Eighth Barolo Auction
|
Barolo was once again the protagonist at the Eighth Barolo Auction that was held on Sunday September 25 in La Morra, Piedmont, at the Gagliardo winery. Once more, Barolo reaffirmed its international character and popularity among wine lovers and experts worldwide.  |
| Gianni Gagliardo, host of the Eighth Barolo Auction at Gagliardo winery, with Ferdinando Giordano, buyer of the lot VIII Asta |
In all, there were 40 lots on auction, plus one charity lot displaying a wide range of approximately 30 vintages, ranging from 1945 to 2003. The action featured 22 wineries from among the most outstanding and well known producers of this fine wine.
|
|
After the traditional welcome and greetings, the Eighth Barolo Auction began under the direction of auctioneer, Giancarlo Montaldo, a wine expert highly appreciated in the wine marketing and communication fields.
All the lots were assigned quotations often much higher than the starting price, with an average price increase of 209%, that is, much higher than any forecast had projected.
The Charity lot is not included in the above figures. The double magnum Barolo Preve 2001 Gianni Gagliardo, a single 5-liter bottle, started out at €250 and was sold at €3,850, marking a record price increase of 1,440 %. The profits of this lot will be given to AMREF (The African Medical and Research Foundation), whose P. R. person in Italy is Italian actor, Giobbe Covatta. The money will be used to support a sanitary education project in the schools of Kalolen and Malindi, in Kenya. It is believed that up to 50% of the diseases that hit African children could be avoided through application of basic concepts of hygiene and prevention, and the best way to spread this information among the families is by educating the youngest among them.
For the first time since the Barolo Auctions started, Gagliardo proposed one special lot, not yet bottled, that is currently in barrique (228 liters, or 304 750ml. bottles). It's a "blend" of 2003 vintage grapes from the Parafada vineyards in Serralunga d'Alba, Capalot in La Morra, and Fossati in Barolo exclusively created for the Eighth Barolo Auction. For now, the wine continues ageing at the Gagliardo winery, where it will be bottled in time with the label VIII Asta (Eighth Auction) . The lot started at €3,600 and was finally assigned €14,000, marking an increase of 289%. Most significant was the fact that the buyer of this lot was the Ferdinando Giordano company, from nearby Diano d'Alba.
In addition to politicians, showbiz VIPs and potential buyers, that the auction welcomed a consistent number of journalists from various parts of the world, confirms the great interest in this wine on the part of the Asian and American markets. For the second year in a row, there was wide participation by journalists from East Europe, confirming the growing interest of those markets as well.
The Eighth Barolo Auction also offered the opportunity to look at the first forecasts for the 2005 vintage which, except for last minute unexpected changes, will be characterized by a Barolo with good structure and acidity, or a wine suited to long ageing and featuring interesting perfumes, courtesy of the cool August nights in this part of Italy.
"Our hope," said Gianni Gagliardo, "is that the consumer who has a little less money to spend, will choose to drink one glass fewer rather than lower the quality of the wine he/she usually drinks!"
| Source: Rita Barbero, Gagliardo Winery Press Office |
|
Home • General Index • Contact Us • Search • News • About Us • Site Map |
