Remembering Giorgio Grai

In memory of Giorgio Grai, we re-post this story written by Daniele Cernilli a couple of years ago.

He does not get around much these days but 30 years ago Giorgio Grai, now in his 80s, was a legend in the wine world. An enologist from Bolzano, he once owned a famous bar in Piazza Walther but is best known for being an amazing wine taster, a skill he has not lost over the years, and certainly one of the greatest I have ever known.

While he may be difficult, to say the least, he is much more than that. He is someone who always says exactly what he thinks and could care less about the consequences. For years he was a ‘secret’ consultant to Veronelli who would turn to him for his opinion if he had any doubts about a wine. Grai once said to Paola Di Mauro: “why do you make a crippled child when you could produce a heathy one,” and the response of the Marino winemaker was to hire him as her consultant. And for a long time he was also a consultant for several famous estates, Gancia first among them. Then he began to produce a line of wines under his own name buying bulk wine, above all in Alto Adige, a skill for which he had an exceptional talent.

Today he still acts as a consultant for Ampelio Bucci, who he had driven up the wall for over 30 years but who allowed him to produce Villa Bucci. This is one of Italy’s greatest white wines and if you pay close attention you can recognize the imprint the talented Grai gave to it. I have on occasion tasted wines with him and can attest to the fact that if you lose your concentration for just a moment and say something trite or fail to recognize a defect, he is always quickly to scold you. Grai puts up with nothing and if you do or say something wrong he will let you know, more than often in a way that is not exactly polite. For this reason there are many who consider him unpleasant and disagreeable. To tell the truth, I don’t think there is anyone who has dealt with him who has not had their differenced with him. “How can you write that the vineyards of Marina Daniele (an estate he was consulting for, ed.note.) are over-productive when they produce just 2,000kg per hectare?” he once asked me polemically. “The vines there are modified Casarsa-trained and limiting production would be like driving a Ferrari off the road. Besides, what I wrote was that the vineyards are very productive, not over-productive,” was my reply. He then said: “If you write like that people will not understand and will think something else” to which I said: “Listen, you can teach me all you want about tasting wine but when it comes to writing you’re off base”.

 He took offense and we did not speak for years. Then, during a recent Vinexpo in Bordeaux, I heard someone call out to me: “Hey! Aren’t you going to taste my wines?”. It was Grai and his was not a question but more like an order. And I, of course, went to his table where he offered me an outstanding Santa Maddalena. Although it was a blend of wines he had acquired, he used his skill to turn it into something phenomenal. Just like he is.