• Wine tasting: four steps to approach a wine-glass and have a good tasting experience

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    Wine tasting: four steps to approach a wine-glass and have a good
    tasting experience

    I happen very often during the various events involving my winery to meet
    and chat with several people who ask me for advice on how to taste the best
    wines. Many feel that for a more complete wine product enjoyment it is
    necessary to attend a sommelier course. So I thought of writing this article to
    give you some tips on how to best approach a wine-glass and enjoy a good
    wine. The process goes through four steps.

    It is not necessary to be professional tasters.

    Before I begin I would like to make an introduction. Decide to attend a
    sommelier course is definitely a good idea that will allow you to have a tasting
    experience more complete if you are not a professional taster. Wine is a
    pleasure for everyone, any person who has really interest and passion can
    come close to this drink and appreciate it satisfactorily.
    Let us now see what are the four steps to come close to a wine-glass in the
    right way.

    1. Pour wine and examine it

    Tasting a wine is an experience for all the senses. When you open a bottle
    pour its content into a glass and take a few minutes to observe it. Bring the
    wine-glass at eye level and tray to see the different nuances. Generally the
    White wines have shades ranging from greenish to amber, the Red ones
    instead have shades ranging from grenade purple to darker shades.
    Observing the color of wine allows you to understand if we are going to taste
    a new wine or an aged one. Generally the whites and the young reds have
    lighter shades while the aged ones go towards darker colors.

    2. Swirl the glass

    Swirling the glass you will notice “tears of wine’’ that reveal the viscosity of
    the wine and the alcohol content. Wine is more structured and has high
    alcohol content when more tears of wine appear.

    3. Smell wine

    After visual examination is time to smell. Smell the wine you are going to
    taste. Breath in slowly and deeply in order to taste the bouquet. Generally is
    necessary to make a second swirl and smell for a second olfactory
    experience. This is a very important moment for assessing perfume, intensity,
    persistence and quality. At this stage you can already understand a lot of the
    wine you are going to taste. Always try to notice the different shades to get a
    full and olfactory impression.

    4 Taste

    After having observed the wine with sight and smell you are ready to taste it.
    Take a drop of wine and keep it in your mouth to let papillae and palate to
    savour it fully. You will enjoy flavor, tone and intensity. Each wine has its own
    story that unfolds upon contact with your palate. At this point you will ask me
    “ ok, but at this point how do I know if a wine is really good”. The answer is
    not simple. Every taste is very subjective and each of us tends to have
    different preferences. Remember though that a good wine always leave an
    impression of harmony and balance between its components satisfying the
    palate. After you have swallowed, judge the persistence of flavor and the
    aftertaste that leaves These are some important steps to get close to a
    complete gourmet experience. If you want to appreciate every wine you will
    drink try to sharpen your senses and to grasp all aspects of your glass. What
    at first seems perhaps difficult will become a pleasant habit and a new way to
    approach the wine. One last piece of advice I can give is to do a lot of
    practice, have the opportunity to taste different wines is undoubtedly the
    best way to appreciate more and more flavour and different shades educating
    our senses to greater receptivity.

    Do you want to do a bit of experience?

    Well! Come to Josetta Saffirio Open on Saturday April 21st when the winery
    will be opened to our followers for free tours. Take the opportunity to taste all
    our best products.

  • ReWineD. My idea for IED students

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    ReWineD. My idea for IED students

    ReWineD: a new life for cellar stuff

    In wine-making process have always been used many different packagings such as glass bottles, of course, barrels, cork tops, big and small wood boxes. Manytimes I asked myself “How can I reuse all this stuff?”.I was sure there was a way to give a new life to all these unused things, and to make the production of my wine more virtuous, let’s say more sustainable. I wanted myself to lead a project focused on recycling, strongly connected to another very important matter: environmental sustainability. I have always look at my job of wine-maker as a part of a wider framework; it is not only about my farm but also about take care and respect of our territory. I love to say:

    “Being a farmer is about feeling the hard responsabilty to the land we have inherited from our fathers and that we will give to our children.”

    Why I have chosen IED

    I decide to involve in my project the designers-to-be that now are studying at IED School, in Turin. Who can give me the right answer, if not them? And so the ReWineD! Recycled Wine Design project was officially born. The project is about giving a new life to unused stuff lying in our cellar, transforming objects that are no more useful in our production process into new objects useful in other fields. In cooperation with IED I have funded a scholarship to reward the best idea. The project is addressed to 9 students at the 2nd academic year of IED Product Design course. Professor Giorgio Ceste will lead them. The winner will be chosen by a jury composed of designers, architects and journalists expert of the matter.

    I strongly wanted this project

    I had this idea in my heart for a long time, and I am very proud of it. In 2004 I have converted my farm to organic standards and I am really interested in whatever action can be usefull to achieve a higher level of sustainability, both in my wine-making process and in the recycling of our equipments. There is another fact that makes me really satisfied. A new cooperation network has risen on the territory from this project, for example Italia Bellissima has become partner of ReWineD. Italia Bellissima is a project created by Architect Andrea Capellino, from Asti, and it is a network of Italian architects and craftsmen working in interior design and in the construction sector. Why is it so important? The growing of ReWineD project gives the evidence of a new awareness about these subjects and it shows how sustainability can become a driver for the development of vituous networks.

