The arrival of Italian wine royalty is upon us
Piedmont’s Riccardo Bera and Simone Revello hit Adelaide during March to showcase their anticipated 2016 Vintage Barolo and Barbaresco wines and this South Australian exclusive is cause for excitement.
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When The Beatles rolled into Adelaide in 1964, more than 300,000 people turned up to welcome them. To say hysteria broke out would be an understatement.
For wine enthusiasts, the Hey Jude equivalent usually comes in the form of a) special-release wine, b) a visiting producer from faraway lands, or c) winemaker Drew Noon MW and his wife Rae opening their McLaren Vale cellar door (a once-a-year occurrence that lasts until their wine sells out). The latter happens in November, but the arrival of Italian wine royalty is upon us.
Piedmont’s Riccardo Bera and Simone Revello hit Adelaide during March to showcase their anticipated 2016 Vintage Barolo and Barbaresco wines.
The South Australian exclusive is cause for excitement. The pair represent two of Italy’s most renowned family owned and operated wineries.
Second-generation winemaker Riccardo is the son of founder Walter Bera, who established Bera in 1990. The estate owns approximately 30ha of prime growing land around the communes of Neviglie, Neive and Barbaresco (including the revered Rabaja vineyard in Barbaresco).
They produce 10,000 cases of wine each year, most of which is Moscato d’Asti, but a small amount of their fruit goes into reds. Like the 2015 Bera Barbaresco ($75), made from 100 per cent nebbiolo, spent 24 months in old Slovenian oak and was bottled eight months prior to release.
For more Piedmont magic, splash out on a bottle of the 2009 Fratelli Revello Barolo Rocche Dell Annunziata ($232.20). It’s something special.
Carlo and Enzo Revello are grape whisperers in their home commune of La Morra and also took over from their father in 1990. This beauty showcases one of the great sites in Piedmont; La Morra’s Rocche dell’Annunziata.
Riccardo and Simone will share their family’s creations (alongside a traditional Piedmontese meal) at a Meet the Maker dinner at Campbelltown’s Mercato on Tuesday, March 3 (mercato. com.au, already sold out).
“Wines from the 2016 vintage in Piemonte are shaping up to be exceptional because of very favourable growing conditions across all zones that summer,” says Mercato wine sales co-ordinator Owen Henry Hunt.
“A combination of plenty of sun and ideal day/night temperature variation led to remarkable development of the aromatic characters so distinctive to the region’s iconic reds.”
Meanwhile, Osteria Oggi will also play host to the special visitors.
The Italian restaurant’s five-course Fratelli Revello + Bera dinner on Wednesday, March 4, boasts dishes designed to match the wine ($245 a person, osteriaoggi.com.au).
Come together, right now... cin cin!