Monday, March 9, 2009

LA Area Tasting Alert

I thought I’d share a quick news flash today, for any followers of the Trail based in the greater Los Angeles area. My friend Giuseppe Vajra will be pouring a selection of the Piedmontese wines from his family’s estate, G.D. Vajra, this Thursday, March 12, 2009, at Elvino Wines in Venice, CA. The Vajras’ California importer, Justin Gallen of Rinascimento Wine Company, is coordinating the event. Full details of the tasting can be found at the Rinascimento blog.

My photo of Giuseppe, taken during his visit to the east coast last fall, has been following the young Mr. Vajra on his current trip around the States.

Giuseppe and his father Aldo produce beautifully expressive, traditionally made wines throughout their range, from a humble, everyday Langhe Rosso blend to their benchmark Langhe Freisa called “Kyé” and right through to their top Barolo from the cru of Bricco delle Viole. You’ll find details of my last tasting with Giuseppe here.

If you can make it to Thursday’s event, you’ll have the opportunity to taste some great wines and to give moral support to Giuseppe, who’s bravely continuing with his US tour in spite of having blown out his knee in a skiing accident during the Colorado leg of his trip.

5 comments:

TWG said...

Any idea when he'll make it east?

David McDuff said...

No idea at present, Tom, though I'd hazard a guess it may be in autumn again. He was last here in September '08, a brief stop on a whirlwind tour. I'm hoping next time through we'll be able to convince him to stay a bit longer.

Heidi of the Rockies said...

Not on this trip. I was surprised he added LA given his knee injury. Thank Heaven he got hurt in Beaver Creek. He was able to get first class treatment by Dr. Peter Millett and his staff at Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Vail. I believe Giuseppe will be east in the autumn. Between David's blog and mine - dolceedani.blogspot.com - we'll keep you posted on his next trip to the States.

By the way, TWG, if you find yourself in Colorado, you can find Vajra wines at Frasca in Boulder and Splendido in Beaver Creek, among other great Colorado restaurants and wine stores.

Anonymous said...

Hey David,

Justin of Rinasciamento and I go way back (we both worked for Batholomew Broadbent once upon a time); anyway, he and Giuseppe made a quick swing through SF earlier this week, so I got the chance to taste the wines... lovely!

That '07 Dolcetto was really great (I think March and April is the best time of year for Dolcetto), although I was a fan of all the wines pretty much equally.

Cheers!
- wolfgang

David McDuff said...

Very cool, Wolfgang. Glad to hear you liked everything, and I couldn't agree with you more about Vajra's Dolcetto. It's one of my favorites, year in and year out. Have you tried the Coste e Fossati bottling?

Blog Widget by LinkWithin