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- Wine Affilliation: Consumer or Trade
- Married
- About Me:
- Technology guru and winemaker. Owner, Vecchio Podere Santa Cristiana, boutique vineyard producing Barbera d'Asti and Moscato d'Asti wines.
Hi folks. My wife Ingrid and I moved to Italy 4 years ago to fulfill a long time dream to make wine. We are growing every year, but currently have 6 acres of Barbera d'Asti and 3 acres of Moscato d'Asti vines all worked and picked by hand. We make the red ourselves and get a family business in the village to make our Moscato. We have bought more land and will plant it when the cash flow allows.
Our 2007 vintage (pictured below) will be bottled this month. 2007 is probably the best vintage for 25 years for the wines of our zone. Fermented in stainless steel we will bottle 6,500. We are also maturing 2,000 litres for a further 14 months in French "Alier" oak barriques to make our Premium Reserve.
Both of our full bodied reds are called "Piano Piano" which means slowly slowly in Italian (think slow food movement, or in this case "slow wine").
We are currently looking for importers or agents in the US. Our current main market is the UK and Italy.
- Favorite Wine Website:
- http://www.stayinpiedmont.com
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Piedmont_phil's Blog
Vineyard Diary - October
(6 October) The final day of our harvest. As predicted below the yield of barbera d'Asti this year is very low. Of the 2 hectares we have in production for 2008 we have taken a total of just 26 quintale (2,600 kg) - in a normal year we could expect about 16,000kg. I can also report that many in this region are reporting similar low yields. The more positive news is that the bunches we have chosen to pick are exceptional, with high sugar content (23 degrees) and with great complexity and… Continue
Posted on October 9, 2008 at 10:57am
Barbera d-Asti harvest in Piedmont, Italy
(5 October) Ok, another 12 hours of harvesting done. The grape bunches got better as we worked our way up the vineyards. So at one stage (after lunch) when fatigue is setting in, the fact we were working along rows with plentiful and undamaged barbera d'asti was a real spirit lifter. We also took twice as much yield this afternoon as we did in two half days (yesterday and this morning).
So quantity is very low, but the extreme selection means quality is very high, and our sugar content… Continue
So quantity is very low, but the extreme selection means quality is very high, and our sugar content… Continue
Posted on October 6, 2008 at 3:42am
Barbera d'asti harvest starts
The month between our white and red harvest has flown by! Today (4 October) we started our Barbera d'Asti harvest. We started at lunchtime in good weatehr conditions, mid 20's centegrage, blue skies and a light breeze. We deliberately chose to start with our worst patch if vineyard - the 4 year old's below the pool in the sheltered location that has this year fallen foul of the conditions and has suffered most from Oedeo (Powdery Milldew). Now an hour or so after pausing for the night we are… Continue
Posted on October 4, 2008 at 11:34am
Vineyard Diary - September
Rain is sweeping over Northern Italy this week, which is rather inconvenient for all harvest activities! Fortunately we have a gap as our crops (Moscato and Barbera) fall at opposite ends of the picking cycle (first white is Moscato, last Red - in this zone - is Barbera). Lets hope the moisture does not encourage fungal attack on the bunches. Will keep you informed.
Now we arrive at the culmination of our year's work as harvest season starts.
Sep 8th - Two trailer loads of… Continue
Now we arrive at the culmination of our year's work as harvest season starts.
Sep 8th - Two trailer loads of… Continue
Posted on September 19, 2008 at 7:30am
Vineyard Diary - August
August 30th - Earlier in the month I talked about the Moscato d'Asti vineyard and botrytis ("the noble rot"). The good news is that this did not turn into a major outbreak, so the bunches still have good structure and are nicely mature. Of course we are now very close to harvest, so we; like all our neighbors, are worying about bad weather and conditions between now and safely picking the 2008 vintage. Our current plan is to pick the Moscato over the weekend of 6th and 7th Spetember. Lets see… Continue
Posted on August 30, 2008 at 7:30am
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Believe it or not, I was one of the founders of ASDW, which got its start as a lobbying group for small internet merchants when the new licensing laws came into force. Then it got a bit too "commercial" for me by adding dues and procedures rather than being a networking source. I'm still loosely affiliated with it because I work closely with Nick Dobson.
You and I are neighbours in Italy. My friends and I have a house in San Giorgio Scarampi, just down the hill from Roccaverano. We've lived there off and on since 2000. We're really good friends with Mauro and Beppe Gozzelino in Costigliole d'Asti and Paola and Lorenzo Cavallero in Vesime. I sell their wines in the UK and act as their agent in the US and wherever else they want me to assist.
I hope the harvest is going well for you and for my friends.
all the best,
Paula
welcome to Wine 2.0!