Del Posto Ristorante

La Festa del Barolo Gala Dinner at Del Posto

85 10th Avenue

New York, NY 10011

Tel. +1 (212) 497-8090

The inaugural Festa del Barolo brought together sixteen reference-point producers for what turned out to be an amazing day of tasting great Nebbiolo. During the afternoon session each producer presented a current release Barolo. The focus was on 2007s, but a few of the growers who are late to bottle showed their 2006s.

[Above: The 2007 Barolo Seminar]

Questions from the crowd were abundant during this lively tasting. Several producers were making their first visit to the US, including Roberto Voerzio and Giuseppe Rinaldi. Aside from the wines, which showed great, the consensus highlight of the afternoon was the short speech by Rinaldi. You could hear a pin drop as everyone in the room – attendees, producers and sommeliers – stopped what they were doing to listen with rapt attention as Rinaldi shared his approach to life and wine. It was an unbelievable moment.

[Above: Giuseppe Rinaldi]

The Gala Dinner featured a multi-course menu prepared by Mark Ladner, Del Posto’s Executive Chef. A group of the country’s top sommeliers was on hand to serve the wines. Each producer brought a magnum of an older vintage to share with guests at their tables. Reflecting the spirit of Burgundy’s La Paulée, the annual after-harvest lunch that is the inspiration for La Festa del Barolo, attendees generously brought bottles from their own cellars to share. A charity auction held during the dinner featuring rare lots from the estates’ cellars raised $50,000 for the victims of the Japan earthquake/tsunami. It was a great night all around.

[Above: Federico Cerreto and Luca Currado]