#Winelover Unite at 'Beyond Argentina 2016' by Philip S. Kampe

The night of Wednesday, October 5th was a night to remember..
With perfect weather for the outdoor tasting and 'gourmet meal' that followed, the crowd of fellow #Winelover welcomed the amazing line-up.
The event was tagged as 'Argentina Beyond 2016' and took place at Colonia Verde, a restaurant on DeKalb Street in Brooklyn's, Fort Greene section.
The organizers titled the event with this catchy tag line,'A unique date with the avant-garde of wines.
As you can see, the photos really tell the story...

On Luiz Alberto's Birthday Year, Drink Brazilian Sparkling Wines from Casa Valduga by Philip S. Kampe

                                             Casa Valduga;s 'Sparkling Wines'

Today is Luiz Alberto's Birthday.

Luiz is the founder of the #Winelover Community, with over 20,000 members worldwide and at last count, 38,888 Twitter followers.

Luiz was born in Brazil, as was his wife, Nanci Bergamo. They both still have Brazil in their souls.

At our (with my wife, Maria) last visit to their home (mansion) in Wellesley, Massachusetts, Luiz poured a 'sparkling wine'to welcome us to their new house. He said, 'I bet you can't guess where this wine is from?' Honestly, I was stumped. Luiz proudly said, BRAZIL.

That is when my fascination for sparkling wines from Brazil began.

During my journey to find the best sparkling wine from Brazil, I stumbled onto Casa Valduga, a winery with a 140 year history in Brazil. The Valduga family arrived in 1875 from northern Italy. Winemaking began in Brazil four generations ago.

Today, Luiz Valduga heads the operation at Casa Valduga, where modern technology and old world charm meet. The sparkling wines are made the Traditional Method also known as methode champenoise.  This is the same way champagne is made, using a second fermentation. This process creates the highest possible quantity of bubbles, as the maturation process occurs in an underground sparkling wine cellar, considered the largest in Latin America, with a capacity of more then six million bottles.

The vineyards of Casa Valduga lie in three locations in the south of Brazil:
Vale dos Vinhedos—Leopoldina
Serra do Sudeste---Identidade
Campanha—Raizes

The sparkling wines that I sampled are rivals of the famous French houses. After sampling ‘130’ from Casa Valduga, I realized that the traditional grapes, 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, have a home in Brazil.

The ‘130’ was elegant, creamy, full of bubbles, intense and persistent.

The 2014 Blush, made with 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir was overly aromatic and flavorful focusing on honeydew melons, cantaloupe and toasty almond butter. The lingering finish coated my palate for several minutes.

2014 Brut Arte was made with 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir. Fresh red fruit mixed with an undying acidity made this sparkling a favorite of mine. The aroma of honeysuckle hypnotized me.

During my quest for sparkling wines from Brazil, I went a little off the course and sampled an amazing 100% Cabernet Franc from Casa Valduga named ‘Raizes’ a 2012 and a 2014 Cabernet named ‘Don Guberino.’

Both wines are on their way to stardom.

As is Casa Valduga, a wine imported by Heritage Brands of California.

Philip S. Kampe

Philip.kampe@thewinehub.com  

OperaWine 2015 | Interview - Luiz Alberto - Italian Wine Ambassador

OperaWine 2015 | Interview
Luiz Alberto - Italian Wine Ambassador

Here's the link:
http://www.winelover.co/italian-wine-ambassador-such-a-great-honor/

Brought to you by: #winelover against cancer

You still can get your t-shirt here: 

http://winelover-store.myshopify.com/collections/tshirts 

Cheers, Luiz Alberto

• Founder of the #winelover community

• Master of Wine candidate

• Member of the Circle of Wine Writers

• Italian Wine Ambassador

• I combine my passion for wine with social media

• Follow me on twitter: @thewinehub

•  On Instagram: 1winelover

LUIZ ALBERTO, #1 #WINELOVER in the World Wants To Meet You in Manhattan posted by Philip S. Kampe

