the new @boccacciovino wine store.
When you renovate (or in our case redevelop) you never know what little surprises will be thrown up along the way. When you add in a structure that was built by my family 40 years ago (with the use of a lot of concrete) sometimes the things that look easy, turn out to be quite hard!!
Take for example the flooring for the new wine shop about 50 metres down the road. Old fashioned terracotta tiles 15mm thick were originally used in our original store 40 years ago. A sample patch done by the builder caused no issues: the tiles came up easily and the concrete underneath was polished. Well that small section was not representative of the whole store and it has been a bugger of a job for the builder to remove all the tiles (which they have had to do by end, not with a machine) and this has taken a week longer than originally anticipated. Well last week we had success and all the tiles were removed and grinding has begun to polish the concrete below.
Cool rooms, wiring, etc are now going in and it should be a big week ahead.
Sorry for the absence of posts in the last couple of weeks. Building works have started and as usual they are taking up more time than previously anticipated.
During the week I will post full notes on this dinner plus a major update on our building works.
Nothing gets me more excited than progress. I hate standing still. It must be a family trait as I see it in my eldest daughter. We are both wake up at the same time each morning and jump from the blocks, ready to take the day on. I have always been a believer that time is too precious to waste and it is in the morning, when my brain is the sharpest and idea’s flow freely.
Even whilst studying at school and university, I never worked on assignments or studies for exams past 8pm. By that time, my mind was frazzled and all I wanted to do was unwind.
Getting back to progress, there has been a lot going on at @boccacciovino with work underway to create something unique in Australia. I do not want to just build a new wine store and Italian supermarket: I want it to be a showcase of all things good about Italian food and wine.
The new site for @boccacciovino wine store
Today there is a crew of twenty plus tradesman working on our new @boccacciovino wine store which should be ready for us to operate out of in ten weeks (yes 10 weeks, scary really!) and a new Italian supermarket which will take a year of building.
I will keep you posted along the whole journey and it is sure going to be a fantastic experience!
In my work, I am constantly surrounded by people working in the wine industry. Whether it be sales representatives, winemakers or journalists. So it makes sense that some of my closest friends are individuals who work in the wine industry. Sometimes, you will have an instant connection with a person and understand on all levels exactly what they are thinking and the direction they want to take. It doesn’t have to be about wine. It might be about politics, life or sport. You just understand each other.
For me, Honesty and simplicity are two traits I think are pretty hard to go past in life and most of my closest friends have this in spades. I am not a pretender: what you see is what you get. I am like that in life as well as in business. If you can’t be yourself, then what is the point of it all?
That is why I think Massimo and myself have become good friends.
Massimo is quiet and shy. When he talks, he talks for a reason. The same goes with the wines he makes. They are a reflection of Massimo and his Langhe Nebbiolo, Bricco Ravera Barbera and Monforte Barolo all share his stamp. They are not tricked up. They are not smothered in oak. They speak of Monforte, they speak of Massimo and importantly they speak of the vintage. They are not trying to be something they are not.
Massimo’s wines are becoming harder and harder to buy. With international demand for his wines growing every vintage (and whilst we still manage to get a great allocation for Australia) it means that demand far exceeds supply on all his wines. In the USA, he has been picked up by legendary wine importer Kermit Lynch which is great for Massimo and I have no doubt it will reach a stage where the wines of Piero Benevelli will become as scarce as hens teach.
The 2013 Langhe Nebbiolo from Massimo is a great illustration of what he is capable. The word that instantly springs to mind is unforced. It is unforced in that it is not trying to be something it is not. Nebbiolo stripped back in it’s purest form. In this form this grape variety has fantastic fragrance, well defined tannins and a depth of palate which will enable it to age for many years. The 2013 Langhe Nebbiolo is Nebbiolo stripped bare and presented in it’s purest form.
Anthony D'Anna: Italian wine importer and merchant in Australia
il vino da tavola 