Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/12827
70,000 bottles yearly. One of only a few women making wine in Gavi, Magda is growing her business slowly and steadily. In May, her wines entered the U.S. market for the first time through VEDI Wines. —AL VEDI WINE IMPORTS ing at the estate with her father and realized they had to start promoting the image and quality of their wines. While her sister Isabella runs the more traditional Collalto label, three years ago Ninni and her sister Caterina launched the Borgoluce brand, whose wines are produced sustainably using modern technology. Serious, honest and detailed, Ninni has an obvious pas- sion for her label and her wines. —AL VEDI WINE IMPORTS Giannola Nonino Nonino, Friuli Giannola Nonino is the matriarch of Ninni Collalto. Ninni Collalto Borgoluce, Treviso The Collalto family has owned their Treviso estate for centuries; it dates back to the year 1064. Ninni, the fourth of five daughters, studied agriculture in order to understand the farm and to be seen as more than just her father’s daughter. In 1992, Ninni began work- the Nonino family. In 1962, she married fourth-generation master distiller Benito Nonino, whose family had been produc- ing grappa since 1897. Giannola imme- diately fell in love with grappa, and she saw a tempting challenge: She would transform this spirit stylistically from the harsh, traditional “poor drink” into a noble distillate. At the time, grappa was strictly a man’s drink; women were not even allowed in the distillery. Through determination, Giannola realized her dream; it took ten years. In 1973, going Giannola Nonino with oldest granddaughter Chiara. against the tradition of keeping the red and white grape pomace together, she distilled one variety at a time. As the first to distill single-varietal grappas, the Noninos created a true revolution. Today, Giannola and Beninto’s three daughters, Elisabetta, Cristina and Antonella, all work in the family business, as well as in the distillery. In 1998, Giannola became one of 48 women (and 500 men) given Italy’s highest honor, the Cavaliere del Lavoro, and she and Benito also received the Leonardo Prize for Italian Quality in 2003. —AL TERLATO WINES INTERNATIONAL A New Retreat in Piedmont IL BOScARETO RESORT & SPA BRINGS LUXURY TO BAROLO COUNTRY story and photos by Allison Levine B uilt on a hill in Serralunga d’Alba— prime Barolo terroir—is a new luxury hotel that opened in October 2009. Owned by the Dogliani family, owners of top-notch local winery Beni di Batasiolo, Il Boscareto Resort & Spa is a gem among the vineyards. The first resort of its kind in Piedmont outside of Turin, it is like no other accommodation in the region, with 38 guest rooms, a full spa, an elegant fine-dining restaurant, La Rei, and a soon-to-be-opened informal wine bar called La Briccolina. The idea of Il Boscareto was born more than ten years ago, when, in 2000, the Dogliani family tore down one of the nine cascine (farms) on their land and began construction. Valentina Dogliani, the niece of Batasiolo President Fiorenzo Dogliani, was asked to get involved in the project. With a Il Boscareto, with Alba in the distance. july 2010 / the tasting panel / 53 PHOTO: COURTESY OF IL BOSCARETO