First day of Budding at Prowein..

So, finally I am in my hostel room relaxing a bit after a long yet successful day at Prowein. I can still feel the heels of my red shoes hammering my feet but the success of the day is too sweet to let such matters bother me! From where shall I begin and where I shall end?! Big question! Better just highlight a few points of the day in order of preference.


Wines I tasted:

1. Braida Bricco della Bigotta 2007 – I was introduced to this winery by a very good friend of mine a couple of years back in Malta. Today, one of my other good friends I met in Bordeaux is working as an export manager with Braida. Today, Nadine introduced me to what is in my opinion one of their best wines, Bricco della Bigotta. A wine made from 100% Barbera d’Asti from the marl soils of Monferrato. A wine aged in barrique but with greater elegance at least for the 2007 than the famous Bricco dell'Uccelone wine coming from the same winery. Nadine informed me that they will hold a vertical tasting of this great wine at Vinitaly, How can I MISS?!! So keep following for more news on this sexy Piemontese.

2. Eight Songs 2004 – I had to visit the Australian stand maybe to look for something interesting for the coming months. As wine I met Eight Songs by Peter Lehmann, made solely from the assiduously selected Shiraz. The wine when tasted really feels like eight different notes yet harmoniously brought together with silky tannins and lovely fruit. A wine I would like to taste again soon, maybe in Australia?!

3. Gernot Langes 2005 – The Bodega Norton winery I know well from my ex-job experience at ex-Wands, now Farsons Beverage Imports Company Limited. Here once again I was proved wrong. I thought I had tasted all the wines from this Argentinean company, yet I didn’t. Today I tasted ....... 2005 vintage which is a blend of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. This wine is another fantastic new world bomb with black fruits and hints of chocolate intermingled so nicely that a taste is surely not enough for a lifetime. Too bad only a few 3000 cases are produced per year and retail price is around 100Euros per bottle.. mmmm.. hints for my birthday present maybe??!! Anyone reading?! :)

Master classes attended:

1. Innovation in Marketing - This great master class organised by Down to Earth brought together the New World regional giants together to discuss what make them so successful and how they can be more innovative to bring their wine to consumers. What left an impression again on me is the discussion on social media tools. I say again, since in November at the Rioja Future conference I attended a conference on social media and the key speaker was the guy who is making it all work so well, Gary Vaynerchuck (If you don’t know the guy google him up!). Well today, it was the owner of the small winery of Becksberg from South Africa which conveyed the importance of social media at this day in age. There are many tools a winery can make use of from Facebook to Twitter to Blogging, yet the most important issue is being committed 100% to making it work. Unfortunately, most small wineries don’t have the time and don’t see how direct sales can translate from such a venture yet WORD OF MOUTH is the strongest tool any company can benefit from. Through social media small wineries can have a say as the biggest wineries or biggest wine companies. They can make themselves count. Content is everything! Transparency is key!

2. Friuli Venezia Giulia, An introduction to this Northern Italian region – Being not just a Brunello wine lover, but being in love with Italy as a whole, this presentation was of great interest and benefit to me. Mr. Penco took us through all the main marketing, sales and export issues not for just Friuli but for Italy as a whole. He also gave a very good presentation about the wines and the men behind the wines which made Italian wine so successful. Names like Sassicaia, Tignanello, Piero Antinori and Angelo Gaja, featured in his presentation tying in most of what I said in my previous blog, how a man with a vision can change the fate of a whole region and even a county.

Well, I guess I have said enough for today... And I am looking forward to a nice dinner and a nice bottle of wine maybe a German wine for this evening?! Or just a good German beer.. Always goes down so well after a successful day of wine tasting! :)