San Francisco Bay Area Wine-Biondivino Winemaker Tasting: Giorgio Rivetti - La Spinetta this Tues 6-8pm The Rhinos Stampede!

hello friends of biondivino~ This Tuesday, the 10th of June  6 to 8pm we have the fortune of sharing an evening with GIORGIO RIVETTI visiting from his winery LA SPINETTA in Piemonte I met Giorgio last year when he visited the shop. I was captivated from the very moment. Giorgio is one of the most charming, elegant, but completely down-to-earth men I have met. While tasting his wines with him, I too asked the enevitable question "why the rhinoceros?". He then jokingly told me a made up story that was completely unbelievable and had me going for a bit... then he fessed up and told me the real reason... (to know why too... you'll have to read below). While tasting, we talked of piemonte, truffle hunting with his dogs, the coastal area of Forte dei Marmi and Barolo. The 2001 vintage of his Campe was sold out here in California - I mentioned "ah - I would love to have it too bad!" to which, Giorgio said: "I will send it for you from Italy". He did - and we now have it... in a very small amount... He is a true gentleman and I am so honored and happy he will be here with us on this very special evening. _____________ I hope you will be able to join us this Tuesday to talk with Giorgio and to taste and enjoy his well loved wines salute ~ ceri

"Why the rhinoceros?" ... is certainly the question we get asked most often. The animal that decorates our bottles catches people's attention. Quite frankly there is no real connection between this animal and LA SPINETTA. There remains the unspectacular truth of Giorgio Rivetti always having had great admiration of this celebrated drawing and woodcut by the German artist Albrecht Dürer. Although there is no rhino story of LA SPINETTA, there certainly is a great story behind this particular rhino, which perhaps is one of the reasons why Giorgio fell in love with this artwork. The drawing records the arrival of an Indian rhinoceros in Lisbon, Portugal in 1515. It was the first animal of its kind to be seen in Europe. As a gift by the governor of Portuguese India to the king of Portugal, it was arranged that the rhino fought an elephant. The elephant apparently turned and fled. A description of the rhino soon reached Germany, presumably with sketches, from which Dürer prepared this drawing and woodcut without ever having seen the actual animal. So convincing was Dürer's fanciful creation that for the next 300 years European illustrators borrowed from his work, even after they had seen living rhinos without plates and scales. For our first Barolo Campè, we also chose a pencil drawing by Dürer, the lion. As Barolo is generally known as the king of Italian reds, we thought that the king of all animals was a fitting match.      Website: http://www.la-spinetta.com/ ___________________________________________ Tuesday, Giorgio will be pouring his:     Barbera d'Asti, 'Ca di Pian', La Spinetta 2005               $26. Barbera d'Asti  'Bionzo',(Barrique) La Spinetta 2005       $49. Pin, Monferrato Rosso, (Nebbiolo/Barbera) 2005             $48. Barbaresco Riserva, 'Valeirano', La Spinetta 2004           $122. Barolo, 'Campe', La Spinetta 2003                                 $125. Sangiovese 'Sezzana', La Spinetta 2003                          $48. Moscato d'Asti, 'Bricco Quaglia', La Spinetta 2007(375)  $13. ___________________________________________

Friday - 6th of June 6-8pm biondivino wine boutique 1415 green street (cross polk/van ness) 415.673.2320 $15 tasting fee

we counted... 158 wines $20 and under

"We've reserved you a spot!"   parking in russian hill is tough... we've got you covered. no quarters or cards needed if only they had painted it orange...

biondivino wine boutique carries around 490 different wines from all 20 regions of italy - even including ischia - we step outside italy a little bit... heading north, east and west into austria, slovenia, croatia,switzerland and france focusing on smaller producers with a ton of heart and soul in their wines and obscure and unique indigenous varieties. 154 wines that are $20 and under for your everyday enjoyment. we also feature billecart-salmon champagne. we are open monday to saturday 11am - 11pm  and  noon to 9pm on sundays. we look forward to sharing some fun exciting wines with you soon~ biondivino wine boutique 1415 green street san francisco ca 94109 415.673.2320