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New Article Category: Italian Wines

I’ve started a new category for my blog articles. It’s about wine and it’s about time, right?!

Yep, it’s the category that captures all of the blog articles that I’ve created over the years that are concerned with Italian wines. I count 8 articles in that category.

If you click on the heading to the top right of this article titled ‘Index of Articles’, you will be taken to the ‘Index of Articles’ page…strange how that works, huh? If you scroll down a bit in the right-hand column of said index, you will find the new ‘Italian Wines’ category near the top…right where it ought to be.

To simplify things for today, I’ve summarized those 8 articles just below.

So, grab a bottle of your favorite Italian wine, open it, pour yourself a glass (if you need permission, you’ve got a standing approval from me), and read on. I list the articles beginning with the oldest, along with just a hint of what you find in the complete article.

Castello Brolio

08/25/2015

This article titled, “Beautiful Places Castello Brolio”, was written because of the importance of Castello Brolio to Tuscan wines. You’ve most likely enjoyed Chianti and Chianti Classico wines in the past…right? Well, they started right here at Castello Brolio. It was the castle’s owner, Baron Ricosoli, who created the formula for Chianti. After more than thirty years of research and experiments, he divulged his formula for Chianti in a letter in 1872.

As a reminder, the word “Classico” in Chianti Classico is not necessarily a designation of the quality of a wine, but is related to its geographic origin. It is a designation for wines grown in a certain place within the official Chianti region…it’s like the hole (Chianti Classico) in a donut (the overall Chianti region)…kind of. On the other hand, if you find the words “Riserva” after the words Chianti or Chianti Classico, you can assume that the extra aging has improved the taste of the wine.

Banfi Wines

05/24/2016

Castello Banfi sits proud south of Montalcio

Most of you know of my love for all things Banfi…be it the food, the castello, the borgo, the people, or the wine…they are all magnificent! In the article titled, “Stay Here, Eat Here, Drink Here: Banfi” you will get the full extent of what Banfi has to offer.

In the mid ‘70s, with earnings from their very successful importation of Riunite wines (remember, ‘Riunite on ice, that’s nice!’ commercials?), Brothers John and Harry Mariani went to Italy in search of the perfect place to start their own winery business…a business which has become an empire in the wine world.

A wine tasting is the best way to decide on your wine purchase

The prominent grape of the estate is Sangiovese, the same grape (among others) that is made into Chianti wine. But here, the wine of fame is Banfi’s Brunello. And then, Brunello isn’t the only wine made by the Mariani family, and you will find a good many of them available in the enoteca of the castello…like these that we tasted whilst there.

I don’t use the word ‘castello’ (i.e. castle) lightly. Yes, the estate is centered around a castello sitting atop a scenic hilltop, as seen in the painting, above. And within that castello, you will find Il Borgo Banfi (the hotel). I can’t recommend a stay at this lovely, peaceful place enough. We have such great memories of our time there. And, who wouldn’t appreciate just a wee bit of time away from wine tasting, sitting poolside in the Tuscan countryside? We certainly did…and to prove it, I’m sure you recognize Ellen’s toes in this photo.

Enjoying Your Italy-Bought Wine

02/02/2017

This article isn’t about a specific winery or wine type, though one does play heavily into the article. It is about spending a day being just a bit naughty, not doing anything other than relaxing and enjoying a bottle of wine that you purchased during one of your trips to Italy.

In this article titled, “Enjoying Your Italy-Bought Wine”, before we get to the wine that we sipped before a fire on a cold, winter day, you get the back story in the purchase of the wine.

There is the story of lunch at a fabulous restaurant in Radda in Chianti.

Then there’s the post-lunch drive on a Google-assured road that wasn’t much of a road after all.

And finally, we arrive for a wine tasting that turned to wine buying.

Ahhh, it was such a great day of enjoyment…both the day in Italy, and then the day at home, lounging away the day in our jammies. Give it a try…you’ll like it.

In addition to some of our favorite memories, this day’s activities led me to taking probably my favorite of all Italy photos, shown just below. The Tuscan countryside, just after an afternoon shower. Magnifico!

By the way, that same day in Italy led to these articles, also: Get Lost!, and Wild-Goose Chase. I hope you enjoy these two articles, too…it was a fun, frustrating, and then an interesting day.

Taking a Guided Winery Tour

09/03/2019

OK, first of all, who wouldn’t want to take a guided winery tour with Matteo? Right, ladies?

