Harvest 2012 at Domain du Chenoy
In Belgium the harvest began, we were at Domaine du Chenoy with Philippe Grafé in Emines (Namur, Belgium).
VinoeStile
PRESS RELEASE – THE ASSEMBLY OF EUROPEAN WINE REGIONS GATHERS IN BRUSSELS TO PREVENT THE ABOLITION OF PLANTING RIGHTS
LEVOLUZIONE: a new star is born in the cantine Montalbera
A new product signed by cantine Montalbera is born: Levoluzione, Barolo DOCG.
The constant development of Montalbera wine estate began over thirty years ago with the purchase of the property in Castagnole Monferrato and continues unabated today with the acquisition of the best land plots, which have always suited to the wine production.
Back in the 2007 the purchase of certain parcels of vineyard in Castiglione Falletto (Cannubi side) and La Morra, in the famous Langa known in the world for the production of Barolo. This acquisition made the birth possible of a new quality product, a Barolo DOCG.
A wine that is meant to represent a modern vision of this extraordinary and ancient piedmontese wine, as modern are all wine “realities” signed Montalbera.
Levoluzione, the name of the latest creation Montalbera, was in fact created by the desire to offer a wine of absolute and unique tradition. Careful viticultural practices, meticulous selection of grapes and a maniacal pursuit of quality in wine, helped maintain perfectly intact the heritage the vineyard had created. Ageing in French oak barrels and traditional barrels for a period of three years, they finally allowed us to get to a result of rare and precious quality.
Levoluzione Barolo is perhaps less flamboyant but more powerful than other products, such as vigorous as the millennial history of this wine estate. Matured and designed to amaze and fascinate, Levoluzione will appeal to all lovers, fans and followers of this authoritative wine, but will be appreciated by those who approach for the first time a real noble and great wine.
This is an elegant wine that is convincing to enhance the exceptional product line emblem of the company.
Henry Borzi
VENDANGES 2012 DOMAINE DU CHENOY
Interview wih former EU commissioner John Dalli
OPENING RESTAURANT GOTHA ASSE 21/07/2012
Commissioner Andris Piebalgs: helping farmers to help themselves
At the World Food Day last 16 October, Commissioner for development Andris Piebalgs made a statement on the eradication of undernutrition and the EU role helping the farmers to organize themselves and generate decent income through their work.
“It is unacceptable that tonight, across the world, close to 870 million people – more than one and a half times the population of the European Union – will go to bed hungry. As I travelled in Kenya, in Djibouti or in Burkina Faso, I have seen the effects of hunger and under nutrition. It is a terrible and tragic thing to witness. The EU is strongly committed to catalysing real and permanent change in this area. During the London Hunger Event in August, I have pledged to reduce the number of stunted children (those who haven’t grown and developed enough due to a lack of access to the right sort of food) by at least 7 million by 2025. The EU is already at the forefront of the fight against hunger, as every year, we invest around €1 billion in agriculture, food and nutrition security.”
African farmers
Concerning the African farmers the Commissioner stated: “I wholeheartedly support this year’s focus on “Agricultural Cooperatives”. Agriculture is the lifeblood of African economies– more than half a billion Africans, or some 65 per cent of the population (more than 80 per cent in some countries) depend on small or micro-scale farming as their primary source of livelihood. These farmers grow crops on small plots of land, often far away from markets, roads, assets or even electricity. Therefore they are extremely vulnerable to shocks and have difficulties in providing food for themselves and their communities.”
The Eu role
“The EU actively helps those farmers to organise themselves and generate decent income through their work. Farmers’ organisations have a crucial role to play: they increase food security and can promote the empowerment of women and young people in agriculture. That is why I am glad to announce that we will launch a new €26.9 million initiative “Farmers Africa” to further support farmers’ organisations to empower smallholders and help them to participate in decision-making that influences their lives. In addition, the EU is very active within the G8 “New Alliance” which aims at boosting productivity, private sector investments and supporting innovation and technology in Africa. To this end we will invest €3 million in HarvestPlus to develop rich seeds to benefit the poor in Africa and India. I strongly believe that a tide has turned in the fight against under nutrition and we are closer to realising the aim of a “hunger free” world.”
Henry Borzi
PROSECCO, A DECISIVE STEP TOWARDS UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE RECOGNITION
4 partners launch a committee to promote the application of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore to obtain the recognition as World Heritage Site.
The meeting with the different partners.
picture: Henry BORZI
The official inauguration of the Committee for the nomination hills of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore as site of world heritage at UNESCO took place on wednesday july 25th at Villa Brandolini in Solighetto (Treviso). The presentation was made by by the Consorzio for the Protection of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore, the Province of Treviso, IPA and the Chamber of Commerce. The common objective of the project is to get the Unesco World Heritage recognition and, more generally, to give greater visibility to the hills of Prosecco Superiore and its vineyards, places that have inspired the poet of the countryside Andrea Zanzotto in his writings, and those in which walked and meditated Toniolo, an eminent sociologist recently beatified by Pope Benedict XVI.
