Last Days In Piemonte....the final post

Friday, May 21st

I can’t tell you how good it felt to wake up and not have to face 80-some odd Nebbiolo-based wines this morning for breakfast. With the event over, I was left to my own devices so I checked out of the inn and motored back to La Morra (Santa Maria to be exact) for an 11 AM appointment with Cristina Oddero and her niece Isabella.

With apologies to their young, male enologist, Oddero is a winery of women. The old winery and cellars are immaculate and tastefully splashed with brilliant color in the form of discreet geometric murals on some walls, multi-colored birdhouses dangling from the branches of two deceased birch trees and an ancient dark wooden table in the tasting room livened up by clear molded plastic chairs in zingy orange, yellow and red. It’s such a personal, pretty place that subtly combines the winery’s significant past with a present that’s vibrant and optimistic.

I am afraid that I am taxing Cristina’s (very good) English with my incessant questions but we’re all game and 24 year-old Isabella, winemaker and the daughter of Cristina’s sister, another principal in the winery, is more than willing to help. The estate here is much more spread out than their neighbors up the hill at Montezemolo, and a sampling the wines at Oddero is like taking a tour of the Barolo DOCG’s greatest vineyards. The La Morra estate vineyard runs from the winery up to the top of the hill and the ancient Santa Maria church, hence its name Bricco Chiesa. The rest of the contiguous vineyard flows out from the winery culminating in Bricco San Biaggio, another ziggurat (who thought I’d get to use that word three times in the same document?) capped by its own, much smaller tree. The winery’s other properties include a spot in Barbaresco’s Gallina vineyard in Neive, a two-hectare plot rented from the Church of Alba since the 1990s, Villero, perhaps Castiglione Falletto’s most famous vineyard, Rocche Castiglione, right on the border between Castiglione Falletto and Monforte, a tiny parcel of Bricco Fiasco in Monforte, a postage stamp piece of Brunate situated at the very top of the vineyard, a wonderful spot called Mondoca in Bussi Soprana and the Odderos are one of the few lucky owners of a piece of Serralunga’s famed Rionda, now, once this new legislation is passed, to be called Vignarionda. They also make a zingy white from Chardonnay and Riesling planted in La Morra, a snappy Dolcetto d’Alba and Barberas made from Barolo area vines and a higher toned, quite structured wine from vines near Asti.

In a vintage like 2006, going through the line up of Oddero Baroli is extremely instructive. While the Barolo Classico (the newly approved way to say Barolo Normale) combines the sweetness of La Morra with sterner stuff from Bricco Fiasco, the Falletto wines (Rocche and Villero) are more intense, tannic and vibrant. I didn’t try the Bussia today but the 2004 tre bicchieri winner we have at Prima is big, muscular and briary but, for all that, has nothing on the Vigna Rionda, a classic in 2006 that captures the essence of its great terroir.

The Ladies Oddero took me to lunch right up the hill at the Osteria di Vignaiolo, a totally unassuming but really delicious little place with a lovely outdoor seating area. This was one of those sunny days where the sky was so blue it scorched your eyeballs and everything in sight was in full bloom! I’ve had a lot of great pasta in my day but when you are drinking Bruno Giacosa’s lovely bubbly and a bottle of Oddero’s 2004 Villero Riserva, deep in genial conversation with two well-spoken, lovely women, well, everything just sparkled. I hated for it to end. But then we went off to have a look at Brunate, the top from which we could see just about everything there was to see from Serralunga to La Morra.

Before I took my leave here and headed off to Barbaresco and La Spinetta, I took a few minutes to consider the rise of the woman winemaker in Piemonte. Cristina and Isabella are part of wheel that is spinning (has spun, more accurately) women to the forefront of the business of making wine in the area. Everywhere you look, it seems, there are women changing the face of the craft and men lamenting the fact that no one seems to be having sons any more! These women, while perhaps loath to drastically change tradition in the area, are doing so nonetheless. The list is getting long. Beginning with Chiara Boschis, Cristina Oddero and Maria Theresa Mascarello, the list also includes the Scavino sisters, the Altare sisters, Marina Marcarino at Punset, Bruna Grimaldi, Gaia Gaja, Bruna Giacosa and a new generation of twenty-somethings featuring the likes of Marta Rinaldi and Isabella Oddero. These are women with the power to determine the direction of their families' legacies through these challenging times. Will they make big changes that will enhance Barolo’s commercial appeal or embrace Nebbiolo’s ‘particular’ character and the fact that it is indeed a niche wine, but a very special one? Judging by what I’ve seen so far, the future of the Barolo wine business is in very good hands!