Beyond that, I can assure both male and female alike that getting around to the wineries of an area of Italy with a local, knowledgeable guide, is the way to go.

Our wine-travelling day with Matteo was spent in the Langhe area of Piemonte, in the heart of the Barolo wine area. If you plan to do a bit of wine tasting in Italy, you will find guides like Matteo (well, maybe not exactly like Matteo) throughout the Italian wine area.

Our first stop of the day was at the Aurelio Settimo winery. Here, Laura showed us both the traditional oak casks, as well as our first sighting of a glass-lined, concrete casks. Usage depends on the wine you are making, and the flavor you want to impart in that wine.

Next up was the DaMilano winery. Well, we didn’t actually tour the winery, but we spent a good bit of time, and money, at the DaMilano enoteca, where Alicia helped us sip and purchase. And, we were very pleased to find that DaMilano also produces the white wine called Arneis, which we had fallen in love with in the town of Nieve.

Next up was the Schiavenza winery. Here, Matteo’s buddy Waldo produces great wine in small quantiles. And, what’s Leslie measuring in the photo? Waldo had just told us how the casks were cleaned after being emptied. He says that he climbs through that little arched opening and brushes and hoses out the casks…and he wasn’t kidding.

And finally, we ended our day at the Giovanni Rosso winery. Here we had another new experience in wine tasting. Not only did we taste wine from the Giovanni Rosso bottles in their tasting room, but Francesca also tapped right into one of the wine casks for our tasting enjoyment…enjoyment you can see here on the faces of Matteo and Craig.

I neglected to tell you that we had a mid-day lunch at Trattoria Schiavenza. Sitting on the terrazza, we spent a bit of time with watercolors, painting the beautiful Piemonte-Langhe countryside.

Going to Italy? Going to taste a bit of wine? Check out Taking a Guided Winery Tour.

Renato Ratti Winery

09/17/2019

If you want to visit a winery that is state of the art…both in design and in presentation, then you definitely need to visit the Renato Ratti Winery.

Your entrance to the green-roofed Renato Ratti winery

First of all, the winery has been placed carefully into a hillside below the town of La Mora, where an environmentally-friendly green roof and gravity-fed winery have been expertly accomplished.

Next, you will find one of the most creative of winery introductions in a video developed by Pietro Ratti that is both fun and informative.

Christine takes us deep in the cellars of Renato Ratti winery

Then, take the tour of the wine making facility below you, deep down in the hillside.

Next, let Christine lead you through a series of vintage Barolo wines, where you can stick your nose in a glass and taste great wines. This way, you get to see how the ‘nose’, tannins, taste, and color change over time as a wine ages in-bottle. By the way, it changes in a good way! At least for Barolo wines.

And, note the view from the tasting room…probably the most magnificent in all of Italy as it frames the vines of the Nebbiolo grapes.

Finally, snap a photo with your hostess Christine, and engaging owner, Pietro Ratti.

Allegrini Winery

01/07/2020

It’s time to learn about appassimento! And where better than at the Allegrini Winery? That’s a rhetorical question, by the way, as there is no better answer than at Allegrini.

The Villa della Allegrini sits just north of Verona, in the heart of the Valpolicella area…known for both Valpolicella and Amarone wines. And, then there’s their own Palazzo della Torre wine.

Palazzo della Torre is made using the appassimento process. Appassimento means ‘withering’, and that’s what happens to some of the grapes as they are raisinated, or dried for about 3 months.

Here you can see Olmo as he describes the crappy (sorry, pardon the language) soil in which Allegrini’s grapes are grown. Mineral, rather than organics desired by most farmers, are the key to a healthy wine-making grape.

Wondering what a grape looks like during the appassimento process? Check out this photo.

Amarone wine is also made with the appassimento process. And, unlike the marvelous Brunello of Tuscany, which uses just the one Sangiovese grape, the production of Allegrini’s famous Amarone wine uses a blend of four different grapes.

Finally, I’ll leave you with a view of what I would call, ‘The King of the North’…a bottle of Amarone, lying comfortably upon a pillow of withering grapes, ready for you to gently lift it up and then savor it.

Michele Chiarlo Winery

01/21/2020

Our last winery visit will be to the Michele Chiarlo winery. Here, not only did we visit the winery, but also the vineyards.

We started at the La Court vineyard pictured above in the eastern portion of Piemonte. Beautiful, isn’t it?

We met Alberto at the vineyards, where he explains the layout of the vineyard, and the importance of south- vs north-facing vines, and the compass points in between.

