This morning the wife and I jumped in the car and headed for a short drive through the mountains. We went to visit a bloke called Paolo who runs a winery and also stocks Lazenne wine luggage. The guys at Lazenne had kindly offered me a sample case to use, and I’d said rather than them spending the money and the hassle to send it over, I’d go pick it up. So off we trotted.
Having never been to Vezza D’Alba before, I was pleased that Paolo had said “don’t worry, just get on the right street and you can’t miss the sign!” I’ve heard that one before!
Luckily he was telling the truth, we really couldn’t miss it. It was a gleaming new build winery just outside the town. We parked up, met up with Monica (his wife) and were taken around one of the most modern wineries I’ve ever seen in Italy. I have to admit being mostly impressed by the solar panels supplying them with all their electricity, and their biomass boiler producing all the heating. My inner eco-warrior was well satisfied!
That sounds a bit of a strange thing to be impressed by, especially given how much everyone usually goes head over heels for the old school charm of the old farm houses cranking out the Barbera. But you see the old farm houses were not built to make a lot of wine. You want to start making decent volume and get out there in the big wide world? You’ve got to start building!
Normally modern Italian buildings, especially for wine co-op’s, centre around rather uninspiring concrete. But this is different, this is a family set up, with an office full of soft furnishings and local art! Paolo’s the marketing manager, his brother Aldo the winemaker. The grapes are theirs. This was a big place that still managed to have the feel of being the company their dad and granddad had started.
I’ve also just noticed I haven’t talked about the wines yet. But that’s for tomorrow.
Oh, and the wine luggage! Ok that’s for the one after!
Cheers
Mike
Check out Paolo, Monica, and Aldo’s efforts and produce at http://www.demarie.com
