Greetings from lockdown in Northern Italy – we’re at the top of week three, but who’s counting?
First, a huge thank you for all the messages of support and outpouring of love for Bella Italia.
While we can’t properly raise a glass with you all now, we have a lot of Italian wine to share. And, since we can still ship worldwide, we want to share our stash and use it to help our community, local producers, and our own businesses.
Let’s get this lockdown party started – Italian wine style.
Girl’s Gotta Drink is excited to partner with one of our favorite enotecas in Barolo to bring you special wine offers. We’ve got three hard-to-find wines on special today. But, you are certainly not limited to these three.
We can develop custom packages, based on La Vite Turchese’s inventory. And, collectively we have a vast winery network, so we can arrange for the purchase of wines from all over the area as well as around Italy. If y’all like this campaign, we’ll make it a weekly thing and vary the offers to support different regions, producers, and more.
When your bottles arrive, post a toast using the hashtag #GotItalianWine.
Read on for:
- Offer details.
- The wines on special.
- Donation info – 10% of sales will go to the city of Alba Coronavirus relief fund (details below).
Let’s start with some information about La Vite Turchese and further down, a short interview on how the lockdown is affecting them.
Get to know La Vite Turchese
Stefano and Elisabetta opened the enoteca, located right in the village of Barolo in 2013 – just before I moved to the area. They offer an array of wines for tastings and aperitivo plates of some of the area’s best artisan meat and cheese producers, hazelnuts, jams, and other specialty products. Even better – they ship worldwide.
The enoteca features up to 250 wines by the glass from all over the globe. The tasting experiences are unique, intimate, and just plain fun. Elisabetta oversees service and the food pairings, while Stefano is the wine guy.
As many of our Barolo wine tour clients know, we often do specialty tastings that vary by grape, cru, older vintages, specific producers, and more. They began as two and have grown to a staff of five — all well-versed on La Vite Turchese’s large wine inventory. And, if a question comes up that stumps someone, Stefano is close by to fill in the gaps.
They also take La Vite Turchese on the road with specialty tastings all over Europe and in North America. Find them online at laviteturchese.com
#GotItalianWine – The details:
- Community support: 10% of proceeds will go to the city of Alba’s coronavirus relief efforts to best support the local medical community. (more information below)
- Shipping: For the best prices, we recommend shipping orders be in increments of 3, 6, or 12 bottles.
- Shipping prices vary by location; we can ship worldwide.
- To order: Place orders by following this link (or fill out the form below). La Vite Turchese will be in touch with shipping costs, order total, and a link to an online payment form.
- Order deadline: This offer runs until 31 March 2020.
- Virtual Tasting Bonus Offer: Schedule a one-hour educational session with Stefano to learn more about your wines. We’ll schedule a video chat from Barolo right to your home. Cost: €100 / hour.
#GotItalianWine: The Piedmont three Bs Offer
We decided to start with the three most well-known wines of the region: Barbera d’Alba, Barbaresco, and Barolo.
I consider barbera the gateway drug to the Langhe. Barbera d’Alba is easy to drink with great acidity, low tannins, tons of fresh fruit, and it bursts with rich, fresh flavor.
Next, we have the area’s fabled Barbaresco and Barolo wines, made of Piedmont’s noble nebbiolo grape. For more of a deep dive into the wines, read What is Nebbiolo?
The 2016 vintage in the Langhe was truly epic. Read our Barbaresco and Barolo 2016 Harvest Report.
Franco Conterno Barbera d’Alba Superiore Bricco Torta 2016
A very special Barbera d’Alba not easily found outside of the Langhe. In fact, even in the Langhe it is almost completely sold out. But, we were able to get an allotment directly from the winery for this very special offer. Stefano says it shows some of the best qualities of a Barbera d’Alba, so wanted it highlighted in our first offer.
The grapes are from a wonderful vineyard with 60-year-old vines. Given the age, yields are very low with careful vinification and cellar aging. The wine sees no less than 18 to 20 months in 600-liter tonneau. Production is limited to about 3000 bottles a year.
The 2016 vintage is outstanding and stock is limited.
Tasting note: Currant and sour black cherry scents with hints of ripe plum and prune on a spicy background. A mouth-filling body with good structure blended showing great persistence and elegance.
Price: €29 / bottle
An ideal growing season with all the prerequisites for a great vintage comes at a time when so many winemakers are in their primes, past the stage of experimentation and settled into their own personal styles. The result is a vintage full of truly spectacular, breathtaking wines that captures all the pedigree that Nebbiolo and Barolo are capable of.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous, 2016 Barolo: Right Place, right time.
Ugo Lequio Barbaresco DOCG Gallina 2016
Stefano says this is one of his favorites – and, the Gallina cru is always one of mine. Gallina is a grand cru that expresses lovely feminine characteristics.
For lovers of Barbaresco from Neive, this is a masterpiece. The old vines have an average age of 60 years old. Aging is never less than 20 to 22 months in classic, medium to large wood casks.