Then, it was on to the winery and tasting room. Leslie listens closely to find out more about their Arneis white wine. And seeing the bottling room was fascinating.

DOCG, DOC, IGT & DOG

11/17/2020

The most recent article concerning Italian wines dealt with government-issued geographic and quality guarantees.

The importance of these designations is one of quality control…Italy doesn’t want inferior wines being produced that would lower the already very-high bar of Italian wines. Thus, the governments involvement in the wines produced in Italy.

As this was recently published in November, I will assume that you read DOCG, DOC, IGT & DOG in the very serious state of mind in which government decrees should be carefully examined…so I won’t dwell on it here.

That’s it for today. Is that bottle empty, yet? No? Then get back to work on it! Meanwhile, I’ll cover the multitude of wine-producing grapes of Italy soon.

In closing, here is a toast of San Angelo Pinot Grigio from Banfi. This toast is to your continued health in 2021, and to your successful exit from 2020. Until next time…

Ciao for now,

Steve

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102 Blog Articles...But Who's Counting?

Index of Articles

That’s right…102! I had no idea that I had put out over 100 blog articles until I counted them this week. I’ve really been a bit chatty, haven’t I?!

I have enjoyed every minute in the production of these articles, mostly about my favorite place — Italy. ‘Why do you do this?’, you ask. Because I want you to be stimulated through my writing and photos to visit Italy yourself. And, as an added benefit, I get to travel voyeuristically along the way as I write and go through photos from great times gone by.

“I absolutely love doing this, and I certainly hope that you enjoy my blog articles, and that you find them helpful in some way”

Italy is a place with beautiful scenery highlighted by mountains, plains, coastlines and lakes…a prolific history of art and culture (I know that you’ve heard of Michelangelo and the Roman Empire)…vineyards and their wineries producing the world’s best wines, like Brunello…authentic (it has to be, right?) Italian food…and a loving, smiling, happy people.

Today, I thought I would give you of my ‘Top 10’ articles. I’ve categorized them into ‘Visiting a Particular Place’, ‘Experiences We’ve Enjoyed’ {that you would, too), and ‘Helpful Travel Tips”. These are my favorites because of memories of the times and places involved, be they humorous, joy-filled, frustrating, or whatever — or because I felt that they were particularly informative in preparation for your own upcoming Italy trip.

If one of the descriptions catches your eye, go ahead and link to the article so that you can enjoy a small slice of Italy, too.

[OK, I have a confession to make. There are actually 12 articles listed below…I just couldn’t pare it down to 10…sorry about that]

Each listing below has a clickable bolded heading that takes you to the original article.

Visiting A Particular Place

Stay Here, Eat Here, Drink Here: Banfi

A beautiful Tuscan day at the Banfi pool

This article lays out for you the full Banfi experience that you will just have to live through yourself one day. We’ve visited the Castello Banfi twice and found the experience to be absolutely wonderful. The tour of the Banfi winery is outstanding. And then there is the Castello Banfi itself…a must see, as well as a must stay. Dining? Yes, you have your choice of the informal La Taverna, as well as the fabulous La Sala dei Grappoli. The enoteca where you can taste and then purchase wine? The largest and most beautiful we’ve seen — and we’ve seen many. Published on May 24, 2016.

A Visit to Villa Cimbrone

The view along the walk from Ravello to Villa Cimbrone

If you will be visiting the Amalfi coast, with its breathtaking mountainous backdrop, you absolutely need to journey up those mountains to the the town of Ravello. It sits high above the town of Amalfi and has spectacular views from the Belvedere. The gardens are charming and there are several restaurants between the town and the Cimbrone Gardens from which to choose, like our selection, Il Flauto di Pan. Published June 7, 2016.

Renato Ratti Winery

Talk about a fabulous and unique winery and visit thereto! This Piemonte winery has been environmentally inserted into the side of the hill upon which the town of La Mora sits. Gravity provides an energy-saving way to transport the developing wine from vinification to storage. The grape of this Piemonte winery is the Nebbiolo and their top wine is Barolo, of course. Our tasting was of vintage Barolo wines going as far back as 1998, which gave us a personal and up-close education on a wine’s tannin, fruit and color over time. Published September 17, 2019.

