De Vier Musketiers aan tafel: Piëmont in Excellentie
The company Angelo Gaja, Carlo Petrin, Maurilio Garola and Giorgio Rivetti apparently wanted to show itself to the world again, in other words to promote their shop. Being marketing oriented they used the opening of the additional, extra-large wine cellar (75% larger than the previous one) to gather journalists and to combine premium gastronomy and wines. So, the four musketeers sit together at the table, each with his own exposé, a big smile and ready to impress! I'm missing something: the theme "Wine is Energy", the reason for the conference, which is not mentioned at all.
The place to be was La Ciau del Tornavento in Treiso on 9th September 2015, and I was somewhat surprised that the other star, Oscar Farinetti, was not present.
How Carlo Petrin sees the point in adding value to this conference is not completely clear to me, but with his starter Barolo wine in Autogrill he is completely off track. The wines at Maurilio's are of premium quality and they have nothing in common with the under-priced wines, even from the Barolo suppliers who are unknown to Belgians or the Dutch.
Gaja, as usually gesticulating to add more power to his story, spoke about the fact that people visit this region in the first place for the wine and in the second place for the truffles, the gastronomy and more recently for the hazelnut production. In this context he refers to a global comparison, because Belgians and the Dutch have discovered hazelnuts and their marvellous handmade products a long time ago. Furthermore, he speaks very negatively about the labourers in the vineyard who barely earn 3 to 5 euros per hour for a luxury product which the press in Piedmont talks extensively about. Underpayment, moonlighting, inhumane living conditions: it exists, in Piedmont as well. Carlo Petrin also makes a point of it. According to him there is an overproduction of what is supposed to be the King of the Wines.
Maurilio talked about the bad weather conditions – hot and dry – which did not quite guarantee the good quality of the truffle in 2015. He also spoke about the fact that more and truffles are sold outside of the hills of Alba labelled Tartufo di Alba, in the restoration is well. People who buy directly from the truffle hunter know that their origin is correct.
If you want to discover with your own eyes 60,000 wine bottles of internationally renowned producers, then you should certainly drop by for lunch or dinner at Maurilio Garola's, La Ciau del Tornavento. Maurilio has expanded his wine cellar considerably and was, of course, very proud of it at the opening of the new underground wine cellar.
A whopping 2,899 wines from 334 producers from 13 different countries and a selection of the best cheeses and sausages from all over Italy are ready for consumption in the storage cabinets. During the truffle period only 10% of his customers are Italian, the other 90% come from all over the world. Furthermore, his publications in Wine Spectator and his Award of Excellence 2013 and Grand Award 2015 made sure that especially the American gourmets were largely present. Outside the truffle period the ratio is 70% foreigners-30% own population.
How can a restaurant handle an investment to have so many bottles ready for consumption in its cellar? Maurilio’s explanation is quite simple: if you want to attract the public with a good taste, you should be able to provide it in the necessary amounts and the range of offer that is expected. Statistical material confirms this: 18,000 to 20,000 bottles go over the counter. Not only the Italian wine, but also the famous French château wines, about 10% of the wine cellar. That is why he always buys 300 bottles per producer who gladly support him with all the necessary facilities.
Then there’s a dinner with dishes which do not immediately belong to the everyday setting, but are nonetheless excellent. Cheers!
