Happy Sunday!
I’m writing this from Bologna and we finally have a cooler day among on a streak of the temperature rising up to 32 celsius. As much as I love summer weather and the sun, I must admit it has been a bit too much. I’m half joking when I say my Nordic blood is boiling here. Hence, I was really excited to explore the opportunity of refreshments on a hot sunny day last week, when the Back to Wine-Natural Wine Fair came to town.
My “field research” was fun and of the best days I’ve had in Bologna. When I say field research, I promise I tasted a lot of natural wines. Out of 20 tastings a few wines and a few producers stood out, which I’ll be sharing with you. I met several producers, and heard their stories. So in this week’s Merenda, I share some great wines, wineries worth visiting and the people behind them.
One thing I learned in one of our MBA Courses “Innovation and Narration in Food & wine” thought by the marvellous Cathy Huyghe was to ask the question: What does it take to get the wine in your glass? While consuming wine, we often tend to forget all the hard work that goes behind the pleasure and enjoyment of the liquid itself. Hence, the fair was a special experience to meet the producers, hear their stories and understand the scenes behind our wines.
Cheers,
Emilia in Bologna
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We arrived to the Back to Wine fair in Dumbo on a hot afternoon. The name of the fair is explained as “go back to the wine - a statement of culture, territory, emotions, hard work and – last but not least – human value.” The ticket cost 30€ and included an unlimited amount of tastings. All of the wine producers at the fair are relatively small estates, producing 10 000–20 000 bottles. The place was buzzing when we arrived! As a natural wine lover, I felt like a kid in a candy shop. On a hot day, I knew I wanted to start with a cold, sparkling wine and opted for a cloudy orange sparkling from Veneto, Montenigo Bianco 2020 made with 100% Corvina grape. Refreshing, acidic and mineral, it was a great start to our tasting.
Next I spotted a familiar bottle and almost ran to the stand. :D La XII Notte sparkling rose wine is produced by Maria Bortoletti Viticoltori, an organic winery from the hills of Ponte Rosa 11 km from Bologna. If you recall, I wrote about it in one of my first posts written in Bologna. I tried the La XII Notte wine, which we quite often drink at L’Emporio, the aperitivo place in Bologna center, but also tried their two reds. The first one was the Armando wine: a soft, harmonious and full-bodied red made with 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. The second one was their Matilde red: a complex wine, made with 100% Barbera, with a high alcohol content and softness, which is due to the harvest carried out in October.
Where to find the wines
Montenigo Estate
Produces wine and olive oils in the Veneto region, very close to the city of Verona.
Check their website here
Maria Bortoletti Viticoltori
Produces wines and has a restaurant open for visitors Wednesday evening, Friday evening, a Sunday for lunch at the hills by the village of Zola Predosa, 11 km west of Bologna.
Check their website here
After tasting a few more wines, we were stopped by a very eager wine guy Luca Meneguzzo who literally pulled us to the next wine stand.
My Favorite Wines of the fair and the People behind them
It was a great pleasure to speak with all the wine producers we meet. We are now planning a road trip to all the wineries and first and foremost to the people we met at the fair and witness the beauty of their work (and have some wine on-the-spot). I’ll introduce the ones which will be on our Venetian wine tour.
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