Eve's Wine 101

The Second Edition of The “Barolo En Primeur” Charity Auction To Take Place on October 28, 2022

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NEW YORK (PRWEB) – The Barolo en Primeur auction will take place on October 28, 2022 at the Grinzane Castle in Piedmont, Italy, and will stream live to New York City. Like the first edition, the auction will feature 15 barriques, each yielding approximately 300 bottles of the most recent Barolo vintage, 2021. The event is organized by Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo Foundation in partnership with the Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani, representing almost 540 wine producers in Piedmont, Italy, in collaboration with Christie’s global auction house, and internationally renowned wine critic, Antonio Galloni.

The first edition of Barolo En Primeur was an international success, raising an impressive donation of 660,000 euros for 17 charities. All donations were awarded directly to projects in the non-profit field, as selected by the organizers and donors.

“With this operation, the only one of its kind, CRC Foundation has created a charity event at the national and international level, focusing on a single territory, its beauties, singularities and products of excellence, creating an innovative event that will generate important social benefits,” commented Ezio Raviola, President of Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo Foundation.

The 15 barriques that will be available at auction contain wine made from grapes from the historic Cascina Gustava Vineyard, Grinzane, a four-hectare (9.8 acres) vineyard dedicated solely to Nebbiolo, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The wine was produced and vinified by Donato Lanati, the internationally renowned enologist.

Again, this year the proceeds will be donated to social projects and initiatives in the fields of health, research, the arts and culture, as well as those promoting social inclusion and safeguarding of the Italian cultural heritage.

“The Barolo En Primeur event represents an initiative of highly scientific, educational and human value, capable of combining various aspects: the promotion of the wine-growing area, of which the vineyard is the mainstay, research with in-the-field teaching, and the important social aims pursued by the CRC Foundation,” explained Lanati.

In addition to the 15 barriques, this second edition will include participation from wine producers of the Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe and Dogliani Consortium, who will auction a selection of the most prized bottles of Barolo and Barbaresco coming from prestigious villages of both appellations, which include 10 lotti comunali (seven lots of Barolo 2021 from different Comuni (municipalities) and three 2021 Barbaresco lots).

“The Barolo en Primeur charity event is not only of great historical and social importance but is also highly significant for the Barolo wine sector, which is projected at an international level,” added Matteo Ascheri, President of the Consortium for the Protection of Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe and Dogliani.

The 300 bottles from each barrique and the bottles from the wineries will be ready in 2025, following the mandatory aging process for Barolo, and will be numbered and marked with a label specially created by an internationally renowned artist. This is a unique opportunity for wine connoisseurs, collectors, investors, and philanthropists, who are invited to take part in an international charity initiative that showcases one of the most world-renowned Italian wine appellations, its values of quality and sustainability, its territory, and the good causes that will benefit from it.

Ahead of Barolo en Primeur 2022, Antonio Galloni, who tasted the wine of each barrique, will publish his tasting notes in Vinous Media, so that potential bidders can read his opinion about how these rare wines capture the essence of Barolo and of the Gustava Vineyard, and their long ageability.

“The event offers collectors an unprecedented opportunity to participate in a philanthropic initiative of great importance and to benefit from a barrique of Barolo of the 2021 vintage, obtained from a specific parcel within a historic vineyard,” noted Antonio Galloni, Founder & CEO, Vinous. “Bidders should be encouraged by the rarity of the wines, the specially commissioned works of art and charitable causes, and all this contributes to making this initiative truly special.”

Information on how to take part in the auction can be found at http://www.fondazionecrcdonare.it

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About the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo: On 24 January 1992, the Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo Foundation was established, a private and independent non-profit body pursuing aims of social and economic benefit and promotion. The Foundation is inspired by philanthropic aims and makes contributions to public and private non-profit organizations as well as directly promoted projects in the fields of education, welfare, culture, local development, health, scientific research and sport. The initiatives are supported by the resources deriving from the management of the Foundation’s assets, which comfortably exceed one billion euros.

The Foundation’s activities aim to contribute to the development of the communities in its area, supporting their capacity for innovation and strengthening their cultural and educational offerings, so as to create more united and supportive social conditions. Teamwork in synergy with the territory, alongside the third sector and public bodies, in collaboration with citizens and institutions. With Barolo en Primeur, CRC Foundation has created a charity event at national and international level, focusing a territory, its beauties and singularities, creating an innovative event that can generate important social benefits.

About the Consorzio Di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani: Founded in 1934 and representing over 500 wine producers across multiple appellations, the consortium is committed to the management, protection, and promotion of the Langhe, Alba, and Dogliani wine denominations. The Consortium ensures high quality by a set of formal production guidelines for the entire winemaking process, from agronomy to market surveillance. The Consortium continues to perform periodic sampling of wine products on the market to prevent fraud and to protect the wines’ authentication and reputation. Barolo & Barbaresco are registered trademarks in many countries throughout the world.

