CHRISTINABUTORINA

This was a last minute booking right before my trip, I've booked almost everything and had no space in my schedule already, but something went wrong with another visit, I've got a free time slot and tried to have an appointment with Bonfadini, luckily they've accepted. I should tell from the very beginning, the Universe always knows the things better than we think we know them, this was one of the best estates and definitely the best #Franciacorta I've tested during this trip

If you ever drunk Franciacorta sparkling wine or ever been visiting the area then you most probably heard name of Ca' del Bosco, who is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) producer of Franciacorta in the world. I bet you saw their bottles on the shelves of your wine shop, at least. So being in the area, of course, visit to this winery is a must to see everything by your own eyes and to understand a difference with other estates. I saw in some sources that Ca' del Bosco is

Franciacorta wine area of Lombardia region is definitely an amazing place to be, where a lot of great estates producing premium shiny bubbles, I really suggest to visit them as much as you can because they all are different, with lots of stories behind, #terroir specifics, great people working there and good wines they craft, which you could probably taste only here. This particular story is about visiting Bersi Serlini estate. Bersi Serlini roots are from the Middle Ages, wh

Usually my personal preferences are small #wine estates because of their unique character and soul, more particular approach to terroir and winemaking, and much more exclusive types of wines produced. However, there are some big wineries more mass market oriented in terms of quantity, but in the same time crafting wines of a great quality, taking care about all the details same as small family producers do. Ferghettina estate is one of those, actually it's been started as a s

Actually I was not able to fix an appointment in advance to visit the cellars of Ceretto, as my schedule was completely full and we didn't find the dates matching our both sides. But I was kindly proposed to come to taste their #wines any day (tasting room is open everyday from morning till evening), once I had a free time on Sunday afternoon and would love to stay in a nice quiet place, then I drove up from Barolo towards Alba to visit tasting room of Ceretto. Absolutely rig

Ettore Germano is one of the must visit estates in Barolo area. Actually I planned it a long time in advance, but, as it happens sometimes, at one day the things go in a different way, not like you planned them. That particular Saturday was exactly like this, when everything was late, starting from morning and ending up in the evening. By some reasons I was almost an hour late to Ettore Germano #winery and missed an interesting part cellars, so I arrived just on time for wine

Vietti is iconic, chic and classy. The estate I'm in love with. It is simply impossible to miss it if you are travelling to Barololand. Vietti is a must visit place for any #winegeek or just a wine lover. The winery has a long history and produces superb wines, worth the highest attention though. My visit was planned originally for about an hour and a half, but finally it took almost three hours, which flew away like an eye blink and I appreciate every single minute of it. De

The name Renato Ratti means a lot for whole Barolo production area. He was one of the pioneers in Barolo who really appreciated and promoted terroir concept, trying to change and turn local people's old-fashioned mind into this direction. The story of himself and his estate is fascinating, so visiting Renato Ratti winery is a must do when you are in #Barolo zone. Renato Ratti was born in Piemonte in 1934, he had no heritage of wine estate in the area, he built himself from th

Somehow happened that for visiting Barbaresco this time the only one winery was planned in my schedule, but it was a great estate Rizzi, which belongs to Dellapiana family. As my visit was scheduled almost in the evening, basically we didn't have time to see whole #winery, only to taste the wines, which are great by the way. Luckily I've had a chance to get to know whole super nice family: Jole, Ernesto and Enrico, who were working hard in the winery as these days were the ti

I'm a long time lover of Gavi wines, but never been in the place itself, so while planning my wine trip to Piemonte this choice was quite obvious. That was one-day trip to #Gavi area, where you can find many good wineries, but as I've been very limited in time trying to put in one day a winery visit plus later move to Ligurian seashore, then I've had to choose the best of the bests, which is La Scolca. La Scolca estate is run by Soldati family, who purchased it a hundred year

My schedule for Barolo wine trip was fully booked three weeks in advance and Paolo Scavino winery was the first one in it. Actually it was quite interesting to visit a great well-known producer at the beginning, to take a look at the cellars and to taste famous wines created by Enrico Scavino. The history tells that Paolo Scavino estate was founded in 1921 in Castiglione Falletto, originally by Lorenzo Scavino and then following by his son Paolo. Currently the estate is run b

When you place yourself right in the heart of Barolo area, very soon you become get used to the views like this, which is opening from Giacomo Fenocchio tasting room. It was my pleasure to visit this great estate own by very nice family. Giacomo Fenocchio winery is run these days by the fifth generation of the family. Claudio is a very talented winemaker, manage everything about #wine with perfect care of heritage and winemaking traditions learned from Giacomo his father, and

One of the producers I visited during my Piemonte wine trip was Torraccia del Piantavigna, located in Ghemme. Interestingly, this is a unique winery in the area, who is allowed to produce both DOCGs Ghemme and Gattinara in the same time. By law Gattinara DOCG is to be produced and bottled in Gattinara area, Ghemme DOCG is to be crafted and bottled in Ghemme area. But as historically Torraccia del Piantavigna was one of the first wineries build in Ghemme but having vineyards

When I was planning my Gattinara wine trip of course I also planned to visit some wineries in Ghemme area, which is located on another side of Sesia river, just in 10 min driving from #Gattinara. Unfortunately Ghemme wine area is not well-known abroad, by the way even inside Italy as well, although they produce very good wines from Nebbiolo grape under Ghemme DOCG, but, same as Gattinara, it's just not that much commercialized outside of Italy. So pity, as the area itself is

That was my first winery visited in Gattinara, a micro production zone in Piemonte region. In general there are not so many wine producers located, even though the wines of Gattinara DOCG are made from the famous #Nebbiolo grapes, but Gattinara area itself is far not that much commercialized and promoted in the world as Barolo and Barbaresco, zones of wines crafted from same Nebbiolo grapes. This calmness and exclusivity of #Gattinara in reality is good, because here you can

Quinta do Tedo is a small, very nice #winery, which was recommended to me for visiting by other local winemakers. The name “Tedo” is given because of a small river Tedo, which is crossing with Douro river exactly in the place when this quinta is built. They have a nice area of winery itself... ...an outdoor tasting area and special room Btw there are a lot of birds singing around, that makes you totally relaxing and feeling the nature at its full. It’s hard to see the birds i