GREETINGS! Welcome to Melgab International, South Africa. We specialise in imported Italian wine. Established in 1993, we are arguably the largest independent importers of Italian wine to Southern Africa, maintaining a strong cultural connection that keeps us in continuous contact with Italian, European and other international food and wine sectors. We also import Argentinean, French (Champagne), Portuguese and Spanish wine, amongst others.
At Melgab, we strive to source exclusive Italian wines to make them available to our South African clients at affordable prices. We pride ourselves on delivering a professional service with the interest of establishing and maintaining close and personal business relationships with customers and producers alike. We deal directly with major retailers, numerous restaurants, wine shops and private individuals around the country.
Through our comprehensive wine license, we are able to offer free delivery directly to your doorstep. So what are you waiting for? Take a look at our current selection and proceed to order wine online directly from us.
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Publication: Sunday Times | 23 September 2007
Author: Neil Pendock
Italian wine can be confusing and this bottle is an example. It’s made from the easy-drinking Montepulciano grape, which makes great food wines with abundant fruit and soft? tannins — not to be confused with Vino? Nobile di Montepulciano, which hails from Tuscany and is made from Sangiovese.
Publication: Sunday Times | 20 May 2007
Author: Neil Pendock
Lorenzo Gabba imports classical European wines into SA with a virtual shop window on www.melgab.co.za. Neil Pendock chatted to him.
Q: Is wine a drink for middle-aged people?
A: No, it’s for everyone, young, old, the middle-aged and the middle-aged at heart.
Q: What are the main differences between the wines you import and those available from local producers?
A: Apart from the obvious aspect of different native varietals? (Italy alone has about 3000 of them) I’d have to highlight how most of the wines we import carry with them characteristics that typify their region? of origin. It’s not as easy to tell apart a Franschhoek Chardonnay from one made in Constantia for example, whereas wines from different regions of Italy made from the same cultivar? can taste? quite different.
Ironically, the source of most of the differences is actually a commonality between the two: how they reflect the average expectation of the home market.
Q: Is it best to drink Italian wines with Italian food and Spanish wines with Spanish food?
A: Provided they’re ours, most certainly! Seriously though, the two will naturally complement each other by virtue of the fact that they evolved together during times when climate and lack of preservation meant that one had to make the most of whatever was seasonal. So yes, I believe so — the more regional the pairing, the better!
Q: Are your wines available at a fair price in restaurants?
A: In general, I reckon so. From what I’ve seen, mark-ups are kept fairly standard across the board (give or take 20%). Obviously there are exceptions, but the culprits either don’t last or their client base is such that they can get away with it.
Q: On your travels around SA, introducing restaurateurs to the wines you import, have you turned up any interesting culinary gems?
A: Indeed. One that immediately springs to mind is Villa Francesco in Pretoria. I was there recently and was floored by the refinement of the offering — uncompromising without being showy — the sincerity really shone through. It speaks volumes about the talent behind it. They deserve to be full every night.
Publication: Grape | 01 February 2007
Author: Cathy van Zyl
Recent days have been too warm in the Cape to look at red wines – let alone drink them, even if doctored with a few blocks of ice. So I popped two bottles of Italian white wines in the fridge. They are made from varieties we’d call ‘unusual’ in South Africa, but which are quite common within their DOCG? (Denominazione di origine Controllata? e Garantita?) zones in Italy.
Greco made its way to Italy many thousands of years ago from Greece. It was rescued from near extinction by several producers, including the Mastroberardino family, and is – for me – similar to chardonnay, or is it viognier? It seems to combine characteristics of the two – pears, apricots and almonds from the Rhône child, and the acidity?, weight? and viscosity of the Burgundian.
Tufo is the name of the area within Campania where Mastroberardino sources the grapes for the wine it calls NovaSerra. Similarly, San Gimignano is where the vernaccia for Fratelli Nistri’s wine is grown, Regginino its ‘brand’ name. The medieval town of San Gimignano in Tuscany is well-known for the many towers on its skyline, of course.
Vernaccia is found all over Italy and, in their book Grapes and Wines, Oz Clarke and Margaret Rand point out that the name has the same root as ‘vernacular’ and simply indicates a local grape. Therefore, it is quite likely that a vernaccia from the south will have no resemblance to one from the north, or east, or west.
