Albino Rocca

 Back in Barbaresco, my final Piedmont post will cover the tasting at Albino Rocca.

 

Albino Rocca produces about 100,000 bottles in total per year. Vinification takes place in large Slavonian barrels. The maceration period is long, 30-60 days, to gain colour and tannin structure.

The 2021 Barbera Gepin is a fresh, medium-bodied wine. The mouthfeel is pleasant and elegant, with decent intensity. The soft tannin structure is significant for a Barbera (92 points). The 2022 Langhe Nebbiolo is from the Roero region, from a sandy vineyard. This is a perfumed and somewhat fruity wine from a warm vintage, but enough tannin structure comes through to make this an attractive wine (91 points).

The star of the tasting was the 2020 Albino Rocca Montersino Barbaresco. The vines were planted in 1997, and the wine made since 2012. This is quite an extreme site, with poor soil, 50% sand, on a steep slope at 400m altitude. As you can imagine, this is not a big wine, with a lighter colour, perfumed, and orange peel on the palate. This wine has great drive and is super elegant. Not for everyone, but I thought it was superb (96 points).

The 2020 Cottà from older vines is probably better known, and the red clay soils deliver  a bigger, fruitier wine, a bit like the 2020s from Cascina delle Rose. Still the wine is elegant. Production is low of these two Barbarescos: 2000-2500 bottles (91 points).

The main Barbaresco, with a volume of 8000-9000 bottles, is Ronchi. The 2020 is more powerful than Cottà, but it remains a soft wine, with a firm acidic backbone (92 points). We compared this with the 2019, which was better balanced, again, firm acidity, but a much longer finish (94 points).

The winemaking of Albino Rocca is impressive, with elegance of the wines being the common denominator.

Cascina Delle Rose

 Now tasting wines in Piemonte. I last tried the wines of Cascina delle Rose about ten years ago. At that time, the small wine operation was a side show to the Ecotourism operation of the same name. Now the wine business is the number one priority. It is still small with 5ha of vines under control and about 30,000 bottles per year. But under the meticulous leadership of Riccardo, the cru sites of Tre Stelle and Rio Sordo shine in a new light.

The 2022 Dolcetto is a delight. It is very clean, with raspberry and red cherry flavours and a good structure. Underlying this are savoury notes as well. This is a more complex Dolcetto than typical (90 points).

The 2021 Langhe Nebbiolo from the Tre Stelle vineyard is from younger grapes and needs to balance out. I have tasted better examples. The wine is quite tannic, with a slightly short finish (88 points).

The 2019 Barbera Superiore shows what this winery is about now: elegance and lightness on the palate. Red and black cherry flavours dance on the tongue of this elegant wine (92 points).

Then we get to the main game, the Barbarescos. The 2019 Tre Stelle Barbaresco shows the quality of the 2019 vintage. This is a lifted wine, with great finesse. Red cherry and orange peel flavours run down the palate in quite a linear fashion, with elegant and silky tannins. This is quite a feminine wine, an excellent expression of this Barbaresco style (95 points).

The 2019 Rio Sordo Barbaresco is a bit darker, with some mulberry notes, and more muscular. It is still an elegant style with a very layered fruit profile. This is a function of the vineyard, which is a semi-amphitheater, with west and south orientation. Detailed dry tannins lead to a long finish and a long life ahead. I have seen two reviews of this wine, one with 100 points, one with 93. I have seldom seen such a discrepancy. I rate it 97 points, not to be in the middle, but this is an outstanding wine.

I then tasted the 2020s of these two wines, which will come onto the market soon. This confirmed how good 2019 is. The 20s are fruitier and open, lacking the complexity of 2019. The Tre Stelle is again lighter in colour, the Rio Sordo darker. These are pleasant wines, which will be ready to drink almost shortly after release (91/92 points).

The final wine of this excellent tasting was the 2010 Tre Stelle Barbaresco. 2010 is one vintage 2019 is compared to, although Riccardo believes 2013 is the best comparison. This wine was still fresh, with orange peel flavours and surprisingly some mint. It had great balance between fruit, acidity and tannins, but not quite the complexity of 2019. The long finish made this an outstanding wine as well (95 points).

This was the start of my Piedmont tastings. I can’t wait to explore more.

A Barbaresco/Barolo Tasting

It is not often that one can compare a number of Nebbiolo based wines on one night; largely a function of the price. But a few days ago I had this opportunity.

The first set of three wines were from 2012. Sottimano is one of the leading producers in Barbaresco. The 2012 Sottimano Barbaresco Curra is very aromatic on the nose. The palate is complex with red cherry, star anise and leather flavours. This is quite a dry and tannic wine, which comes together well on the finish (94 points).

The 2012 Mauro Molino Bricco Luciano Barolo from La Morra is equally aromatic. This is a lighter style Barolo, the red and black cherry flavours are lifted, and the mouthfeel is elegant. The oak flavours are a little strong, perhaps (94 points).

