Blog
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A Sharecropping Contract Dated November 28, 1467: This is where the story of Tenuta Carretta begins
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in Winery
It was November 28, 1467. The setting was the Castle of Piobesi township. The lawyer Giorgio di Montecauto sat in one of the castle's smaller rooms, one with a fireplace. He had begun drafting an important farming contract that we consider to be one of the earliest and most important mentions of grape growing on the Tenuta Carretta estate. One of the lords of Piobesi was with him: Andrea...
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Are the inhabitants of the Langhe “langhetti” or “langaroli”?
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in Winery
If you follow the Tenuta Carretta English-language blog, you know that there's nothing more that I love than a linguistic conundrum (well, I also love Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Arneis, and am quite fond of vitello tonnato). Last week, I did a post on the various spellings of the vineyard name Cannubi. (Thanks, btw, everyone, for all the kind feedback!) As I was conducting my research for that...
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You say Cannubi, I say Canubbi: What is the correct spelling of the vineyard name?
Above: An photograph taken between Tenuta Carretta's rows in the famed Cannubi vineyard in Barolo. A few weeks ago, I published a post about the origins of the vineyard name Cannubi. It didn't take long for one of my colleagues here at the Tenuta Carretta blog to point out that the toponym is often spelled Canubbi as opposed to Cannubi. There are at least two historic producers of Barolo...
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Giovanni Minetti: Why can’t I drink a bottle of Barolo with my appetizer?
Giovanni Minetti (above) is one of the most respected and beloved wine professionals working in Italian wine today. A former president of the Barolo, Barbaresco, and Alba growers and bottlers association, he has also served as CEO for some of Piedmont's most venerated estates (including Tenuta Carretta). The following post is the first in a series by him on "Wine Myths that Need Debunking"...
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Cannubi: What is the true origin of the name? A new insight…
By no means am I the first person to discover the utility of the Google books search engine and its nifty "customized time" featured. For many of us among the philologically inclined, it's become an indispensable tool in determining when words began to appear in print and when their frequency began to grow. It's important to keep in mind that Google books is not an exhaustive or even hardly...
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Work begins anew in the vineyards with winter pruning
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in Winery
Giuseppe Cavallo, the Tenuta Carretta vineyard manager, explains the importance of winter pruning. Today, it's as if the vines were sleeping. Tomorrow they will bud and later they will give life to new berries. This is the vegetative cycle of the vine. During the cold winter months, it's almost as if the vines were hibernating. And in doing so, they give the plants a welcomed opportunity to...
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Bric Paradiso: “a great Nebbiolo at a reasonable price” according to Joe Bastianich and David Lynch, authors of Vino Italiano
When it was first published in 2002, the renaissance of Italian wine in the U.S. was just beginning to take shape. Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy by Joe Bastianich and David Lynch (Clarkson Potter) was a watershed moment for the Italian wine trade. At the time it was the most comprehensive guide to the wines of Italy that had ever been published in America. When it came out,...
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Best restaurants in Turin (a crowd-sourced short list)
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in Hospitality
Above: The Castello del Valentino is one of Turin's many extraordinary monuments and iconic buildings. The seat of the House of Savoy, Turin was Italy's first capital in country's modern era (1861). It's embarrassing to admit but I've never had a proper meal in Turin. I've visited there a few times and was there recently for last year's Salone del Gusto. I didn't eat in a restaurant on that...
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Happy 2017 and looking forward to another year of blogging at Tenuta Carretta
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in Wines, Winery, Hospitality
Happy new year, everyone! And please let me express my heartfelt thanks for all your support in 2016. You may be wondering why there is a photograph of a classic vitello tonnato accompanying this post. The reasons are multifold. 1) Vitello tonnato is one of my favorite dishes of all time (thank you, Italy! thank you, Piedmont!). 2) You will always find GREAT vitello tonnato at the...
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550 years of viticultural history: Looking forward to 2017 at Tenuta Carretta
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in Winery, Hospitality, Wines
Coats of arms, noble families, and five and a half centuries of history accompanied by a love of wine. Let's begin to explore this fascinating legacy. An important milestone is upon us. And we eagerly await its arrival in grand style. The year 2017 will mark 550 years of Tenuta Carretta's history in wine, an anniversary that makes us deeply proud because it symbolizes an important achievement...
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