The “Fog” Grape - Nebbiolo

I have often found mono-cépage (sole variety) wine to be more fascinating than blended wine. That does not mean that I do not appreciate wines such as Châteauneuf du Pape, Bordeaux, super Tuscan. The fact that singular-grape wine tends to show clearer imprint of its vintage and individual personality as opposed to a blended wine. Most blended wines are blended with multiple grape varieties where grapes rarely derived from identical soils and picked from the same periods. As such, it is less prone to weather challenges and often have the flexible advantage to supplement the deficiency of one grape over another by adjusting the better performing one in a given year. Since the percentage of one grape can increase or decrease depending on the vintage, the wine is also unlikely to reveal consistent personality.

Beside my obsession with Pinot Noir others like Nebbiolo, or Piedmont, Syrah from Northern Rhône and 100% Grenache blend of Châteauneuf du Pape are wines that I adore. Last Saturday in August, I hosted a current release Piedmont tasting in Jakarta at my favorite venue, William’s Café. That night, I was equally impressed and surprised by the quality of those Piedmontese and this was shared by the 30 attendants.

Nebbiolo derived it name from “nebbia”, which mean, fog in Italian. Like Pinot Noir and Sangiovese, this grape variety rarely achieved greatness outside those foggy hills (a frequent phenomenon occurring in October) of Langhe and Monferrato. This grape variety was officially documented in 1303, and further proving its quality significance in 1431, where a strict law was imposed then for those who removed or cut down Nebbiolo vines.

The late-picked Nebbiolo is never an easy grape to grow. It favors hillside exposure, with south to southwestern facing site and only flourishes with greatness in the limestone (calcareous) with marl sediment soil. The Piedmontest has always restricted the yield of Nebbiolo and only permitting these to grown in few selected areas of which today, Nebbiolo only account for 3% of the total region’s grape production. There are twice as many acres planted with Dolcetto and ten times as many planted with Barbera.

Despite being a late-picked grape, Nebbiolo is unlike Zinfandel, which responds well with intense heat that increases its anthocyans (through photosynthesis) when grape sugar accumulates. Nebbiolo on the other hand prefers alternate warm days and cool nights during harvest, where the color pigment is best preserved. Warm vintages such as 1997, 1998 & 2000 often shown lighter color with early amber edge, which in contrary, some of the deeply and healthier color vintages happen to be from the cold, prolong growing years. Vintages such as 1996, 1999 and 2001 are the fine examples that produce deep color in addition to high natural acid and substantial tannin. Like Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo is also prone for mutation, the finest three clones used today are, Lampia, Michet and Rosé. Rosé is slowly phasing out due to its weak color; Michet is known for its low-yield that promotes intensity and aroma qualities. However, it is less adaptable in different soil type where Lampia has slowly taken over in terms of popularity. The finest Nebbiolo is high in acidity and alcohol, as well as high quantity of tannin. As a result, regardless of Barolo or Barbaresco, they often require patience for the wine to fully integrate and show their fullness. At their best, they are some of the most individualistic and masculine reds in the world. They usually combine power, richness and depth in addition to sound natural acidity and adequate tannin. All these contribute to its uniqueness, terroir-driven personality that no other wine in the world can replicate.

Barolo versus Barbaresco
When I first read about Barolo and Barbaresco in 1989, I was told that Barolo known as the King and Barbaresco as the Queen of Piedmont. Generally, Barbaresco is considered to be more feminine, early accessible and Barolo is more masculine and longer life. I am not sure whether this old testimony still stand these days. As some of the finest two producers emerged from this area happen to be all from Barbaresco – Angelo Gaja & Bruno Giacosa.

Piedmont (mean, foot of the mountain) is not as well known as other Italy tourist site such as Milan, Rome, Florence or Venice. But when one starts talking about Turin or Torino, it immediately comes to mind, especially if you are a Christian. The “Holy Shroud”, which is believed to be the sheet that was wrapped around the body of Christ was conserved here. In fact, the city of Turin is surrounded with famous churches bestowing the works of such great architects like Guarino Guarini, Filippo Juvarra and Ascanio Vitozzi.

