93 (QPR: GREAT)
This is a 100% Sangiovese-based wine from the Chianti Classico region of Italy. However, since they do not follow the Chianti Classico rules for this wine, it is defined as a Toscana Rosso region-based wine. The nose of this wine evokes a Chianti Classico-based wine, with intense notes of cherry, mint, and floral scents, complemented by sweet rose petals and oak, adding to its elegance. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is more elegant than that of the Chianti Classico or the Riserva, with lovely smoke, good acidity, and a balanced profile, showing sweet oak, candied cherry, menthol, intense floral notes, rosehip, and violet, wrapped in mouth-draping tannic elegance and lovely grip. The finish is long, balanced, tart, and tannic, showcasing the power of Sangiovese along with its more subtle and elegant notes, balsamic notes, and lingering tartness and tannin. Bravo! Drink from 2028 until 2032. (tasted April 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

2020 Rocca di Frassinello Maremma Toscana Baffonero, Maremma Toscana – Score: 92.5 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is ripe, oaky, candied, smoky, and dirty, with a clear desire to promote the Merlot-based wine characteristics to the max. The black and blue fruit notes are apparent, along with intense sweet oak, loads of vanilla, mushroom, caramel, soy sauce, and earthy notes. It feels like an over-oaked version of the Montiano. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, extracted, and candied, with notes of juicy blackberry, boysenberry, caramel, sweet oak, and intense layers of fruit, complemented by vanilla, oak, and hickory. This is a bruising wine with broad shoulders that does not apologize for its approach. The finish is long, ripe, candied, and smoky, with additional notes of vanilla, milk-chocolate-covered tobacco leaves, leather, and anise. Drink from 2029 until 2035. (tasted April 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 15%)

2021 Vallepicciola Boscobruno Pinot Nero, Toscana – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is what I love about Pinot Noir: dirty, earthy, and smoky, with middling red fruit, a hint of dark fruit, soy sauce, and rich loam. There are no floral notes on this Pinot; what you will find here is dirt and smoke with red fruit. Lovely! The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely. It has great acidity and is layered with smoke, dirt, toast, loam, dark cherry, raspberry, earth, gravel, and lovely mouth-draping tannin. The fruit is tart and juicy but not overripe. The control is clear, with a fruit focus but also a balance focus, making this a great overall wine. The finish is long, tart, dirty, and earthy, with nice minerality, rock, gravel, and graphite notes. Yum! Drink by 2027. (tasted March 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2021 Rocca di Frassinello Le Sughere di Frassinello, Maremma Toscana – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 50% Sangiovese, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, & 25% Merlot.
The nose of this wine leaps out of the glass, showcasing great intensity, with notes of red fruit, cherry, raspberry, and menthol, all wrapped in sweet oak, smoke, and rosehip. Lavender and roasted mint. Lovely! The mouth of this ripe, full-bodied wine showcases incredible acidity, along with ripe blackberry, cherry, and dark raspberry flavors, as well as rich salinity, menthol, dense sweet oak, ripe tannin, and rich smoke, all enveloped in a dense mouthfeel that is plush and ripe. The finish is long, ripe, waxy, smoky, dirty, balanced, and yet ripe, with almost-candied fruit, leather, smoke, and sweet tobacco. Drink from 2026 until 2030. (tasted April 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 15%)

2022 Vallepicciola Pievasciata Pinot Nero, Toscana – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine, compared to the BoscoBruno, is riper and has more high-tones—which some may feel and others not—with riper red fruit and more smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is riper; it has all the acidity and perhaps more that it needs to balance out the wine, with blacker notes, dark cherry, blackberries, raspberry, and nice, grippy tannin. The dirt and earth are there, but behind all the fruit. This wine will appeal to those seeking a fuller-bodied, riper Pinot. The finish is long, tart, and refreshing. The grippy tannins linger long, with some leather and rock. Drink until 2027 (tasted March 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12.5%)

