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Italian Wine, Piemonte, Uncategorized

Sebastian’s Selections, Round One: Order Here!

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Ok, we’re ready to rock!  Our dear friend Valerie has helped us curate a lovely list of Piemontese delights, and they’re ready to ship to your doorstep anywhere in North America.

Click on the link above or click here, and enter passcode: nebbiolo

Per our last post, a portion of the profits is being donated to Covid-19 relief in Italy; buy a 12btl case, and your wines ship for free!

Francone’s Valsellera is one of our favorite sparklers; and wait til you try Rivetto’s Serralunga Barolo.  It’s as good as single-vineyard Nebbiolo can be.  At the link above, you’ll find only wines made by friends of Valerie and us, and we’re quite certainly you’ll love them all.

These are by and large wines you simply cannot get in the US.  But they’re great selections, and a chance to help some really wonderful people in a time of need and stock your wine collection with some special bottles that you’d need a plane ride to get otherwise.

Piemonte a notte:

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Long Time No Post

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Hello to anyone still subscribed and reading this…it’s been a while.  Not usually a fan of “pay attention to me” posts explaining anyone’s attention to their own Internet presence as they’re usually unnecessary and self indulgent.  But in the latter part of 2018 work and life got really hectic, and I took a break from chatting about our Italian adventures here.

It was a good year.

Then, in early 2019, my brother was murdered rather senselessly by a roommate who also killed their landlord in a rather heinous and cowardly act. It just never felt right to get back to talking about Italy publicly at any time since that day in spring 2019.

The bastard who killed them finally plead guilty a few weeks ago, and it’s as much justice as we’re likely to get.

Going to leave the parts of the site dedicated to his art instruction and talents up as a remembrance.

I know he wouldn’t want us to dwell too terribly much, so probably time to get back into action.  Watch this space for a new venture we’ll be working on soon.  Going to sell some wine for Raph!

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Valpolicella: Microclimate Differences and Lake Garda

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Discussion around the importance of microclimate for the end product in a very underrated wine region.

Charles Scicolone on Wine

After speaking about Valpolicella and differences related to altitude (see  https://charlesscicolone.wordpress.com/2016/11/14/valpolicella-background-and-the-influence-of-altitude/), Alberto Brunelli, the oenologist for the  Consorzio Valpolicella, turned to  the subject of  microclimate variations and the influence of Lake Garda. He divided the second group of wines accordingly.

The distance of vineyards from Garda Lake: the further  they are, the maximum summer temperatures are higher and can influence the vines and their expression in wine in many ways. From west (near the lake) to east (far from it), we have this trend:img_1775

 Distance from the lake, along with the vineyards’ sun exposition and altitude influence every single valley’s and vineyard’s temperature.  The daily temperature range affects the polyphenolic and anthocyanin potential in a vintage, as well as the body, the color and the aging of the wine.lake-garder

The Winesimg_1739

Gerardo Cesari Valpolicella DOC Classico 2015 made from 75% Corvina and 25% Rondinella. Harvest is from September 20

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Tom Maresca Reviews A New Book “The Wines and Food of Piemonte”

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I need to get this book.

Charles Scicolone on Wine

A New Book About the Italian Piedmont

Tom Maresca

Tom’s Wine Line    https://ubriaco.wordpress.com/

tom-hylandBack during the summer, my colleague and friend Tom Hyland published an important and useful new book, The Wines and Foods of Piemonte.  It covers just about everything a wine lover could want to know about this blessed region, but of course – since the subject is the Piedmont – it gives pride of place to red wines.  For that reason, I thought I’d wait to say anything about it until the weather cooled down, and an oenophile’s fancy lightly turns to vino rosso.

Well, the moment has come: There is a nip in the air and an uptick in the appetite and a little more time being spent in the kitchen; some of the more organized among us are probably already thinking ahead to holiday feasts and even shopping for Christmas presents. When better…

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Italian Wine, Piemonte, Private Italy Tours, Uncategorized

Visiting La Morra: A Tasting With Oddero

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Poderi e Cantine Oddero is one of the most well known classic Piemonte wine producers; the Oddero family are warm hosts with an amazing product that evolves in the glass as you taste, whether it’s the Gallina Barbaresco, a single vineyard Barolo, or a blended one.  Great wines, and an amazing location that really popped on the camera as the sun poked through the clouds.  The best part was definitely getting to do a vertical tasting across a few different vintages of the Bussia (single vineyard Barolo).  A bottle of the 2007 certainly found its way home with us, and will quit getting any older when Doug comes to visit Colorado this winter.

Italian Wine, Piemonte, Uncategorized

Langhe in the Morning

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It’s been a bit quiet here as we’ve been super busy meeting winemakers, exploring new places to take clients, and just enjoying Italy.  But it’s time to get back to work!  In the coming days, more shots of our latest Italy tour adventures and research.

Tough work, but somebody’s gotta do it:

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Views of Serralunga D’Alba on a foggy Langhe morning.  Fabulous.