Simply Italian 2015 US Tour, continued…

These are the people and brands that I found to be extremely engaging, soulful, and my pleasure to have met at the Simply Italian 2015 US Tour. Produced by the Italian Wine & Style Promotion company this past October, it was held in San Francisco’s opulent Fairmont Hotel.

All of the stops were pulled for this one. We were completely wowed, and it was time really well spent.

• Yesterday
  • Marina Orlandi Contucci, Colle Manora
  • Ivana Pomposo, il Botolo
• Today
  • Massimo Grimaldi, Cantina Vallebelbo
  • Danilo Notarnicola, San Marco Vinicultori
  • F.Ili Stefanoni, Azienda Agricola Ricchi
  • Annalisa Bocchino, Vini Bocchino
  • Frederica Zeni, Cantina F.lli Zeni
  • Manuel Bonomo, Civielle

Many of the brands at this tasting were looking for an importer… I would recommend any of the following brands, because the people representing them were very kind and generous with their time. Plus, all of the wines were very delicious. An importer would have a great relationship with any of these companies listed.

Now, a bit about each one… The info is also taken from existing websites, with translation modifications made by yours truly.

Massimo Grimaldi, Cantina Vallebelbo

After its founding 35 years ago, Vallebelbo has now established itself as a leader of Italian wines. In spite of careful industrial progress, Vallebelbo has not lost the roots of its famous background, the Langhe. [From Wine-Searcher: Langhe is the hilly sub-region east of the Tanaro river and south of Alba, in the Cuneo province of Piedmont. The name ‘Langhe’ is the plural form of langa, a local word for a long, low-lying hill.]

In this wonderful countryside, Vallebelbo owns 148 acres, which are devoted to the cultivation and production of D.O.C. grapes. They are very pleased to be the biggest Italian producers of the Moscato d’Asti, but they maintain their humility for also even being known as a trustworthy company in the nation and international markers. Their 6000 tons of D.O.C. grape are transformed into high quality wines each autumn.

At San Marco Vinicultori, the high technology of their new factory combines with old traditions of the cellar, where red wines are stored as they age. The Dolcetto and Barbera stay into Slavonia oak barrel, which remains as an important tradition. They’re not looking to produce anything new, while staying true to their traditional roots.

Danilo Notarnicola, San Marco Vinicultori

San Marco Viniculture  Carbon Footprint Project at San Marco has been financed by the Ministry for the Environment , Land and Sea, as wine from the Frascati DOC. The project has made ​​it possible to responsibly evaluate their inventory, quantifications, analysis, and evaluate all of their CO2 emissions.  They evaluate their wines at each stage of its life cycle (agricultural , business , transportation, use, and end of life ), and for each activity associated with it.

This group is committed to its environment’s high quality standards.

I met with Danillo Notarnicola, and tasted their Romae 2013, Roma, DOC. It was very tasty, and like many of these brands, their websites need to have an English version. They are still developing their outside of Italy contacts; hence, their need to be on the road.

Located in Lazio, one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.889 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the second most populated region of Italy (being approximately the same in population as Campania),[1] and has the second largest economy of the nation. Its capital is Rome, capital and largest city of Italy.

On Thursday, continuing:

• F.Ili Stefanoni, Azienda Agricola Ricchi
• Annalisa Bocchino, Vini Bocchino
• Frederica Zeni, Cantina F.lli Zeni
• Manuel Bonomo, Civielle