February 2002
New additions to the Bedford portfolio of wines
Bedford was fortunate to find a jewel of an estate in Montalcino. At the Vinitaly 2001, a friend of ours begged us to go taste the wines of Palazzo and, luckily, we did just that. We found a marvelous situation that will please our distributors who demand high quality and character in our wines. The Brunello 1996 was awarded a 90 in the Spectator and achieved the highest point total awarded to the 1996 vintage. The Loia family is right on top of the latest vinification techniques and, to top it of, they appointed Fabrizio Ciuffoli as their consulting enologist. Welcome to our family, Palazzo!
New products from our current suppliers (See the Product Information Section for details of these wines):
- - Valpolicella Classico "Borgata" and the Amarone Classico "Cinque Stelle" Riserva from Michele Castellani. Soon also "Passione" Rosso, a creation of the innovative mind of Sergio Castellani.
- - Verdicchio Classico Superiore "Villa Bianchi" from Umani Ronchi.
- - Vobis Mea" barrique aged Gavi from Cantine Volpi, an addition to the family of "shower wines."
- - Tauleto" Sangiovese from Umberto Cesari.
- - The blue bottle Pescevino called "Pescevino BLU", a blend of Verdicchio, Chardonnay, and Pinot Blanc.
- - The blue bottle package of the Barone line, called "Barone BLU", a blend of Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay.
The Fantastic 1997s are here
By late spring of 2002, you will be able to experience the joy of these 1997 vintage wines, called the "vintage of the century":
- - Barolo Cerequio "Secolo" from Contratto, a Three Glass winner in 2002
- - Amarone Classico "Monte Cristi" and the Amarone Classico "Cinque Stelle" Riserva and "Sergio" from Michele Castellani.
- - Fara "Caramino" and Gattinara Riservas from Dessilani
- - Brunello di Montalcino from Palazzo
- - "Il Falcone" Riserva and "Cappellaccio" Aglianico Riserva from Rivera
- - "Pelago" from Umani Ronchi
Top consulting enologists join our portfolio
Giuseppe Caviola has joined Dessilani and Fabrizio Ciuffoli has joined Palazzo as consulting enologists. These two experts are among the elite of the enological world and they join the following top consultants in the Bedford portfolio:
- - Giacomo Tachis of Umani Ronchi and Falchini
- - Donato Lanati of Borgo Magredo, Torre Rosazza, and Gregorina
- - Gian Carlo Scaglione of Contratto
- - Giuliano Noe' of Cantine Volpi
The consulting enologist today has been a major factor in convincing many estates in Italy to make big wines more accessible faster and in softening the heavy tannins by the appropriate use of aging in barriques barrels. An estate in Italy today needs to have a top consulting enologist in order to compete in the very crowded field of high quality wines around the world. The work in the fields is also of prime importance and the agronomists who work with the enologists are also developing their own mystique and following.
Umani Ronchi's new tasting room
Umani Ronchi recently inaugurated a state of the art tasting-room and aging cellar at its Osimo facility. It has been pronounced as a "designer" facility by the Italian press. This innovation is one of many additions and modernizations being undertaken by this impressive estate. The other recent innovation is the restoration of a farmhouse above the San Lorenzo vineyard into a modern chalet style guesthouse.
"Gran Medaglia Di Cangrande" to Carlo De Corato
Carlo De Corato, owner of the Rivera estate in Puglia, received the prestigious "Gran Medaglia di Cangrande" from the Vinitaly committee in Verona
This award to Carlo De Corato is for his unique contributions to the development of viticulture and the advancement of the Italian wine industry. Congratulations, Carlo!
"WINE FESTIVAL" at Boston Harbor Hotel
Boston, Massachusetts
The Boston Harbor Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts held its annual "Wine Festival" at the hotel on 7-8 February 2002. One of the feature events was a wine tasting exclusively for Bedford International products. Ed Costa, the hotel's Food and Beverage Manager, said at the beginning of the event: "We are excited and proud to be featuring the fine wines from Italy of Bedford International. The producers of these wines are among the best and most characteristic of Italian wine producers and represent the cutting edge of Italian wine making." Hundreds of invitees paid $75 per person to taste these fine wines, including journalists, restaurateurs, enotecas, and important consumers from all over New England, and sommeliers and wine club members. Bedford's Vice President of Sales, John Vesce and Bedford's distributor in Massachusetts, Ruby Wines, coordinated the event. Ruby Wines is the foremost distributor of fine wines in the state. Many thanks to Ted and Bob Rubin, owners of Ruby Wines, Wayne Niemi, Executive Vice President, and Brad Rubin, Tommy Modica, and Dan Michaud, wine managers of Ruby Wines.
The producers featured at the tasting were:
Umani Ronchi from Le Marche;Contratto, Volpi, and Dessilani from Piemonte;Casale-Falchini from San Gimignano in Toscana and Palazzo from Montalcino in Toscana; Rivera from Puglia; Borgo Magredo and Torre Rosazza from Friuli; Michele Castellani from Veneto; Umberto Cesari from Emilia-Romagna;
Present at the event were: Michele Bernetti and Giuseppe Tomaselli of the Umani Ronchi estate, Antonella Bocchino of Contratto, Michael Falchini of the Casale-Falchini estate, and Fabrizio de Corato of the Rivera estate in Puglia, Mario and Susan Belardino, owners of Bedford International, Rona Vesce, President of the Bedford auxiliary.
The gourmet spread at the tasting
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