TN: Gala Dinner of La Festa del Barolo

WINE TALK
#1

This is the first one from almost 2 years ago. I was motivated to write up my notes and post photos due the announcement of the next one this April.

GALA DINNER OF LA FESTA DEL BAROLO - Del Posto Restaurant, NYC (3/26/2011)

This is the evening portion of this wonderful event put on by Antonio Galloni with a lot of hard word by his lovely wife Marzia. The afternoon was tasting of current release Barolos. You can find my notes on that tasting here.

At this dinner, each group of attendees was matched with one Barolo winery and seated at a table with the owner/winemaker who attended. By our request, my group was seated with Giuseppe Rinaldi and his daughter Marta. My friend Greg dal Piaz sat 2 seats away from me and next to Giuseppe. Since he speaks fluent Italian, I asked him to ask Giuseppe a simple question: What was the first vintage of Giuseppe Rinaldi wine? They chatted away intensely for 10 minutes, so I asked Greg if he had gotten an answer. He said not yet. Then after 20 minutes, then an hour, finally I gave up. Greg had a great time and learned much, but never got an answer to my question.

I too had a great time. As you will see below, the list of great wines I got to taste was enormous. Thus my notes are quite brief. Obviously wines like these are best appreciated in a small group with lots of time to spend with each wine. But this is a different kind of event and a different kind of pleasure. The next La Festa del Barolo will be in April 2013, and I can assure you that I will be there.

There are photos, food, and more commentary on my website:
http://www.finewinegeek.com/tn/2011-03-26_BB_LaFestaBarolo_2/

Flight 1: Getting Started

Flight 2: Warming Up

Flight 3: Around the Salad

Flight 4: With the Pasta Courses

Flight 5: With the Meat Course

Flight 6: The End.

An amazing evening of great wine, great company, and great fun. The food at Del Posto was excellent, but it took too long for red-wine-friendly dishes to come out. My only complaint on an otherwise perfect event.
Posted from CellarTracker

#2

That is an amazing array of wines. Very envious.

#3

Phew… I would not have minded attending this dinner at all. I am but an amateur in the Piemontese field(s), but keenly interested nonetheless. From the sheer number of times you were invoking higher powers alone, the fact can be induced that you really enjoyed yourself too. [wink.gif]

#4

I believe tickets for the next one go on sale soon.

#5

Ken - what’s the date for this years event?

#6

April 26 and 27, 2013. My understanding is that on Saturday the 27th, it will be pretty much the same as last time: An afternoon tasting of the current vintage (2008) with each winemaker speaking about his or her wine. Then the evening dinner like the one I posted about here with one winery per table. The Friday event is new. I assume Antonio won’t mind my copying a bit of the description of the Friday event from eRP:

This year’s edition of La Festa del Barolo will kick off with an intimate Rare Wine Charity Dinner at Eleven Madison Park on Friday April 26. The Rare Wine Dinner will be held to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy. We will be pouring a selection of hard to find gems paired with the brilliant cuisine of Executive Chef Daniel Humm. Some of the wines include Cappellano’s 1998 Barolo Otin Fiorin Pie Franco, Giuseppe Rinaldi’s 1998 Barolo Brunate Le-Coste, Roberto Voerzio’s 1999 Barolo Cerequio, Scavino’s 1990 Barolo Riserva Rocche dell’Annunziata (magnum), Bruno Giacosa’s 1989 Barolo Riserva Falletto, Vietti’s 1988 Barolo Rocche, Brovia’s 1985 Barolo Rocche, Cavallotto’s 1978 Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe and Bartolo Mascarello’s 1958 Barolo (magnum) and 1955 Barolo (magnum). 100% of profits will be donated to charity.

#7

Today:

http://www.lafestadelbarolo.com/

#8

Bummer. The tickets for both Saturday events are sold out. Only the dinner is now available.