Behind the scenes of Benvenuto Brunello 2012
Benvenuto Brunello becomes a celebration for wine and the young: many connected via social networks and many wine lovers under 40 in Montalcino.
Benvenuto Brunello - MontalcinoNews - women staff
Seen for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini
The Brunello village built among the historic buildings in Montalcino to welcome up until this moment 250 members of the press and 2.500 operators with an increase of nearly 20% with respect to previous editions but most of all there has been a generational renovation among those involved: many young producers and most of all many young buyers.
A refreshing breeze, maybe brought on by the idea of making Benvenuto Brunello the first wine event in Italy online, in other words with a virtual connection with operators and wine lovers all over the world. In other words, change of location, extraordinary wines and enthusiastic clients. What a show!
Many other things have gone better than expected, such as the contacts via blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube which have grown with an impressive rapidity.
Even the talk by Professor Orlandini was a success, he proposed a diagram
tables ready for gala dinner - Benvenuto Brunello 2012
where hours of sun light, rainfall, and other parameters, the result was a rating of 3.8 for the 2011 harvest. Well, the expert tasters judged this harvest a 4 star one, in so confirming the scientific approach. There is also an element not to be ignored: it is possible to obtain a rating for the harvest based on the weather before the grapes are picked and so orienting the grape growers in their choices.
Benvenuto Brunello 2012 - Charity for Misericordia - G.Ferragamo E.Rivella
Not everything went well for Benvenuto Brunello 2012. Quite the contrary! The preparation of the event kept 200 people busy in different moments, and there were plenty of problematics. The lending of Palazzo Pieri by the Circolo Arci was on hold until after Christmas, the electric supply took place after infinite requests, three days before the event. The worst thug was the snow and the Siberian winds exactly when the tents were to be mounted. A worrying beginning.
The worrying continued untile the gala dinner. We had only two and a half hours to transfor the cloisters into banquet halls worthy of Brunello. I was so worried that I neve left the place, and got changed in the bathroom at the last minute. But we made it!
The hall was so beautiful that all the guests stopped at the entrance to state
Benvenuto Brunello 2012 - Cecilia and Stefania inside Palazzo Pieri courtyard
photos, and so creating long queus. In fact no body expected such a transformation, some prodcers came in their pullover. In the end the contrast between the fairytale scenography and the attire of some of the guests was really big.
Our main worries regarded the seating arrangements. Stefano Campatelli the director of the Consorzio and I had been discussing these for the past 20 days. He thought that 280 where sufficient whereas I was using Tessie Genazzani’s calculations (Tenuta Scopone in Montalcino and great congress organizer) and was saying we should seat 340. I told him that if a producer or journalist were toh ave remained standing I would have killed him with my own hands. Five hours
gala dinner Benvenuto Brunello - apetizer
before the dinner, the Director with his assistamts, laid down a plano f the seating arrangements, assigning each confirmed gusta a place. At that point they needed 380 seats. Panic ran riot all over, but moving all the table we were able to seat the 380 guests. What a great team in the Catering Preludio, they seem lots of little ants, there are many of them and they solve all problems. In the end the diners were 340, how stressing!
The organization proceded without problematics regarldess of a couple of mistakes. The ckitchen was inside a tent on a slope. The flooring, eventhough compensating mosto f the uneveness between areas was still sloping, so at the end of the dinner it was slippery at the end of the meal and so the chefs have worked as acrobats.
Other mishaps renard the temperatures. A fe days before the eventi t was very very cold for this reason the Director Campatelli and especially myself as I always suffer the cold, insisted in keeping the temperatures high where the tastings were to take place. Then allo f a sudden there was a preview od Spring and the first day of Benvenuto Brunello inside the tasting halls, it was actually boiling. It took 3 hours to get them to go down.
For the same reasons I had asked toh ave polenta and hot soups in the lunch buffet to keep the producers warm, who according to my forecast would have
Benvenuto Brunello 2012 - Palazzo Vescovile - brunch
been cold, wheereas inn the end we had to open the windows.
In other word I have many curios and funny memorie that now make me smile but initially stressed us and didint let us sleep. The nigh after the gala dinner, I who usally go to bed at10 pm, was still awake at 2 am because there was still so much adrenalin circulating in my body.
In the end our event has been a success and has put splendidly framed our Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino.