Wine is not only to be drunk, but to be smelled, observed, tasted, sipped and…talked about.
Edoardo VII (1841 – 1910) wrote these words. And with them we have decided to start our journey uncovering the Monferrato terroir and its wines. In collaboration with Roberta Negri, soon sommelier, who recently passed the 2° level of the Professional Course to obtain the title, we are going to discover Monferrato and its most traditional beauties.
CHAPTER 1
Often while uncorking a bottle of wine we are not really aware of all the work enclosed in that bottle. Usually we choose depending on a label that attracts our sight, or a color… we do not perceive what’s beyond our eyes. So who is actually able to capture the heart, the soul of wine, its story, the grapes and the terroir, the sweat and the passion behind the production of one of the oldest good in our cultural background?
So here we are in Piedmont, more precisely in Monferrato. An area rich in history and tradition, part of the Unesco World Heritage since 2014. The Barbera is the pride of this land. The black gold of Monferrato. A wine usually considered ordinary, became a symbol of this area because of its copious production and was elected as a prestigious wine thanks to one of the most controversial figure of the Piedmontese wine history, Giacomo Bologna. In fact, during the “Methanol scandal” in the late 80s, he didn’t hesitate and bought a page of a local newspaper “La Stampa” just to highlight his opinion about Barbera and wrote: “W LA BARBERA”. Pay attention, the article is “La” not “Il”, because in our region this grape variety is addressed as feminine. And like a real Cindarella, with humble and rough origins, the Barbera finally transformed in a beautiful princess…
In collaboration with Roberta Negri.