DALLA TERRA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Heartland Regional Manager
The flagship wine of Aia Vecchia, Lagone was created in 1998 by Tibor Gal, the famous winemaker who started at Aia Vecchia after having worked at Ornellaia. It was named after a little creek running between the vineyard and the villa. Made from international varieties in an area renowned for such "Super Tuscan" wines, Lagone is the wine that most represents the Aia Vecchia philosophy: the highest possible quality at a reasonable price.
The 2018 Orleto, 100% Cabernet Franc, is a new wine from Aia Vecchia. Dark, sumptuous and super-expressive, Orleto shows just how well-suited Franc is to the Tuscan coast. Espresso, mocha, leather, tobacco and incense play off a core of dark fruit as this sensual, wonderfully engaging red opens in the glass. Soft, plush contours wrap it all together in style.
Job Titles:
- Director of Business Analysis
Job Titles:
- Founder / Partner and Pilot in Residence
Job Titles:
- Mountains Regional Manager / Marketing & Education Manager
Enrico Serafino is a specialist in classic-method sparkling wine, having produced this style of wine since the foundation of the winery in 1878. The "Oudeis" Alta Langa Brut is the pinnacle of this long experience, made primarily from Pinot Noir for flavor and body, with 15% Chardonnay for elegance and added complexity. This is an exemplary vintage sparkling wine, showing a great depth of flavor and aromas from at least 3 years of bottle aging in contact with yeast cells. The name Oudeis comes from the Greek "Odysseus" and means no one. By giving the Alta Langa Brut this name, the winery acknowledges that no one is at the origin of the wine complexity; only terroir has this ability.
Enrico Serafino is a specialist in classic-method sparkling wine, having produced this style of wine since the foundation of the winery in 1878. The Alta Langa Brut Rosé is a variant on the standard theme, using 100% Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir) and picking up a pleasing rosé color and some red-fruit aromas from a short maceration on the skins before the initial fermentation. It is then finished with at least 2½ years of bottle aging in contact with yeast cells.
Enrico Serafino is a specialist in classic-method sparkling wine, having produced this style of wine since the foundation of the winery in 1878. The Alta Langa Brut Zero is a variant on the standard theme, catering to modern tastes for extremely dry sparkling wines. After its second fermentation to produce the bubbles, the Brut Zero ages in contact with yeast cells for over 5 years, and then does not receive the traditional dose of sugar for sweetening. The result is a rich and yet austere wine with no hint of sweetness.
Enrico Serafino has expertise in producing Barolo spanning 140 years. Over that expanse of time, the winery has come to control more than 30 acres (12 hectares) of Barolo DOCG vineyards in the renowned areas of Serralunga d'Alba, Castiglione Falletto, and Monforte d'Alba. These communes are all in the part of Barolo with Helvetian soil, which gives full-bodied wines with great longevity. The name Monclivio refers to the hills in the Barolo region which are covered in steep vineyards.
Job Titles:
- Consultant Franco Bernabei
Job Titles:
- Northwest Regional Manager
Job Titles:
- VP, Finance and Administration
Job Titles:
- Director of Strategic Accounts
Job Titles:
- Northeast Regional Manager
Job Titles:
- Mid - Atlantic Regional Manager
Job Titles:
- Administrative / Accounting Assistant
Job Titles:
- Southeast Regional Manager
Job Titles:
- Central - South Regional Manager
Perla Terra is the result of decades of love for the people, place and wines of Barolo. Sourced from some of the finest Cru vineyards of the region, the grapes are vinified using traditional methods and then aged in large oak casks for a minimum of 18 months. This is a classic Barolo with rich and layered aromas of red fruits and roses, with balanced tannins and lingering notes of cherries, chocolate and leather.
Job Titles:
- Southwest Regional Manager
Tenuta Whitaker is the modern re-creation of a vineyard that might have existed some 2,500 years ago on the island of Mozia in Sicily. This 100-acre islet (also known as Motya, Mothia, or San Pantaleo) lies in the Marsala Lagoon, around half a mile from the mainland of Sicily. It was identified as a very defensible position for a trading outpost by Phoenicians about 800 BC and eventually became a thriving city and one of the main colonies of the Carthaginians. It eventually was attacked and defeated by the Greeks around 400 BC, after which it disappeared from memory for two millennia.
Archaeologists began studying the ruins on the island in the 18th century, and eventually it was identified as the Phoenician city of Mozia. In 1902, the entire island was bought by Joseph Whitaker, an amateur archaeologist and heir to a fortune from his family's role in developing Marsala wine as a British staple. The Whitaker Foundation still owns Mozia and is dedicated to researching and preserving the ruins there, both ancient and more modern. As part of this endeavor, the foundation decided to reconstruct the vineyard that had been on the island when Joseph Whitaker purchased Mozia.
To carry out this project, in 2007 the Whitaker Foundation turned to Tasca d'Almerita, which since 1830 have been at the forefront of production and research in Sicily's wine industry. Launching Tenuta Whitaker, the Tasca family and the foundation worked together to restore the vineyard along historical lines, with bush-trained vines that are farmed organically, without irrigation, and hand harvested. Using procedures of an earlier century, before modern interventionist agriculture was invented, made it both possible and logical to attain SOStain and VIVA certification for sustainability.
Planting the vineyard was not a particular challenge, but there was nowhere to put a winery building, so vinification is done at Tasca d'Almerita's Regaleali winery in central Sicily. Given the high temperatures that are typical in the lagoon, harvesting must be performed in the early morning. The bunches are carefully placed into trays and then transported in small boats across the lagoon to the shore, where they are taken in refrigerated trucks to the Regaleali facility for immediate processing. In the end, the Tenuta Whitaker "Mozia" Sicilia DOC Grillo is a reminder of long-ago winemaking brought up to date with clean, reliable modern equipment.
Job Titles:
- ROCCHE DI CASTIGLIONE DOCG
- Rocche Di Castiglione DOCG 2018
Vietti's Castiglione Barolo is the primary Barolo produced by the winery. It is named after Castiglione Falletto, the commune where the Vietti winery is situated, but it contains grapes from a careful selection of the best 15 Grand Cru of the Barolo zone (Bricco Fiasco, Bussia, Fossati and Ravera, to name a few) all located around Castiglione Falletto. Truly a remarkable expression of Barolo year after year, it's also a remarkable value.
From the area of Castiglione Falletto, Rocche is arguably one of the best Grand Cru vineyard sites in the Barolo zone. The Vietti Barolo Rocche is known for its power, elegance and great potential for aging. With the 2019 vintage the wine is certified organic.
A Barolo that starts out with breadth, turning more focused and linear by the finish. Delivers cherry, plum, mineral, sandalwood and tar aromas and flavors that permeate the supple texture, with all the components in the right proportions. Firm, refined tannins lend support and this lingers nicely. Best from 2025 through 2045.
Vin Santo is one of those Old World wines that no modern winemaker would ever imagine making if the concept hadn't been devised and proven centuries ago. Taking perfectly good grapes, drying them out for a few months until they become raisins, sealing them up in a little barrel, and then waiting several years to see if anything drinkable comes out . . . is not what they teach in enology classes today. Nevertheless, whether by accident or on purpose, people did it long ago, and the result if you do it right turns out to be a delicious unctuous sweet wine called Vin Santo. These wines are made all over Tuscany, but one of the best places to do it is here in the Rùfina subzone of Vin Santo del Chianti DOC.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Coordinator