This dinner was organized by Mannie Berk of The Rare Wine Co in Sonoma, CA.
Here is their email announcing this dinner:
Vallana at Del Posto!
Historic Retrospective Back to 1954
Co-hosted by Marina & Francis Vallana [sic, their last name is Fogarty]
Sixty years ago, the short list of great Piemontese producers included an interesting name: Antonio Vallana. Based in the Alto Piemonte, the estate was founded by its namesake in 1937.
Vallana reached its zenith in the 1950s, when Antonio's son Bernando was known for making Spannas as great as virtually any Barolo. [Spanna is the name given to the Nebbiolo grape north of the Langhe.]
And over the next decade or two, Bernando Vallana's wines—bearing cuvee names like Montalbano, Cantino del Camino and Spanna del Piemonte—became well-known as blue chips for Italian wine collectors in the New York area.
Later, in the 1990s, clients of The Rare Wine Co. got to know Vallana through a series of encyclopedic offers of the legendary wines of the '50s and '60s.
But this was not the end of Vallana's winemaking story. The family has continued—through three generations—to make not only Spannas, but also Gattinaras and Bocas, each from particular zone of Alto Piemonte. And today, Antonio Vallana's great-grandchildren Marina and Francis are using the same traditional methods and vineyards to make wines that would make their ancestors proud.
To celebrate The Rare Wine Co.'s appointment as Vallana's first-ever importer in California, we will be hosting, along with Marina and Francis, an historic dinner at Del Posto in New York City featuring Vallana wines from the present back to the 1950s.
The expected lineup is:
1954 Vallana Spanna del Piemonte
1955 Vallana Spanna di Montalbano
1958 Vallana Spanna di Montalbano
1958 Vallana Spanna del Piemonte
1961 Vallana Spanna del Camino
1964 Vallana Spanna di Montalbano
1975 Vallana Gattinara
1988 Vallana Spanna del Piemonte
1996 Vallana Boca
2004 Vallana Gattinara
2009 Vallana Spanna
2010 Vallana Spanna
2010 Vallana Spanna del Camino
These wines will be accompanied by a menu created by acclaimed Del Posto chef Mark Lardner. The wine service will be impeccable as usual, thanks to the skill and passion of Del Posto Wine Director Jeff Porter.
The cost for all this? An incredible $395 per person all-inclusive. Full payment by credit card required to secure. In the event you later need to cancel, payment is refundable only upon our refilling your space.
The Time: Thursday night, May 9th, 6:30 pm
The Place: Del Posto
85 10th Avenue
New York, NY 10011
Telephone 212.497.8090
www.delposto.com
For Reservations:
THE RARE WINE CO.
sales@rarewineco.com
phone: (800) 999-4342
fax: (800) 893-1501
All original content © Ken Vastola