WineHomeWine ClubShopEye on italytastingAbout UsLinks

<< IWM Home Page

Unique IWM Offerings:
IWM Wine Club

IWM Weekly e-Letter
IWM Seminars
IWM Newsletter
IWM Vineyard Tours
e-Letter Sign-up

More on Italian Wine:
Italian Wine Regions
Wine Glossary
Vintage Chart
Wine Books


WINE NEWS / Barolo Remembers Silvio Pellico

Of the 54 DOC and DOCG wines of Piemonte, Barolo is not only the most collectible but also enjoys the most illustrious history. The name Barolo is actually linked to the Risorgimento, that long road to Italian unity in which Silvio Pellico was a key player. This patriot edited an important political journal in the resistance against Austro-Hungarian domination of Italy, for which he was arrested and sent to a hard labor camp in Austria. During his imprisonment he wrote his most celebrated work, "Le mie Prigioni" or ‘My Prisons.’ He was honored this winter on the 150th anniversary of his death.

The celebration took place in the Palazzo Barolo di Torino, where Pellico worked for many years as bookkeeper and secretary to Marquis and Marquise Tancredi and Giulia Falletti. It was in this period that the groundbreaking work of Carlo Alberto and Paolo Francesco Staglieno was developing and publicizing the great red wine that would come to be known as Barolo. Officials chronicled Pellico’s literary career and its relevance to the Risorgimento, and they illustrated his close bonds with important figures in the enological history of the area. The winemakers of Castiglione Falletto - an elite site that houses such estates as Scavino and Giacosa - concluded the event with a presentation of a limited production private line of vintage 2000 Barolo. These bottles sport a specially designed label with a medallion portrait of Pellico surrounded by symbolic representations of his life and influence on the Barolo zone.

<< e-mail this page to a friend!
<< return to I-News


Italian Wine Merchants Passport • 108 East 16th Street • New York, NY 10003 • Phone: 212.473.2323 • Fax: 212.473.1952 wineclub@italianwinemerchant.com
Italian Wine Merchants is not responsible for errors or omissions. Prices are subject to change due to availability and issue date.