“If there is one estate that embodies the potential of Carmignano, Piaggia just might be it.” – Antonio Galloni
“The Carmignano Riserva is simply the best of the appellation.” – The Wine Advocate
Piaggia is located right in the heart of Carmignano. The total vineyard extension is approximately 15 hectares, divided between the area of S. Cristina a Mezzana and the municipality of Poggio a Caiano, both areas with a great potential for top quality wines. Mauro Vannucci started this activity in 1990 because of his great passion for great red wines, with the aim to produce wines up to the standard of Carmignano appellation. In its 30 years of existence, Piaggia has managed to solidly establish its place among the great wineries of the classic Tuscan DOC of Carmignano, being called by Gambero Rosso “one of the best wineries in the region of Carmignano, rather, in Tuscany.”
Vineyard Management: Piaggia is a practicing organic winery. Integrated insect and disease control is followed. Organic fertilizers, copper and sulphur-based products are mainly used, but the vineyards see no insecticides or herbicides. The soil between the rows of vines is tilled. Low doses of SO2 in the wines for preservation.
Chef Roberto Donna moved at about the same time (in the early 1980s) to the USA as Annette and I did, he from Northern Italy, we from the Frankfurt region in Germany.
Picture: Christian Schiller and Chef Roberto Donna in 2014. See: Winemaker Sabrino
Loffredo’s Pietracupa Wines and Chef Roberto Donna’s Food at a Winemaker
Dinner at Alba Osteria in Washington DC, Italy/USA
Rather quickly Roberto became one of the leading chefs of the Washington DC area, owning restaurants like Galileo and I Matti and several others, with about 500 employees. But in 2004 Roberto's fortunes turned sour. Galileo's parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Roberto had to struggle with financial and legal issues since then. Fortunately he did not go under. He is still cooking at the highest level.
His latest adventure is Roberto's Ristorante Italiano on Church Street in Vienna/ Virginia, owned by Roberto's wife, Nancy Sabbagh, who also runs the service.
Yesterday evening it was as it has always been at Roberto's restaurants: relaxed, exquisite food, top Italian wines and excellent service, like in a trattoria in Turino in the Piemonte area where Roberto spent the first 20 years of his life.
Chef Roberto Donna (from wikipedia)
Roberto Donna is an Italian chef and restaurateur in Washington D.C.
Donna was born in Turin, Italy, where he enrolled in culinary school at the age of 13. He came to the United States at the age of 19, working in an Italian restaurant on K Street in Washington, D.C. In 1984, Donna opened Galileo in Dupont Circle, which was an immediate success. The restaurant only seated 50, and in the early days, even Vice-President George H.W. Bush could not secure a last-minute reservation. Donna and his partner Savino Recine opened more casual trattorias, Primi Piatti, and then I Matti, serving pizza and pasta.
By the end of the 1990s, Donna's empire grew to 12 restaurants, including Il Radicchio, Pesce, and Barolo. In 1999, he expanded Galileo into a neighboring space and opened a restaurant-within-a-restaurant, Il Laboratorio del Galileo, serving multi-course meals in a small (25-30 seats) dining room, with a glass-walled "showcase" kitchen.
Donna published a cookbook, Cooking in Piedmont, in 1996.
Donna won the 1996 James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. The next year, Galileo was named one of the "10 Best Italian Restaurants in America" by Wine Spectator. The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington recognized Donna as the "Chef of the Year" in 1990, and the "Restaurateur of the Year" in 1995. Donna was invited to Rome in 1996 to receive the Insegna del Ristorante Italiano, awarded by the Italian Government in recognition of serving the best authentic Italian food outside Italy.
In 2004, Donna's company declared bankruptcy and his restaurants began to close; Galileo closed in 2006, and he had no restaurants to his name when Bebo Trattoria closed in 2009. Donna was prosecuted for failing to pay taxes at Bebo, and in 2010, Donna pled guilty to felony embezzlement, receiving a five-year suspended sentence on condition of probation, good behavior, and restitution. Donna and his business partners still faced several civil lawsuits when he returned to the kitchen with the opening of Galileo III in October 2010. The restaurant closed abruptly after less than one year.
The Wines
Dinner
Silvia and Roberto
First
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
Bye-bye
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