Looking back, it was only the Piemonte moments that went untold. Why? Perhaps there were just too many of them in a week. And each one deserved more time, so they were flashes. Visiting Giovanni Canonica. Walking into the home of Peter Weimer and Romy Gygax’s place outside of Montforte d’Alba to hear the sad story of their selling their place and the transition of their Cascina Ebreo into, well, something a bit more polished, the end of volatility and less soul. The big shock was to walk in and—what do you know? La Garagista’s first vintage.
They are part of the underground resistance of Piemontese wines. Think of it. At their first vintage, 1996, the height of the Parker/deGrazia influence, they were no adds except minimal sulfitage. Lots of volatility, long aging, native yeasts and organic viti. They were in Montforte and devoted themselves to the little grapes, barbera (Segreto) and dolcetto (Torbidom and too cloudy to get DOCG so he chose to become a vino di tavolo). They both sat there chain smoking, the dog scampered. On the way back to our hotel Pascaline said to the new manager and winemaker, “You know, you have gold there.”
They said, “Oh, I don’t know if we’re going to be able to make a lot of money on this project.”
She said, “That is not what I meant. I wasn’t talking about money.”
Speaking of Pascaline. Did I ever tell you about the time she was insisting we follow the GPS. Through the woods. The sun was shining on fields of daisies on the other side of the thicket? And the mud? And how strong she is? Let me tell you about that another time.
There are more stories. Watch this page for them. And a very, very, happy New Year.