Portland Oregon and Barbaresco Italy – They are closer than you think
by Donna Macdonald

When my partner John Rizzo and I moved from Portland OR to Northern Italy the hardest part of the decision was saying goodbye. What we have since figured out is that we will be seeing far more of our neighbors and friends than we ever expected. It seems that Oregon and the area we moved to in the Piemonte Region are closer than I ever realized
.

Six thousand miles, a nine-hour time difference and a language divide seem like an insurmountable separation, yet for the last fifteen years the two regions have developed an unusually strong bond. Thanks in part to the diligence, hard work and charisma of an unassuming man by the name of Aldo Vacca.

Aldo works at the winery Produttori del Barbaresco that was founded in 1958 as a cooperative of growers dedicated to growing the best grapes and making only top quality Barbaresco. The members of the cooperative are families who have been growing grapes on this land for centuries. Aldo took over the position of Director from his father and local legend Celestino Vacca. It was a time when the American wine market was taking off but everybody loved Tuscan wines. Very few people even knew where Piemonte was on a map.

“Piemonte was a hard sell when I first started working in America, it took people like Peter Degarmo at Pastaworks to sell the wines from this region, and Matt Kramer to write about them. Today I would say that I have someone visiting from Oregon at least once a month. Even in the winter.” Aldo says with a quiet smile, “It’s not like Barbaresco on the tour bus map. The travelers who come here seem to like to immerse themselves in the culture but they also enjoy the food and wine.”

Peter Degarmo of Pastaworks remembers a time when he could stock every Italian wine available on the market, which is no longer true today.

“I don't recall when Produttori's wines were first available to us, but I think Don Oman visited Barbaresco in 1989 or 1990. Pat and I first went to Barbaresco in 1991.” Don Oman was at the time partners in Pastaworks and has since gone on to start Casa Bruno the wine importer. “Aldo Vacca and the Produttori have defined the market in Portland. Aldo is an incredible diplomat. He is genuine, knowledgeable, sincere and very hard working.” Degarmo says

The wines from this region are delicious, interesting and complex wines, but when they are consumed with food, especially food from this region, the whole meal is elevated to a culinary ecstasy. Aldo commented that if people came to this region once, they often kept coming back year after year.

That’s what happened to us. We traveled here just for one day before a photo shoot in Umbria with Cathy Whims and David West five years ago and now we are living here!

Located close to the sea and surrounded on three sides by mountains the Piemonte sits in a microclimate that is perfect for food, wine and majestic beauty. The Piemonte is known for their
hazelnuts, mushrooms, fertile growing land for fruit and vegetables not to mention the calcium and clay soil in the hills that make incredible wine. The restaurants of the region proudly identify the sources for their superior local products. Hmmm… Sound familiar?

The next time you pass the 45
th Parallel sign north of Salem, imagine yourself driving along the Autostrada just outside of the city of Torino, the location of the 2006 winter Olympics, with the Cottian Alps in the distance to the West and the Maritime Alps to the South. This spot is also halfway between the equator and the North Pole.

The Langhe is a stretch of hills that runs from the town of Asti towards the sea. The hills of the Langhe are the food and wine sweet spot of the entire region which has made it a mecca for travelers in search of a vacation without typical tourist fare and tour bus traffic that has made other regions of Italy less attractive. The heart of the Langhe for many visitors from the Northwest is the village of Barbaresco and the nearby towns of Alba and Bra. Alba is famous for their white truffles and they are Sister City with Medford Oregon. In the time I have lived here I have met a few winemakers who traveled to Medford during their summer vacations when they were in school. Bra is the village where the headquarters of Slow Food is, and where the organization got its start.

Slow Food is the International organization that started with a mission to offset the influences of fast food on a culture and has grown into a highly respected organization spreading the word about the necessity to protect local sources of food across the globe. The 2006 Terra Madre gathering in Torino attracted more than 6,000 people from 150 countries. Slow Food Founder Carlo Petrini acknowledged Portland as the first Slow Food convivium in the U.S. in 1991 and Portland continues to be one of the largest groups in the country.

