Wine Tasting Saturday December 17th Noon-3pm
Ferghettina in Franciacorta “It is by the rolling of the Franciacorta lands that produce our wine. It is on this sunny hills at the foot of the Alps and along the lake Sebino, which ripen our vineyards, expertly cared for by 'human experience. This corner of Italy will surprise remarkable for its variety, its colors, its history and above all for its wine: Franciacorta.”
Ferghettina Franciacorta Brut Milledi
Everything about this Blanc de Blanc is quality. 100% Chardonnay, from vineyards at 820 feet above sea level. The vines are Guyot-trained, and the wine is aged 36 months on the lees. The grapes are hand picked and gently pressed, using only the free run juice. The alcoholic fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature, between 60 and 64 °F.
Straw yellow color with golden and green reflections. The perlage is fine and persistent. In the mouth, the wine has elegant notes of citrus and minerals.
When you have time, Google Ferghettina and be blown away with the beauty of this estate “farm.” The headquarters is built on a gentle hill with enchanting panoramic views. Structured on three levels with a total area of 6,000 square meters. The main rooms are receiving the grapes and pressing, fermentation musts and wines in storage processing, fermentation and aging on lees of Franciacorta, barrels, bottling, disgorgement and storage of the finished wine. There is a large space for visitors with a large and charming tasting room.
Ferghettina Franciacorta Brut Rose
Although we are not tasting it today, watch for their Brut Rose. 100% Pinot Noir with very elegant aromas of blackberry and soft raspberry. Maybe one of the few Rose’s around that will steal you away from a Champagne or Prosecco for your Holiday toasts.
Ferrari Brut Rose
Guided by the third generation of the Lunelli family, Ferrari embodies the very best of metodo classico sparkling winemaking and what the family describes as the “Italian Art of Living.” Thanks to over a century of experience, Ferrari has helped put Italian sparklers on the world’s radar. No brand has reached the luxury status and prestige of Ferrari.
Ferrari won the “Sparkling Wine Producer of the Year” for The Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships 2015, achieving a stunning upset in the world of sparkling wine; showing that it is possible to make world-class bubbles outside of Champagne.
Their Rose has a timeless appeal - Delicate harmony between the elegance of Chardonnay and the structure of Pinot Nero, with a refined bouquet of berry fruits. The color is coppery, tending towards old rose. And the nose has refined hints of wild strawberries and redcurrants, with a fresh sensation of hawthorn flowers, underpinned by a delicate note of crusty bread deriving from its more than two years’ ageing on the yeasts. The taste is fresh and fruity, with a touch of mellow sweet almonds.
Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis 2016
Bruno Giacosa crafts some of the most prestigious Barolo and Barbaresco single-vineyard wines in Piemonte, and is one of the world's most respected wine producers. He began working in the family business at the age of 15 and represents the third generation of his family to make wine in the Langhe.
Initially, Bruno Giacosa only purchased grapes from select vineyards and a network of quality- minded growers with whom he had forged a close relationship with. By the late 1980's, Giacosa's search for the best vineyard sources initiated the process of acquiring vineyards in the communes of Serralunga d'Alba, La Morra, and Barbaresco, vineyards that consistently produced some of finest expressions of Nebbiolo.
Bruno Giacosa's winemaking philosophy combines a respect for tradition and conservative winemaking with the selected use of modern technology to obtain the best expression of each vineyard's terroir. He is convinced that great wines begin in the vineyard with the production of grapes cultivated by experienced growers. This belief pushes him to improve quality with every harvest. In the cellar, the goal is to produce a wine that maintains its identity from vine to bottle, so winemaking methods are therefore traditional and in full respect of the grape's typical characteristics.
"The brilliant Bruno Giacosa fashions the finest Arneis... this is my favorite white wine of Piedmont." Robert Parker
Arneis, a white grape from Piedmont, translates to difficult or stubborn and was given this name due to its delicate skin and unpredictable nature. But when the conditions are right and a producer like Giacosa handles the vinification properly, look out!
Though this wine may be hard to grow, it is impossible to put down. Unoaked, this beauty has a natural creamy weight and texture about it that rivals many white Burgundies. The acidity is crisp and refreshing and despite being stainless steel fermented, the wine has depth and character that makes it stand out as one of our favorite versatile white wines.
