“FINDING THE LOST BOTTLE”: THE TREND OF TASTING RARE AND OLD WINES IS DEFINITELY ON THE RISE AND OFFERED BY MORE AND MORE WINERIES BUT ALSO AT WINE EVENTS…

Discovering and tasting old and rare bottles in a sort of treasure hunt to “find the lost bottle” seems to be one of the latest trends to have made its way into the wine world in Italy. Its protagonists are the more savvy and experienced wine enthusiasts, who have long been engaged in this kind of “hunt” for the old vintage. It is also affecting the average consumer, though, who intrigued by the possibility of tasting wine that is forty or fifty years old, may even find a wine that is his/her birthday year. The prerogative of the nectar of Bacchus is, that it is the only food that can be kept for a long time and in some fortunate cases, even significantly improve over time. Unfortunately, in the frenzy of our “disposable” culture, it has lost a bit of its historical charm.
This new offer (even though the bottles are old vintages) is quickly becoming well known and the best-equipped wineries (at least for the storage of “antique wines”) are beginning to propose it to their customers as an extension, or refinement, of the traditional offer.
Among several wineries, the Charles Rabezza winery in Turin has put aside and stored many bottles since 1946, with the idea of selling them, for instance, to customers to celebrate their birthdays tasting a Bourgogne Barolo, vintage 1955. Beyond wineries that are enjoying an excellent business opportunity with “antique wines”, the trend seems to be increasingly affecting the world of wine tasting events. This is definitely a positive sign, projecting the culture of Italian wine to the completeness and sensitivity of the French, notoriously involved for years, if not centuries, in the diffusion and appreciation of older vintages. Tomorrow’s (March 20th) wine tasting celebrates the birthday of “Bibenda”, the wine magazine of the Italian Sommelier Association (AIS) in Rome, headed by Franco Maria Ricci. This appointment represents the confirmation of this new trend by offering the chance to taste, among others - Ca’ del Bosco Reserve 1979, Giulio Ferrari Founder Reserve 1989, Terlano Pinot Bianco 1987, Biondi Santi Brunello 1981, Mascarello Barolo 1986, Bertani Amarone 1964…
Info: www.bibenda.it