venerdì 14 aprile 2017

April in the vineyard

Tour in the vineyard to appreciate the evolution of the vegetative process.
With the warm whether that has characterized the last weeks, our plants are getting constantly more  leafy.


Fucus on Gabiano indigenous varietals:


On the right the leave of an ordinary Barbera vine, on the left the leaf of the vines planted on 1905 which made great our 1945 and 1971 wines. We found this old varietal in the castle woods and decided to reproduce for the new plants.



martedì 25 novembre 2014

SPECIAL OFFER:Christmas&New Year@the castle

Your remote time experience for the festive season. 


If you are a charming-stay countryside type, looking for an exclusive retreat over Christmas 2014 and New Year 2014-15, there is a special opportunity waiting for you. 

Take advantage of the intimate atmosphere ideal for all the family and friends: why not taking over some of the Suites & Apartments of the castle grounds, living a place of history, tasting nobles wines and walking off the Christmas pudding by taking a stroll in the 5 acres of Castello di Gabiano’s woodland gardens.



Stays from 4 nights to 14 nights are available for the 2014 festive season (from 168 euro per room per night). 




During the festive period the Restaurant “3 clocks”, located in the beautiful XIII century stately home, will be open for you for a tasty menu including local dishes matched with the wines produced at the castle.


The prices include VAT, linen, heating and electricity for up to 16 guests in our 4 double en-suite bedrooms, and 2 apartment with twin bedroom and double bedroom each with private bathroom. 
We are looking forward to celebrate with you this magic period of the year.

Please do not hesitate to contact our reception for any further information or assistance:
accoglienza@castellodigabiano.com
+390142945004

mercoledì 12 novembre 2014

Our wines at the Xinhua Bookstore: the largest and only country-wide bookstore chain in China!

We are pleased to inform our customers that we recently entered in one of the major and oldest bookstore chain in China, the Xinhua Bookstore where our wines are now available for the tasting and purchase. Thanks again to the promotional effort of the Guandong Big Coast, our importer company.

For the passionate and curious, here you find more information from the Wikipedia official page:

History
Xinhua Bookstore (in Chinese: 华书店) was originally established as Guanghua Bookstore (in Chinese: 华书店) in 1937 in Yan'an under the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China. In 1942, Guanghua Bookstore changed its name to Xinhua Bookstore.
The four Chinese letter "Xin-hua Shu-dian" logo was made in brush writing in 1948 by Chairman Mao Zedong. In 1951, during the First All-China Publishing Administration Conference, it was decided to be divided into People's Publishing House, Xinhua Bookstore and Xinhua Publishing Plant.
From 2003, Xinhua Bookstore is organized under the China Publishing Group (in Chinese: 中国出版集) and owns the largest chain of bookstores in China. As China's only country-wide distribution channel of books, magazines and CDs–DVDs, it has an important role of the mass media, in addition to the role of the regular "bookstore".
In 2006, there were 14,000 Xinhua bookstores in China. Its main store is now in Xicheng District in Beijing.
Xinhua Bookstore has its overseas subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Macao, with branches also in New York (third shop opened in November 2010), San Diego, and London.

Multiple distribution channels
In the larger cities in China, Xinhua Bookstore has opened "Foreign Language Bookstores" (in Chinese: 外文书店) which sell books and CDs for learning foreign languages. Books published in foreign countries are not sold in China because of the price reasons, and magazine from foreign countries are prohibited for distribution for the political reasons.

Xinhua Bookstore's Provincial Publishing Companies have recently begun opening different distribution channels, such as Northern Book Town (in Chinese: 北方图书城) in Liaoning Province and Boku Book Town Chinese: 库书城 in Zhejiang Province.

giovedì 9 ottobre 2014

October: news & suggestions for an holiday among the truffle lands


October 2014: Welcome back fall!



October offers us new colours, together with the must an mushroom flavour, but also the flavour of the most precious among the tubers, the truffle. Don't miss the chance to live this atmosphere! Together with the harvest, there are many activities that our land offers in wine and food field.









News from the vineyard and from the cellar.
Set aside the harvest of white and Pinot Noir grapes, we're starting the harvest of other red grapes varieties. We did a cleaning of the vine rows, removing the grape bunches which were late to mature or not matching up with our standard quality; at the same time, a leaves cutting allows the grapes to reach the perfect level of maturity and gives us a fruit which keeps up with our "Riserve". 