    The Winner

    This project is my challenge to young designers. And I am preatty curious about the winner, about which will be the most beautiful and functional project made from my cellar stuff. Transforming the raw idea into this well-defined project means a lot to me: it is not so important who will be the winner, the most important thing has been starting a process able to involve big partners and that can bring beneficial effects.
    Do you want to know who will win the call? Follow me on my blog and you will see it! The award ceremony will take place on 4th May at my Winery!

  • At Dinner, in Winery with the Wine Producer

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    At Dinner, in Winery with the Wine Producer

    Friday February 23rd, 6 p.m.
    Azienda Agricola Josetta Saffirio
    Località Castelletto, 39 – 12065 Monforte d’Alba (CN)

    A dinner and a unique experience

    On Friday February 23rd at the Josetta Saffirio Winey will take place a special dinner led by the chef Matteo Morra to whom my special thanks for the tasty menu, that purposes to exalt our 2014’s Barolo, Vintage 2012 and 2014’s Barolo DOCG.
    From the very beginning my desire was to give a unique moment to our guests.
    An encounter between our winery and the Chef’s tastes not only appetizing but a complete tasting experience. Adding the winery discovery and our wines to a highly elaborate menu able to exalt its matching, is what we would like to give to participants.

    The evening’s programme

    Before dinner I will guide you to wineries. There you could watch where and how Josetta Saffirio’s wines born. It will be a pleasure to receive you in the heart of the winery and tell you our history, walking through caskes where our wine silently ripens.
    Then, at the end of the visit, there will be an appetizer directly in barrique wine cellar, in the magic peace and atmosphere where wines become better, sealing an ideal matching between winery and food.
    At the end of the appetizer it will start dinner with a selection of dishes specially invented and created by the Chef.

    The evening’s menu

    Appetizer in barrique wine cellar:

    • Frog-fish, black cabbage and potatoes mousse
    • Veal with tuna sauce
    • Sausage and ricotta cheese “capunet”
    • Russian Salad
    • Toma cheese, celery and hazelnuts

    In matching Nebbiolo d’Alba Spumante Brut Rosé 2015

    At Table:

    • Blue buffalo mozzarella risotto, chestnuts and Marsala reduction
    • Langa’s crust pork and topinambur cream
    • Cheese selection
    • Annurca apples TarteTatin and vanilla sauce

    Wines:

    Info and booking

    If you are curious or begin having drool, you must know that the dinner has a limited number of seats. To participate visit our web site or click here.

    For more informations about the event, contact us by phone or mail:

    • + 39 0173 787278
    • info@josettasaffirio.com

  • Work in the countryside, 4 children and a husband: how I survive

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    It does not seem true!
    I came to the end of the day and I still have time to tell everything that happened to me. Whatever it is, you maybe think.

    Yep. It’s exactly what I thought this morning when I woke up: another day being a mom, a wife, a winegrower, a worker, a chef … whatever!

    I woke up and went to the kitchen. It was soon, very soon. It was late dawn. I prepared the coffee and looked out of the window. What peace, I thought, what tranquility. I saw the rows, I remembered the dedication of my mom Josetta, the enthusiasm in seeing growing every single grape of grapes. The chirping of the birds, the first rays of the sun, that colored flower that was not there yesterday and today is just blossoming.

    How beautiful this silence. I enjoyed it, I admit it: this morning I enjoyed the total absence of noises that could divert my attention from the beauty of nature that surrounds us. Just the calm before the storm.

    Then, at some point in the distance, here is the first thunder: I hear the noise of a door that opens, the children’s room. Here we are. 3-2-1 … mooooooooom!

     

    That’s how it started shooting the big carousel of my day. Whatever, right?!

    Today we thought of making a super picnic. Spend time with my husband and my children, see our family who grows cheerfully in nature, think that I’m building something for them just like my grandfather before, and my mom then, did with me. No, I would not have anything else.

     

    And when you learn to understand this and learn to enjoy the affections, the values of life, such as respect and trust in the family as at work, you realize that everything has a different flavor and scent. Or maybe for the first time you realize how many things you did not even see before, they give you a charge and a power never seen..but only if took in the right way.

    For example, this morning I prepared breakfast for the little ones. One of them overthrew the cup of milk and chocolate on him.

    You can deal with cases such as these in so many different ways: getting angry because your son did not pay attention. Getting nervous because you think you have to clean up the disaster.

    Or, and it’s the way I chose, you still smile at your little one who looks mortified, and you know that your conciliatory smile is enough to make it burst into a loud laugh and you and the others with you. And the sound of laughter attracts the attention of your coming husband and gives you a kiss of good morning.

     

    And the day begins, as we dress and are ready to bring the kids around looking for herbs, through the traces left by the animals that live the nature as we do, as they like to do to us. How it is absolutely right to be. See them running, be careful not to steer the mushrooms, show them the ladybirds, go looking for clowns on this sunny and hot day of the beautiful things we are surrounded.

     

    I will not tell in what conditions we went back home after a full day out! But even in this case, among the games, among the noisy cheers of cheerfulness, we made a bath full of foam and soap bubbles.

    And then, tired and destroyed, we put the kids to sleep, not before telling them the story of the gnome and his best friend, a little bird.

     

     

    And now here I am again. The quiet sound of their breaths of peaceful sleep give me all the joy and strength of this world. I know I’m doing the right thing.

    Now I turn off the light and I fall asleep happy as they are.

    Click.