The 2016 vintage is truly spectacular. This Barbaresco can be ready to drink tonight or stored for another 15 years. Very small production.
Tasting Note: Coffee bean, licorice, iris, wild herbs, and camphor aromas shape the nose. The tight, brawny palate offers prune, espresso and licorice along with orange zest and a sweet-and-sour sauce note. It’s still youthfully austere, with assertive but noble tannins. You’ll also detect the warmth of alcohol on the close. 91 points, Kerin O’Keefe, Wine Enthusiast.
Price: €41 / bottle
How is a classic Barolo different from a Barolo single vineyard cru?
It used to be that all Barolo and Barbaresco were made as a mix of Nebbiolo grapes from different vineyards within the respective zones. In the early 1960s, a small number of producers started producing single vineyard crus to make wines to express the area’s special characteristics.
Paolo Manzone Barolo DOCG Serralunga 2015
Stefano calls this wine a Best Seller as it is always a favorite with clients. I have to agree. Manzone is a stop on many of our Barolo wine tours and the Serralunga Barolo is always a hit. To that end, the production is small and it is not widely distributed outside of Piedmont.
The wine is a great expression of the Barolo winemaking area of Serralunga. The grapes are primarily from the cru Meriame.
Tasting Note: The secret is probably in the aging – half in large wood casks and half in tonneau, giving the wine a different gear. The wood is well integrated, giving an optimal balance and harmony. Taste the limestone and clay soil and powerful, elegant tannins that give Serralunga its fame.
Price: €33 / bottle
#GotItalianWine Order Now!
Thoughts on the lockdown from La Vite Turchese in Barolo
What do you want people to know about how the coronavirus lockdown is affecting the area and your business?
Our primary concern is about business because the enoteca is more than a business for us. It is and was the realization of a dream.
We opened something like 7 years ago and from that moment since, we’ve spent every day and all our energy here – we really love our clients and our space!
We’ve grown a lot and today have a staff of five. So, our first thought is absolutely for the girls. They are very important – we are a family.
When we understood the situation a few weeks ago, the girls were concerned, not for the fear of losing their job or even the money… but they were sad about not being able to be in the enoteca, doing what we really love. This is our engine!! And, while that is romantic, to go forward with our work we need an income.
What concerns you the most about the situation?
We live and work in a UNESCO area, one of the most beautiful and unique wine regions in the world. Tourism is very present and important. If tourism stops in the area we lose our balance and income – a problem for all of us.
One of the secrets of the Barolo area is the tiny geographical dimension, and consequently the small production of a wine that is famous in all the world. This is very fascinating, but at the same time, it can be limiting.
We do not see ourselves as “so important”. Our wines are not able to fill market. Our voice is small and one of the concerns that I’m hearing from owners of places like mine, restaurants, and also winemakers, is the fear of being simply forgotten.
For us, that means during this time, our message must “You cannot come here? No worries we will reach you wherever you are!”
This is particularly important for our local clients. That is why we have organized a home delivery service for wine, salami, and cheeses.
And for the foreign mail proposal, wine offers, virtual tasting and many other activities, we are ready and excited to serve, even locked down in our home in Serralunga d’Alba.
And it is what we are doing with you as well as with our daily messages with clients and friends from all over.
What are you doing during the lockdown?
We are taking the chance to rest as normally we only work — Saturday and Sunday included!
We work a little every day, but not being too strict. We cook and of course drink lots of wine – another way to keep the focus on our job – we are professionals!
We take a lot of vineyard walks, during the day and also in the evening. Is absolutely charming. We are trying to rediscover the joy of the little things, like simply looking around and observing. Many ideas are born in those moments.
#GotItalianWine: 10% of sales will go to the Alba Coronavirus Relief:
The Municipality of Alba is allocating donations to support the local health services in order to support those who are at the forefront of contagion management these days.
“Many citizens and many companies are asking us how we can be useful in this difficult circumstance – says Mayor Carlo Bo -. The first way to help the community, as we have been saying for days at all institutional levels, is to stay at home and limit travel as much as possible. Even from their own home, however, through this fundraiser, everyone can make their contribution. We hear daily that there are no protective devices such as gloves, masks, gowns, and equipment in particular for intensive care. Not only that: in areas where the peak has already arrived, there are also the problems of shortages of hospital staff, subjected to grueling shifts. Doctors, nurses, continue their work despite the risks and our thanks go to them. The current account was created precisely with the idea of supporting our Local Health Authority which will decide how to use the funds raised on the basis of need”.
“An even more important choice – continues Carlo Bo – after the announcement of the last few days by the Region of the imminent opening of the hospital of the single hospital of Verduno, even if still partial, as the reference center of the whole Piedmont for the Covid-19, in order to have a greater number of sub-intensive and intensive care places.
Please keep in touch by tagging us on social media and using #GotItalianWine.