Stay Here: Borgo San Felice

There is a beautiful place to stay and eat in the heart of Tuscany, and it is the Borgo San Felice. A friend had stayed here and highly recommended it…we are glad he did! The owners basically purchased a small Tuscan town and converted it into a marvelous resort hotel experience. From the ancient chapel to the modern swimming pool, we enjoyed it all during our two visits there. And the food of their Ristorante Poggio Rosso was delicious, whether at breakfast or dinner. Published January 12, 2016.

Stumbling Upon Something Magnificent

Just what was it that we stumbled upon? It was a church sitting high on a hillside overlooking Lago Lugano, just west of Lago di Como. Oh how dumbstruck we were when we opened the doors of the church of Albogasio Inferiore in the small, lakeside town of Albogasio-oria. They say that one can’t judge a book by its cover, and that goes too for churches. The inside has beautifully painted fresco walls and ceilings, as well as other gorgeous ornamentation. Published July 28, 2015.

Experiences We’ve Enjoyed

One Fine Day

The setting is the Amalfi Coast. The conveyance was a 38’ Itama boat, captained by a friendly Gian-Carlo. The day was wonderful. This is the quintessential way to see the Amalfi Coast — by boat. We cruised in luxury with prosecco in hand. We swam the White and Green Grottos. We dined waterside on the Isle of Capri. And every bit of this day was perfect. Published September 29, 2015.

Enjoying Italy-Bought Wine

It’s strange how certain things can trigger memories of the past. We had that experience one lazy day…and those memories were certainly fond ones. What was it that triggered these great memories? It was wine, of all things. It was a wine that we had tasted at lunch in Radda in Chianti and one that we subsequently purchased at a winery in Tuscany. The setting for this article is our living room…in front of a roaring fire…with good book in one hand and a good wine in the other. Published February 2, 2017.

Wild Goose Chase

I’ve chased a wild goose or two, and I’m sure that you have, too. This incident relates to the day we bought a nice wine, as discussed in the article just above. We were on our way to a highly praised dinner…as praised on Trip Advisor. What we found when we arrived at the very small hilltown of Poggio alla Croce was an unexpected mystery. We had a reservation that I had managed to pull off in Italian…at least I thought I had. Find out what happened and how our evening managed to end. Published February 2, 2016.

Your Romantic Gondola Ride

If you’ve been to Venice and you haven’t ridden in a gondola, then you haven’t really been to Venice. The ubiquitous gondola is the iconic symbol of Venice. Your gondola experience should be a romantic one. This means that there is a certain time for your ride…a time that is best for reasons more than just romance. And, as each time has its place, I give you a suggestion on the best place to start (and end) your ride. Published July 12, 2016.

Helpful Travel Tips

Getting There: Bellagio

Bellagio is undoubtedly the most charming town we have visited, and its important how you get there! It sits on the end of a peninsula on Lake Como. You can auto there, but the road is twisty-turny and you may arrive with a bit of fuzzy brain. You can arrive by train…kind of…at least you will be close, but will require a ferry ride from Varenna. And you can arrive by boat…but not just any boat. You definitely don’t want the hydrofoil. What you want is the slow boat from the town of Como. It’s a slow ride and it is absolutely beautiful. Published August 2, 2016.

Another Way Into Italy

Of course you can fly directly to Italy, but there is a way that you might find to be a lot more fun…and relaxing. Why not start your Italy adventure in Switzerland?! You start in Zurich and take one of three trains into Italy. That has been our favorite way because it is a fabulous way to overcome your jet lag…as well as seeing the beautiful Swiss countryside. Published July 30, 2019.

Please, Thank You, and Where's the Bathroom

Don't let the fear of not knowing the Italian language keep you from Italy. Our experience has shown that for most of the places that we go (i.e. not too far off the beaten path), English is well spoken. I do recommend the joy of giving Italian a try, as it’s kind of fun to order a light breakfast by saying, “Pane tostata con burro e marmellata di arance”. But for sure, don’t let the lack of parlando Italiano keep you from Italy. Published August 14, 2016.

Now you know what I know — that being that the above are my favorite article posts. Trust me when I say that it was super difficult to pare them down to those twelve.

I absolutely love doing this, and I certainly hope that you enjoy my blog articles, and that you find them helpful in some way. If a trip to Italy is in your future…and I certainly hope it is…then the article ‘A Trip to Italy in Your Future? Read On!’ is a guide to using the Index of Articles to help you plan for your trip.

