On my recent trip to Italy, Brad Lewis and I  traversed much of the northern part of the country. We visited wine estates in Bardolino, Soave, Valpolicella, Friuli and Oltrepo Pavese.

Oltrepo Pavese?? While I have traveled to Italy a number of times I have never been to Oltrepo Pavese. I must admit I was not even sure where it was on the map. Oltrepo Pavese is a cluster of vine covered hills straddling the boundary between the regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. It is in the province of Pavia south of the Po river where the land begins to rise toward the Ligurian Apennines. The name literally translates as "beyond the Po".

Our destination in Oltrepo Pavese was a winery that began production in 1870, the Giorgi Family Estate. Giorgi owns 75 hectares of vines on some of the best terroir in the Oltrepo. The majority of what is planted is pinot nero [pinot noir] and is used in the production of high quality sparkling wine. Today the estate is run by Antonio Giorgi and his two children Fabiano and Eleonora.

 
Eleonora and Fabiano Giorgi

If you have been in any of our stores recently you may already be familiar with a wine made by Giorgi, the Costarosa Sangue di Guida. This sparkling, fresh, fruity, sweet wine has become an instant success story. Legend has it that the friars from this area believed that Sangue di Guida was a "naughty" wine because of its aphrodisiac effects. Maybe our guests are on to something...

Brad Lewis, Paul Quaglini, Nadia Galati and Fabiano Giorgi in the vineyards of Sangue di Giuda.

Paul Quaglini

Wine Supervisor SE Florida