A decisive step
During the press conference, the four organizations have signed a memorandum of understanding establishing the constitution of the committee which will now take a strategic role. A decisive step will now be made as the committee is established: the preparation of the technical file including the documentation that will give strong arguments for the application to obtain the listing of the hills of Conegliano Valdobbiadene as part of World Heritage Sites.
The technical file will explain in detail the reasons for the nomination which reside primarily in the ancient history of the area and which shows a stunning landscape where the man with his own work has embroidered with vineyards, creating a real unique and hilly landscape. We can’t forget the presence on the territory of renowned artists as GianBattista Cima, one of the great Venetian painters of Landscape. In these hills the ancient tradition of viticulture has been married to the culture of the sparkling wine, thanks to the foundation in 1876 of the first italian enologic school in Conegliano . A perfect combination that gave rise to one of the wines that represent the pride of Italy: the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore, today certainly among the most famous sparkling wines in the world. The UNESCO project, not only represents an extraordinary opportunity to promote tourism in the area but also an opportunity to preserve the hills of Conegliano Valdobbiadene through a sustainable land use, protecting the environment from degradation and promoting its enhancement.
Video realized by Davide Borzi
Henry BORZI
A GREAT PARTY TO PRESENT CZECH WINES
The Ambassador of the Czech republic made a great event yesterday in Brussels to present Czech republic as a great wine country.
Different wines were there to be tasted and doucmentation was given about czech winemaking.
Winemaking in Czech republic is very old, since the middle ages and, although wine production decreased due to the phylloxera crisis in the 19th century, winemaking in Czech republic is now expanding due to the help of the czech state to independant wine growers.
There are two principal wine regions: Bohemia and Moravia.
In Bohemia, there are two subregions: the Melnicka wine region and the Litomericka wine region In Moravia, there are four subregions: the Znojemska subregion, the Mikuovska wine subregion, the Velkopavlovicka subregion and the Slovacka subregion.
The main producted wines are white. They are more adapted to this continental climate but red grape sorts are also present.
Rivers, hills and valleys compose most of the czech wine regions and the climate has an average temperature of about 10° over the whole year. Grapesorts are, from a long time, adapted to this climate and there are autochtonous grape sorts as more general grape sorts.
The white grape sorts are: müller thurgau, grüner veltliner, welschriesling, rielsing italico, pinot blanc, sauvignon blanc, traminer, pinot gris, traminer, neubruske, moravian muscat, palava, muscat ottonel, sylvaner. The red grape sorts are: saint-laurent, pinot noir, dornfelder, blauer portugieser, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet moravia, merlot, neronet, rubinet.
We were pleased by the fineness and high quality of these czech wines.
Miguel D. DESNERCK
THE FANTASTIC STORY OF BON BARON
Nobody believed top wine could be made on the banks of the Meuse river in Belgium. Château Bon Baron did it !
Once upon a time, there was a dutch lady who fell in love of a beautiful picturesque region in Belgium, 15km south-east from Namur. This is the Meuse valley. A lovely river with little islands and curves which creates a microclimate.
There, Jeannette van der Steen decided to settle and make a happy life of enjoying the lovely landscapes and the sweetness of the region.
She also fell in love with the gastronomy of the region of the lovely city of Dinant. Snails from Warnant,, fishes, farm chickens, blanc-bleu-belge beef and lots of delicious products.
From the one comes the other. Pairing food and wine has always been like an obsession for Jeannette van der Steen. As she thought this region could produce so delicious food, she thought lovely wine could also be made over there and…She decided to make wine. She heard wine had been made in this region years and years ago
The start of a wine estate
First, in the surroundings of her manor, the Château Bon Baron in Lustin (near the beautiful city of Dinant). Jeannette decided to plant 3ha of traditional grape sorts in 2003 after a deep analysis of the soils and the suitable grape sorts in this region of Belgium. She planted white and red grape sorts : auxerrois, acolon, pinot gris, müller-thurgau, chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet.
The picturesque wine fields of Bon Baron on the banks of the Meuse river
The story took another direction when a friend of Ms. Van der Steen brought a bottle of her lovely wine to a restaurant which immediately decided to prepare dishes and pair with her Meuse-wines.
When a wine estate becomes a « succes story ».
The efforts of Ms van der Steen to present her wines and her belief in belgian winemaking brought their first results. Presence on international wine fairs, cooperation with famous cooking schools in belgium and the Netherlands and the arrival of the first tourists convinced her she could do more.
Recently, 15ha have been planted on the banks of the Meuse, just at the exit of Dinant. The wine estate will have a total superficy of 18ha and the winetourism projects are ongoing.
Although it was difficult for ms van der Steen to have a cellar till now, she wants to build one. She also bought a lovely old church in the historical center of Dinant to receive her visitors from all over Europe and let them taste the beautiful, fruity, and spicy wines from the « Côtes the Meuse ».
The old church bought by Château Bon Baron for its wine touristic projects
We all know the story of Ms van der Steen will continue for a very long time.
The range of CHateau Bob Baron is very extended
Miguel D. DESNERCK
pictures and video: Henry BORZI
Vineyards Magazine 