solo Nebbiolo

Last weekend, I travelled to Piemonte in north-west Italy with @bleuettextiles to taste some of the great wines of the area. As its name suggests, the region lies at the foot of the Alps and it shares as many cultural, culinary, and linguistic traits with neighbouring France and Switzerland as it does with the rest of Italy. There are so many great wines made here, as well as amaro and grappa, but all paths lead to Nebbiolo.

the grape

Nebbiolo's a difficult grape to grow and despite attempts to make wine from the grape elsewhere in the world, it's only in Piemonte, with its calcareous marl soils around the town of Alba, that truly great wine is produced from the grape. It buds early and ripens late, so needs a long growing season, and any late bad weather will reduce the quality of the harvest dramatically. Climate change has seen a succession of very good or exceptional vintages since the mid to late 1990s, which in a sense has reduced the need for the skill of the winemaker. 2012 and 13 were much more difficult and unbalanced years and will see that skill, as well as the terroir of the best vineyards, come back to the fore.

Barolo vines with an Alpine backdrop

Its primary flavours are perfumed, fragrant, and floral (violets, roses), and these full-flavoured aromas balance the high acidity and tannins of the grape. Like Pinot Noir and Grenache, wine from Nebbiolo is pale-coloured and can develop a garnet or brick-red rim quite quickly. For premium expressions, there will be a long period of oak ageing too which can easily mask the primary aromas if not handled well. 

Terroir is all important, probably more so in Piemonte than in any area of the world other than Burgundy. The character and style of Nebbiolo vary from vineyard to vineyard and the vintage will have a huge influence on the quality of the wine. The role of the winemaker is all important, his or her experience and knowledge of the grape, the vineyard, the soil, the vintage conditions, and the ageing process vital. All these factors mean that one wine made from Nebbiolo can taste very different from one made just next door, as my weekend's tasting proved. 

where?

Langhe

Langhe is a wide geographical area in which the smaller, more significant appellations fall and where wines from a number of grape varieties are produced. Nebbiolo del Langhe is a wine that hasn't spent much time ageing and is often made from young vines. These are immediate, easy-drinking wines that go well with a simple meat or pasta dish. 

Barolo

Barolo village

This is the most famous name in the region and where Nebbiolo gets serious. Barolo itself is a small, pretty hilltop village (they all are around here), while the Barolo DOCG spreads out to several other villages in the area. Wine has been made there for centuries, but, as with many traditional European areas, what we drink today is more modern in style than we perhaps realise.

Until the mid-nineteenth century, Barolo was a sweet wine, as growers found it difficult to pick the late-ripening Nebbiolo without there being some residual sugar in the grape. The development of Barolo has been one of gradual modernisation, meaning that the much-cited distinction between "traditional" and "modern" Barolo is meaningless. In most cases, the old and the new have come together in ways unique to each winery, again adding to the sense of terroir that gives each wine its own individual character. 

from winedine.com

The rules state that a Barolo must be aged in oak for at least two years - small or large, new or old barrels - and a further two years in the bottle. Thus, the most recent vintage you'll see on the market is 2009. How long it takes a Barolo to ready itself for drinking depends on how the wine has been made: long or short fermentation; old, large or small, new oak barrels; fruity or tannin heavy; and the area of Barolo it's from.

There are eleven villages which form the DOCG, but historically the five most important are Barolo, La Morra, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba, and Monforte d'Alba. Generally, the vineyards around Barolo and La Morra produce softer, more fragrant wines, while those to the east around the village of Serralunga d'Alba are harder, more powerful.

One aspect of winemaking which is quite new is single-vineyard wines, which enables smaller producers to distinguish themselves. Although one may argue that Barolo is at its best as a blended expression of all the area's different styles, single-vineyard wines demonstrate the variety of terroirs in the area as well as pointing to the harmonious complexity of blended wines.

Barbaresco

This is another small, pretty hilltop village about thirty minutes drive north of Barolo. It's a smaller DOCG, half the size of Barolo, with plantings concentrated on three villages (Barbaresco, Neive, and Treiso). Its history is younger too, fermenting Nebbiolo to dryness a practice only perfected in the 1890s. It became a DOC in the 1960s when its wines began to receive international interest thanks in part to local, ambitious, and imaginative winemaker Angelo Gaja.

The wines are required to age in oak for just one year, meaning that they can be more approachable at a younger age than Barolos. They are generally more fragrant and perfumed than those of Barolo, though tannins still abound. The wines of Barbaresco may not be as famous as Barolo, but they are complex, delicate, and robust wines with lots of ageing potential.

producers I visited  

Damilano 

"the wine of kings, the king of wine"

This is a "young" winery, only in its fourth generation. After experimenting with barriques, it returned to more traditional methods in 2007. We tasted through a series of single-vineyard wines all from 2009, sensing the subtle differences between each vineyard. Cannubi is a sandy vineyard on a slope right next to the village and the wine was floral, spicy, and balanced; Cerequio is near the village of La Morra and the wine was earthier, bitterer, and stalkier; Brunate is also near La Morra, but the wine was fruitier. Needless to say they all had big, gripping tannins. The Lecinquevigne 2007, made from five different vineyards, was more immediate and fruit forward. This has less ageing potential than the other wines, but at the same time can be drunk much younger and is an easier, less serious wine.

