 I left Portland last Monday on a rainy, grey morning heading down to Eugene for a week of work for Petroio and its wines. It felt nice to take some time off from the two very busy kitchens where I've been working and I knew that it would be fun to put back on my "producer" clothes and visit some of my favorite clients and a new market we still hadn't explored: Ashland. Two dinners were in program at the Excelsior Inn of Eugene, in which both my wines and my food would be featured. I have know Maurizio, the owner and former chef, for many years and we had always wanted to orchestrate something of this sort, but there never seemed to be enough time. This was the perfect occasion. Except for the fact that my dinners were going to be Wednesday and Thursday and I was scheduled to be in Ashland on Tuesday. The only reason I managed to pull this off was thanks to the wonderful staff that awaited me at the Inn. Brian Borroughs, Allan Weller and Shane Tracey not only were welcoming and helpful, but curious and fun to work with, even when things didn't go as we had wished. Walking into a new kitchen each time is a real challenge. You never know want type of equipment, space, fire and people you will be working in. And trust me the kitchen on a hundred year old building should be no challenge for a Roman chef like me, but it was. We prepped together all of Monday and got most of what was possible done..chicken liver pate, ten onion jam, pannacotta and the marinate for the pork. I left my instructions, hoped for the best and took off for Ashland with Christie, our Italian Wine Specialist DownState. Ashland has the beauty of small, quaint and sophisticated little town. It's like you can breathe the shakespearean air all year round.
 So Wednesday morning, all happy for our successes we drove back the Euguene for the final preparation of my two sold out dinners. Needless the say the boys had everything under control and ready for me. So the rest was just pure fun! Or let's more honestly put it this way: dinner number two allowed me to get everything so right that it made some of the hiccups of dinner number one be forgettable. All eighty guests over the two nights had a wonderful time, loved the wines, enjoyed my storytelling of Petroio, appreciated my food and all together had a memorable experience. Which is ultimately my goal every time I do a wine dinner: to plant a seed in the hearts of the people that participate so that they too can become a part of the Fattoria di Petroio family. Being able to cook for them, showing them some real italian and tuscan cuisine, combined to truly tuscan tasting wines, is the best possible way to promote Petroio. Because may it be when I am stirring away my Risotto or may it be when I am at the sorting table taking out bad grapes my ultimate thought is always the people to whom these products will arrive, and that deserve only the best possible.
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 So I guess I knew while I was driving down to Portland from Seattle last Saturday that the next few days where going to be quite intense, with my first big wine dinner planned at Nel Centro already for that Tuesday and my "hanging out" with them after that starting the day after, but never would I have thought that I was not going to have the time to write about it till a week later! These have been the most intense and energizing days ever! To be back in my chef's coat has been incredible. To be able to work side by side with amazing chefs like Cara Powell and Matthew Bemis has been inspiring. To be able to put all my skills at work for Petroio in such a beautiful place as Nel Centro a privilege. The dinner went wonderfully with a group of fantastic guests mixed between old Petroio aficionados and new fans. My pear and gorgonzola risotto paired beautifully with the 2008 Chianti Classico Riserva, and the 2005 and 2006 Riserva Magnums where just treats! A little sneaked in Vinsanto to finish off the dinner and the big event was over before I could really understand what incredible event was accruing around me. Just a huge, indelible smile for all the days to come.. Enjoy some of the shots we were able to take of the dishes, the staff and breath the wonderful atmosphere that was created... What a great first week! It's always kind of easy to start in Seattle. It's home, it's familiar, there's Dedee to stay with and always friends to see. But market wise it has always been a little bit more challenging. Well not this time. Walking around with the 2010 Chianti Classico, the 2008 Riserva and Magnums of 2005 Riserva made my work almost effortless. Throw in the great staff of the Estates Group and I was bound for success. So my great thanks go to Jason and Brandon Frobose for a great start and lunch at Serafina's! (http://serafinaseattle.com).  It was a great pleasure to meet in that occasion the beverage manager of El Gaucho (http://www.elgaucho.com/el-gaucho-seattle.html), Mackenzie Parks, who fell in love with our 2005 Riserva to the point to pick up 12 Magnums for the up coming holiday season. Guess she too saw the great connection between wonderful juicy steaks and lovely aged Sangiovese! Sure made my day. Such was the success of DayOne we had to have the remaining 15 cases of 2005 Riserva Magnums be shipped up to Seattle. Hopefully they will make it on time for the big party that will be held ad Tavolata (http://www.ethanstowellrestaurants.com/locations/tavolata/) and where they would like to have the wines. Brandon Lervold, the new italian wine specialist was a great person to explore new spots and visit old clients with on day two. I can't wait to get him to Petroio so he too can be hooked for life. I feel the wines though already have him on a good path.  Thursday with Andrea Pucci and Friday lunch with new sales manager Kathy Byrd could not have been more pleasant.
Throw in a wonderful breakfast with long time family friends and a crazy night out with my Levenworth family and I can't think of much more I could have asked for. Maybe I could of skipped the not so gracious moment of throwing up out the side of my rental car in front of a police officer on High5!. But I guess that's part of a good adventure too.. So I now head down to Portland knowing that my Petroio duty up here is done for a while and that I'm booked for a second week of promotion up here from December 8th to December 14th. I will hosting a tasting at TenMercer of December 9th and a dinner at Marianna in Redmond on December 11th!  Six years have gone by since that famous lunch where my life turned around. I will never forget how easy it was for me to say yes to my family's request for help, but never would I have imagined how demanding it would all have been. I knew nothing about wine making really, nothing about business. I knew Petroio was in trouble, that the market was becoming more competitive and that the economy was not being helpful. And most of all it's not easy to learn how to be the BOSS. It took time, patience and all the will and stubbornness I had to make it and finally feel that Petroio was safe and back on the right track.
