a16 owner Shelley Lindgren (Tansy) and Dan Petroski (Massican)
celebrate Italian varietals on Festa's VIP panel.
It was indeed quite a festive event Sunday in Healdsburg at Orsi winery as more than 30 wineries gathered for a grand tasting of Italian wine varieties made in California at the first Festa Italia. The good news is that the Italian varieties are making headway with champions like Idlewild and Comunita (Sam Bilbro), Giornata, Unti, and Massican (Dan Petroski/Gallo) as well as Preston Farm and Winery who are all adventurously planting or making rare varieties.
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| Somm and wine raconteur extraordinaire Chris Sawyer moderated several panels of vintners making Italian varieties in California |
There's also the newly minted Italian table wine vintners like Italian wine icon Shelley Lindgren who launched her Tansy brand last year as part of the newer wave of Italian wine evangelists and wine lovers. (Shelley's new book Italian Wine is a must have accompaniment to the topic).
Best of all, there were plenty of people on hand at the Festa who celebrated these unique producers and flavors. (Who says wine sales are falling? You wouldn't know it from the event attendance.)
One producer even makes an Amarone which was poured at the VIP panel. (Delicious.)
People also celebrated gelato from locally made Fiorello's, endless slivers of a16 pizza hot from the oven, Italian music and locally made (Journeyman) Italian style sausages.
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| I have to say the Nocciola (hazelnut) was my favorite. |
Alas, there weren't very many wineries who were either certified organic or practicing organic farming. (The beloved Giornata and Unti Vineyards fall into the latter category.) But more are on the way.
Comunita, an exciting new brand founded by a newly retired Google exec, with Sam Bilbro (Idelwild), plans to become certified at some point in the future. They've already grafted 46 Italian grape varieties in their 86 acre Russian River estate vineyard named Las Cimas Ranch.
Wine grapes from Fox Hill Ranch (now owned by Broc Cellars), just got certified in December of 2023. Wines from that Yorkville Highlands go into some Idlewild vintages and to other producers.
But since I committed this blog to just the certifieds, enjoy these two–DaVero and Preston. (You can read about the others in Slow Wine Guide.)
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| DaVero owner Ridgely Evers spoke about the value of matching Mediterranean varieties to our Mediterranean climate. |
DaVero is certified biodynamic and poured its Alto Basso ($90), a stunning red blend of Sangiovese (60%) and Barbera (40%) grown on its Dry Creek estate (around the corner from Orsi) just outside the town of Healdsburg. The producer makes only Italian varietals. It also produces incredible olive oil, which is what it originally launched before it got into wine.
Preston is certified organic and exploring new frontiers in Italian varieties, producing some tiny lots of Schioppettino (ask at the winery), as well as its regular offerings of Barbera ($42) (and Barbera Reserve which you really must try) and Nero d'Avola ($42).
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| Preston also makes a Barbera Reserve (only 50 cases) which is available at the winery. |
On the white front, Preston also now grows Ribolla Gialla and Tocai Friulano which it incorporates in a White Wine blend with Sauvignon Blanc.
Of course, you can stop by the DaVero and Preston tasting rooms to see what you missed.
But...you can catch some of the festive spirit here in the musical accompaniment that had everyone smiling. See it on Instagram here to hear the music!
More fun clips on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/festaitaliahbg/
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