Not all the Flavors are Mint

So today in the newspaper in Italy there was this super article about the reasons why the Italian men are the best in the world.
And this is the top 10 reasons why...

1. They know how to cook and they are good at it

2. If by chance they don't cook for you one night you can rest assure that they will buy you a very nice dinner.

3. They know how to entertain you. They have many hidden talents that when they need to can make you laugh at any second.  Like all of a sudden you are dancing salsa in the streets.

4. They know how to be sexy especially when they are on the hunt.  And they have a hard time accepting a NO so they will try everything to get a YES. (revert back to number 3)

5. They think they can do everything....

6. They are very creative with both positive and negative.  In any case they are able to find an excuse to get out of anything.

7. They Italian men you don't have to worry about them getting a beer belly because they all prefer to dink wine.  Which is said with one glass a day is supposed to help reduce belly fat.

8. They love to dress with style and elegance, and they don't leave that just to a wedding or a special occasion.

9. They love to drive fast.  (it is not always a good thing)

10. Their creativity does not stop in the bedroom.

Moccagatta Barbaresco

Every time I get the chance to visit another winery I am always so impressed.  I love to have the opportunity to see what the producers are doing taste the most current vintages and many times learn some new things.
It was a very wonderful visit we had with Martina Minuto. She welcomed us and gladly showed us around her winery.  She told us the history of the family, and how her father and uncle were the pioneers who made Moccagatta what it is today.  Typically the name of a family owned winery here in Piemonte is taken from the family name, however in this case Moccagatta being owned and operated by the Minuto family did not necessarily follow in that direction.  The once was farm house that has been wonderfully transformed into a fully functioning winery has been built on the Muncagöta vineyard.  Sound familiar?  Well their name was taken from the Piemontese name of this vineyard.

The wines we tasted were the Chardonnay "Buschet"
(coming from the word Boschetto) meaning little forest. I like tasting Chardonnay from Piemonte, it shows very differently than Chardonnay from France or the new worlds.  Chardonnay here has a nice history, it is in no way new to this area.  As a matter of fact the Marchesa di Cavour who was known to have such a love for Burgundy decided to not only have a french oncologist come to this area but with him she had requested he bring some clippings of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  So for all of you who were wondering it was because of her that we today will be able to find these grapes.
The two single vineyard Barbaresco that we had tasted were from the sites of Bric Balin and Barsarin.  Bric Balin is a special selection with in their Muncagöta vineyard which surrounds their estate.  Known for its clay and limestone rich soils makes a very muscular example of Nebbiolo coming from Barbaresco.  This wine had much more power fruit, structure with respect to the other vineyards we had tasted. The vintage 2012 is turning out to be a good structured very aromatic vintage loads of fresh red fruits and flowers.
Barsarin is located in Neive right on the boarder of Barbaresco where the soils are much richer in sand and limestone.  Here the sand helps to make the wine much more elegant, aromatic, and fresh.  This wine for me was much more approachable now the tannins were much more softer and it showed much more red fruits.  Both 2012's were wonderful and this experience was amazing.

Wine from where?!! The Netherlands you say...

I recently had the pleasure to receive a bottle as a gift of Pinot Noir that was grown and produced in the Netherlands.  Apparently they have a region in the southern part Holland where historically they have been growing grapes for centuries. Typically known as a very flat and also a majority of this country is under the sea level line making it a bit difficult to grow grapes.  Well to find out that there is this area in the southern part of Holland called South Limburs you will find not only a very hilly area but this is the only part of the country that is above sea level at a total of 322 meters, the same as us here in Barolo and Barbaresco (there are some parts here that are higher but the medium is around 300 meters).  The soil structure of this area they call Marl which is a blend of Loess (a loamy deposit  formed by the winds,characteristics are yellow in color and very calcareous), and Limestone.  Believing this soil structure is coming from the Pleistocene period being formed from glaciers rubbing together.

I was invited to a dinner party with a bunch of people who really know their stuff about wine, and well I thought then it would be a good time to pull out this surprise for the blind tasting.  And I must say it was a surprise.  First off they got that it was Pinot Noir, but for a Pinot we were having trouble telling if it was one that came from Oregon or as they had suspected Alto Adige.  There defiantly was a fruitiness that we suspected was not typical of France or Germany.

At the end in my conclusion if you are ever in this area I recommend stoping by Domein De Wijngaardsberg to have a taste.  They also work with Chardonnay and Pinot Gris.  Very good and interesting wines.
www.dewijngaardsberg.nl