 

G. D. Vajra

This is very much a family winery. We met the son and daughter of G. D. himself, who had set it up in the early 1970s, with the reluctant help of his Turin-based parents who didn't wish to see him waste his career making wine in the countryside. They had sense on their side as there had been a succession of poor vintages, but he used his knowledge and enthusiasm to establish a winery that combines the best of tradition with innovation. We tasted two of their Barolos: the Albe 2009, from three vineyards (Fossati, Coste, La Volta), all of which have different exposures to the sun, making it a good example of Barolo as a balanced expression of the character of different vineyards. All three vineyards are around the village of Barolo itself, so the perfumed and floral character was apparent. 2009 was a warm vintage, which means the wine matures more quickly: the wine was already quite approachable. The 2008 Bricco delle Vole was a fantastic single-vineyard wine that still needs some time to mature properly. From 60-80-year-old vines, it was much fruitier with lots of structure, but with finesse and elegance, and perfume and softer tannins. 

The family have recently taken over Liugi Baudana, an old, respectable winery whose plantings are more towards Serralunga, making the Barolos darker, richer, and earthier, with more gripping tannins.

small and large barrels at G. D. Vajra

 

Produttori del Barbaresco

The idea that Barbaresco produces wines that don't need as much ageing as Barolo was immediately challenged by these tannin-heavy wines. Produttori are quite a traditional producer - one of the most important co-operatives in Italy, making wine from 51 growers - who solely use old oak barrels. My favourite two wines were both from 2008, a balanced, classic vintage: the Barbaresco and the Riserva (meaning an extra year in oak), a single-vineyard wine from Pajé. Both were exceptional, but need another five or six years before drinking.

Marchesi di Grésy

The family have been making wine since the nineteenth century, selling wine to the Produttori, but the current Marchesi went alone in the 1970s, establishing it as one of the leading wineries in Barbaresco. They have vineyards surrounding the estate, as well as further away in Monferrato, where they produce a fantastic Merlot (we tasted the latest, unreleased vintage, 2007).

Martinenga vineyard

Their most important vineyard, Martinenga, forms an amphitheatre right behind the winery. The largest, central part produces wine every year for the Barbaresco - the 2009 we tasted was elegant and fragrant, with liquorice and smoke, and a developing tobacco. Although still part of the Martinenga vineyard, the lefthand side is called Gaiun. The 2008 was typical of the vineyard: smoke, tannins, and spice, but balsamic and pine needles, with dried fruits coming through. To the other side is Camp Gros - much bigger tannins and more powerful, with spice, red fruits, oak, herbs, and earth, with lots of ageing potential. We also tasted the 2005, which was drinking wonderfully now, though still with plenty of tannins and acidity. The fruits, flowers, and power were all in balance but with a hint of tertiary aromas coming through to indicate its potential for further ageing. Tasting these three wines side by side showed just how varied wine from the same site can be: proof of the power of terroir.

the wines are aged in barriques for 6-8 months (new, nearly new, and old), before being moved to large barrels

 

grappa

Just about every winery makes some, and we drove past quite a few distilleries on our travels. Grappa can be rancid, but at its best it's a sophisticated spirit with lots of attractive if potent grape aromas. I tasted a lovely Grappa di Arneis in a restaurant but the most memorable example was from Produttori di Barbaresco, made from the ubiquitous Nebbiolo and aged in oak; spicy and powerful, like peppery fire, this was yet another example of the range of expressions the Nebbiolo grape is capable of.

If you ever visit Barolo, go to the corkscrew museum, if only to see this two-sided corkscrew, on sale for €450

Often, spending a weekend intensely tasting just one style of wine leaves you yearning for something completely different. Tasting all these Nebbiolos had the opposite effect - I want to carry on tasting all the different styles of wine produced using just that one grape: the rich and powerful, the fragrant and elegant, the young and the old, the fruity and the oxidised, the fabulous and the supremely fabulous.

My impression of Piemonte was also quite different from what I had been expecting. Rather than fusty, traditional, and unwelcoming (yes, France, I'm thinking of you), attitudes among everyone I met were modern, friendly, and hugely enthusiastic. Although steeped in years of history and tradition, it's clear that both Barolo and Barbaresco are areas full of winemakers open to developments elsewhere, aware that they must adapt to maintain their high reputation, and above all very proud of their great wine.