The 2012 Elvio Cogno Barolo Vigna Elena Riserva is a bigger wine, as you would expect from the Ravera Cru of Novello. The cherry flavours are of dark fruit, and concentrated. The fruit is matched by firm tannins. This is a very good wine from a producer on the up (95 points).

The second bracket looked at Barolo over time. The 2016 Elio Grasso Vigna Chiniera from a great vintage and star producer was amazing. This label is from part of the famous Ginestra vineyard in Monforte. This wine is lifted, elegant, yet of considerable depth. This is a profound wine with fantastic length on the palate and a never ending finish (97 points).

The 2013 Ferdinando Principiano Ravera could not stand quite up to this. It also tasted of dark cherry with very earthy notes and firm tannins - a good wine, but not as rounded and deep as the Elio Grasso (93 points).

Another step down was the 2010 Azelia Barolo. This wine had good length and typicality for Barolo, but maybe a long maceration period dulled the flavours somewhat (90 points).

As you would come to expect, there is no bad Barolo, but there are significant differences, part due to subregion, part due to producer, like in Burgundy. Given the prices, I recommend to try before you buy or develop a following of a producer you like. 

Produttori del Barbaresco Montestefano

Co-operatives are usually best avoided by wine consumers who appreciate high quality. This is because most of them focus on volume, i.e. high yield. There is one major exception; Produttori del Barbaresco. This co-operative lifted its game big time in the 1990s. It has access to a number of top class vineyards, maybe even better than Gaja in Barbaresco. The Montestefano is one of their finest.

A few days ago, I opened a bottle of the 2000 Produttori del Barbaresco Montestefano Reserva. The 18 year old wine is probably drinking at its peak now. The flavours are an intriguing mix of red cherry, tobacco, some green leaf, and (non sweet) marzipan. The structure is still great, with  delicate acidity shining through.

This wine is very dry, Nebbiolo-like, with silky tannins and long flavours. The only downside; this full-bodied wine is slightly alcoholic on the mid-palate. As a compliment to protein food, it shows its strength particularly well, and the alcohol is not very noticeable.

Score: 94/+++  

Sottimano Curra Barbaresco

No other noble grape splits the world as much as Nebbiolo. As it is far off centre, many in the wine drinking world do not get it, or even hate it, while others will drink very little else after having had the experience.

The 2004 Sottimano Curra Barbaresco sets a good example for these extremes. On its own, it is too tannic, even too savoury to enjoy. It is certainly not delicious. But matched with protein food, it is a different story. Sottimano is not a top tier producer, but this wine has attractive flavours of dried fruits. On the palate, secondary components are now dominant. Figs and tobacco match the plum and dark cherry fruits. The firm tannins blend well into protein food. Unfortunately, there is too much alcohol in this wine (14.5%). This level could be fine with big bodied wines, but overwhelms the fragrant Nebbiolo. The finish is just hot.

Score: 90/+

PS: I will be drinking and reviewing quite a bit more Nebbiolo over the next few weeks.Stay tuned.

Gaja Barbaresco

It is hard to go past Gaja for a benchmark for elegance in wine. I was looking forward to opening the 2000 Gaja Barbaresco. Should be good drinking at 14 years.

The wine displays a surprising blue colour. The flavours are complex: there is blueberry, black cherry, boysenberry and mulberry fruit. The fruit is concentrated, but has mellowed a bit, allowing forest berry flavours to develop. This wine is more linear than big, but still offers a very satisfying mouthfeel. There is some mystery and smoky flavours in this wine, which develop on an elegant and balanced frame. There is noticeable acidity on the finish, but this is moved to the background by beautiful dry and dusty tannins and a long finish. Think about this wine as a lady in a long velvet dress with a cigarillo in her hand.

Score: 95/+++

Albino Rocca Duemilasette

The 2007 Albino Rocca Duemilasette Barbaresco is an elegant wine. Floral aromas start you off, before the depth of dark cherry fruit kicks in. The tannins are firm, but have mellowed. They lead to a sustained finish.

This is a serious and enjoyable wine, but slightly out of balance, as the tannins are too strong for the fruit.

Score: 92/+

Barbaresco

I did not take any notes on this day, which I now regret, but I just wasn't quite ready for it. The wineries I visited in the Barbaresco area were Bruno Rocca, Punset, and Moccagatta.

As it turned out, the most impressive wines were from Bruno Rocca. Most wineries produce one Dolcetto, a couple of Barberas and then Nebbiolo wines. The Dolcetto is an early drinking variety, often regarded as a quaffer, but the quality improvements have been significant. I enjoyed most of them, and certainly the Bruno Rocca Dolcetto d'Alba. They represent extraordinary value for money at between 7 and 8 Euros per bottle ex winery. The Barberas are from the region d'Alba or further northeast, d'Asti. The d'Alba Barberas tend to be more elegant, the d'Asti wines more intense. The Rocca Barbera d'Alba is from Barbaresco, with complex blackberry, mulberry and cherry, as well as savoury flavours - an excellent expression of the grape variety. The Barbaresco I tried was the Bruno Rocca Coparossa Barbaresco. This wine was matured in barrique, 60% new wood. This is a full bodied wine with black cherry and tobacco flavours and an elegant finish.

