Some amazing offerings from a small importer operating out of an unlikely place, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Known more for sports teams and a style of steak than world class wine, none the less this amazing “La Collezione de Stan The Wine Man™” is a hand-selected smorgasbord of Italian wines not to be missed. Here is a review of some of the wines of this important importer.
I first heard about Stan Lalic (Stan the Wine Man) in 1993 from a mutual friend in the Philadelphia area. I immediately thought, “Who is this fellow who bombastically calls himself the Wine Man?” Did everyone else die and leave Stan Lalic in charge? Over the years I have come to learn that when it comes to fine Italian wine that is exactly what has happened. Lalic sleeps, eats and lives Italian wine. A former Westinghouse employee whose hobby was travelling northern Italy procuring wines to bring home and share with family and friends Lalic was frustrated with the fact that there were no great Italian wines being sold in his part of the USA. It turns out when Lalic left Westinghouse he decided to dedicate the rest of his life to wine. Not just any wine but only fine Italian wine.
In 1987 Lalic started representing a company importing the wines of Italian masters like Angelo Gaja, Giuseppe Rinaldi and Bruno Giacosa amongst other illuminati in the Italian wine world. Lalic was selling $150 bottles when other fine Italian wine was selling for twenty dollars. What makes all this even more amazing is that Lalic is not Italian and doesn’t speak Italian. In 1996 Lalic decided to form his own importing company, Enoteca Diana, named for Lalic’s wife, Diana. With his experience, well honed palate and pursuit of wines in the realms of perfection he works with many of his producers to create wines of extraordinary quality. Typically only 300-600 bottles of a particular wine will be available to the world. Much like a modern day Don Quixote, Lalic is fighting a battle against the homogenization and mass marketing of fine Italian wine. Lalic’s “Collezione” features wines with extremely individualistic personalities. He is fighting the onslaught of the so-called “International Standard” with the introduction of barriques into Italy by pleading with producers to go back to the traditional handling of their wines in large oak casks.
With no website, no staff and no advertising Lalic has created a loyal following of Italian wine lovers in the United States. Wine lovers in the Pittsburgh area should be camping out on his doorstep seeking his latest offerings.
