Day 4, Montezemolo's Revenge?

Thursday, May 20th

As for 2006 in Monforte and Serralunga? Here, clearly, is where the vintage shined. These wines, thanks to their more stripped down nature, showed less fat and more classic Nebbiolo character than anything we’d tried all week. The terroir was more evident and so were the flaws, as they could not be hidden by the layers of sweet fruit we saw in, say, La Morra. Serralunga is a patchwork of small growers who traditionally grew for larger producers and, only in the past twenty years, have made wine for themselves. As a result, quality can be a little irregular. Like in Burgundy, just because you have a great piece of earth under you, doesn’t mean you can fashion it into great wine. Still, I would rate the vintage here a solid *** or even ***+ and, if you stick to really good producers with a track record, you will find some wonderful wines for your cellar in 2006. Here were my favorites from the limited amount tasted- and remember, Clerico, G Conterno, Giacosa and several other high profile producers, did not have wines in the tasting.

***+
2006 Gianfranco Alessandria Barolo San Giovanni- where has this been all my life?
2006 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Colonnelo- find a cold dark place and put this in it.
2006 Azelia Barolo San Rocco- very complex, beautifully made
2006 Seghesio Fratelli Barolo Vigneto La Villa- elegant, nuanced and extremely complex
2004 Massolino Barolo Reserva Vignarionda- a blue chip that really shined.

***
2006 Abbona di Abbona Marziano Barolo Pressenda
2006 Poderi Colla Barolo Dardi Le Rose-Bussia- nice old school stuff
2006 Parusso Armando Barolo Bussia- intense and complex
2006 Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini Chiniera- speaks well for Clericos 06s as well
2006 Podere Rocche dei Manzoni Barolo Big d’ Big- yes, it is Big, and modern too
2006 Guido Porro Barolo Vigna S. Caterina- a perfect calibration wine for this vintage
2006 Guido Porro Barolo Vigna Lazairasco- cooler and darker
2006 Germano Ettore Barolo Prapo- balanced and softer
2006 Pira Luigi Barolo Marenca- tasted his Rionda later, ‘bout a toss up
2004 Germano Ettore Barolo Riserva Lazzarito

Lunch proved to be revival of sorts for me thanks to the tajarin pasta that helped get me back on an even keel, although I did take it a little easier through the walk-around tasting that followed, tasting mainly the 2000s and a few odd balls, of which there were very few. My earlier caveat about the 2000s was not swayed in this room either as they were, as a group, backwards, tight and briary. Keep them away from your corkscrew for the time being. Some highlights were:
2000 Famiglia Anselma Barolo Riserva Adasi- a lighter, approachable wine now
2003 Germano Ettore Barolo Cerretta- I love the 2003s now. Some are really elegant!
2000 Massolino Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda 10 Anni- the classic 2000. Everything,
2006 Pira Luigi Barolo Vignarionda- a great bookend to the earlier Margheri

After the tasting Thursday, I drove over to Cordero di Montezemolo, one of the older benchmark producers of La Morra, but one that has been off my radar for many years thanks to some dodgy importation arrangements in California. That has changed with their alignment with good friend Enrico Nicoletta and importer Wine Warehouse. It’s good to get to reacquaint myself with this top producer because clearly, at this quality, and, potentially, some very fair pricing, they figure in my plans at PRIMA.

I met with Alfredo Cordero, the young scion of the ancient Cordero-Falletti family. The Fallettis built Castiglione Falletto across the valley from La Morra some 600 years ago and called their home vineyard on the La Morra slope ‘Monfalletto’, or Mountain of the Fallettis. The Corderos are a branch of the now extinct Fallettis and have been making wine here for a very, very long time. Alberto and his sister are taking over for their father and are responsible for putting this important property back on the map. The key to the Monfalletto site is the Gattera hill, a well-known cru in its own right. Shaped like a ziggurat and topped with its distinctive cypress tree, Gattera is one of the best-known landmarks in all of Barolo and, thanks to its sun-baked exposure, one of its best vineyards. (Careful, when looking down from La Morra to mix Gattera with the Oddero’s little pyramid shaped hilltop with its own, much smaller, tree!) In the best years (and Cordero calls them ‘terroir’ years, so recent vintages have been 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2005- not what you’d expect looking at the Spectator vintage chart) he makes a wine called ‘Goretta’ from vines of the sunniest side of the ziggurat and bottles it only in magnums. Sorry to say, he didn’t open one for me! In addition to the Monfalletto, Gattera and Goretta bottlings, Montezemolo makes a wine they call Enrco VI from the Villero vineyard across the valley in Falletto. This has become their flagship wine, as its quality and ability to age are impressive. Though I forgot to ask, I suspect that in future vintages, it will have to be called Villero Vigna Enrico VI. Cordero also makes a damned serious, very ageable Chardonnay and some very delightful sparkling wine that we already sell at PRIMA.

I was a day late to try the old bottles he had opened in the cantina. The 1958, opened for journalists three days before, was, Cordero said, finally faded in the bottle but a 1990 Chardonnay, served to me blind and having been opened for a few days, was fresh, lively and undeniably one of the great Chardonnay-based wines in Piemonte. The 2007 version shows its lively, really exotic flavors off really well….a wine to watch. It probably won’t unseat Aldo Conterno’s Bussia d’Or as my favorite Piemontese white, but I would certainly buy some if Enrico decides to bring any in. But, knowing Enrico, he’ll say that there is already too damned much Chardonnay in America. Can’t argue that point! As for the Nebbiolo, the 2005 Barolo Monfalletto was cool and sleek while the 2006 was more open and complex with a boatload of tannin. For La Morra in 2006, it’s a pretty dense, intense wine. The 2004 Enrico VI was very dark, brooding stuff, powerful with oak, tannin and spice. It’s quite dry now as it settles into a long, long nap. The 1998 Gattera, on the other hand, is the perfect example of a wine that has shed its youthful impetuousness and is growing into itself. It’s not mature by any stretch, nor is it a baby anymore. This is a serious property.

The rather serious (you could say ‘dour’ if we weren’t talking about someone so young) Alberto turned up later in the evening in bright purple, very shiny shoes at the Nebbiolo Prima Sayonara Party held outdoors under ideal conditions at the Castello Barolo. It was a genial all-star cast on hand to share bottles of their wine, endless passed antipasti, a pasta bar and an awesome 1960s cover band with a lead singer that was a dead ringer for George Harrison circa All Things Must Pass! I was too busy eating, drinking and chatting up winemakers, journalists and my colleagues to make any notes, but there were some great wines proffered by the producers including, among a score of other delectables, a fabulous, if still tight, 2001 Produttori Montestefano Riserva Barbaresco brought by Aldo Vaca. Normally I loathe stand-around-and-mingle parties but one couldn’t help but have fun in this company. I took it easy because of the rocky start I had to the day and the fact that I had operated a motor vehicle to get there, but the grappa I had back at the inn with David Ridge was about as satisfying as any I can remember and when I hit the pillow, I got a full six hours sleep which, for me, is a long, long time!