All’Ombra del Borgo is a new event format organized by Vinoway Italia in collaboration with the municipality of Borgo Valbelluna, in the province of Belluno.
This year the first edition took place, renamed by the President of Vinoway Italy, Davide Gangi, we were guests “of the numeber 0 edition” then edition that opens the vision for next meetings.
The location chosen was not random, but deliberate, as the great metropolis was not able to scrape together thousands of winelowers, but a small village (entered in the ranking of the Most Beautiful Villages of Italy, according to the Italian Touring Club) in the province of Belluno. Its name is Borgo Valbelluna, born from the union of several municipalities, including Mel, the municipal seat.
This has meant that the real public in search of slow agriculture naturally approached the event, deliberately omitting those who were looking for something else.
The protagonists of this year are the PIWI, a registered name of German origin (the first were produced by the University of Friborg), to indicate the vines that are the result of crossbreeding to produce a plant resistant to the typical pathologies of the vine.
This thing garantigues to reducte a lot the treatments to the vine during the year, and it’s possible produce organic wines from lands, where with the other grape varieties, the farmer it’s often forced to use the chemistry.
A masterclass with this vine varieties was the protagonist of the first day, that was explained by two winemakers, Nicola Biasi, specialist in this tipe of wines and Umberto Trombelli, famous for his collaborations and his mentor, Giacomo Tachis, the father of Sassicaia. We tasted some wines that are produced in the Northern Italy, in different years. These are my tasting notes:
Brut Derù 2018 – Az. Croda Rossa (Solaris 100 %)
White sparkling wine from Solaris grapes, made with Charmat method. It’s pale straw yellow with greenish reflections. The nose is typical of a bread crust, although it is generally not very expressive. Then it opens for a moment to notes of pear and green apple. Probably served at a lower temperature than necessary.
In the mouth the bubble is very fine, the wine is fresh fruity and ends with notes of pastry.
Brut Solaris Augusta Altinate 2018 – Az. Dorgnan (100% Solaris)
White sparkling wine made with Charmat method. Pale straw yellow.
Interesting nose notes: golden apple / quince, nectarine peach tending to tropical. On the palate I felt the freshness with a good level of acidity, but it is fresher than salty. The fruity notes are present but the wine is based more on acidity than on aromas
Il principe di Mel 2018 – Az. Giuliano Menel (100% Solaris)
Sparkling wine made with Charmat Method, long version.
The nose was empty at the start of the tasting, but if waited some minutes you could discover some notes of ginger. In the mouth was typical, but you could find a hint of acidity. Probably I tasted the wrong bottle of the lot.
Case lunghe 2018 – Az. Agricola Filippo De Martin (80% Bronner + 20% Solaris)
A non-typical sparkling wine, because the grapes are picked in light over-ripening to concetrate the substances that are content in. At the smell it has fumé notes (probably produced by the noble type of the Botrytis cinerea), with notes of apricot, melon. The colors is pale straw yellow. The wine it’s elegant; it has vanilla-lemon notes.
Cerealto Bianco 2017 – Az. Terre di Cerealto (60% Johannitter + 40% Bronner)
A white produced from grapes that are cultivated over 700 meters over the sea, in the province of Belluno, near the Dolomites. Here the soil it’s volcanic, rich in minerals, and the wine shows this feature. The colour it’s pale straw yellow, but I remind the wine for its notes of candied fruits, like cedar and other citrus fruits and spices with a lot of mineral flavour in my mouth.
Limine 2017 – Az. Terre di Ger (Soreli 90% + Sauvignon Kretos 10%)
Soreli it’s a variety made with a crossing acitivity on the Friulano, by the partnership of University of Udine and Rauscedo Cooperative Plant Nurseries. It’s made also with a maturation for sixs months on its yeasts. The colour is pale straw yellow, and I can smell notes of elder flowers, peach, incense, vanilla and oak wood-like notes. It’s an interesting wine at the nose, and the mouth confirms these sensations.
Vin De La Neu 2016 – Nicola Biasi Winery (100% Johannitter)
A wine produced in a very little number of bottles and from a vineyard that is located at 1000 mt over the sea into the mountains of Trentino – Alto Adige, in the North of Italy. The colour is pale straw yellow, but at the smelling test has a rich complex of notes (spices, vanilla, balsamic resin), because the production from a vine it’s only 0,5 kg of grape.
Rukh 2017 – Cantina Nove Lune (50% Johannitter + 50% Bronner)
It’s an orange wine made with the well-know technique which consist in macerating the marc during and after the alcoholic fermentation, for almost 2 months. The colour reminds the brandy, but it has notes like a dried grape wine (dried fruit, for example apricot, cedar, orange, bergamotto). An unusual wine, made with a non conventional wine style, but I like the result!
El Masut 2017 – Terre di Ger (Merlot Khantus 50% + Merlot Khorus)
A Bordeaux-like style wine but made with two different types of Merlot from PIWI selection. The wine has a purplish colour; but a the nose you can feel notes from cherries and blueberry jam and vegetal notes, typical of this variety. In adding, you can feel spices notes, like sandalwood and star anise.
Raboso dell’Arnasa (Raboso Piave P.D.O.) 2015- Castello di Roncade (100% Raboso piave)
Why the Vinoway choosed the Raboso piave for this tasting? Who made this wine, Umberto Trombelli, said that this variety it’s a good base to make a PIWI variety because it can resists a lot of plant diseases.In the glass it’s red with a tending to brick red.The tasting notes are typical for this variety: fruity notes, like blueberry, cherry, marasca, currant and spices, with a bit of tobacco and cocoa.
Sweet Claire 2017 – Lieselehof (100% Bronner)
Wine made from dried grapes, with an incredible orange colour. It has a bit of sugars that are not transformed into alcohol, but there are into a texture where they mix very well with the parfum notes. On the nose I felt notes of tropical fruits, like dried cider, fig and candied mango. In the moth the acidity was well present and gave the right balance to the wine.
Copyright: Photo VinoWay Italia ® – Texts: Matteo Ghirardo (VinoeGusto)