Marca family to share Barbera and Nebbiolo with Medford, Oregon’s Sister City

Medford, OR., April 4, 2023 — This month DANCIN Vineyards (www.dancin.com) will take part in the annual Vinum Festival (www.vinumalba) in Alba, Italy, in the famed Piedmont wine region. It is considered to be the largest open-air wine festival in Italy. The visit is an element of Medford, Oregon’s long Sister City relationship with Alba.

On April 22-25 DANCIN owners Dan and Cindy Marca will present a wine master class followed by several pouring sessions in Alba’s historic center during the Festival. They will showcase the winery’s Barberas, a grape indigenous to the Monferrato in Southwestern Piedmont. Barbera is Piedmont’s most planted grape and is second in importance only to Nebbiolo.

“We will also be sharing our first-ever Nebbiolo,” said Dan Marca, “along with four different expressions of Barbera from Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley – three of which were awarded 93-point and 97-point scores and four Double Gold medals.”

In addition to the Vinum master class and pouring sessions, the winery will host a blind tasting and pairing dinner with local winemakers for side-by-side comparisons, with the dinner prepared by Michelin-starred Chef Marc Lanteri. The next day brings a deep-dive wine experience with a Barbera d’Asti producer in Monferrato and a Barbera d’Alba producer in Barolo.

The Marcas are longstanding fans of Barbera, having produced it since 2013. They currently release three separate expressions (Tribute, Onore and Sorella) with each vintage. The grape’s origin may have preceded the better known Cabernet Sauvignon by 1,000 years. One of the earliest discoveries of Barbera – and arguably the place that produces some of the best representations of this grape – is Italy’s Piedmont region.

Sister Cities Connection

The Medford-Alba relationship, which recently celebrated its 62^nd  year anniversary, was established in 1960 and was one of the earliest of such unions and was indeed unique. While many American cities were pairing up with Pacific Rim cities with the intent of promoting commerce, Medford Mayor John Snider took a very different approach.  Tasked with choosing which foreign city among several candidates would be Medford’s partner, he based his choice on factors that he believed would lead to deep and lasting bonds. His goal was to promote personal and familial friendships between the two communities, which would become the heart of the union.

Alba and Medford already shared some essential traits.  Both cities had nearly the same population and both were the centers of flourishing agricultural regions.  Both cities enjoyed remarkably similar temperate climates due to their proximity to the sea.  The two cities were similarly located in large river valleys surrounded by scenic foothills and the mountains beyond them.  Their differences in language, culture and history were not barriers but gifts that they would come to share and appreciate. [Source:  City of Medford Sister City Committee Website]