Crowns have been assigned to regional excellence. The editors of the Touring guide attended the event in Portovenere
The guide, dedicated to native vine varieties, has arrived also in Liguria. The team of Vinibuoni d’Italia, the Touring Club guide, organised an event for regional producers on March 24 at the Grand Hotel in Portovenere, for the second consecutive year, with the aim to award excellent products and create an opportunity for meetings and debates on the topic of Ligurian wine growing.
The opening speech was given by Mario Busso, national editor of the guide. “Liguria has been exempt from planting international vine varieties and, together with Valle d’Aosta, has kept its own varieties and the results are visible today. Ligurian wines register great appreciation”, Bussi said and added: “This year, our selections have been more rigorous and Ligurian wines have met with great success. This success was confirmed by the approval rating of the readers, who expressed their opinion in the guide.”
This year, Vinibuoni d’Italia has introduced a new section, “Corone del Pubblico” (Crowns by the readers), which often coincided with experts’ opinions (here, the most rated Ligurian labels according to wine lovers, journalists and bloggers).
Let’s talk about the awards. Touring’s Crowns were assigned to the companies Bio Vio (Riviera Ligure di Ponente Doc Pigato Selection Bon in da Bon 2016), Bruna (Riviera Ligure di Ponente Doc Pigato Le Russeghine 2016), Cascina delle Terre Rosse (Apogeo 2016), Cheo (Cinque Terre Doc Ma Và 2016), La Baia del Sole-Federici(Colli di Luni Doc Vermentino Sarticola 2016), Lunae Bosoni (Colli di Luni Doc Vermentino Numero Chiuso 2013), Maccario Dringenberg (Rossese di Dolceacqua Doc Superiore Luvaira 2015), Ottaviano Lambruschi (Colli di Luni Doc Vermentino Il Maggiore 2016) and Terre Bianche (Rossese di Dolceacqua Doc Superiore Bricco Arcagna 2015).
As many as four ambassadors, representing four areas, were present last Saturday:
Filippo Rondelli (company Azienda Agricola Terre Bianche) for Rossese di Dolceacqua, Aimone Vio and his wife Chiara (Azienda Agricola Bio Vio) for Piana di Albenga, Gianfranco Vita for Cinque Terre (Cooperativa Cinque Terre) and the brothers Alessandro and Davide Neri (Azienda Agricola Il Monticello) with Fabio Lambruschi (Az.Agricola Ottaviano Lambruschi) for Colli di Luni.
Daniele Bartolozzi, coordinator of the Liguria region for Vinibuoni d’Italia, also complimented Ligurian producers and awarded those present: “Well done to the producers, who kept the values of Liguria high. Ligurian wine is nowadays valued very positively, even outside the region. Today there are many more of you. No more white elephants, but a group of producers who started to create synergies. Little wine is produced, so your strength must be the union among producers and you have excellencies which have very few equals in the rest of Italy.” The wish which Bartolozzi made to all those present was one of the most appreciated: “I wish you to become the new world Burgundy”.
Moreover, the mayor of Portovenere, Matteo Cozzani, added a few words: “In the process of enhancing the value of excellent products, institutions will also have to do more, by focusing on quality rather than quantity. The first step will be to improve our services, also in terms of environment. We are working at a project of electric mobility, on the ground and at sea.”
Finally, it was the turn of Alessandro Scorsone, national editor of Perlage Italia, who, before presenting a selection of Spumante Metodo Classico to accompany the oysters of La Spezia mussel producers (another regional excellence), said a few words about Ligurian wines: “Without the work of producers, we would not be here. Whoever makes wine, puts in it his heart, soul and passion and subjects it to external judgment. Liguria is a small region and people have a hard time making wine, that’s why it is important to know the territory, before expressing an opinion on a label. Focusing on “creating a network” is the right way forward for Liguria.”
And before inviting the audience to the tasting table, Scorsone exhorted producers: “There is no need for a special occasion to open a bottle of wine. Open bottles every day!”, to which they all agreed.
