Christmas Recap

This Christmas was filled with even more good wine than the last, ranging from the familiar Altare and Vietti wines to less familiar Comte Lafon and Lechenaut. They all range in quality and price, and of course some were better than others.

I love decorating the table in the dining room. We rarely sit there, which makes eating there special. For christmas it's always silver, white and a little bit of green, as you see in the picture above. 

  

 Larigi is one of my favorites. Altare is always a good choice. And Christmas is about family, and I consider them part of mine. Elio, Lucia, Silvia, Leone and Polpetta!

Cinque Terre

Elio Altare is famous for his Barolo's, Barbera's and hi Dolcetto's. What fewer know about, is his project on the edge of Cinque Terre. 
Altare produces white and red wine on the edge of a cliff along the ocean in Cinque Terre. The work is hard, the hills are steep, but the final product is very good. His white from this area is one of my favorites.

The project interests me for many reasons. He is, of course, Elio Altare. His passion for wine is contagious and it was on that cliff in his vineyard along the coast that I first started to love wine; and that was before I had even tasted it. 

A more practical aspect of the project: it helps keep the earth in tact and prevents mudlsides. Mudslides have been a problem in the area, and Altare's vineyard is part of preventing future ones.

Wine production is expensive and hard work, but this little adorable man eagrly runs up and down those hills. And there are no machines. I repeat, there is no tractor or car or anything. They carry the grapes on their backs. 

You can check out the project on their website here.

Toni Fadnes, author of How To Wine Travel wrote a wonderful article about Altare's project in Cinque Terre. You can find the article: here.

Read about Cinque Terre and Elio here: TheVipTable

Father and Daughter Wine Makers

This summer, my Dad joined me at Vietti for a day and Altare for a day.

 

When we worked for Vietti, we went to their Vineyard near Asti, where they have some Dolcetto and Barbera. We did what is called de-leafing, where we cut off the leaves to expose the grapes to the sun. Due to the wet weather this year, the grapes need to be exposed to the sun more than if it had been a dry year. Working so close to the grapes is amazing. You actually feel like you are making a difference, even though we may not have made any difference.

At Altare's, we did some labeling and packaging, preparing a shipment. Working with Silvia is always fun, and we played music and had some fun.
Labeling involves putting the full bottles onto the machine that labels for you, the packaging the bottles. Everything is done by hand, other than the actual labeling. It may not sound that way, but it is hard work. But we had some fun too!

#tbt: Summer 2013