A tour of the wines of Tuscany, Piedmont, Veneto and Sicily, is being offered to participants comfortably sitting in Sydney. Piero Fonseca, head sommelier at Osteria Balla Manfredi in Sydney will guide a virtual tour in May and June through the four regions that produce Italy’s greatest wines. The events, to be hosted by the Italian Institute of Culture in Sydney, will tell the story of famous wines such as Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino, Amarone, and Marsala. Mr Fonseca, assisted by Chef Gabriele Taddeucci, will lead the audience on a gastronomic journey in the pursuit of the culture of food and wine connoisseurship.
Having grown up on a wine farm outside Florence, Mr Fonseca broadened his knowledge by helping his father during harvest time in the family’s winery in Petreto. He became head sommelier at Balla’s restaurant after 16 months in Australia. Throughout his studies and after he graduated in law at the University of Florence in 2012, he devoted himself to his hobby, expanding his knowledge of wine by attending master classes, wine tastings and working during the summer of 2006 at a wine company in London. After arriving in Australia, his passion for food and wine continued to grow under Stefano Manfredi and the Balla family, whose restaurants offer a unique list of all-Italian wines.
Gabriele Taddeucci is Executive Chef at Balla’s restaurant. After working at the Westin Sydney Hotel in 2004 and 2005, in 2008 he started working with Chef Massimo Bianchi, with whom he opened the Uccello restaurant at the Ivy pool club in Merivale. He was also Executive Chef at The Beresford Hotel, also in Merivale. Mr Taddeucci, who comes from Lucca, in central Italy, began his career as a pizza maker but has since worked as a chef in Italy, France, Switzerland, the United States, Britain and Australia.