We have started in the last couple of days the Grignolino" harvest and then the various CRU of Barbera grapes. We'll monitor the maturity state, hoping that the weather will be clement and that it can repay the efforts we did during this year with its climate difficulties, in order to guarantee the usual quality of Castello's grapes.
Into our cellar, we've just finished the white grapes fermentation, which have been poured where they are refining for the next months. With regard to the Chardonnay of our "CASTELLO Piemonte Chardonnay DOC", which ferments and refines in barriques, we started the "bottonage" procedure, in order to pull out the flavours and the aromas typical of the "sur lies" refinement.
We moved the Pinot Noir to the barrels and it's undergoing the "malolattic" fermentation into wood barrels and we have almost finished the "CASTELVERE Monferrato Chiaretto DOC" fermentation, which will sit on its dregs, improving its aroma an characteristic scents.

Holidays special offer: the magic of fall at the castle.
The fall king, in Monferrato, is certainly truffle. In October there are many fairs dedicated to it; dont't miss the International Truffle Fair in Alba, taking place every Saturday and Sunday starting from the 11th of October and finishing the 16th of November; nearer to our castle, the International Truffle Fair in Moncalvo, taking place on the 19th and the 26th of October. Waiting for the last event dedicated to this exquisite tuber (International Truffle Fair in Murisengo, on the 16th and the 23rd of November), at Castello di Gabiano we don't twiddle out thumbs. We offer our guests the truffle research into the park and the woods of the castle, so that everybody can be a "trifolao" (a truffle hunter) for one day (the activity is availbale on reservation).
After the research you can have a rest into our suites, charming in the fall lights, with their squeaking fireplaces ready to welcome you. As always, we offer our guests a historic cellar tour and a wine tasting.



Wine of the month: Gavius.
This month we decided to give prominence to our "GAVIUS Monferrato Rosso DOC".
Barbera and Pinot noir, coming from vineyards with a great exposure, well drained and rich in rocky portions, which means a wine rich in concentration and refinement.
Bond between the typical freshness of Barbera and the fruit scent of Pinot noir, Gavius has a complex bouquet, with a black fruit main scent and spices and hides as second/third scent.
Serve it at a temparature of 20 - 22°C. It matches with red meat dishes, seasonal dishes typical of the fall with mushrooms and truffles, aged cheeses.

Infos and reservation.
Castello di Gabiano Via San Defendente 2-15020 Gabiano (AL)

giovedì 25 settembre 2014

September 2014: Grape harvest & more

We're now at the core of one of the most charming moments of the vine year. We say bye to the summer and we celebrate the upcoming fall with enjoyable sunny days, giving our guests the unique chance of tasting our wines by a privileged position, watching the groove of the harvest phase, charming and unmissable date of this month...
News from the vineyard
Thanks to the mild temperatures of the first part of September, we could complete the harvest of Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, bringing to the cellars perfectly ripened grapes. Thanks to the features of the very cool year, the harvest has a suitable acidity, an interesting feature to guarantee wines pleasantness. We are now waiting some weeks before starting the second part of our grape harvest, constantly monitoring the maturation state of our amazing Grignolino, Barbera and Freisa grapes.
Events of the month: "Benvenuta Vendemmia" & "Arte in tavola flambé"
After the great success of the 6-7 September weekend dedicated to the event "Benvenuta Vendemmia" (Welcome Harvest) promoted by "Movimento Turismo del Vino Nazionale", we still offer tours to examine the estate wines, with guided tours and wine tasting. Our offer is available everyday on reservation.
The event "Arte in tavola flambè" starts on Friday, a wine and food festival on 12 evenings, organized at some of the most renowned restaurants in Turin and its surroundings. We remind you can find on our blog all the menù details and the schedule. Chef courses will be served together with our wines, selected to match the food, lighted up by some "flambè", to live a real taste show.
"Castelli Aperti"
We're glad to announce that on the 28th of September, on the occasion of the European Heritage Days, "Castello di Gabiano" will open to enthusiast public. This will be the last event of the year of "Castelli Aperti" (Open Castles) festival, promoted by Piedmont Region. Visitors will have the chance of going through the amazing inner rooms, tasting the atmosphere you can breath within the walls, really rich in history. We can accept a limited number of visitors, so booking in advance is indispensable.
September special: Picnic in the vineyard

To completely live the grape harvest experience, "Castello di Gabiano" has set aside ax exclusive offer to its guests: everyone who will book an overnight during the month of September at one of our suites, will have the chance of booking a picnic basket full of local products. You'll have the chance of eating in the open air, enjoying the amazing view on our vineyards. To discover all our offers for the month, we encourage you to contact us emailing or calling us: you'll be surprised of the small price for the great experience!

martedì 10 giugno 2014

2014 Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence!

