Day 3, Finally Getting Serious In Barolo

Wednesday, May 19th

Before the tasting this morning there was a presentation highlighting the new official geographic demarcations of the Langhe, specifically Barbaresco (completed and in effect from the 2010 vintage) and Barolo (still wrangling, but expected to be in effect in 2011). Basically, a lot of the sub-vineyards and fanciful proprietary sites will be sublimated and the region’s Burgundy-like cru names will be exclusively used. In other words, a wines like Paolo Scavino’s Bric del Fiasc, a Piemontese affectation of the same vineyard Luigi Scavino at Azelia’ calls Bricco Fiasco, essentially the same sites at the top (Bricco) of the designated cru called Fiasco will now each be called only ‘Fiasco.’ Non-official names for specific plots follow the cru name and get the designation ‘Vigna’ beforehand so, if the Scavinos wants to keep that Bric in there, they can write ‘Scavino/Azelia Barolo Fiasco ‘Vigna Bric’ or something like that. It’s to give greater emphasis to the 166 recognized crus of Barolo and 65 of Barbaresco. Of course this is Italy, so there was no overriding control over the process and each individual commune got to devise its own designations. La Morra and Serralunga identified a slew of named vineyards while Monfotrte created relatively fewer and larger designations. The continuing wrangling in Barolo seems to be on the fate of the famed Cannubi cru, a giant vineyard that everybody seems to have a piece of……stay tuned. The new maps, by the way, are available to see at www.langhevini.it.

By now we have the tasting routine down and my new best friend, the affable Romano, Sommelier-For-Hire and all ‘round good guy, had the pours going into the glasses as soon as we staggered through the door. The theme this day would be Barolo…..Barolo, Barolo, Barolo, all 2006. The line-up highlighted the villages of Grinzane Cavour, La Morra, Verduno and Castiglione Falletto. It turned out to be quite a grab bag with quality in La Morra all over the place. A few were overripe, even prune-y, while others had green streaks a mile long. Unlike classic, terroir-driven vintages like 2001 and 1999, in warmer vintages like 2006 and 2007, the wines can lack definition and verve. Still, there was a lot to love here and having just criticized them, I am also here to sing their praises. The wines are sweet with copious amounts of red currant fruit, a bit of brown herb (that fennel seed again) and broad and persistent tannin. There is ample freshness in most of the wines, but if this is a vintage where you want to taste the dirt in the wine, La Morra probably won’t be your village. Castiglione Falletto was harder to evaluate, as these wines were quite inconsistent, some with the sweetness of La Morra whle others seemed muddled with dry, raspy tannins. Overall, though, I find these to be very good, if not excellent wines in most cases. There are many in the *** category that I will buy myself. Here are the highlights:

***+
2006 Vietti Barolo Brunate- many thought this the wine of the tasting, if not the week
2006 Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo Villero ‘Enrico VI’ iron oxide, red currants, classic!
2004 Mario Gagliasso Barolo Riserva- like cinnamon crisp cereal, exotic and sweet
2004 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vignolo- just ravishing!

***
2006 Ciabot Berton Barolo Ciabot Berton La Morra- a benchmark for La Morra
2006 Rocche Costamagna Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata Bricco Franchesco- very promising- the wines from Annunziata did very well as a group.
2006 Mauro Molino Barolo Vigna Gancia- the best I’ve ever tasted from this producer
2006 Eraldo Viberti Barolo Rochetteviino, La Morra- ripe but balanced
2006 Mario Gagliasso Barolo, Rocche dell’Annunziata- I need to search this guy out
2006 Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo Bricco Gattera- knock out!
2006 Gianni Voerzio Barolo La Serra- controversial, too modern but a nice drink
2006 Marengo Mario Barolo Brunate- plump, easy to love
2006 Marcarini Barolo Brunate- yes, I gave it three but be wary of this wine and the La Serra too…they are atypical of the stuff normally produced here. ?
2006 Enzo Boglietti Barolo Case Nere- new to me, classic…my favorite La Morra
2006 Burlotto Barolo Acclivi Verduno- this winery makes the best wine in Verduno.
2006 Alessandria Fratelli Barolo Monvigliero- pretty. La Morra like charm
2006 Cavalotto Barolo Bricco Boschis- huge! Too huge?
2006 Oddero Barolo Rocche di Castiglione, Falletto- another classic wine
2006 Baroli Barolo Villero- a classic from a classic vintage, may be lacking sex appeal?
2006 Oddero Barolo Villero- even better than the Rocche! The Odderos are on a tear!
2004 Ciabot Breton Barolo Riserva- a beauty
2004 Enzo Boglietti Barolo Riserva- exotic fruit, bold tannins
2004 Cascina Ballarin Barolo Riserva Bricco Rocca Riserva Tistot – new to me
2004 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis- San Giuseppe- a black hole!

It is at this point that I remind you that there were some wines notable for not participating in this event. Not tasted were favorites from the two Corinos, Fratelli Revello and several others. That’s the only reason I can think of for their not being on the list! ;-)

The disappointments: Renato Ratti made a murky, funky Barolo Marcenasco in 2006. And no matter what the press says about Silvio Grasso, I just don’t get the wines. I scored Grasso’s Ciabot Manzoni a *, in other words, thanks for showing up, now go away. Andrea Oberto, another typically reliable producer, made a hard, woody wine that was really unpleasant to drink.

