BAROLO MASTERCLASS: A VINE-TO-WINE JOURNEY

Giovanni, the co-owner of Geddo Winery, picked us up in LaMorra, drove us to one of his small production facilities, and for the next few hours we got a hands-on view into the art and science of winemaking. He described the process in detail, and we watched him labor over all kinds of everyday wine tinkering - pumping wine in the tanks from bottom to top, measuring density and alcohol content, describing why different tank materials are used for different wines, etc. It was fascinating to not only learn about the process, but to see it in action from a master was incredible. From there we drove to his own vineyards - the harvest had been several weeks before - but that detracted only a little from the experience. He described the planting and cultivation process. From there he drove us to the winery’s tasting building, where we got into the nitty-gritty of six of the winery’s products. This is not a showy tour, complete with gourmet food. It’s really an educational experience. Giovanni speaks perfect English, and answered our dozens of questions, even those pertaining to the real economics of getting into the wine business. We even talked about how climate change has altered the landscape - literally - for wine producers.