Six years have gone by and my chef coats have only rarely been used. A few private events, some wonderful dinners in our cellar in Petroio and now and then a few cooking lessons, but not much more than that. And that is painful for someone who loved their job as much as I did. It took time but now it's time to pull them all out! I will be away from Petroio physically (iPhones allow me to run almost everything from here and my two wonderful interns, Gian Luigi and Pamela Lenzi, help with the holding down of the fort!) for the next two and a half months. I will be living in the North West promoting our wines by collaborating in some of the finest restaurants in Portland and offering special wine dinners where I will also be doing the cooking. This will of course give me the opportunity to breath and live again the real life of a kitchen and I could not be more excited….. Find me for my first stop at: http://www.nelcentro.com/tuscan-winemaker-dinner-fattorio-di-petroio-winery-november-4-2014/  Good News! Christmas is coming and once again this year Petroio will have their special Gift Boxes available for Christmas gifts.
Filled with all the special and unique products from Petroio along with the addition of some new entries. So check out the possibilities and order early the perfect and always welcome Christmas gift. We suggest the following: small wood box containing Bordelaise bottle of Chianti Classico docg 2010 500ml tin of Extra Virgin Olive oil 2013 Salami made especially for us by local artisans using our Chianti Classico wine € 28,00 small wood box containing Bordelaise bottle of Chianti Classico docg Riserva 2008 500ml tin of Extra Virgin Olive oil 2013 Salami made especially for us by local artisans using our Chianti Classico wine € 36,00 medium size wood box containing Magnum 1,5lt Chianti Classic docg Riserva 2008 500ml tin of Extra Virgin Olive oil 2013 Salami made especially for us by local artisans using our Chianti Classico wine Jar (212gr) of Choco&Wine package of “Ciambellini” cookies made with our Chianti Classico especially for us by a local bakery € 60,00 large wood box containing Bordelaise bottle of Chianti Classico docg 2010 Bordelaise bottle of Chianti Classico docg Riserva 2008 Bottle of Vin Santo Petroio (500ml) 500ml tin of Extra Virgin Olive oil 2013 Salami made especially for us by local artisans using our Chianti Classico wine Jar (212gr) of Choco&Wine package of “Ciambellini cookies made with our Chianti classico by a local bakery €80,00 It is also possible to create your own special box mixing a variety of the products we have available. Choose from the products below and fill your own box and we will let you know our best price for your own select gift Products: IGT Poggio al Mandorlo 2010 750ml Chianti Classico docg 2010 750ml Chianti Classico docg Riserva 2008 750ml Chianti Classico docg Riserva 2007/8 1500ml Vinsanto della Fattoria 500ml Olio EVO 2013 250ml Olio EVO 2013 500ml Olio EVO 2013 1000ml Salami with Chianti Classico 300g Ciambelline cookies with Chianti Classico Cheese from the Maremmana specially packaged for us For information and to place an order please write to us at: [email protected] or Contact us at: 0577/328045 o 3280034135  Harvest finished with all the grapes in the vats in the cellar, I discovered some free time on my hands. And I decided to put those hands to work doing a project that I’d been thinking about for some time….mother yeast created from Sangiovese must And henceforth, bread, focaccia, rolls, grissini at Petroio will all be “born and “raised” here. Fai clic qui per effettuare modifiche. The main thing is to get your head…. Inside the issue!
Coincidences …in life there are never too few. Encounters fortuitous and in fortunate,
So a happy coincidence encountering a woman in the square where I bring my dog Maribò for walks who invites me to participate, last minute, and really incredible at the same event, a young woman present to present, from my High School Visconti where we shared hours of catechism together! So I found myself on my way to the Boscolo Hotel in Milan with 30 bottles of our Chianti Classico Riserva 2008 on board. Well, what was going on exactly? During the evening at the Hotel the filming of “Greatest Chef China-Italy Edition, Salvatore Tassa vs. Xu Zhao”. It was a television program of Excellent Chefing on air on CCTV, Chinese State television with a mean audience of 25 million viewers. An infinite quantity of ingredients that the two chefs fought over and robbed from one another; three round of four plates each; a varied audience of bloggers passionate foodies and curious onlookers, (I was in the last category) all who were assumed to vote each round for their favorite two dishes. Well in the end a winner, a loser and a whole lot of laughs. It goes without saying that on our side our Italian Chef, who had gained a tie, made his point and won even… without salt!!! A fantastic evening, fun and stimulating…lots of new people, who now know Petroio and my particular reality with in a brief space of time A fantastic evening, entertaining and stimulating... and in a very short time 20 million people will be seeing our label on their television screen. I did say 20 million.....Right!  § BERTA'S CHATEAU
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Diana
From the time that I took over managing the Family Wine Estate, I have literally and physically moved to Petroio in order to follow carefully and passionately, first hand, hands on, all the multiple phases of the business. I grew up in Rome and in 2008 had literally no idea what was in store for me. Archives
December 2022
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