I attended the event with my partner in wine, Dave Nelson, aka The Purple Stain. Since there were so many producers unknown to us it was a great learning experience. We came across wines made from indigenous grapes not widely available here. One was a sparkling red wine made from Vernaccia Nera that came from the Marche region. Another was the Schioppetino from Friuli. It was a very tasty and distinctive red.  I have enjoyed many glasses of Lugana in the past but this was my first experience with a sparkling Lugana. One wine in particular that got our attention was the Moletto Raboso Piave DOC 2003. It was a spicy red with a touch of mint stood out even after tasting many other wines.

Many of the wines were being poured by the winemakers themselves. They were more than happy to tell us about each wine and give some background information. I would like to thank Alessandro Lunardi, the director of the U.S. market for Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi.  He took us through the line up of excellent Frescobaldi wines along with the Luce wines. Allesandro was gracious and knowledgeable as he answered my questions about the differences between the Sangiovese grapes that make Chianti and the Sangiovese Grosso used in making Brunello. He was very informative and happy to spend time with us.