Castello di Gabiano recognised as a Top Performing Luxury Retreat 
as reviewed by travellers on the World’s Largest Travel Site




Gabiano, Alessandria ITALY – June 2014 – We announce with pleasure that we have just received the TripAdvisor® Certificate of Excellence award! The accolade, which honours hospitality excellence, is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveller reviews on TripAdvisor, and is extended to qualifying businesses worldwide.  Establishments awarded the Certificate of Excellence are located all over the world and represent the upper echelon of businesses listed on the website.

When selecting Certificate of Excellence winners, TripAdvisor uses a proprietary algorithm to determine the honorees that takes into account reviews ratings.  Businesses must maintain an overall TripAdvisor bubble rating of at least four out of five, volume and recency of reviews. Additional criteria include a business’ tenure and popularity ranking on the site.

Winning the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence is a true source of pride for the entire team at Castello di Gabiano and we’d like to thank all of our past guests who took the time to complete a review on TripAdvisor, since there is no greater seal of approval than being recognised by one’s customers. 

“TripAdvisor is pleased to honour exceptional hospitality businesses for consistent excellence,” said Marc Charron, President of TripAdvisor for Business. “The Certificate of Excellence award gives top performing establishments around the world the recognition they deserve, based on feedback from those who matter most – their customers. From Australia to Zimbabwe, we want to applaud exceptional hospitality businesses for offering TripAdvisor travellers a great customer experience.



About TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site*, enabling travellers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travellers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching nearly 260 million unique monthly visitors**, and more than 150 million reviews and opinions covering more than 4 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 39 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly TripAdvisor visitors.

Greatest Chef of China Italy edition!

An international Challenge between the greatest Chef!

Greatest Chef China is the “Haute Cuisine” tv program broadcasted on the CCTV, the Chinese State television.
The show put on a competition between some of the best Chinese Chefs and the most famous Chefs belonging from the well-known gastronomic cultures worldwide.  
Each edition tells about the challenge taken on by one Chinese team against another Chef and his staff coming from a single country. This is the way different habits and food traditions are compared, and the Chefs are required to adapt different techniques according to the given ingredients. The 2013 season scored an average of 20 million of viewer each episode!

The first scene went on stage at Castello di Gabiano, while the competition took place at the Milan Boscolo Luxury Hotel.

At the old “middle age style” kitchen of the castle, the Chinese Chef Li Shuangquan offered to the arbiter a selection of very special dishes starting from local ingredients revised from a different point of view.
  




The 30th May menu challenge in Milan was organized with the combination of our wines.

Chef from China - Li Shuangquan
Chef from Italy- Marcello Trentini
Evening of the 30th May 2014 chef winner: Marcello Trentini
  
Fist challege:
c- Fillet steak with Barbera cream and mushrooms
i- Orata carpaccio on a parmesan cream and potatoes with fennel and orange salade
Wine matched: “Castello” Piemonte Chardonnay Doc 2010
c- Red snapper with pear
i- Boiled tongue with mozzarella di bufala, anchovies sauce and spinaches  
Wine matched: “Corte” Monferrato Bianco Doc 2013




Second challenge:
i- spaghetti with ragù sauce and row meat on the top
c- cuttlefish, apricots and exotic fruits  
Wine matched: Rubino di Cantavenna Doc 2011
i- risotto with black tomatoes and ricotta cheese  
c- julienne duck with fruits and walnuts
Wine matched: “La Braja” Barbera d’Asti Docg 2011




Third challenge:
i- mullet fried on a chickpea puree
c- raw ham roll with shiso leaf and melon
Wine matched "A Matilde Giustiniani" Gabiano Doc Riserva 2008
i- rabbit cooked with rum with artichock and pears
c- tropical gelatin with cherries and bananas  
Wine matched Adornes Barbera d’Asti Docg



The winner Chef Marcello Trentini 
Owner of Mago Rabin Restaurant in Torino!