N.V. Vallepicciola Perlinetto Rosé, Extra Brut, Toscana – Score: 91+ (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is showing some serious bottle variation, from what I have heard. So, while I loved this wine and scored it high, the QPR score is a GREAT.
This wine needs time; it feels very fresh, it is so present, so alive, and attacking – that it may bother some Sparkling purists, and I get that. To me, this wine hits all the notes: it is well-priced, it boasts great fruit and acidity, its complexity increases after opening, and the bubbles are always present. They may be bigger than some would like, but they are there, and the entire presentation is impressive. The nose of this Methode Champenoise (Metodo Classico) Sparkling wine is fun! It starts with beautiful notes of cranberry, tart cherry, strawberry, lavender, sweet rose hip, brioche, and rich smoke. The mouthfeel of this wine requires time; it unfolds in layers, and its tannins soften. After 30 minutes, the wine opens up to reveal a richer profile. The mousse is still aggressive, with a medium-sized bubble profile, but that is well-balanced with a rich mouthfeel, dark cherry, brioche, lovely rosehip, nice citrus acidity, smoke, and incredible acidity. The finish and the whole presentation take time, but it opens to a lovely, rich finish with minerality, smoke, tannin, saline, and lovely lemon pith. Nice! Drink by 2027. (tasted March 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12.5%)

2021 Castellare Chianti Classico, Riserva, Chianti Classico – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is dominated by oak, with additional notes of vanilla, milk chocolate, some cherry in the background, and hints of loam and dirt. The nose is uniform and stylistically correct, except for the excessive amount of wood. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine shows extreme acidity, a bright tartness that some may like. I love acidity; however, this feels out of balance with the wood, dark cherry, smoke, and more oak. I think this will come around; however, right now, it feels disjointed, but it has what it needs. The finish is nice, showing the acidity, oak, vanilla, smoke, and some minerality. Drink from 2027 until 2030. (tasted March 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

2022 Vallepicciola Chianti Classico, Riserva, Chianti Classico – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is unusual to me – it feels like the high-toned notes are exaggerated, and the sour cherry is present, along with some oak and sweet vanilla. I was hoping for more. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has good acidity, but the balance is off; the oak is all over the place, as is the acidity and the sour cherry, and the wine is just not that complex. The finish is long, with some minerality. With time, the wine finally comes into its own, and the nose becomes balanced, with lovely waxy notes, herbs, smoke, dried rose petals, rosehip, and more cherry. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has nice acidity, more balance, cherry, smoke, waxy notes, nice rose petals, and minerality. Drink until 2028. (tasted March 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

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2021 Masseria Frattasi Kottabos Merlot, Beneventano IGT – Score: 89 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is ripe, floral, and smoky, with rosehip, violet, earthy, loads of red fruit, mushroom, loads of pop, and more red fruit. The nose is a floral bomb; it is overpowering, with the smoke and red fruit literally fighting with the floral notes to get out. Interesting. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is okay; it has good acidity, but lacks much pop. The floral notes are prominent, with the flower patch front and center, followed by cherry, raspberry, smoke, and nice mouth-draping tannin, with additional smoke. The finish is good with earth, smoke, and more flowers. This wine is too one-dimensional; the floral notes are overpowering. Drink by 2029. (tasted May 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

2022 Masseria Frattasi Caudium Aglianico, Beneventano IGT – Score: 91 (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is not made using the Amarone Appassimento method, whereas the other one I tasted does employ that process. The nose of this wine is ripe and simple, with blue and red fruit, smoke, roasted herbs, flowers, violet, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe, but the acidity is on point, with nice boysenberry, plum, raspberry, cherry, good mouth-draping tannin, and nice sweet oak. This is a nice wine, but it lacks the complexity, and it misses what I expect, which is dense minerality. The finish is long, ripe, with good acidity, nice tannin, smoke, earth, and more flowers. Drink until 2030. (tasted May 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

2021 Masseria Frattasi Kapnios Agliancio, Beneventano IGT – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is made using the Appassimento method. The grapes are dried, similar to Amarone, before vinification. The nose of this wine is pleasant, showing both the pop and the dried fruit characteristic of the Appassimento method. The nose is fun, with good pop, smoke, dried fruit, roasted herb, minerality, umami, salinity, nice red fruit, and balance. This dried-fruit wine comes in at 13.5% – crazy! The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is plush, with great acidity, good pop, and nice red fruit notes, including raspberry, cherry, and dried plum, complemented by mouth-draping tannin, sweet oak, and roasted herbs. This is a unique wine, showcasing the control of Aglianico, yet the ripeness achieved through the Appassimento method. The finish is long, herbal, smoky, tart, almost juicy, and nice. Drink from 2027 until 2032. (tasted May 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)