Some random alcohol fueled thoughts at the end of the tasting:

They say the more you know, the less you know and that seems to definitely be the case here. Few people, save my dozen or so colleagues, can say they’ve tasted more 2006 and 2007 Nebbioli than I will this week. By the time I am finished this week, it will number over 450 wines. For a while it seemed it would be easy to make broad generalizations like, say, the press seems so willing to do- already baptizing 2006 as the next great vintage of the century and 2007 as the next still. The truth is that there are good and bad wines made every vintage and these two are no different. What a tasting of this magnitude has enabled me to do is not only calibrate what the common points are, not only in the broader sense, but also within each of the villages and crus. And, as I tasted along, I could identify certain wines as benchmarks (i.e. showing off all of the attributes and or failings I’ve identified) and plot them on an imaginary graph with points landing either above or below my imagined standards. Those meeting or exceeding those benchmarks get the coveted Rittmaster ***! Still, as I say, for all I now know, I don’t know enough and the proof will come when these wines have weathered their trip across the Atlantic and have had enough bottle age to show their true characters.

With the wines of Monforte and Serralunga still to come, here’s how I would rate these vintages overall, as if such a thing could possibly mean anything.
2007 Roero **+ -sweet, ripe, but all over the place
2006 Roero Riserva ***(-)
2007 Barbaresco ***(-) easy to love but are they too sweet and, ultimately, too simple?
2006 Barolo *** for the vintage
2006 La Morra **+ lots of sweet fruit, some lacking freshness
2006 Castiglione Falletto ***? Jury is still out. Think it’s good. I know Villero was!
2004 Barolo Riserva ***(+) This is a mythical blend of 1998 and 2001!
Added later:
Serralunga *** - no question that this is the sweet spot of the vintage- good structure but not too austere.
Monforte d’Alba *** Same here…..lots of good wines.

After another nice lunch on the castle patio at the Barolo castle, it was time for the day’s second tasting featuring many 2000 vintage wines among others. Some of the highlights for me follow:

2000 Alessandria Fratelli Barolo Monvigliero- very pretty! One of the better showing 2000s.
2009 Alessandria Fratelli Pelaverga….no, Pelaverga is not going to be the Next Big Thing but this fruity, light stuff is sure fun to drink! It’s aVerduno thing.
2000 Enzo Boglietti Barolo Brunate….no, I’ve not seen much of Boglietti in the US, but the wines are sure nice. The 2000 Brunate is very good.
2000 Baroli Barolo Villero from a double magnum….another very good showing 2000, from a big bottle no less. The 1998 from the same cru is showing very well as well. I like 1998.
2000 Ciabot Breton Barolo Ciabot Breton….this Barolo producer doesn’t make big, ‘noble’ wines but they are solid and keep turning up near the top of every tasting in which they appear.
2000 Rocche Costamagna Barolo Bricco Francesco- another winery I don’t know, but with good vines in Rocche dell’Annunziata (a particular strength in La Morra in 2006), the are a property to watch. The 2000 has some real finesse, like a top Burgundy.

The dinner Wednesday was one of the highlights of the trip as it was put on by the Langa In, a group of 19 quality-minded producers in loose association. The names and personalities involved are impressive. Here are 17 of the 19 producers, the ones whose wines I actually tasted at dinner. (Can you believe I am such a wimp that I was only able to have 17 glasses of wine at dinner? Am I losing my touch?

Azelia-Luigi Scavino
Pierro Gatti
Paolo Scavino
Viberti
Domenico Clerico
Andrea Oberto
Conterno-Fantino
Elio Grasso
Pelissero
Parusso
Deltetto
Giovanni Almondo
Pira-Chiara Boschis
La Selvatilo
Malvira
La Caudrina
Matteo Correggia

The dinner was at Malvira’s beautiful Villa Tiboldi estate in Canale. The spot is simply gorgeous and the meal, with the exception of tough Tagliata of Veal, impressive. The Ravioli Bianchi (white Ravioli) filled with braised hen and topped with an egg yolk sauce was one of the best dishes I’ve ever had in Piemonte if not the best damned Ravioli I ever ate. This lively group was stimulating and fun. I sat next to Giorgio Pelissero from Barbaresco and Claudio Conterno, half of the Conterno-Fantino duo, and across from old friend Chiara Boschis, who makes her E. Pira wines as well as having just sold her stake in Borgogno. Their wines were sensational. Highlights included my first taste of Almondo’s 2009 Bricco Cilegiolo Arneis, my favorite in the category for several vintages, the intense, profound 2005 Clerico Barolo Pajana, the deep but still very young 2004 Scavino Rocche dell’Annunziata Riserva, the elegant 2000 Chiara Boschis Cannubi from magnum and three different ice-cold Moscati d’Asti!
My big mistake?
Washing it all down with my second espresso of the day. I rarely drink coffee and I don’t think I’ve ever had two in one day like I did Wednesday. I suffer from insomnia so I know sleeplessness, but I simply wasn’t prepared for a caffeine-jet lag fueled night where I slept not one wink. Finally, with the sun streaming through the windows, I staggered downstairs to the breakfast room and let a few colleagues know I wasn’t going to be on the bus this morning! I slept for three hours, took a shower and drove myself over the Barolo to pick up the pieces. I worked through an abbreviated version of the 76 wines lined up in the Ampelion, the staggeringly good Baroli from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga, and formally began my day at lunch up in the castle.

Stay tuned!