Regional Wine Shop of Mango, the aromas of Moscato

Thus writes author and journalist Ginetto Pellerino in a passage about Mango and its Regional Enoteca “Hills of Moscato,” a locale that has never ceased to be a point of reference for its surrounding Moscato territory from the day it was founded, as outlined in the history of the wine that Pellerino wrote about. First contributing to the success of Asti DOCG, the most celebrated Italian spumante in the world, today the Enoteca valorizes the Moscato d’Asti DOCG with passion and perseverance, as it is increasingly appreciated in Italy and abroad.

An enduring faith

“Raoul Molinari’s intuition, together with those who founded the Enoteca, was to create a multipurpose center in a place that, up until that time, had a lot to give but scarce occasion to communicate it,” explaines Valter Bera, wine producer and current president of the Regional Enoteca. And so it was that, beginning with the sale and tasting of Moscato d’Asti and the territory’s gastronomic specialties, the word spread. Rooms in the Castle began to gather the best of the local culture by organizing fairs and events, art exhibits, product sales, carnivals and even debates; the territory’s wealth of history, culture, wine, and gastronomy was soon known to many.

The complete patchwork picture formed from the heritage of the hills comes from the hard work and dedication of its people who transformed near-isolated areas to recognized zones, some of the most beautiful and – from the touristic point of view – welcoming places in the Langhe. The world was shown, in addition, the high quality viticulture. “For a long time, Moscato d’Asti was considered a “special” wine,” continues Valter Bera, “or worse, industrial. Today, after years of constant and attentive communication and valorization, we can finally say that we possess infinite crus and nuances in our wines that are worthy of some of the greatest Piedmont reds.”

From its beginnings with just 20-some members, today the Regional Wine Shop 'the Hills of Moscato' gathers the wine production of almost 100 wine makers in the zone, coming from three provinces – Cuneo, Asti, and Alessandria – for a total of 52 municipalities.

The numbers of Moscato

Moscato's recognition and success are also visible in the numbers. Starting with just a few dozen members, the Enoteca today includes 80 viticulturalists and 20 producers of gastronomic specialties from three provinces – Cuneo, Asti, and Alessandria – for a total of 52 communities. “The intention of the Enoteca is to be a meeting point and also stimulus for the economy of Piedmont and Italy,” confesses Bera. “It’s obvious enough when you think that, with all the Moscato grapes, over 100 million bottles of wine are produced in a territory of over 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres), where the vine has become the principal source of income for almost five thousand families. It has a commercial importance that reverberates in the national economy, given that 80% of production is sold abroad. Canelli, specifically thanks to Moscato, has risen to be one of the principal industrial centers of machinery for wine and spumante.”

A challenge for the future

From high up on the hill at the Enoteca of Mango, the territory and its economy, the almost-tangible passion for wine, and the beauty of the vines create an impression of the landscape spreading out like a sea of vineyards dotted with wooden ships disguised as farmhouses. Noting the fact that Mango and its hills are included in the pages of authors Cesare Pavese and Beppe Fenoglio (who loved Mango in particular), one can better understand the significance of the zones’ richness and beauty. “Mango and its Enoteca have a fantastic cultural landscape,” says Valter Bera. “The challenge is to be able to communicate this great heritage in a language that is always new and interesting, with a plan that launches our territory into the new millennium.”

Raoul Molinari’s intuition, together with those who founded the Enoteca, was to create a multipurpose center in a place that, up until that time, had a lot to give but scarce occasion to communicate it.

From this knowledge came the announcement that the year 2013 would bring important changes to the Regional Enoteca of Mango: “We want to tell everyone about this, and to do that, we’ve decided to use the technology available to us,” continues Bera. “Today it’s important that our zones know how to draw in wine lovers and expand upon what the Langhe has to offer. And the Enoteca must communicate all of this without putting itself into competition with Barolo or Barbaresco. On the contrary, our objective is to complement them. A wine tourist has to say, “I can’t possibly know the Langhe if I haven’t seen the hills of Moscato.”

To stay current, the Enoteca has initiated a new web site, a modern and active page that not only presents the labels and initiatives of many producers but, in the spirit of its original founding mission, offers a point of contact for news and events in the territory. It plans to expand its use of social networks in order to become a virtual platform for diffusing the culture of Moscato. The age-old culture isn’t afraid to meet the virtual world head-on “because its excellence is completely based in reality,” emphasizes the president of the Enoteca of Mango.

“The castle’s winehouse is a great treasure chest that contains all the beauty and uniqueness of the Langhe Moscato. It’s a prestigious showcase for producers from 52 different communities, many of them small companies that produce this king of sweet wines. But overall, the winehouse is a place for humanity and culture – truly one-of-a-kind. After visiting Mango and its Enoteca, we understood what it meant to love your land and value its products.”

For example, Twitter and Facebook were the protagonists of the food blogger event “Naturally sweet,” held at the Enoteca in March. Moscato DOCG and Asti DOCG were paired with naturally-leavened, oven-baked specialties for a meeting with Italian expert bakers specializing in mother yeast, – Pasticceria Terreno, Mondovì (CN), Pasticceria Bisco, Costigliole d’Asti (AT), Pasticceria Chieli, Sansepolcro (AR), Pasticceria Fili, Borghetto Santo Spirito (SV), Pasticceria Brena, Ponte San Pietro (BG) – who then unveiled the secrets of natural rising. YouTube will also be utilized. In memory of the 50th anniversary of the death of Beppe Fenoglio, the Enoteca of Mango will create a few videos dedicated to different places this famous author cited, rendering these Langhe marvels that appear on the pages of one of the most important writers of the 20th century accessible with a single click.

This very relation between the Enoteca and Fenoglio will be the theme of the 2013 initiative. In rooms in the Castle throughout the spring, expect to see an art display by painter Sandro Chia inspired by the novel La Malora, an epic novel about a poor and beaten Langhe that wouldn’t give up. Among the 20 works of art of this master of Transavantgarde, a portrait of Beppe Fenoglio by Massimo Berruti will also be displayed; Berruti is a skillful pallapugno player (a popular wall-ball or racquetball game that varies over the regions) as well as an internationally famous painter. “I painted the face of a man of the Langhe,” says Berruti. His style captures the spirit present in the territory of the Enoteca, he concludes, “a man of the Langhe made by hard and silent men, closed and tacit but almost always full of humanity.”

ENOTECA REGIONALE COLLINE DEL MOSCATO
P.ZZA XX SETTEMBRE, 19 - 12056 - MANGO (CN)
TEL. 0141 89291 - FAX: 0141 839914
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www.enotecamoscato.com