No-one ever expects very much from Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Its aromas are rather neutral with perhaps a hint of citrus?, and its charm is its refreshing acidity. The Regginino lived up to my expectations. On the nose? it was nutty? and slightly earthy?, uncomplex; on the palate?, clean? and fresh, light-ish (12% alcohol?), and slips down easily.
By contrast, the NovaSerra demanded cerebral attention. There were hints of peaches, fresh apricots and pears in its bouquet?. The acidity was fresh and cleansing, but there was considerable fruit weight and a solid mineral? core to provide complexity?. The alcohol, 12.5%, also added to the mouth-feel, and a slight bitter almond tang just lifted the finish?. The previous vintage? of this wine achieved the top accolade – ‘Three Glasses’ – from Italy’s wine leading guide, Gambero Rosso?.
Verdict: I’m buying a few bottles of the NovaSerra, which I’ll consume with food over the next 12 months – I don’t think the wine will gain much from years of cellaring. The Regginino is competently made and a true snapshot of what I remember drinking in San Gimignano. It’s uncomplex, fresh, easy-drinking fun but – other than being Italian – it won’t offer you more than a local sauvignon blanc? or an unwooded chenin blanc in the same price category.
Publication: Grape | 02 June 2006
Author: Cathy van Zyl
Have you noticed how Woolworths is into Italy in a big? way? Not just in the food department, but on the wine-shelves too. Some have been blended under the guiding hand of their maestro Selection manager, Allan Mullins, but importer Stefano Gabba of Melgab International has sourced this trio. Only the Chianti is not a Woolies exclusive.
What they primarily offer the winelover unfamiliar with Italian wines is an affordable opportunity to savour something completely different. If some or none appeal (doubtful), well, it’s not going to break the bank.
Sicilian wine generates many compliments these days; this grillo should show why. Grillo, a white grape, and cataratto go into the fortified wine?, Marsala?. While this is declining in popularity, grillo produces a very decent, dry? table wine? on its own. Its appearance is as bright? as the Sicilian sunshine and there’s also a sense of warmth in its dried herbs and gentle tropical tones. It is fresh but also has some creamy? richness, with a tuck of grip to the dry finish? adding interest – though IM noted a short finish More vinous than fruity?, and medium-bodied, all combine to make it very food friendly – a virtue of Italian wines generally. For early drinking.
The red nero? d’avola is also from Sicily, and the red of the moment as far as Italian varieties go. The antithesis of modern thick, oaky? monsters, the tone of this light textured, medium-bodied wine is set by the clear cherry hue. While we all agree on its unpretentiousness, there is satisfaction in the warm dried herb, aniseed and fennel? attractions, delicious gamey finish. Drink and enjoy now.
Publication: Grape | 18 July 2005
Author: Cathy van Zyl
Medici Ermete Lambrusco NV?
Some months ago I bought an Italian wine, a red Lambrusco NV made from grasparossa, for under R50. At 8.5% alcohol?, it proved a delicious sparkling sundowner sipper on a day so scorched by the African sun that even cool climate sauvignon blanc? felt clumsy, weighty and alcoholic ... The world needs wines like Lambrusco.
Publication: Financial Mail | 24 June 2005
Author: Neil Pendock
Italian Lessons
Marco Savoia, sales manager for Cape Town-based wine importer Melgab International, sells 40 000 bottles of Italian wine a year. And he says there has never been a better time to buy Italian wine in SA ...
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Publication: Cape Times | 12 November 2004
Author: Kim Maxwell
Working in Asia and dating an Italian, I learned a lot about enthusiastic eating. Air-couriered packages of Italian salamis? became the signal for noisy gatherings over risotto? to ... Marco Savoia playfully persuades us to try the Erta & China Sangiovese Cabernet Sauvignon blend? and Chianti Renzo Masi. Both easy-going Italians work with our food ...
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Jacob Gaffney (winespectator.com) writes:
Red wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Shiraz make for potent bacteria killers, according to research conducted at the University of Missouri. While not all red varieties were found to be helpful in killing harmful bacteria, those that were did not affect non-harmful and helpful strains, such as those that aid digestion, called probiotic bacteria. Promising as the results may be, however, it remains unknown if the positive effects from the lab would be realized in humans by drinking red wine.
I'm waiting for the new Doctor's recommendation: Take two glassfuls with food in the evening, preferably roast game or mature cheeses, and call me in the morning...
