PIEMONTE

Piemonte

As planned we started our visit the last week of May to Piemonte to visit some new producers we met at the tasting of Barolo & Friends in November last year.

This is not the place to mention the different DOC - DOCG - or IGT's, I suppose you as a wine lover knows them already.

As usual we had the intention to taste only wines but this time we changed that and started with a visit to a rice and risotto producer which is not so strange because a good wine lover combines  and loves often enough wine and food.

So we started at:

Tenuta Castello, Desana, Vercelli:

Before the tour we settled ourselves in the agriturismo of Castello di Desana and went to the pretty and historical city of Vercelli that is alive and beautiful.

We took diner in the Trattoria Paolino in the city center, one we can advise to anyone who likes good food at a good price. Even when you let Paolino give you advice, please let him, we discovered a very good wine at a very good price. Not a restaurant with a lot of “chique” but typical and with a new vision on food. He doesn't want to create dishes that every restaurant produces but makes them with a new twitch.

The next morning we took the tour with the very friendly expert Signora Carlotta of the risotto plantation and got a lot of information what happens before planting, during summer, and after the harvest, to come to the end result, risotto.

One does not realize the work that is going in making a good risotto. Further more, this house is chosen to be the best risotteria in the Gambero Rosso.

At lunch we tasted of course some risotto.

Grazie Carlotta per la Sua accoglienza e generosità.

We moved to an other place we never visited before, even not the region with an exclusive DOC, Gabiano

Gianfranco Soldera leaves the DOCG Brunello

After the terrible event at the end of last year, life continues and Gianfranco Soldera makes some major decisions.

Because of the pressure of some major players in the Montalcino region to mix other grape varieties than Sangiovese Grosso in the Brunello make his trust in the appellation disappear.

He doesn't believe the consortium can hold on to the 100% rule to only allow the Sangiovese Grosso as the only grape variety for the Brunello wine.

Therefore from now on he is leaving the consortium and bring his wines on the market as IGT.

See pres release below.

Source: Stappato, Belgium

Franco Biondi Santi

At almost 91 years but still active in the wine cellar disappears the heir of the inventors of the most searched wine of Italy. His grandfather Ferruccio selected out up to 800 selections of the Sangiovese to find the particular Sangiovese for the region.

The Brunello has lost its prince and Italy one of the great gentleman of the wine. The 91 years old Franco Biondi leaves an empty space as he died this week.

Franco Biondi was a heir of a wine makers family. In the second half of the years 800 his grandfather Ferruccio invented at the Greppo estate in Montalcino, still the center of the company, the Brunello as it is today, still keeping 2 bottles of pure Sangiovese of the year 1888.

His father, Tancredi, one of the most important enologist of his time defined the standard of production for Brunello and was an inspiration to many, and was the craftsman of the Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 1955, the only Italian wine mentioned in the USA-bible “Wine Spectator” between the 12 best wines of the world of the years 1900.

To the son Jacopo and the collaborators our sincere condolences.

Chianti - Chianti Classico

On the 16th of February started a week of tastings in Firenze of the Chianti anteprima and a few days later the Chianti Classico and the other well known Tuscany wines of Montepulciano and Montalcino.

I was not present all week but I think I have a good overview of the quality wines of Tuscany in the last, not yet released wines.
Is 2012 a good year? As I saw, it can be a good year but not a great year.

The consorzio of Chianti Classico, with their new president Sergio Zingarelli, from the Rocca della Macie estate, is planning to update the image of the “superior” image to the “simpler” Chianti.

It is starting by presenting the new more beautiful and vibrant logo of the “Back Rooster” logo. 

Chianti versus Chianti Classico

Barolo and Friends

13/11/2012

First of al thanks to “Barolo and Friends” for the organisation of this event in Brussels to bring a number of Piemontese wine growers, the consortium, and some food producers to the center of gastronomy and wine lovers of Europe.

Thanks to the organisation we could taste in a master class under professional leadership of Dir Rodriguez from Vino magazine a number of wines from Piemonte from different DOCG and DOC regions, as there are wines “Methodo Classico” or sparkling wines, made in the same manor of the French Champagne and Spumante, wines from the region of Dogliani with the specialty of Dolcetto wines; Barbera wines from all over the region; and of course a number of Barolo and Barbaresco wines.

It really was a superb tasting with different types of wines in every aspect.

After this we ware free to visit the stands with their representatives or owners. 

Lucky for me I had prepared a number of wine houses I wanted to taste, but because there was no lunch I had to limit my visits for tasting, but I also received some advise of good wine houses from some friends.

In the month of May I will visit Piemonte with a number of wine houses I like to taste again and bring report later.