Carter Creek Winery Racks Up 12 Awards at TXIWC

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JOHNSON CITY, Texas – Carter Creek Winery, located in the heart of Texas Hill Country and owned by the Carter Family, accepted 12 awards at one of the largest wine competitions in Texas – the 5th Annual Texas International Wine Competition (TXIWC). The mission of this yearly competition is to highlight Texas as a prominent viticulture and wine-making region while also raising funds for charitable donations for local community organizations.

Entries from six countries and over 11 U.S. states were blind tasted and judged by panels of three or more industry qualified judges – master sommeliers, masters of wine, certified wine educators, enologists, wine writers, professors, beverage directors, buyers and other influencers – all chosen for their vast experience and well-trained palates.

“We are most pleased that 12 of our Texas High Plains wines from Carter Creek Family Winery won distinguished recognition at TXIWC and especially proud our Plateau Red was awarded Best of Class Texas Red,” said Jeff Carter, president of Carter Hospitality, operating company of Carter Creek Winery Resort & Spa. “We too, like the organizers of this competition, are passionate about bringing recognition to Texas viticulture and supporting local community causes,” Carter added.

Veteran master winemaker Jon McPherson, who oversees production of Carter Creek’s award-winning wines, points out the winery’s vineyards in Texas Hill Country produce varietals that are especially unique because of the combination of an extremely warm growing season and an early harvest delivering softer, earth driven wines. McPherson likes to talk about the qualities of Best of Class Texas Red winner, Plateau Red, which is a blend of tempranillo, grenache, touriga nacional and tinta cao, showing a very exotic fruit aroma of spiced black cherries and raspberries. He says that Plateau Red is a rich, full-bodied wine due to 18 months of barrel aging and pleases the palate with bold lingering fruit flavors.

The 12 Carter Creek Winery, Texas High Plains award winners include the Best of Class Texas Red, one double gold, two gold and eight silver medals. Award winning wines include:

  • Best of Class Texas Red Wine Blend: Plateau Red, 2016
  • Double Gold Red Wine Blend: Maverick, 2018
  • Gold Medal White Wine Blend: Gloriosa, 2017
  • Gold Medal Red Wine Blend: Maverick, 2017
  • Silver Medal Sparkling White: Brut, NV
  • Silver Medal Dessert, Port: Dominum Tinto, NV
  • Silver Medal Other Flavored Grape Wine: Sangria, NV
  • Silver Medal Sparkling Fruit: Sparkling Peach, NV
  • Silver Medal Red: Tempranillo, 2016
  • Silver Medal White Blend: Plateau White, 2017
  • Silver Medal White Blend: Viognier Roussanne, 2017
  • Silver Medal White Blend: Viognier Roussanne, 2018

Producing award-winning wines since 2016, Carter Creek Winery’s production facilities are in Johnson City along Old Hwy 290 in Texas Hill Country, complementing Carter Creek Winery Resort & Spa. Carter Creek Winery Resort & Spa features 78 luxury villas, tasting rooms, a restaurant, its own onsite microbrewery creating small batch craft beers and an outdoor event center. It is a counterpart to Temecula, California’s award-winning South Coast Winery Resort & Spa and Carter Estate Winery and Resort.

 About Carter Hospitality Group

Established in 2011, Carter Hospitality Group, LLC. is a family-owned hospitality company with four hotels and resorts as well as three wineries across the United States. Based in Orange County, California, the company manages and owns a portfolio of luxury properties including South Coast Winery Resort & Spa, Temecula, California; Carter Estate Winery and Resort, Temecula California; and Carter Creek Winery Resort & Spa, Texas Hill Country. Carter Hospitality Group additionally serves as the owner-franchisee for Red Lion Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista South, Orlando Florida. For more information, visit www.carterhospitality.com.

HALL Family Wines Appoints Alison Frichtl Hollister Senior Winemaker

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ST. HELENA, CA – Luxury wine producer, HALL Family Wines, has announced that Alison Frichtl Hollister has been promoted to the position of Senior Winemaker for the HALL, WALT and BACA brands, working with Director of Winemaking, Megan Gunderson.

“We are delighted to announce the promotion of Alison to the position of Senior Winemaker for HALL Family Wines,” says Vintner and HALL Family Wines owner, Kathryn Hall. “Alison’s detail-oriented and artful approach to winemaking has made her a critical and central part of our winemaking effort for the past 12 years, first as enologist and most recently as the lead winemaker for BACA wines. In her new position, Alison’s role will expand to winemaking responsibilities for all our brands, with particular emphasis on WALT Wines.”

