Erik Banti, ‘The Viking’ is coming to Cork

I'll try, while time remains, to introduce as many as possible of the overseas guests we are expecting at our Big Wine Event on Tuesday. First up, Erik Banti from Tuscany, who'll be showing three wines we do stock and probably a couple we don't. He also makes some stratospherically delicious vintage olive oil, which is worth its high price. Here are some bits and pieces gleaned from the www.

First of all, thanks very much indeed to Per at BK Wines, who graciously allowed me to use a photo from his website until we can snap some of our own on Tuesday - let's hope Donal's feelin' trigger-happy! The BK website is well worth a look if you are at all interested in wine, and there's plenty available there as RSS too, including a newsblog - count me in - and a wine picture blog as well. Also some very tempting wine tours of France and Portugal.

This, from www.erikbanti.com:

The passion for wine is in Erik Banti's blood. As a child on his father's farm, La Braccesca, in Montepulciano, he watched with wide-eyed wonder as the grown-ups worked in the vineyard and bottled the resulting nectar. A few years on, as an economics student, Erik drove racing cars and played golf, collecting Italian awards and prizes on the race-track and the putting green. Later, as a photographer, he worked for Vogue and National Geographic, and was a favourite on the film sets of Fellini and Zeffirelli. Still later, now a travel agent, he was the first to discover the Maldives and other exotic paradise islands.

A thousand passions, a thousand professions, using all his energy. But as a wise man said, "When the ground shakes beneath your feet go back to your roots". So one day, tired of queues and traffic lights, Erik returned to his roots, to his first passion: he moved into his property in Maremma and opened a restaurant in the medieval Montemerano house, which would be a benchmark for local culture and traditions for years. Above all, in 1981, Erik corked the first bottle of his own Morellino, a wine as yet unknown outside its local area, which would astonish the world thanks to the strong-willed "Viking", as they call him around here.
Erik has come a long way since then, and so has his Morellino. His vineyards stretch over hectares of land perfectly suited to growing fine wines. The layers of arenaceous rocks fragmented by mining guarantee perfect drainage for the vineyards, promoting excellent growth of the vines.

Emilio Guarigli