Note: this does not refer to the type of headache that comes from drinking too much wine. Panos Kakaviatos (decanter.com) writes:
A Nasa scientist has developed a device that can assess levels of headache-causing agents found in some wines.
Some biometric amines - compounds which occur naturally in some red wine - cause headaches by elevating heart rates, amongst other triggers. The modified amino acid tyramine is a particular culprit.
Now University of Berkeley chemistry professor Richard Mathies - who suffers form wine-induced headaches - has created a device to detect these agents.
Great stuff! Can't wait for it to hit the shelves.
Update: Now also in English!
With Afrikaans the lingua franca of SA wine producers, ethical issues concerning wine writing raised by George Claassen in Die Burger on Friday should attract some interest. Claassen, former Professor of Journalism at the University of Stellenbosch, is ombudsman for the newspaper and his comments in “when the wine in wine-journalism turns to vinegar� pull no punches. SA wine hacks are not the only ones to feel the wrath of the Claassen pen, with allegations made by Italian publication Il Mio Vino? that Decanter magazine sells stories given another airing – this time in Afrikaans. Will Decanter sue Die Burger as they threatened www.winenews.co.za when I reported on the Il Mio Vino bombshell earlier this year?
Claassen’s comments get straight to the point: “how much value can wine lovers attach to the ratings of wine publications and wine writers?� he asks when he receives so many examples of unethical wine judging and marketing. The one he presents is of a “blind� tasting at a restaurant on top of Table Mountain with a group of wine connoisseurs and writers judging bottles from which the brand labels had been removed - although the back labels were “conveniently� still visible.
...
Claassen then looks at the state of play outside SA and moves on to a piece I wrote for www.winenew.co.za earlier this year. Called “when everything has a price�, it quotes extensively from a feature in Il Mio Vino by Gaetano Manti alleging that one of the major international wine magazines, Decanter, offers stories for sale?. I wrote the piece in response to complaints by several local winemakers about the coverage of the Decanter World Wine Awards in the magazine where the form in which results are printed is a function of how much you pay. With over a thousand entries this year, the DWWA are up there with Veritas and the Michelangelo International Wine Awards as the most important wine shows on the SA calendar.
In Afrikaans nogal... uitgeleerd soos 'n jakkals.
HOEVEEL waarde kan wynliefhebbers heg aan die evaluerings wat wyntydskrifte en wynskrywers aan wyne toeken?
Dit is ’n vraag wat al lank by my spook omdat ek al soveel voorbeelde van lede van die publiek – ook lesers van Die Burger – gekry het wat praat oor die onetiese wyse waarop wyne beoordeel en bemark word.
My eie ondervinding is nogal sprekend. Eendag het ek tydens die een of ander Kaapse fees in die restaurant bo-op Tafelberg beland langs ’n groep wynmeesters en -skrywers wat klaarblyklik besig was met die een of ander beoordelingsessie van wyne. Die handelsmerk-etikette op die bottels was verwyder, maar die sogenaamde agterplat (al het ’n bottel nie eintlik ’n agterkant nie!) se etikette was nog almal “gerieflik� sigbaar.
Dit gaan egter om veel meer, want as daar twee terreine is waar die joernalistiek nogal oneties bedryf word, is dit die wyn- en motorjoernalistiek. Die kommersialisering van die joernalistiek, die sogenaamde advertorials of betaalde redaksionele kopie, word een van die grootste euwels in die joernalistieke bedryf.
Dit gebeur wanneer die produsent of bemarker of adverteerder betaal vir redaksionele kopie wat natuurlik niks leliks oor ’n produk sê nie. Wat ongelukkig dikwels gebeur, is dat die redaksionele kopie aan die leser aangebied word as net dÃt en tipografies moeilik onderskei kan word van redaksionele kopie wat nuusgedrewe is.
Die korrekte prosedure is om oop kaarte met die leser te speel en by sodanige kopie duidelik deur middel van ’n opskrif of banier aan te dui dat dit promosiekopie is. Daar moet by die leser nooit enige twyfel wees dat wat hier gelees word, eintlik betaalde advertensie-cum-redaksionele kopie is nie.
Waar die leser egter die meeste mislei word, is wanneer betaalde kopie oor wyn of ’n wynplaas aangebied word asof dit ’n eerlike redaksionele beoordeling van daardie produk of instelling is.
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