A Rich Autumn for Monte Olmi:
A 3-Magnum lot of the 2006 vintage
Auctioned for 90.000 Dollars in Hong Kong
Pedemonte. November, 5 2012
This is the year for Monte Olmi, Fratelli Tedeschi's flagship wine. Not only did the 2007 vintage garner the 3 Bicchieri from Gambero Rosso and the Super 3 Stelle from Veronelli, but the 2006 vintage monopolized the attention at the auction organized by the Comitato Grandi Cru d’Italia in collaboration with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the proceeds from which were destined to support the school of Hostelry and Tourism.
The auction, which was held by Christie’s, took place on October 23 at Hong Kong's Hotel Icon, and featured 11 lots, including the 3-Magnum lot of Amarone della Valpolicella DOC Classico Monte Olmi 2006. The opening price for the lot was 32,000 dollars, but when the bidding came to a close it sold for three times as much, 90,000 HK dollars, which are equivalent to about 9,000 Euros. By itself the Monte Olmi lot accounted for almost 10% of the proceeds from the auction, which brought in slightly more than a million dollars.
Attending the event were the Italian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, Attilio Massimo Iannucci, and the Italian Consul General for Hong Kong, Alessandra Schiavo, while the public included several of the names in Forbes's list of the 15 richest billionaires.
Italian wine still has a long way to go in China, given that it accounts for just 7% of the total imports, by comparison with France's 50%, but Hong Kong is an important gateway and the wines of the Fratelli Tedeschi are already well known and appreciated in the former British colony. To improve the visibility of Italian wines the Comitato Grandi Cru reached an agreement with the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, and the boutiques of the top Italian fashion designers will display the wines in their shops in Hong Kong for a week.
In the meantime, Tedeschi is carrying on with the study and zonation of its vineyards in the Valpolicella Classica area, the same work they brought to conclusion last spring in the Maternigo vineyards, work that allowed them to perfectly manage the vines during the extremely difficult 2012 vintage. In the Monte Olmi Vineayrd, and also the San Giorgio vineyard and the others belonging to Fratelli Tedeschi, the analyses of the quality of the land and the productive responses of the vines are already yielding extremely interesting results, and will soon provide the winery with a scientific overview of all of its vineyards. This will allow them to produce with less environmental impact, with greater care, with reduced waste of materials and resources, and with a capacity for fine-scale intervention few other Italian wineries have at present.
f it is true that great wines are those that have spirit, it is equally true that the great spirit of the wines of Fratelli Tedeschi is firmly based on scientific understanding.
RSS Feed