Hollister joined HALL Family Wines in 2008. She has grown with the luxury brand during her tenure, serving in many roles, including Enologist and Assistant Winemaker. In 2016, Alison was tapped to lead the new BACA brand, creating premium Zinfandels from some of the top vineyards and appellations throughout California.
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During her time at the winery, Hollister has developed extensive experience crafting Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Rose wines.

“I thrive in a creative environment – one that encourages intuition, innovation, and new ideas,” says HALL Family Wines Senior Winemaker Alison Frichtl Hollister. “Having spent over twelve years with HALL and WALT and now crafting BACA wines, I’m looking at this as a great opportunity to use the approach I’ve honed to express the nuance and elegance of each varietal. The winemaking responsibilities of the coming vintage are a challenge that I’m excited to accept.”

Hollister was introduced to American winemaking after living in the Willamette Valley in Oregon as a teenager. She then earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. After graduation, Hollister planted her roots in Napa Valley and accepted her first role in the wine industry at Etude Wines in 2006.

Having been surrounded by many forms of artistry throughout her personal and professional career, Hollister is also known to craft high quality kombucha and kimchi and is an avid artist. Hollister resides in the Howell Mountain region of Napa Valley with her husband Bruce, a landscape designer and artist.

For more information on HALL, WALT or BACA Wines, please visit www.hallwines.com, www.waltwines.com, and www.bacawines.com.

About Hall Family Wines

Owned by Craig and Kathryn Hall, the family-owned winery produces artisan wines that express the unique and diverse character of the wine country’s soils and climates through meticulous attention to detail in the vineyards and throughout the winemaking process. The family’s luxury wine portfolio, led by Director of Winemaking Megan Gunderson, sources fruit from some of the most prominent vineyards up and down the West Coast including eleven Estate vineyards– Sacrashe, Bergfeld, Hardester, Beller, T Bar T Ranch, Atlas Peak, Lamoreaux, Rainin, Dellar-Freidkin, Cook, Bob’s Ranch, Clos Pepe and The Corners. The HALL St. Helena winery was the first LEED® Gold Certified Winery in the State of California in 2009 and earned another LEED® Gold certification for its high–tech production facility and Tasting Room in 2014. Since the inception of HALL in 1995, the three luxury wine brands have earned over 600 ratings of 90 points or above from the industry’s top critics, including five 100-point scores. Visit www.hallwines.com, www.waltwines.com, www.bacawines.com for more information, or call 707-967-2626.

Beacon Circa 3/2011: Niner Wine Estates, Built to Last

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Hi Eve! A quick note to let you know how much we look forward to hosting you and your group this weekend for a tour and tasting at Niner Wine Estates. Please note that you will be meeting with our shining star Winemaker Amanda Cramer on Saturday. She will show you a lovely time!

Thank you again Eve and see you this weekend. Cheers! Allison Dana Addison www.ninerwine.com

921602_162383810597182_1830366804_oWe entered Niner as fast as we could last Saturday afternoon. We hardly noticed the yellow-brick-road as we dashed inside the tasting room. I checked in for our tour and while we waited I meandered around the gynormous room.

One wall had a large fireplace and seating area that my cold pals took advantage of. I strolled around the room noting another wall had large windows showcasing “The Hospitality Center” – that many guests were headed to for a party, a wall of wine bottles, another wall with gifts, and a display of wine glasses with selections of herbs, chocolate, coffee, spices and fruit meant to help educate tasters on the different aromas and flavors used to describe wine.

I felt that I had entered a very large classroom. Especially when I noted a second story that looked down on the first, akin to an observation floor.

Then my self-guided tour ended when I saw a young, healthy, vibrant, hurried woman striding purposely our way.

Well, fancy that, the winemaker we were slated to meet was Amanda Cramer. In the photo you can see that she is the 2010 winner of Andre Tchelistcheff’s “Winemaker of the Year” award from the San Francisco International Wine Competition. So the first thing this wine 101er asked was, “So, how’d you win?” To which Amanda, while raking back errant waves of hair from her face, said, “They like interesting wines! And these were my first for Niner!”

Amanda, a UC Davis grad and a school teacher in a former life, asked us to follow her car, yellow Volkswagen Beetle, as she slowly led our cars to the winery we were to visit.

Along the paved road we saw a couple of manmade irrigation pools and noticed that most of the vines we saw were still in cartons. Once at the main building, Amanda explained that Mr. and Mrs. Niner, owners of the winery, were going to be receiving their LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification in silver, hopefully by the spring. (Learn more about LEED here.)

