Tasting
opportunity: the wines of Friuli
I
thought I'd draw the attention of wineanorak readers to a tasting
opportunity. It's a rare chance to try the wines from some 41 Friuli
producers, and if you have the opportunity to attend, I'd urge you to
make this one a priority. Press release and information are reproduced
below. Jamie Goode
SUPERWHITES
The
Great White Wines of Friuli
Selected by Slow Food Friuli for Wines Lovers Everywhere
18th
October 2003
@ The Jolly Hotel St Ermin's, Caxton Street, St James's, London SW1
As
'super reds' are to Tuscany, 'super whites' are to Friuli and it is in
this vein that Slow Food Friuli created SuperWhites –
an event dedicated to the tasting and enjoyment of over one hundred
and twenty of the best white wines and gastronomic specialities from
the region.
For
the first time, this extraordinary international Slow Food event will
take place in Britain on Saturday the 18th October at The Jolly
Hotel St Ermin's in London when forty-one of the region's
producers will give wine lovers a chance to taste many wines that are
not yet available in the UK, along with the opportunity to meet the
men and women who make Friuli Venezia Giulia a world-class wine
region.
The
SuperWhites Grand Tasting will also feature a tasting
buffet of the region's typical specialities and traditional dishes,
prepared by visiting chef, Alessio Devide, from Guido Lazellotti's
osteria, ALTRAN. Additionally, wine lovers may choose from a flight of
seven internationally acclaimed Slow Food Taste Workshops,
each led by experts from Italy. (Pre-booking
recommended.) These feature the region's different wine varietals and
styles, including Tocai, Friuli's historic master white wine; Blends
& Monovarietals; and Sweet Wines, showcasing the region's great
dessert wines ~ among them the legendary Picolit.
According
to Giulio Colomba, International Vice President of Slow Food and
founder of Slow Food Friuli, "Superwhites is an informal and
convivial event and we invite Londoners to simply enjoy the wines from
our region as they were intended - with good food and in good
company."
Superwhites
is being hosted by Slow Food London in conjunction with
The Jolly Hotel St Ermin's as part of our programme of international
exchange. Funds raised will go to Slow Food London to support our
ongoing efforts to promote Britain's local and regional producers and
our taste education programme.
For
more information and a copy of the programme:
http://www.slowfood.com/eng/sf_eventi/sf_eventi.lasso
Ticket
Prices
Admission to Grand Tasting (incl. buffet):
In
advance: £30.00 (£20.00 for Slow Food
members)
At
the door: £35.00
(£25.00 for Slow Food members)
Taste
Workshops:
£10.00 per person (per workshop)
To
book, contact:
Silvija Davidson, Slow Food London
T: 07740 940 919 Email: silvija@btinternet.com
Wendy Fogarty, Slow Food London
T: 07712 842 777 Email: wfogarty@compuserve.com
About
Friuli Venezia Giulia
Friuli Venezia Giulia nestles in the northeastern corner of Italy
sharing borders with Slovenia and Austria.
It is bounded to the north and east by the mountains that shape
its climate, protecting it from cold north winds. Relatively high
rainfall and the sea to the south ensure a limited range of
temperature variation through the year over most of the region's
territory.
Viticulture
and wine have ancient roots that go back to the Roman army's practice
of assigning to retiring legionaries a small sum of money, a plot of
land, some seeds and … a few vines. Aquileia, near the Adriatic sea, was for centuries the
second city of the Roman Empire and around it, there grew up a
thriving culture of wine. Today, vines are cultivated all over the
Friulian plain and cover the region's hillslopes as high as the
climatic conditions and soil types will allow. Since the late 70s,
Friulian wines have enjoyed immense prestige, a reputation earned
above all by the whites.
The
introduction of temperature-controlled vinification techniques has
made it possible to conserve in the bottle all the rich aromas of the
freshly-harvested fruit and the success of these wines has radically
transformed the profile of Friuli's vine stock. Today, white varieties
account for more than 60% of total production in hillslope vineyards
while on the flatlands, plantings of white and red vines are more or
less comparable. The SuperWhites project was inspired by Slow Food's
desire to bring to consumers' attention the superb quality of the
white wines made in Friuli.
A
large number of different vine varieties are cultivated in the region.
Some are internationally known; others are native grapes exclusive to
the region – but all express their characteristics to the full in
Friuli. As we hope to demonstrate here at this event, Friuli is truly
a land of great white wines.
About
Slow Food
Slow
Food is an eco-gastronomic movement founded in 1989 in reaction to the
growth of fast food culture and out of concern for the impact that
convenience is having on global bio-diversity and culinary heritage.
At the heart of the movement is a philosophy that aims to protect and
to celebrate good food as a reflection of regional culture, skill and
tradition. Slow Food is now active in 45 countries worldwide with over
65,000 members including more than 1,000 in the UK, where there are 16
convivia (local groups) in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland.
General
Enquiries:
0800 917 1232. www.slowfood.com
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