And, I really would love to see you there in beautiful Italy! But, in the meantime…

Ciao for now,

Steve

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Renato Ratti Winery

Index of Articles

‘The King of Wines’: that’s the title bestowed on the Barolo wines of the Langhe region of northern Italy. And Renato Ratti’s Barolo is the culmination of decades of this royal lineage. We experienced the charm of Renato Ratti during the fall of 2018.

The Langhe is a beautiful area of the Piemonte, or ‘foot hills’ (Piedmont in English…and why do we change place names like that, by the way?).

The view like this one from the Renato Ratti winery is breathtaking, and it is typical of the views within the Langhe.

Click any image for a larger view

“Our recommendation? Go to the Renato Ratti winery to experience the Barolo wine-making process. Visit their beautiful facility with one of their informed hosts. Then opt for the higher-end wine tasting that will find you sampling several vintage Barolo wines.”

The Grape

The predominant grape of the Langhe is the Nebbiolo grape, seen here growing on the hillside vineyard of Renato Ratti.

This beautiful grape gives Barolo wines its body and rich color. And by the way, it is also the grape of the Barbaresco wines of the Piemonte, though the Nebbiolo grape for Barbaresco is grown a few miles away in a different micro-climate and in significantly different soils.

The Founder

Renato Ratti is the founder of this fine winery. After spending his younger years learning the art of wine making in Brazil, he returned to his native Italy in 1965 to begin his legendary journey in the vinification of Barolo wine. On the hillside immediately above the current winery lies the Abbey of L'Annunziata. It is in this 14th Century abandoned abbey that he created his first vintage of Barolo.

This is the man, himself — Renato Ratti. Doesn’t he look like a man you would have liked to have called ‘a friend’? And not just because of that large bottle of Barolo he is holding!

Renato Ratti came into the wine business with what to me seems like a bit of an edge…he had no family history of wine making…he had no regimented tradition that, though historical, may have been flawed, or non-productive. It’s best said in his own words: “I came to the world of winemaking without a family tradition behind me. I believe that this opening admission is necessary, for being free of any ancestral ties or responsibilities, I was able to face Barolo with neither pride nor prejudice, but with unfettered freedom.” Unfettered freedom…I like that aspect of his learning process.

Sadly, Renato passed away in 1988 at the young age of 54. Fortunately for the wine industry, his son Pietro had recently graduated from nearby Alba's renowned Enological School. Pietro took charge of the company and has guided it into the 21st century, including construction of the modern, new winery in 2002.

The Locale

A visit to Renato Ratti winery is special in many ways — from the greeting, the creative introductory video, the unique gravity-inspired winery, and of course, the tasting of Renato Ratti’s fabulous wines.

The winery sits on a hillside below the town of La Morra, the dominant town of the Barolo wine region.

In the aerial view below, you can see one of the aspects that makes Renato Ratti winery so unique. It is difficult to see the footprint of the winery (bounded in red) because of the vegetation-covered ‘green’ roof. This winery is vertically oriented, rather than being spread out over acres.

The original location of the winery in the 14th-century Abbey of L'Annunziata is bounded in blue.

The fact that the winery sits on the slope of a hillside leads us to the other unique aspect of this winery. The slope of the hillside allows the flow of gravity to work for Renato Ratti, eliminating the need for needlessly agitating the wine through pumping during the vinification process.

Here you can see from the elevator panel that there are a total of 5 floors in the winery.

And thick concrete walls hold back the hillside in the subterranean levels of the winery.

And the soil that produces the Nebbiolo grape variety? Beautiful! Really?

I must say that, like a baby that only its mother would call beautiful, the soil is beautiful only to a vintner. In this photo from the Renato Ratti winery’s web site, you can see the calcareous soil responsible for the growing of the Nebbiolo grapes that produce such a fine wine — very little organic, lots of mineral. Molto perfetto!

Our Visit

Upon our arrival, we found this modern facility for the production of Barolo wine. Note the green roof. And the beautiful countryside of the Langhe.

Barolo is not the only wine vinified by Renato Ratti - here are some of the wines, and a grappa, that are produced by Renato Ratti. Click on an image for a larger view.

Behind this wall of wooden wine boxes sit the staff of Renato Ratti winery, busily filling orders for their wonderful selection of wines.

After being greeted by our beautiful host for the tour, Christine, she directed us to a video that blew our minds!

This video was prepared by Pietro, himself. It is the most creative and informative video we have ever seen that explains the history and origins of a wine production area. If you are at all interested in Italian wine, you will be well rewarded if you click on the video thumbnail to view Pietro’s hand-crafted masterpiece.