"This is what Arneis should be...a benchmark for Arneis...a go-to Italian white." James Suckling
Olim Bauda Barbera Asti Le Rocchete 2013
Since 1998 this beautiful reality of Piedmont has been run by the brothers Dino, Diana and Gianni Bertolino, who with dedication and passion have taken it to the top of Asti oenology.
Olim Bauda is a winery that boasts a centuries-old tradition in the production and marketing of wine. The historical heart of the company is the plot around the villa, on the hills of Nizza Monferrato, planted by the father in 1961 with Barbera and Moscato. From these vineyards, the estate has expanded over the years, reaching the current 30 hectares of vineyards, all followed with sustainable agriculture practices and trying to minimize them treatments with synthetic products or chemical herbicides.
Olim Bauda produces a wine for each vineyard, all beautiful and evocative, from the heady aromas and flavors, derived from the territory on which come to life. Dino, Diana and Gianni have thus chosen to live in the land of their family, to carry on a wine tradition, which thanks to their contribution has reached very high levels of quality and excellence.
The Barbera d'Asti Superiore “Le Rocchette” is a local product par excellence, born from the brilliant interplay between this celebrated indigenous grape variety and the multifaceted terroir of Monferrato. The cru Le Rocchette, located just off Isola d'Asti, has a soil with abundant sedimentary sands particularly draining and is situated at an altitude of about 250 meters above sea level, with good sun exposure.
The only variety grown in the Le Rocchette vineyard is the Barbera, whose 50 year old vines ensure that the wines produced here are aromatic and complex. The long maceration and the aging in large oak barrels from Allier allows Barbera Le Rocchette to acquire a bouquet of great fullness and dense tannins, making this particular product by Olim Bauda estate a wine of reference for the culture of Asti Barbera .
Cigliuti Nebbiolo Langhe 2015
The Cigliuti farm, nestling in the rolling hills of Serraboella, near Neive, has always been a family-run winery. The nebbiolo and dolcetto vines are planted to the southwest, in the area most exposed to the sun’s rays, where the soil is all tufa and limestone. To the southeast, where the soil is silty and clayey, are the barbera grapes.
Renato Cigliuti oversees his magnificent vineyards with his all-female family team, consisting of his wife Dina and his daughters Claudia and Silvia. They enjoy the best locations in Neive and, despite the steep slopes, the family still tends them with artisan methods, such as thinning, which helps the grapes to fully ripen. The harvest is carried out with great care and attention, the finest bunches of the grapes for wine for bottling being selected one by one.
To anyone who asks him what the secret of his wines is, Renato Cigliuti repeats that it’s the soil itself: “It’s this blessed soil and these vineyards where I was born,” he says. Renato Cigliuti and his family run the winery with passion and commitment, adopting a straightforward farming approach and leaving the land, the Langhe terroir, to express itself.
NEBBIOLO Nebbiolo is the grape variety behind the top-quality red wines of Piedmont (northwestern Italy). Nebbiolo wines are distinguished by their strong tannins, high acidity and distinctive scent which is often described as "tar and roses". The most notable of which are Barolo and Barbaresco.
A less obvious characteristic, visible only over time, is their tendency to lose color. Within just a few years of vintage, most Nebbiolo wines begin fading from deep, violet-tinged ruby to a beautiful brick orange.
Nebbiolo is the quintessential Piedmontese wine grape – the dominant variety in five of the region's DOCGs and numerous DOCs (see Italian Wine Labels). Even its name evokes the region's foothills on cool autumn mornings, when the valleys and vineyards lie hidden under a ghostly blanket of nebbia (fog). The name is very apt for this late-ripening variety, which is harvested later in the year than Piedmont's other key varieties (Barbera and particularly Dolcetto), in foggy, wintry weather conditions.
Sensitivity to terroir is one of Nebbiolo's trump cards, but also its downfall. As demonstrated by Pinot Noir and Riesling, wine enthusiasts find themselves immediately attracted to a variety that communicates its provenance. But while Riesling and Pinot Noir are grown in respectable volumes in many wine regions around the world, Nebbiolo is not. It is famously picky about where it grows, requiring good drainage and a long, bright growing season. In Piedmont, it is one of the first varieties to flower and the last to ripen, making it very susceptible to poor weather conditions in spring and autumn. Fontanafredda Barolo Serralunga 2011
SINCE 1878 Fontanafredda has been a benchmark for Barolo and Barbera wines that deftly balance deep aromas and concentration of fruit with elegance. It is the largest contiguous estate in Piedmont with 210 acres of vines in the Serralunga, Barolo, and Diano d’Alba communes and each vineyard is managed with a “zero chemical” program using only natural methods
The history of Fontanafredda is a noble one. It began in 1858, when Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy, purchased the Fontanafredda estate (a former hunting preserve) as a country home. Soon thereafter, he began to produce fine red wines from indigenous grape varieties dolcetto, barbera and nebbiolo. In 1878 King Vittorio II died and his firstborn son, Count Emanuele Alberto di Mirafiori, inherited Fontanafredda.
