It isn’t everyday that you get to enjoy Italian fine dining in Singapore with the companion of the owner of an Italian winery and that was precisely what I got to do a few weeks back at a wine tasting hosted by Fattoria Betti.
Over dinner at Casa Tartufo, a cosy, family-run Italian restaurant at Scarlet Hotel in the quaint Ann Siang Hill area, Guido Betti, owner of Fattoria Betti, a winery in Tuscany, Italy, presented some of his Tuscany wines (2016 to 2018) which were paired carefully with selected menu items we sampled.
These were the items we tried and the respective wine from Fattoria Betti which were paired accordingly with each dish:
This was paired with Bianco di Toscana IGT “Creto de Betti” 2018 on the right:
BIANCO DI TOSCANA IGT “CRETO DE’ BETTI”
(First vintage: 2005 / Bottles: 4.000 / Chardonnay 70%, Trebbiano Toscano
30%) The name “Creto” takes its origin from “creta”, that is the typical Tuscan
name for “clay”, the kind of soil where the grapes grew up.
This was paired with Chianti Montalbano DOCG 2018 on the left:
CHIANTI MONTALBANO DOCG
(First vintage: 2003 / Bottles: 20.000 / Sangiovese 90%, Canaiolo and Colorino 10%) “Montalbano” is the Chianti area well-known for the minerality revealed in its red wines that results moreover from the particular combination of subsoil.
This was paired with Rosso di Toscana IGT “Semel” 2016:
ROSSO DI TOSCANA IGT “SEMEL”
(First vintage: 2009 / Bottles: 1.500 / Merlot 100%) The name means “one time” in ancient Latin language: this wine was produced for the first time by chance, and the result was so good that Guido and Gherardo decided to continue.
The dessert was paired with Rose di Toscana Caprone 2018 to end on a sweet note:
ROSE’ DI TOSCANA IGT “CAPRONE”
(First vintage 2016/Bottles: 4.000 / Sangiovese 100%) The first unofficial year was 2015, when the wine was produced only for a foreign client that had a beard alike a billy goat (“Caprone” in Italian means “billy goat”), and the name was in his honour. Then the regular production started and the amazing name is the same.
FATTORIA BETTI
Together with his brother Gherardo, Guido is one of the two owners of Fattoria Betti, a family-run Italian winery sited in Quarrata, a small town in Tuscany located in the countryside around Pistoia, famous for Chianti Montalbano DOCG production.
The brothers divide their roles clearly in the business. Guido leads both the international export for their wines to countries like Belgium, Netherlands, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Russia and the sales in Italy; while Gherardo is the enologist.
The winery is housed in a building dating back to 1903 and in the past, nearby farmers bring their grapes there to make them into wines. The total production is around 60,000 bottles, with plans to expand production to around 120,000 to 130,000 bottles.
Wines from Fattoria Betti is available in Singapore from wine importers like V Wine Studio and also at leading retailers like Isetan.