It’s often written that a winery is “perched” somewhere, but in the case of Giovanni Manzone, which celebrates its 100th year of existence in 2025, “perched” is an accurate descriptor of their location. For five generations, the Manzones have been farming 8.5 hectares on the steep hills of Castelletto and Gramolere, in the Langhe’S Monforte…
Category: kick-ass wines
“From Breakfast to Dinner” (Bersano Recent Releases)
I first visited Piedmont’s Bersano back when I was doing work for the My Name Is Barbera campaign. It’s an impressive operation, with its own intriguing museum (mostly from the collection of Arturo Bersano, who seemingly never met a cool knickknack that he didn’t like), situated just in front of the train station in Nizza…
“The World’s Oldest Startup” (Catching Up With Livermore Valley’s Wente Family)
At this point, I think that I’ve met most of the 5th generation of the Wente family (including jamming with Winegrower & Chief Land and Supply Officer Karl Wente at his then unfinished house several years ago, which is just the kind of thing that happens to people like me on wine travels, I guess)….
“The Biggest Fear” (Catching Up With Bolgheri’s Tenuta Argentiera)
“We want to have elegance be the main focus of our wines. The biggest fear for me is over-extraction.” Tenuta Argentiera winemaker Nicolò Carrara is right to be a little afraid. He is dealing with ripening and fermenting grapes in Tuscany’s Bolgheri, after all, where sunlight and the potential for big levels of ripeness—not to…