Our tour quickly moved to the vinification floors.

As we were in Italy at harvest time, the grape-handling process was in full swing. Here is where grapes are fed into presses for extraction of their juice.

After grapes are destemmed and crushed, they undergo a thermo-controlled fermentation in the steel vats.

Malolactic fermentation in November is then accomplished in oak barrels.

An elevator takes us below the fermentation tanks to the aging barrels.

Here Craig, Leslie, my wife Ellen and I learned about Renato Ratti’s wine production process from our host, Christine.

A soon-to-be-delicious Barolo Marcenasco waits its turn to be bottled after 2 years of aging. But wait…don’t drink it right away…this fine wine can wait for you for over 20 years. We soon learned the benefits of letting the wine age in your home cellar, so read on.

In this deep, dark cellar, we saw bottles awaiting their fill, as well as the Ratti’s own private reserve of bottled wines.

The Tasting

As Craig soon found out, like all of the other aspects of the Renato Ratti winery, the tasting room was gorgeous.

Besides wanting to know how Barolo wine tastes, we also wanted to know how aging of wine affects the enjoyment of red wines. We opted to purchase the Exclusive Tasting. This allowed us to experience the impacts of progressively-aged vintages of the Renato Ratti Barolos.

WARNING: Don’t try to enjoy a vintage wine-tasting experience with a stuffy nose! There is a lot of sniffing required to fully enjoy the experience!

Christine was a wonderful host — she is knowledgeable and willing to answer all of our questions.

[NOTE: The Coravin device that Christine is using allows one to sample wine from a bottle without removing the cork; thus preserving the wine from destruction through oxidation. We have been able to sample 30-year old wine using this excellent device. See a full Coravin description here.]

Seen here are the wines we tasted. Christine gave us an excellent interpretation of each of these wines. We started with the Nebbiolo, as a representation of a young wine that only ages for about one year before release. Then we worked our way across with Barolos from 2014, 2013, 2004 and finally, a 20-year old 1998.

What did we learn from this tasting?

First, we learned that a Barolo, being a full-flavored and full-bodied wine, should be aged in your cellar before being uncorked. It is best to drink between 6 to 12 years after the vintage. As we learned upon tasting each vintage, the flavor comes out as the tannin drops over time. The tannin of the younger Barolo wines will suck the moisture right out of your mouth...your lips kind of get stuck to your teeth. As the tannin drops, the elegant flavor of the wine becomes more evident.

Second, we learned that the color changes significantly over time: moving from the typical garnet red in the younger wines, to a not-off-putting orangy-brown in the later vintages. Don’t take the color change as a flaw…consider it a feature.

The Labels

We were intrigued by the labels on some of the non-Barolo wines that Renato Ratti winery produces. You will note that there are uniformed militia featured on six of the labels.

Ratti’s research into the history of the Barolo area revealed that each of the hill towns put together a uniformed militia to combat invading armies, like Napoleon’s. Matching the geography of these hill towns to the location of vineyards supplying grapes for their wines, the Rattis developed the labels for the regionally-associated wines.

In this example, the militiaman of 1775 served in the Asti regiment, about 20 miles northeast of the Renato Ratti winery.

Our Recommendation

Go to the Renato Ratti winery to experience the Barolo wine-making process.

Visit their beautiful facility with one of their informed hosts.

Then opt for the higher-end educational wine tasting that will find you sampling several vintage Barolo wines. You will not be disappointed.

Here is a closing photo from our wonderful time at the Renato Ratti winery. In the photo, from left to right are: my wife Ellen, our host Christine, brother- and sister-in-law Craig & Leslie, myself, and the driving force behind the Renato Ratti winery, Pietro Ratti.

We were pleased that Pietro, when we mentioned that we were from the Denver area, immediately offered, “Ahh, the Barolo Grill!”. He knows it well, as it has been a stop in the annual take-your-employees-to-Italy trip that Barolo Grill conducts. Wouldn’t a place that takes the staff to Italy each year be a wonderful place to work?! It certainly is a wonderful place to eat!

Renato Ratti Winery

Coravin Wine Preservation System

Barolo Grill Restaurant in Denver

I hope you enjoyed our wonderful time spent at the Renato Ratti Winery in the Langhe region of Piemonte, Italy. If we run into you there upon our next visit, I’ll buy you a bottle of wonderful Barolo wine! Otherwise, Renato Ratti wines are readily available at restaurants and wine shops in the U.S.

Ciao for now,

Steve