Today’s Monday Musings combines a post about a fascinating women in wine that I met a few years ago in Oltrepò Pavese and a subject I have been thinking about – special labels. The person I am referring to is Patrizia Torti from the Dino Torti winery. Partizia has enough energy for five people. She was outgoing, warm, and supremely energetic. She also is a very savvy marketer, having helped the family diversity income streams through creating special labels for particular projects. Her two most famous ones to date are a collaboration with Tony Moore that resulted in the Route 66 Collection, calling to mind California and roadtrips. She also makes wine for the Hello Kitty Empire. None of these projects make the winery any less serious however just more in tune with marketing, in my view but when I visited a few years ago with journalists, some were confused by these labels and had a harder time with it.

To me, the issue was really are the wines carefully crafted or not and the Route 66 Barbera 2019 that I tried this week was a case in point. I found it very fresh, with great acidity, some fruit and forest notes, and some leather undertones. It was a welcome moment of celebration after my son performed in a talent show.

It’s a little bit how I think of Patrizia, as a performer of many acts whether it be selling/marketing her wines under the Torti label or these other special projects. While she is quite a different character than some of the other women I met in Oltrepò through the years, I find her and her wines no less interesting. She and her sister and the next generation are carrying on the work of their ancestors which started way back in 1910. One of the things I love about Oltrepò is how many historic families are making wines there and in so many varied ways. You can find a little bit of everything and many, many Women in Wine, the overarching topic of this month and many posts on this blog.

While the Dino Torti family may do things a little differently, it seems to suit them and their goals. As the song Tony Moore wrote about the wines goes, these are fun wines to have on hand. Check out this YouTube Video with the Torti family and Tony Moore, “No Torti No Party.”