Oregon sent more than 40 delegates to Terra Madre including food producers, chefs and educators. My waistline can attest to the fact that several of them made the trek to our village for a visit and a meal. What I am uncertain of is if they came to visit us, or for the truffles and Barbaresco… Let’s just say it was all of the above.

When deciding to move to Italy, the Piemonte was not an obvious choice for us. We had spent a great deal of time in Tuscany and Umbria and John’s heritage is Sicilian, Tuscan and Roman. I lobbied hard for the city of Perugia, which will always be very close to my heart but every time John took a bike ride along the top of the Langhe ridge with Aldo Vacca and the boys from Barbaresco, Perugia kept getting further and further away. We now live in the village of Neive, about a mile away from Barbaresco.

Last October the population count of the region increased by one when photographer John Anthony Rizzo, (Giovanni Antonio Rizzo in Italian), claimed his Italian citizenship. When he asked if there would be a swearing in ceremony, the official replied, “We only do that for the foreigners. You are already Italian.”

Rizzo is originally from Boston, Massachusetts, and for more than 15 years he called Portland Oregon his home. John is a nationally known photographer who came to Portland in 1989 and in one short year he opened a photography studio and art gallery in a 10,000 square foot space on the 6th floor of what was the Artisan Center building. At the time the Pearl District was considered to be the bad side of town and we had to escort uneasy art directors to and from their cars, or they wouldn't venture north across NW Burnside for a photo shoot. While he still maintains some clients in the Northwest the move to Italy has kept him pretty busy.

When I first met Aldo Vacca in addition to his actual job of being the Director of the winery Produttori del Barbaresco, he was also the President of the Enoteca Regionale del Barbaresco as well as the Vice-Mayor of the village.

Aldo couldn’t pass up the temptation of having a photographer in the next village so in celebration of twentieth anniversary of the Enoteca Regionale del Barbaresco Aldo commissioned John to photograph a book titled Barbaresco Terroir. His idea had always been to tell the story of the region with photographs to show people just what a majestic and ruggedly beautiful place Barbaresco is.

Barbaresco Terroir was a labor of love for all concerned. It tells the story of the people who live here and the history of the region. It conveys what a unique place this is where the perfect balance of the soil, grape, climate and people all come together to make the perfect Barbaresco Terroir!

The book is written in both English and Italian with a forward written by Portland’s own Piemontephile and wine columnist Matt Kramer. For full disclosure, I helped with the English translations, but trust me on this – it was not difficult work and there was more than one bottle of wine consumed in the process. Barbaresco of course!



SIDE BARS
The book Barbaresco Terroir is for sale in Italy and only a handful of wine shops across the United States, there is only a limited number available in Portland and will be for sale on Sunday February 24 when Aldo Vacca and Francesco Gigliotti will be sampling cheese and wine from the Piemonte at Pastaworks on Hawthorne.


THE WINE FACTS
For you wine-heads - here is the skinny - the wine called Barbaresco is made with the grape Nebbiolo (so is its nearby neighbor Barolo), and it must be grown in a very specific zone surrounding the village of Barbaresco. The wine must be aged for at least two years in wood and one year in bottle. Barbaresco is a D.O.C.G. The
D.O.C. part means it is an acknowledged unique grape varietial. The G part means there are restrictions on the number of bottles that can be produced with the Barbaresco name on it.

Barbaresco isn’t the only delicious wine from this area, Barbera, Nebbiolo or Dolcetto are other options from this part of the Piemonte.



OTHER BONDS

Osteria Alba – Kurt Spat worked at the famous restaurant La Ciau del Tornavento in Treiso and his menu is a true slice of Piemonte cuisine.

Vacca Wine – John Paul Cameron of Cameron Winery obtained some Nebbiolo grape vines from Aldo Vacca and started growing some Nebbiolo in Oregon. He was so grateful that he calls the wine Vacca.

Osteria lalibera – recently written up in Travel & Leisure owner Marco Forneris has close friends all over Oregon but in particular the folks at the restaurant Nostrana who have sent clients and friends to this restaurant and the region for years.