Let's Talk about Italian Wines, Y'all

So Spanky and I were talking this morning and he said, "Why don't you tell everyone about the class you taught on Monday night? That will make a good post!" I don't know where his sudden interest in  wine comes from, but I'm very impressed.

So here's the skinny. There's a winery in Piedmont (Northwestern Italy, near France. Torino, Winter Olympics 1998. Home of Nutella, Fiat and White Truffles), in a region known as Barbaresco. Here's a map, Barbaresco is near the bottom:

There's actually alot of wineries in Barbaresco but what makes Cantina Sociale Produttori del Barbaresco different is the fact that it is actually a co-operative made of 50+ different growers controlling 250 + acres of vineyards in Piedmont. This is remarkable! 50 Italians agreeing on one thing! C'e magnifico!
They do have a boss-man, Aldo Vacca, and besides managing the growers, he also makes the wine. He is Very Busy.
These growers make a lovely wine called Produttori del Barbaresco "Torre" Barbaresco, which is a delicious Barbaresco (100% Nebbiolo) that retails for around $32-$40, depending on what part of the world you live in. It's a great Barbaresco to jump-start your interest (or in my case, OBSESSION) in wines from Barbaresco and Barolo. This is what the wine label looks like:

And here's where it gets interesting.....theses growers aren't paid on QUANTITY of grapes, they are paid on QUALITY of grapes. And on very good years, they make 9 Single Cru Riservas (aka Single Vineyards), which are some of the best wines found in the Universe. And when they decide to make the Single Crus, they make ALL NINE OF THEM or they don't make them AT ALL. Very cool, right?

They decided that 2007 was a fantastic vintage and that they should make the Single Crus, which were just released not too long ago. And because I am a huge fan of these wines, I taught a class about them earlier this week:

Here's my picture of my babies, I mean bottles.

So, what I suggest is that you go to the website: Produttori del Barbaresco

This is truly one of the most important wineries in the World, not just Italy. The sense of place and the history of this winery is second only to the full-on-freakin' deliciosity of these wines. FOR REELZ.

My class was success, by the way. I like to think it was my teaching skillz, but probably not. These wines speak for themselves. I could have been singing "Edelweiss" from "The Sound of Music" and and showing people the correct way to load the dishwasher and still the class would have been a success, provided everyone was drinking.

So, I am presenting these wines again at a charity function this Sunday night!
This is the charity: MS Society "Evening of Wines.
If I see you there on Sunday night, you may have to shut me up or I will go on and on about these wines. Really, it's kinda obnoxious, but I don't care.
Have a good Friday! Me n Spanks n the Boyfriend gonna sip on some juice!