Tag Archives: winemaking

Azelia

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IMG_5607I recently discovered, and befriended, the winemakers at Azelia. Located at the bottom of Castiglione, next to Paolo Scavino, you find the not so small winery of Azelia. It just so happens that Azelia, Cavallotto and Scavino are all related– welcome to Barolo!

At the Azelia winery, Lorenzo the son is now the 5th generation of winemakers. Lorenzo, named after his grandfather, works with his dad at the winery. When you go on the tour, you will pass by a corner with a bunch of wine stacked. This is wine from the vintage Lorenzo was born, and it will be saved until a wedding or a birthday. A very nice idea, I wish my parents had been into wine when I was born.

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Azelia makes a fairly wide range of wines, red, from Dolcetto to Barolo Riserva. What is interesting about Azelia, is that a large portion of their vines are very old. The vines used to make the Barbera Punta is around 60 years old. So the Azelia barbera is rather different from a lot of other barbera’s from the Barolo region.

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If you want to visit the winery, you can call ahead or send an email. Check out their website for more information.

Brezza

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Brezza, a winery, hotel and restaurant, lies right on the edge of the town Barolo. The Brezza family bottled their first wine in 1910. Today, the fourth generation runs the operations, with over twenty two hectares. Brezza also has a hotel and a restaurant.

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Brezza has a Langhe Chardonnay and a Rosé. Not many wineries I have visited makes a rosé and it was interesting to taste. I tasted almost all the wines, and I think my favorites were the Barbera Santa Rosalia, Nebbbiolo Santa Rosalia and Barolo Classico 2011. There were a vast number of wines to chose from, and of course the others were good, but the abovementioned three wines stood out for me.

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Brezza uses glass corks on some of their wine. There are different reasons to do this. One is to reduce the number of corcked wines. It is also said that the glass cork preserves the wines better, and the wine will hold onto it’s freshness longer. I have very little knowledge when it comes to traditional cork vs glass cork, but I know the DOCG does not allow glass corks, at least not yet.

Vadio

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Last semester my friend Julia and I popped open a bottle of Vadio Sparkling Wine. We also had Vadio red, 2009. Vadio is produced by her sister, Eduarda Dias. Vadio is from Bairrada, Portugal, and they produce white, red and sparkling.

What’s interesting about this wine is that it is made with Baga, a grape that is found primarily in Bairrada. However, it’s “related” to Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo.

I have not had a lot of Portuguese wine, so I don’t have a lot to compare it to, but I thought it was very good. And it’s fun when you drink wine where you know the producers!

You can read more about their wines here: http://www.vadio.pt/