Category Archives: AGENDA

A NEW CALABRIAN WINE ESTATE TO DISCOVER

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Recently, I met Lidia MATERA, a passionate female wine grower who loves her terroir, in de IGT “Valle del Crati”

 

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I particularly enjoyed her “ALARICO”, a wine labeled IGT “Valle del Crati” because the Calabrian region was not yet granted a DOC. This wine is captivating, powerful, round  with a fabulous nose. This wine is a dream. It shows the power generated by the Calabrian soil, it is sweet, delicious and radiates across the mouth of the taster. The two used grape sorts are Nerello Capuccio and  Mascalese,  two indigenous varieties of this wine region. Alarico is a wine that has aged for several months in new oak, but the wood is well integrated and produces very balanced flavor.

alarico-etichetta

Alongside this wine, Lidia also uses the  grape sort  Magliocco dolce in the development of another wine, more flexible, lightweight but very fruity: “Cariglio” . It has many qualities and is also delicious.

The cantina can easily be found on the internet.

Please, when you meet Lidia, make an effort to speak with her because her Italian is worth trying: poetic, charming and beautiful.

Consorzio Vini Colli Euganei: 4 decades of denomination, two millennia of vocation

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Last Sunday, November 4th at the beautiful Villa dei Vescovi in Luvigliano in the province of Padua the Consorzio Vini Colli Euganei celebrated his forty years of activity.

On the occasion of the celebration of forty years of activity of the Consorzio dei Vini Colli Euganei, we interviewed the President of the Consorzio Antonio Dal Santo.

Q.-Dear Director what are the main steps that have characterized the growth of the consortium towards a better quality?
A.- The fact that we put together a statement of intent 40 years ago, and that we believed in the territory and oenological potential of the same.We realized the first achievements with the red wines, in terms of quality in the mid of the eighties.

From there we started the first attempt to identify the  good plots and we carried out a careful control of yields, in order to produce red wines.

These early projects were initially followed by a limited number of wineries, but by the early 90s, the first results seemed very flattering. In 1994 we laid a milestone with the upgrade of the rules and the introduction of Fior d’Arancio and Serprino as recognized grape sorts.
From there we started an in-depth research on white wines. At the beginning of 2000 we started to find out the different parcels for  merlot, cabernet franc and  Moscato Bianco. And then, we continued with the Moscato Giallo and Cabernet Sauvignon. Another milestone and key technical tool for our members was the recognition of the analysis laboratory (2000).

At this point, we also paid attention to the training of our young farmers who yet had brushed up their good basic education, thanks to many educational and technical initiatives of our wine association. All this, combined with a careful choice of  grape sorts suitable for each  individual plot of land, had as consequence for the Euganean Hills, a significant improvement in quality over the entire range of products; a goal that has been reached by a numerous winemakers  giving a determined impression of the improvement of the overall quality of our wines.

Q.- What steps have been made to improve the marketing of your products in Italy and abroad?

A.-  At first, we took care of the presentations and  events  about wine on a  local level. Afterwards, mainly thanks to the support of the Chamber of Commerce, and the collaboration with the Uvive ( Unione Consorzi Vini Veneti D.O.C.) we participated to fairs and major events nationally and internationally.

About 10 years ago, we decided to emphasize the communication of our Consorzio, solely based on our flagship: Fior d’Arancio, which became DOCG in 2011.

We have created a bottle and a general label for the whole wine region, which aimed to represent the excellence and uniqueness of this product, but also which  created a unique image and caused the unification of all the various small and large producers of the Euganean Hills.

Another step  was the creation, six years ago, of an internal structure “Enoteca consortile”   into the wine association located in  Montegrotto Terme,  which represents both a permanent business card in the territory and a center for the organization of events and promotion of our products.

Q.- Plans for the future?
A.- The ambition for the coming years is to bring the Euganean hills to cross new boundaries. Obtaining the DOCG in this regard has been very useful; now we have to carry on the work we started by giving even a greater impact and effectiveness of our promotional program.

We will also focus even more on the specificity and uniqueness of some of our products. Due to strong recent commercial successes that have sustained sales (particularly  for  the “fior d’arancio del Serprino” and  the “ CE rosso”), and due to the growing importance of wine tourism in all Italian wine regions, we would like to make of wine a key point for collaboration between all economical and territorial stakeholders.

A GREAT WINERY AT THE WALLS OF CARCASSONNE

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VINEYARDS PAPER became acquainted with Sébastien ARINO, of domaine “FONTAINE GRANDE” whose property is located near the walls of Carcassonne, the picturesque medieval city in the Aude (South of France).

Sébastienmakes  three unique wines produced in white, pink and red.

In white wine he produces a smooth,  powerful wine – without batonnage or oak- that really gives priority to the fruit and its quintessence. Delicious.

The rosé tasted directly at the bulk, based on Merlot and Cabernet has a very dark color, a strong  taste of cherry and strawberry with a greedy side that we love.

His red is a powerful wine based on Merlot and Cabernet with very pronounced spicy notes. I loved it!!!!!!

You need to discover this winery very urgently:

contact:

Domaine Fontaine Grande, impasse des Anglais, F11000 Carcassonne, 33616407603, sebastien.arino @ wanadoo.fr

Harvest 2012 in Italy: less quantity… extraordinary quality!

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Time of harvest in Italy! We eagerly await the results of the 2012 harvest, not only because the wine is the first Italian ambassador of Made in Italy in the world, but also because the sector has become a major economic reality in the agricultural sector.