Attention all Chianti Wine Lovers!  LUIZ ALBERTO is not asleep at the wheel. He is memorizing facts about Chianti to share with you in New York City on April 27th

                                                           

                                                            Join me on April 27th

Luiz Alberto fans, experience the unmistakable taste of Italy returning to New York City in what has become an annual tradition. The Consorzio Vino Chianti will present over 30 different wineries to the trade, media and wine lovers on Monday, April 27, at the magnificent structure of the 20s, located in the heart of the trendy Chelsea District, The High Line Hotel. The day-long event will start with a blind tasting and presentation “The Media’s Point of View: Chianti” led by an illustrious panel consisting of: Ray Isle – Renowned journalist and executive Wine Editor of “Food and Wine Magazine” LUIZ ALBRTO – Charismatic founder and CEO of the popular blog, “The Wine Hub” Sarah Bray – Passionate journalist and contributor to “The Somm Journal” Giovanni Busi – President of the Consorzio Vino Chianti and owner of Villa Travignoli The content discussed during the seminar will cover Chianti in various communication channels, and the expert’s point of view. In the afternoon, the gothic influenced Refectory ballroom at The High Line Hotel will be the setting for a walk around wine tasting. More than 30 wineries from one of Italy's finest regions will pour their latest releases exclusively for the trade and media from 1 pm to 5 pm. In the evening, from 6 pm to 8 pm, the tasting will open to #ChiantiLovers and Snooth Media subscribers offering them the opportunity to choose and taste from a wide selection of labels offered by the Consortium and engage first-hand with the winery producers. Even as a young and fresh wine, Chianti aims to reach the highest quality.  All these elements can be found in the commitment the Consortium is vastly carrying out to spread its culture and history, which can be found inside and outside the glass. A concept of territory and a denomination that wants to express quality along strong lasting emotions. Consorzio Vino Chianti participating wineries in NYC include an exciting array of the familiar and new: Agricola Pugliano, Agricola Tamburini, Azienda Agricola Castel di Pugna, Azienda Agricola Lanciola, Cantina Sociale Colli Fiorentini – Valvirginio, Cantine L'Arco, Castello del Trebbio, Castelvecchio, Colognole, Fabrizio Forconi - Podere dell'Anselmo, Fattoria Casalbosco, Fattoria Dianella, Fattoria Il Colombaio, Fattoria Sant'Appiano, Guidi 1929, Le Fonti a San Giorgio, Malenchini, Piandaccoli, Pietraserena, Pietro Beconcini Agricola, Pieve de' Pitti, Ruffino, San Gervasio, Tenuta Bichi Borghesi, Tenuta Il Corno, Tenuta San Jacopo, Tenuta San Vito, Tenute di Fraternita, Uggiano, Val di Botte, Villa Artimino, Villa Travignoli, Vino Sorelli, Viticoltori Senesi Aretini.   The program is as follows: 11.00am – 12.30pm (The Rusack Room) Seminar/Guided Tasting “The Media’s Point of View: Chianti” followed by a lunch buffet 1.00pm – 5.00pm (The Refectory) - Walk-around wine tasting open to trade and press 6.00pm – 8.00pm (The Refectory) - Walk-around wine tasting open to Snooth Media & wine lovers The Chianti Wine Consortium was established in 1927 by a group of wine producers in the Provinces of Florence, Siena, Arezzo and Pistoia. Subsequently the Consortium expanded its operations to include the whole production area recognized by the 1967 Regulations, later assimilated into the Guaranteed Registered Designation of Origin (DOCG) recognized in 1984 and updated, for the last time, with a decree dated 19th June 2009. The Consortium protects over 3600 producers, working more than 15,500 hectares of vineyards, producing in excess of 800,000 hectoliters of Chianti wine of various zones and typologies and has been attributed the “ERGA OMNES” recognition for its representative status. It was charged with carrying out functions regarding consumer information, protection, promotion and valorization, as well as the general care of interests related to D.O.C.G. “Chianti”, through a Decree issued by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies on September 3rd 2012. Learn more by visiting www.consorziovinochianti.it                                                                                                            For more information, please visit www.ieemusa.com.              Philip S. Kampe philip.kampe@thewinehub.com

