History of Mr Pinot

Sir Arthur Edward spoke a strange form of Italian. It was the Italian of English travelers who loved Italy but had learnt the language reading Dante. To add to its quaintness, he flavored his speech with arcane expressions from regional dialects heard on his tours along the Bel Paese.

When it came to wines, however, Sir Arthur’s Italian was perfect. He knew all the European wine and vines names and as we used to say, “He literally had a great nose!”. Rachele Torlasco, who had owned a vineyard on the Oltrepo Pavese hills since the early 1900s was the first to discover Sir Edward’s talents. Sir Arthur Edward came across the Oltrepo Pavese area after a short tour of the Northern Italian vineyards.

His curiosity was aroused after reading books written in the fifteen hundreds that described an ancient wine called “Pinolo” or Pinol Gentile” or “Pignolo Grappolato”. The wine probably acquired its name from the pine cone shape of the ripe grapes. With his experienced nose he smelt the soil, the air and the climate and decided that this was the perfect site to grow his Pinot.

Sir Arthur learnt of the Torlasco Estate from local wine producers, who told him about the ancient tradition and superb quality of Donna Rachele’s wines. Arriving at the Estate without an appointment, he so impressed Donna Rachele with his oenological knowledge and passionate description of the Piedmontese wines he had tasted during his travels that Rachele Torlasco hired him as a consultant to improve her vineyards.

The first harvest overseen by Sir Arthur produced such an elegant and well structured Pinot that it truly expressed the intense thinking and refined soul of its maker. This wine was so exceptional that it created quite a stir in the region and Sir Edward became known as Mr Pinot.

In recognition of Sir Arthur’s contribution to the Wines of Torlasco, today the labels of Torlasco Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio depict a caricature of this eccentric oenologist, skillfully drawn by a local artist.