Wine in Italy represents around 700,000 hectares of cultivated area, of which more than 70% of the areas belong to 500 DOC, DOCG and IGT which since last year have been aligned with the European PDO and PGI. According to Massimo Toso, head of the technical area in Cossano Belbo of Toso sparkling wine, the Moscato vintage 2012 has been developed with particular “slowness”, aided by the period of cold and rain that accompanied the last part of august and the first week of september. 

Among Moscato and Brachetto we notice differences: Brachetto has benefited only partly of the cooling of the end of August because in several vineyards (more than 50%) the harvest had already been completed. Moscato, however, has concentrated the largest proportion of its harvest after the beginning of september, taking full advantage of this more favorable climate. The main problems found with Brachetto grapes are derived from the fact that the hills of Acqui Terme (Piedmont) -where the most Bracchetto grapes were planted,  have benefited from low rainfall, such as Valle Belbo and the area around Alba in general where there were some refreshing storms in the month of July. 

Quality should be largerly good

Mario Catania, italian minister of Agriculture, meeting in these days regional councillors agriculture, said, “The drought this summer has hit hard in our country, not sparing even the vineyards. We expect the harvest may be, from the quantitative point of view, the lowest in history in Italy. I hope this record won’t have as a result of the lack of quality, but in this respect I say that the technical quality should be largely good, except for extreme situations. In any case we must take note of the ongoing climate change and work towards a more comprehensive policy, in the medium and long-term, to tackle the problem of organic water resources, both in terms of management and infrastructure.”

Optimistic about the quality

The area of ​​Franciacorta already finished the harvest at least two weeks ago says Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, President of Federdoc and producer of Franciacorta and the quality of the grapes is definitely good. The amount of acidic sugar of the grapes is really ideal. Quantitatively, they estimate 30% less than last year. Harvest wasn’t that much anticipated much, because now as the trend which developped in the recent years, we started in the mid of august, adds Ricci Curbastro, but the climate is changing and we must adapt to the changes. “We expect a high quality wine”, confirms Marco Caprai; producer of Umbrian Sagrantino. “We will achieve a great deal but we are optimistic about the quality. The rains in recent weeks have done very well and the heat ventilated during the past few months has avoided the mold. We don’t expect a drop in production. In fact we think we can recover 10 to 15% compared to last year, which was very unfavorable because of the climate of 2011, with sudden heat, that put the last harvest in a real crisis.”

Henry Borzi

Commissioner Andris Piebalgs: helping farmers to help themselves

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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

VISIT OF DISTILLERY FOVEL

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VINEYARDS PAPER and JOURNAL DES VIGNOBLES visited recently Distillery FOVEL in Brussels, in the heart of Europe.

Distillery FOVEL is the oldest and the only still existing in the capital of Europe. Family Fovel came from the province of Limburg in the XIXth century to establish in Brussels and make traditional jenever. Mainly three products are still made on the old way and manager Diedrik Fovel explains us how the distillates are made:

Video by henry borzi

CHATEAU DES KARANTES WINS DECANTER REGIONAL TROPHY SECOND YEAR IN A ROW

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CHATEAU DES KARANTES communicates:

“Operating a family-owned vineyard is certainly a labor of love, one that we do because of a belief in our terroir and a passion for our region. It is even more certainly a labor full of sleepless nights, nights spent wondering if the weather’s too warm for the season; if it’s too cold for the season; hoping it will rain soon; hoping the rain will stop; praying the fog will hold off; monitoring tank temperatures during fermentation…

The payoff is the end result, a culmination of all of the efforts in the vineyard and the cellar presented in a bottle. The wines we make are, of course, wines that we like to drink ourselves. For us, however, there is no greater pleasure than being able to share our wine with others, and learning that they love them as much as we do. That approval, especially from our peers, is what makes all of the hard work worth it.

So we are both fiercely proud and immensely humbled to announce that our Bergerie Rouge 2011 has won the Regional Trophy in the 2012 Decanter World Wine Awards, for a red wine over 10£ from the Languedoc-Roussillon. This is the second year in a row one of our wines has been awarded a Regional Trophy – last year, it was the 2009 Château des Karantes Rouge. The award is a delight and a tribute to the dedication and skill of our winemaker, Nicolas Laverny.

In addition to the Regional Trophy, Château des Karantes Rouge 2010 has been awarded a gold medal for the third year in a row and the Bergerie Rosé 2011 a bronze medal.”

A WINE THAT IS NOT WINE ACCORDING TO THE EUROPEAN UNION

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Nigel Farage MEP

A row over whether a Kent wine can be called wine has taken on a fruity twist.

In a dispute that overshadows the bendy bananas saga, the EU has refused to allow a Kent tipple to be called wine.

That is despite the fact it’s made from wine grapes, is produced in the usual fashion and bottled like any other wine.

But because the drink from Chapel Down vineyard in Tenterden uses non-EU grapes – the Malbec variety from Argentina that has been transported to UK – it has to be called a “fruit-based alcoholic beverage”.

UKIP leader and MEP Nigel Farage hosted a ‘non-wine’ tasting in Brussels, on Europe day,  where many MEPs were present.

His aim was to allow fellow members to try the “fruit-derived alcoholic beverage from produce sourced outside the EU” – and make up their own minds.

We made up our mind after tasting this delicious wine which shows the know-how of british winemakers and it reveals the absurdity of some EU regulations. Moreover, moldovan grapes exported to Belarus and prepared in Belarus can be sold as wine into the EU while this fantastic Kent wine made with grapes from Argentina can’t be sold into the EU. An incredible loss of 1300 bottles worth 15pounds each.

We’re sure Nigel Farage MEP (EFD, UKIP) will follow this issue very closely

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