T

Wines of Brazil, birthplace of Luiz & Nanci Alberto, RISE 23% in 2012

Volume of Brazilian fine wine exports 

grows 23% in 2012

Figures from Wines of Brasil have also registered a growth in exported value, in the number of buying countries 
and company members

A growth of 23% in volume and 6% in value are some of the positive indices observed in the balance of export results 
of exported bottled fine wines of Wines of Brasil project in 2012. The project winery members accounted for 
US$ 3.25 million in sales abroad last year, against US$ 3.06 million in 2011. In the same comparison, the exported 
value went from 705.6 thousand liters to 868.7 thousand liters. The result obtained by the Wines of Brasil company 
 members represents 48% of the general total of Brazilian wine exports.

In the overall 2012 data analysis, due to an operation carried out in relation to Russia via Production Flow Award (PEP),
 2.78 million liters of bulk wine were commercialized to this country, with a financial result of US$ 1.39 million. 
This operation, carried out as a one-off last year, represented 76.24% of the total exported volume and 30% of the value
 invoiced by the Wines of Brasil project. Due to being bulk wine and an operation instigated via a regulating tool of 
stocks from the Federal Government, for measuring effects, this data will not be considered as part of the project’s
 commercial effort. Wines of Brasil, a project carried out by Ibravin in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment 
Promotion Agency (Apex/Brazil) to promote fine Brazilian wine abroad, celebrated the fact that it has expanded the number 
of company members from 35 to 39,  with 15 of them exporting in 2012, sending their labels to 33 different countries,
 compared to 31 in 2011. “We have a lot of room to grow in the international market. The initiatives’ results in the last years
 by the project are reverberating now and Brazil has gained attention thanks to the sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup
 and the Olympics. Thus, I believe that in 2013 we will have even better results”, analyses the director of promotion for the
Brazilian Wine Institute (Ibravin) Andreia Gentilini Milan.

Out of the eight countries considered priority by the project, seven have shown a growth in sales, and in six of them – 
China/Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden, Canada and Germany – exports by the project’s company members 
represented 100% of wines sales carried out in Brazil.

China is the great highlight in performance in the country

In the performance analysis by country, the highlight is China, which until 2010 was a non-existent destination for 
Brazilian wines. In only two years the country took the first position in the ranking in export values of bottled fine wines. 
In 2012, China had a growth of 66% in exported value compared to 2011, accounting for US$ 621.5 thousand.
 In terms of volume, the growth rose 59% in the same period, with 73.2 thousand liters. 
The country also showed one of the highest average values per exported liter, from US$ 8.14 to US$ 6 of average 
registered in the eight target countries. Another interesting data point is that exports from the Wines of Brasil 
company members represent 93% of the general wine exports to this market.

In 2012, Wines of Brasil has basically doubled the number of activities developed for Brazilian wine international promotion. 
Eighty-one initiatives were distributed in commercial promotion projects, positioning and image, information, 
 production support and quality and information availability, compared to 43 initiatives carried out in 2011. 
These initiatives are made up of eight international fairs, eight buyer’s projects, 10 image projects with foreign
 journalists and opinion formers, eight Master Classes and 32 tastings with specialized public, amongst other activities.

For 2013, the project’s established goal is to reach US$ 5.3 thousand million in exports. “In 2013 we want to participate 
effectively in the markets of United States, China, United Kingdom and Germany for, in few years, to become a steady 
option in the consumers’ minds in these countries”, explains Andreia.

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