Count Mirafiori created the commercial business of wine from the estate and released the estate’s first nebbiolo labeled as Barolo with the vintage 1878. Beginning in 1932, the estate transferred to Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world’s oldest bank, who retained ownership of Fontanafredda for 76 years.
In 2008 Oscar Farinetti and his partner Luca Baffigo Filangieri (founders of the famous EATALY concepts in Italy, Japan and New York) became the majority stakeholders in the Fontanafredda estate and wineries. These new owners put full support behind a series of initiatives started in 1999 by winemaker Danilo Drocco and viticulturist Alberto Grasso. These initiatives involve changes in both the winery and the vineyards, with a commitment to bring increased quality to the wines and greater sustainability to the land of the estate.
The 250-acre Fontanafredda Barolo cru property in Serralunga d’Alba is the single largest contiguous wine estate in the Langhe. It is here that Fontanafredda has introduced the Volumi Bollati series, an innovative program launched with tremendous success in Europe and now in the US with the release of 2007 Barolo Serralunga d’Alba. Made from 85% recycled glass, Volumi Bollati is a series of bottle sizes based on the classic Italian osteria system of serving wine by volume for pouring by the glass: two quartino or a half liter (2 people), one liter (4 people), 1.5 liter (6 people).
Elio Grasso Barolo Chiniera 2007
Currently, the Elio Grasso estate has a productive vineyard holding of 14 hectares. The cellar uses only estate-grown grapes from varieties traditionally grown, with excellent results, in the Langhe hill country near Alba. The goal is to reflect the imprint of the vineyard where the fruit was grown in order to give their wines a unique personality.
The 2007 is a potent vintage, but very elegant at the same time. This wine is very drinkable; the tannins are already perfectly integrated into the wine. The Gavarini Chiniera is very complex providing more darker fruit characteristics and important tannins. Perfect those who wants enjoy a young Barolo in top form.
Critical Acclaim
93 points from The Wine Advocate "The 2007 Barolo Gavarini Vigna Chiniera opens with an exotic bouquet of candied red fruit, flowers, mint and minerals. This is an unusually opulent, racy style for Grasso. The Gavarini is a touch hot and alcoholic at first, but with several hours of air, that quality seemed to resolve itself nicely. Silky, beautifully integrated tannins frame a finish of exceptional elegance. The personality of the year marks the Gavarini to a significant degree. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2027.
93+ Points from The International Wine Cellar "Good medium red. Downright Burgundian nose offers redcurrant, strawberry, menthol, crushed stone and flowers; vibrant yet reticent. Sweet, broad and fine-grained, with a light touch to the slightly imploded flavors of plum, mocha, earth and spices. Finishes impressively broad, with a juicy quality and ripe dusty tannins. Give this four or five years in the cellar."
Olim Bauda Moscato d’Asti “Pian Centive” 2015
Winemaker: Dino Bertolino "It has a characteristic straw colour. Its intense bouquet is aromatic and shows golden apple, pineapple and honey aromas. To the palate it is fresh and fragrant, as sweetness and acidity are properly balanced. The carbon dioxide fine development makes it slightly creamy, with an elegant and persistent close."
Tenuta Olim Bauda has been in the Bertolino family since the 1960's and was the jewel in the crown. Tragically Sr. Bertolino died in 1985 leaving 3 young children and no-one to run the business. In 2000 after a 15 year hiatus, the siblings decided to revive the estate's fortune and have successfully re-established it as one of Piemonte's top wineries producing a range of Gavi's and Barbera d'Asti which have won huge acclaim.
Tenuta Olim Bauda Moscato d'Asti Centive 2015 is arguably the most refreshing drink in the world of wine. It is light in alcohol but laden with the character of orange blossom, elderflower, and grapefruit... and bubbles aplenty! It's sweet and sparkling and only 6% alchohol. But do not be fooled, this is a very well made wine with an air of freshness on the palate and the effervescence of bubbles that elevates this to the next level.