Punset was a new winery to me. This co-operative focusses on organic and bio-dynamic principles. Organic farming is quite common in the region, but Punset is probably stricter about its principles than most. The wines, unfortunately, did not measure up. Both Barbera and Barbaresco had green and leafy flavours. I did not enjoy these wines, and I doubt that further cellaring would change this outcome.

Moccagatta is well known for its trio of Barbarescos, Basarin, Cole and Bric Balin. They are single vineyard wines, showing their different terroir. The Bric Balin was elegant with silky tannins, but did not rise to some of the best vintages.

The Barbaresco day was good, put paled in comparison with the Barolo tastings coming up. My preference for the 2008, 2009 and 2010 vintages is clearly Barolo.

Barbaresco

This is a bit of an introductory post. The Piedmont area in north-western Italy  is a unique wine experience largely due to the fickle, but utterly amazing Nebbiolo grape. The two main appellations are Barbaresco and Barolo. They are distinguished by the area the vineyards are located in and the aging time required before market release. Barbaresco is centred around the town by the same name, and the nebbiolo has to be matured for two years before release. The Barolo area is situated a bit further south and the nebbiolo requires three years of maturation.

There are 480ha of vineyards in Barbaresco and 370 producers. From this you can deduct how small each producer is. The situation is very comparable to Burgundy. The lack of scale makes the wine expensive, but also ensures very focussed quality treatment of the grapes etc.

At a recent tasting, a couple of things stood out. The length of fermentation is a key driver of the wine's characteristics. The traditionalists have long fermentation periods of 15 days plus, which results in wines which age well, but are tough and very tannic when young. The modernists, which ferment 3-7 days make wine which is accessible much earlier. It is often matured in small barriques, which gives these wines a more international feel. Traditional wines are matured in large oak vats.

I tasted a few wines from the 2007 vintage, which was warm and produced earlier drinking style wines (in the context of Barbaresco). The best wine came from a very small modernist producer, the 2007 Traversa Barbaresco Starderi. It had good depth of fruit, but still elegance and firm tannins.

The second key point is about terroir. Individual vineyards may have different soils, aspect and elevation. This was brought home by four wines from Produttori del Barbaresco, all single vineyard wines from vineyards in close proximity. They were all from 2001. This is a traditional producer, and these wines were still taught and not ready to drink after 10 years! I tasted the wines blind and the two best wines were from the Rabaja and Asili vineyards. Phew, they have the reputation. The Asili wine was actually quite stunning. The flavours and aromatics went very strongly to the back palate. It went on and on. The wines from Ovello and Montestefano did not have the same depth and balance. One a bit short, the other too tannic.

Wine drinkers who have not had Nebbiolo before find it often difficult to relate to these wines. However, they are excellent food wines, which do not dominate, but are strong nonetheless. And the best wines (think Gaja or Moccagatta in Barbaresco) are unique and utterly delicious.

 

Gaja Tori San Lorenzo Barbaresco

How do you approach one of your most expensive wine bottles, from a vineyard a book has been written about? - With trepidation and high expectations, of course. Will the cork from this 1998 Gaja San Lorenzo come out in one? It did, so the start was promising.

The allure of the Nebbiolo grape is it can deliver the aromas of Pinot Noir and the structure of Cabernet, and age incredibly well. I decided to decant the wine for an hour prior to drinking. I did not go longer because I feared the wine with this age might lose flavour. I need not have worried. It actually drank better after a further hour.

The flavours were of blackberry, quite savoury and earthy as well. The wine is very elegant, which is Gaja's hallmark, and expanded beautifully in the mouth, stimulating all taste buds. It has a plush texture and good length.

The drawback? The wine showed just one expression - which was a good one, but I expected more complexity. Unfortunately, no wow factor. This is an excellent wine, but does it justify the price of about $500/bottle? I think not.

Score: 95/++

Ca' Rome Barbaresco

It is a cold winter evening, you want to go to this lovely restaurant that serves beautiful fish, but you think that maybe you need something heartier, and the restaurant is byo. Sounds familiar? So what wine to take? I felt a Pinot could be a good each way bet, but maybe something with more grunt would be appropriate. So I felt the 2007 Ca' Rome Romano Marengo Barbaresco might just be right.

And so it turned out to be. First, you can't go wrong with a 2007 Piedmont wine. As it happened, we had Moreton Bay Bugs first, followed by Persian, i.e. sweet spiced duck. The Barbaresco was a perfect match. It cut through the sauce which came with the Bugs and its floral bouquet went really well with the duck. The wine was fresh, very complex fruit aromas and had great length.