Giorgio Rivetti's La Spinetta Barbaresco operation is located near the back of the appellation. It’s a functional, modern building, quite suited in personality to the ultra-flashy, super intense wines of Rivetti. Ironically, Giorgio was in California the week I was in Piemonte, and his lovely companion Anya, now very pregnant with their second child together, was at Giorgio’s Tuscan complex being interviewed by a German newspaper during my visit. But, have no fear, Giorgio’s ebullient, very funny niece Dr. Manuela Rivetti was on hand, along with enologist Stefano to offer me the winery’s current releases and a complete look at the amazing 2009 and 2008 Barbareschi and Barbera from barrel and tank. Not many people, maybe no one else I can think of in Piemonte, farm for intensity like Rivetti. Every vineyard he farms is closely spaced and yields are far below the norm in Piemonte. They soak up oak better than any other Nebbiolo I’ve tasted. My favorite of the Rivetti line up is the Barbaresco Gallina in Neive. It has a signature floral quality, violets really, that in the several barrels we tasted from, showed in spades. The 2009 is a real beauty and the 2008 not far behind. Starderi and Valeriano are divided into two sets of barrels, one from the lower portion of the vineyards and one from the ‘alta.’ As you might expect, the wines from the higher portion of the vineyards are tighter and more structured and will form the base of the finished wines while the lower portions make richer, fragrant wines that are all about their sex appeal. I like Starderi second and Valeriano third although I know that Giorgio likes them the other way around.

Debuting this year will be a Barbaresco Bordini from Neive. Located between Starderi and Gallina, these twenty-plus year old vines will make a delicious wine priced between the Barbareschi and Rivetti’s superb Nebbiolo.

From one Rivetti winery to the next I went, driving to yet another castle town, Grinzane Cavour, home of Giorgio’s Barolo winery at Campe. Current DOCG laws prohibit wines to be labeled Barbaresco and Barolo to be made under the same roof unless, of course, you were grandfathered in when the laws changed. Hence the Odderos have both their Gallina Barbaresco and all their Baroli in one winery while Rivetti was forced to build a separate cantina just for Campe. Having been here several times already and with both Giorgio and Anya out of town, I went, instead, next door and checked into the wonderful Tenuta Ottocento (800) Bed and Breakfast. Caretakers Matteo and Isabella have a cute little place and, for E70 including a great breakfast, it’s a well-located inexpensive alternative for lodgings in the Barolo area.

Matteo recommended the nearby Trattoria nelle Vigne, an interesting five-minute drive through the Campe vineyard. This is the classic Trattoria but in a more modern vein with a young, tattooed staff on the floor, rather than just mom and pop. You just don’t feel as well taken care of, I guess. Left to my own devices, I drank a half a bottle of 2008 Belle Cole Arneis and half of a bottle of 2007 Poderi Colla Nebbiolo. There is no menu here and the antipasti comes rumbling out: Achiuge (Anchovies) in a nutty, miso-like paste, fritters and lardo, a chopped salad of celery, peppers, lettuces, chicken and toma, asparagus draped in a rich fonduta and two ice cream scoops worth of carne cruda. I had a choice of three pastas and chose the ubiquitous Piemonte specialty: ravioli with sage butter, followed by a tasty Coniglio con Peperoni. A lot of food and wine for E51.50! It’s an OK place to eat alone and I am betting this is a fun place for lunch too.

Saturday, May 22nd

Market day in Alba is a lot of fun. The normally placid city becomes a beehive of vegetable, meat and fish stands, acres of clothing, farming tools and everything else under the sun. It’s daunting to visit alone. I had some things I wanted to shop for but was simply overwhelmed by the vast expanses of things to buy, all the people and this dazzling sunlight that turned every reflective surface into laser beams that dazzled my eyes. With terminal brain lock, I staggered around for a few hours and bolted back to La Morra for a welcome solitary lunch at an osteria-wine bar in town.

The two young guys seated next to me look barely old enough to drink but they are geeking out on a bottle of Kante Sauvignon with their lunch. I contented myself with a glass of Almondo Arneis and, when the Langhe Nebbiolo I asked for was gone, the server opened a bottle of 2008 Conterno-Fantino Nebbiolo Ginestrina, a knock out that I doubt we’ll ever see in the United States. I ate some delicious burrata with a reasonably ripe tomato and some spaghetti with zucchini flowers.

After lunch I sauntered over to good friend Marco Marengo’s cantina right across from the La Morra bank. Marco and wife Jenny have been making some really, really stylish wines from plots in Roero (one of the few that get the great Valmaggiore fruit), Brunate and the romantically named Bricco Viole. Marco loves his 2006s, calling them the most 'important' wines he has ever made and, indeed, they seem to have bucked the trend of softer, lusher wines in La Morra, with a Brunate that rocked. His 2006 Bricco Viole is, as always, a delicious, fragrant wine with lots of stuffing. The nicest surprise is the 2008 Nebbiolo Valmaggiore. It’s a real tasty wine with great fruit and a juicy quality that makes it irresistible!

By 4 PM it was time to hit the road and I said good-bye to La Morra and headed east towards Lombardia and Milano. I decided to visit Lago Maggiore, the site of some previous fun (are you reading this Eric and Chris?) but it was crawling with day-tripping tourists and after driving around a bit, I decided instead to point my car to Malpensa, and found the not-so-appropriately named Hotel First, just a few minutes from the airport. The highlight of my stay here was being able to sit outside on their patio and enjoy a late dinner of Tagliatelle Carbonara as the sun went down. The server, who doubled as the hotel’s porter, brought me out a very tired bottle of 2006 Prunotto Arneis but not even that terrible wine could dampen my enthusiasm for this lovely, lovey evening, my last in Piemonte.

No choice, I guess but to go home!

Thanks for reading.