Tre Bicchieri 2015

 

 Tre Bicchieri is Gambero Rosso's annual Wine Tasting, where they show wine that got the "Tre Bicchieri" that year. Tre Bicchieri is the highest award. 
I went last year, but this year it was much better. Probably because I knew more about wine and I knew more people. And of course, Luca Currado was here this time!

Luca Currado, the winemaker of Vietti, won the Wine of the Year from Gambero Rosso, and so he was there this year. As you may know, I have worked for Vietti two summers in a row, and so it felt natural to help out. I spent the majority of the event behind the table, helping to pour the wine while telling the people about it. Luca brought with him the 2011 Barolo Castiglione, 2011 Barolo Brunate and of course the 2007 Villero, which was the Wine of the Year. You can read more about the Villero on the Vietti Website.

Although I spent most of my time behind the Vietti table, I also got to taste some wine. Among the wines I tasted was the Oddero Barolo. I was sad that Isobel was not there, but maybe I'll get to meet her next time!

Vietti

Vietti has made wine since the 19th century, but it was not until the 20th century the winery really started to produce wine for the market. 
Today Luca Currado and his wife, Elena, run the day to day, Luca in the vineyard overseeing the grapes, and Elena the marketing and public aspect.
They have over 35 hectares today, but even though they are quite large, theu are still a family winery, taking excellent care of their grapes, producing high quality, natural wines.
For more information about Vietti, check out their website. 

Castiglione Falletto

My family, and maybe especcially myself, LOVE the Vietti family. Luca and Elena are fun, passionate poeple, and their love for their wines is contagious. A visit with Elena is fun and educational, and the tasting that follows is fantastic. If you are ever in Piemonte, Vietti is a place to stop by. Located in Castiglione Falletto, a beautiful town in the Barolo region. 

Luca Currado                            

I have even worked with Vietti. First with Luca in the vineyards, then with Elena in the cellar (wine visit mostly). The whole wine thing is rather new to me, but it was fun being part of the process, while learning more and more about how the wine actually gets into the bottle. 

Vietti makes a variety of wines, a Moscato, a white Roero Arneis, and of course Dolcetto, Barbera and Barolo. To learn more about their wines, look here.

Off I Go!

Last summer, I had the pleasure of working at Vietti Winery in their vineyards. Now I am off again! I don't know what I will be doing, but I know it will be great! 

The main task last year was Green Harvest, where we reduced the number of clusters of grapes per vine. The reason behind this is to maximize the quality for the remaining grapes, and to get rid of any ruined or underdeveloped grapes. 

 

 

#tbt: Dalla Terra Wine Tasting

May 9th I experienced my first official wine tasting. The event was closed to the public, but since my Dad has some connections, I was able to attend. I brought a friend, and the two of us had no idea what we were doing. So, we dove in head first. Glass in hand, with our booklets, we started tasting under the pretense of working for a restaurant. The first two stations were Adami and Cleto Chiarli. My friend and I made the mistakes of drinking a little too much at the firsttwo tables, so by the time we reached the third, Aia Vecchia, I had to respectfully declinetasting the red wines. 

We ended up staying at Aia Vecchia for a while. We learned the representative. Elia Pelligrini, used to be a professional soccer player, for Livorno. He was taken out of the game due to an injury to his leg, and he is now in the wine business with his family. Elia was a wonderful person, so passionate about the wine, and excited to tell us about his family and their wines.

The next visit was with Casanova di Neri and the representative Luigi Bonari. There is a funny story attached to this particular wine, a story I did not know until after I had met with Luigi and tasted the wines, which were phenomenal by the way. I learned the story once my Dad arrived. Many years earlier, on a wine trip in Italy, my Dad had been 4 meters away from visiting and tasting Casanova di Neri wines, but due to the large number of people, my Dad decided to get back in the car and go. It was not until later my Dad realized he had made a huge mistake, because the wines, as you may know, are superb. So at this wine tasting in Boston, my Dad told the story to Luigi, and added that he would never again make the same mistake: never judge a vineyard by the number of tourists. You never know what you may be missing.

The second to last wine we tasted was Marchesi di Gresy. It’s maker, Alberto di Gresy, is commonly known as the count. This visit can best be described as hilarious. The count and his younger family member were wonderful. The younger representative, whom we dubbed Count Jr. was engaging, passionate and full of energy. My friend accompanying me told him he was graduating, and it turned out so was Count Jr. A special connection was formed as we talked about wine, about Italy and about family, and at the end we were invited to visit this summer. And I think we just might.

Last, but not least, we have Vietti. Previously I have met Elena, or should I say Mrs. Vietti. She was not there at the tasting, but her husband, Luca or Mr. Vietti was. And let me tell you, they are both incredible. Luca showed deep passion whilst «promoting» his wine. I use quotation marks because he was not really promoting. He was simply talking about his wine. However, interestingly enough, Mr. Vietti spent more time discussing his children and his love of beer and burgundy wine. We talked about his daughter’s success with skiing, how he makes his own beer, and how be prefers putting that beer in glass bottles (so he can open them with a knife like you would a bottle of champagne). It was truly amazing. His passion for what he does was inspiring to watch.

To sum it up: wine tasting rocks.

Rejoice.