Amanda then brought us inside, past her office, and the lab where she tastes wine with her assistant winemaker and enologist, “It’s the three” of them that are making the decisions on the wine.

Now, this is the part of the tour where Amanda tried not to loose us, figuratively and literally.

The “winery” is huge. It has a “multi-level” set up, where the juice drops down from the top tier, mostly only employing “gravity”, passes through many processes including de-stemming and sorting, and finally into the many waiting stainless steel tanks.

Amanda told us about the winery’s construction – the 14 inch thick walls made with foam and concrete keeping the room at the necessary 57 degrees, her choice in squat tanks for reds and tall for whites, and a woman’s bathroom on either side of the floor as the length was too far for her to sprint.

And, the tanks in a circle, as opposed to up against a wall, allowed all of the workers quick and efficient access. All innovations that even her teachers at US Davis would be surprised that she had employed, at great cost and benefit, for Niner Wines.

Amanda, in constant movement to match her constant speech, said, “It’s my OCD, or anal compulsiveness, that helps with the winemaking – so the fruit ‘shows itself.’”

At the end of the tour, which ran long for the obvious reasons – so much to see and learn – unfortunately our group had to race through the tasting to make it to our next scheduled stop! I noted that none of the wines were over $28 – most hovered around the $25 range – and the 07 Bootjack Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon was very good. The entire lineup, from white to red to olive oil can be seen here.

Carl Kanowsky Says: MEET OUR LOCAL DON JUAN OF WINE

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We got up early, Terry, CJ, Scott (two of our sons) and I.  We piled into Terry’s minivan and drove out to what has been variously described as Saugus, Acton or Agua Dulce.  Most of us know it as Le Chene.
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Contributor Carl Kanowsky sporting a Zaca Mesa cap!

We got to a 5-acre vineyard near the home of Le Chene’s owner, Juan Alonso, at about 7:30 am.  Now, rather than plying us with foie gras or garlicky snails, we got hot coffee and Krispy Kreme donuts, along with a blade that had a circular handle that slipped over our finger.

Juan gave us (and about thirty of his closest friends) a ten minute tutorial on how to harvest grapes and set us to work.  I wasn’t that much into wine then so I can’t tell you what varietal we picked, just that they had seeds so they were less desirable as table grapes.

We failed to set any records for amount of grapes picked in three hours (unless you count fewest harvested).  But we completed our job and headed to Juan’s house.  There, he lived up to his justly deserved reputation as a great chef.  We had a terrific brunch with some delightful wine.  The meal must have been the highlight of the day because when I asked CJ if he remembered our being field hands, he replied, “Well, I recall Juan giving us something wrapped in bacon.  It was great!”

After our meal, we watched Juan and his consulting enologist feed the grapes into a crusher and then into fermenting barrels.  It was my introduction into the wonders and mysteries of wine.

Fast forward a dozen years.  I recently visited with Juan and his bride, Claudia.  He treated me to a delightful sampling of several of his home-grown wines, along with some tasty morsels tapas-style of his appetizers.

All of Juan’s wines are named after family members, or himself.  Such as his Don Juan Red.  Now, I don’t know if this is an example of gratuitous self-promotion or Juan just poking fun at himself.

First up was the 2009 Adrian Tannat, a varietal I have little experience with.  A beautiful deep red, with a bouquet of warm raspberry jam.

A pleasant shift was to the 2007 Claudia Grenache.  Typically lighter and more refreshing than Tannat (I learned that night), it was very tasty.

Next was the 2010 Felix Syrah.  The first thing that hit me was the barnyard or moist earth fragrance.  A lot of pepper.  Very quaffable, as they say in Sideways.

Then came the star of the night.  It was an unlabeled bottle.  Immediate taste of chocolate, along with soft tannins.  Well balanced, and it went great with the flank steak Claudia served.  Juan gave me a self-satisfied smile and told me that it was his 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend.  1999, huh?  Right around the time the Kanowsky family brought in the harvest.  Whatever, it’s great juice.

Given their prices of $20-$25, Juan’s efforts demonstrate that quality wines can be made locally.

A last note.  Juan and a partner are working on a wine preservation system called Vinum.  Right now it’s just available for restaurants.  But if it’s ever sold at a retail level, check it out.  Most of the wine we had that night had been sealed using Vinum.  They were remarkably fresh despite having been opened days earlier.  Vinum vivit.

“Before joining Eve Wine 101 I wrote articles about wine and the wine industry for a local newspaper for about 1 ½ years.  I also have a blog on my web site with several wine articles and I send out weekly newsletters to hundreds of my readers.  In my Santa Clarita law practice, we have represented both local wineries and several restaurants.  Readers are free to me by email at cjk@kanowskylaw.com“