Tony Loeb

🍴 Michelangelo Mammoliti, chef at Hotel Il Boscareto - La Rei Natura, won the "Piatto dell’Anno 2024" awarded by "Guida Piemonte a Tavola" and the "Consorzio di Tutela e promozione del Crudo di Cuneo" on Tuesday, October 15. The ceremony was at G.D. Vajra in Barolo during the launch of "Piemonte a Tavola 2025" guide. Mammoliti holds two Michelin stars and will feature at the White Truffle Fair in Alba on November 30, during its 94th edition, promoting Crudo di Cuneo DOP.

🍻 During Oktoberfest season, "Original Obazda," a Bavarian spreadable cheese, arrives in Italian supermarkets specifically in Lombardy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Emilia-Romagna. Alpenhain, a family-run Bavarian dairy with nearly 120 years of history, produces this creamy Camembert-based cheese, which is now available in a distinctive hexagonal jar. Alpenhain, market leader for "Original Obazda" in Germany and exporter to over 40 countries, celebrates 30 years of this EU-protected Bavarian specialty made from Alpine milk, blending tradition and creamy flavor for cheese lovers worldwide.

🍷 A German music producer, Hardy Rodenstock, sold a counterfeit 1787 Château Lafite bottle for $156,000 at a Christie's auction in 1985. Rudy Kurniawan, an Indonesian of Chinese descent, replicated significant quantities of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. A Russian counterfeiter in Italy, with operations in Desio, was arrested after an investigation involving six arrests and sixteen searches in September across Torino, Cuneo, Rome, and Bologna. The criminal organization created fake labels, QR codes, and security tags, selling bottles for up to €15,000, totaling €2 million in business. French Gendarmerie, Italian Carabinieri, Swiss Federal Police, Europol, and Eurojust were involved in the operation that seized counterfeit bottles, 5,000 labels, €100,000 in cash, and other items.