The wines I would offer Trump and Obama

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American Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama are both visiting Italy.

It is indeed a very rare and fortuitous coincidence. The current and the last US President are both in our beautiful country. The former reached Rome yesterday, the latter is roaming around Siena happily with his wife Michelle.

Our country can only fascinate these two exceptional men, with its cities full of unique artistic and historical heritage. Besides, they will get to enjoy the best of our cuisine and wines. Barack Obama, with the help of Francesco Bartolotta, has already explored Italian wines, and Tuscan wines in particular. We are looking forward to find out what Donald Trump will get a taste of.

At I Balzini we would offer Trump an austere wine, typical of our region, I BALZINI White Label ’98. A vintage wine because only age can gift this bold 50% Sangiovese and 50% Sauvignon its Tuscan impression. With time, this wine loses its Cabernet plant-like notes, leaving room for the Sangiovese, conferring the wine its final character: a taste of blackberries.

For Obama we have chosen I BALZINI Black Label 2001, an extraordinary year. This Bourdeaux brand can provide strong olfactory emotions. The grapes grow in a vineyard of Pliocene origin, rich in fossils and organic sea substances. The Cabernet Sauvignon is refined by the Merlot, that makes it seductive and its scents unforgettable.

Cheers Presidents!

Deers, cute but harmful. How to prevent damage?

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Baby deers were found in the vineyard. Surely they cannot be put to sleep. This is how we safeguard our plants and produce.

Deers, like many another animals, can be harmful to vineyards. They peel away the young sprouts and stuff themselves with grapes. This they do with boars, that, however, are not quite as cute.

One day we found a baby deer in the field, completely still, unable to move, pretending to be dead, responding to its instincts. Everyone’s heart at I Balzini skipped a beat. We decided to respect it and ignore it, working around it, until his mother came back to get him.

Nonetheless, deers can be damaging, diminishing wine production, but we take animals’ rights very seriously, and have found other ways to protect the vines.

This year we tried an organic olfactory repellent. Its is a liquid containing sheep fat. It is recognised as a substance belonging to those useable in organic agriculture, as it is inserted in the Banca Dati Fitofarmaci del Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali (Phytopharma Data Banks of the Ministry for Agricultural, Alimentary and Forest Politics). Highly repellent for deers, it is odourless for humans. So far it has been working, as there are no damages to the sprouts. For what concerns boars… we’ll think about it! Whatever is needed to safeguard our wines!