If Turin represents the great historical importance of Piedmont then Alba must be the home of the great culinary centre of Italy. Like foie gras or goose liver of Perigord, Alba is the home of another rare delicacy - white truffle. The white truffle hunting, which occurs in every October, is one of the most important events of Piedmont. All trifolau (truffle hunter) with their dogs will be busy roaming around between Langhe and Roeri hills to search for this rarity.

Beside white truffle, Alba is also known as the wine capital of Piedmont and home of the finest Nebbiolo’s wine – Barolo & Barbaresco. Barolo & Barbaresco have much in common with the Burgundy. Both areas share the same identity of using only one grape for their reds, the layout of sub-villages, the importance and uniqueness of each cru. For those who have yet to visit this area, be advised to schedule your appointment accordingly especially as to where each winery is located. There are a total of five hills (or communes) in Barolo and three in Barbaresco. The distance from one hill to another often requires a 30-45 minute drive (most hilltop, where the winery is located at a height of 650-1500 ft above sea level)
depending on hill-to-hill. For instance, if you are visiting Elio Altare in La Morra of Barolo, you should not arrange to visit Aldo Conterno at Monforte d’Alba on the same day, but instead, you should consider meeting other La Morra’s producers such as Silvio Grasso, Revello and Roberto Voerzio. It simply is not funny to drive around those hills with the amount of alcohol in your head unless you grew up there!

Barolo – In the following paragraphs, I intend to analyse the differences between the five Barolos and three Barbarescos – its hills, exposition, soil type and general characteristics of each cru. I do not pretend that I could possibly single out the differences between a Barolo from La Morra to a Serralunga d’Alba, or a Barbaresco from Neive to Treiso in blind (I doubt anyone can?) but, it is important to know the soils and site which will provide valuable information on the vintage performance and overall wine quality. For instance, the vineyard that contains clay will likely survive better those with sand, limestone soil in the extreme temperature and draught threat vintages such as 1995 and 2000. In addition, in 1999, which produces one of the greatest vintages in recent time have a tough start at the commune of Barbaresco, where a severe hailstorm hit the vineyards in Asili, Rabajà, Faset, Martinenga and reduced the overall yield in those crus.

The typical soil found in most Barolo & Barbaresco vineyards is calcareous, which retains heat but drains well. The soil is capable of handling the usually warm day and chilly night of Piedmont’s autumn and allowing the late ripening Nebbiolo to reach full maturity. In Barolo, two distinct milky calcareous marls (or better known as terra bianca) of marine origin were identified - Tortonian & Helvetian.

Tortonian, the soil in the western part of Barolo is a younger, more fertile soil that is rich in magnesium and manganese and produces wines that are more perfumed, elegant, soft, rounder and of early maturity. The soil is mainly found in communes of La Morra and Barolo.

- La Morra, cru such as Alborina (Altare), Brunate (Vietti, Ceretto, Voerzio), Cerequio (Voerzio)…etc. make Barolo that is aromatic, feminine, seductive and early accessible.

- Barolo, cru such as Bricco Viole (Vajra), Brunate (Rinaldi), Cannubi (Scavino), Cannubi Boschis (Sandrone)…etc. show broader, structured more classic Barolo that is more concentrated, velvety and warm. Like La Morra, it also has an easy-going personality.

From Monforte, Castiglione Falletto and across the valley of Serralunga where Helvetian soil is found. This older, chalky, less fertile, more sandstone/limestone soil due to its higher level of lime and iron produces wine with better color, body and aging potential. The structure and tannin come across as more obvious than Barolo make from Tortanian soil and distinctly more intense.

- Castiglione Falletto, cru such as Bricco Rocche (Ceretto), Monprivato (Mascarello), Villero (Giacosa, Vietti), Fiasc (Scavino)…etc. produces Barolo that rich in bouquet, bold, concentrated and tannin on the palate.

- Serralunga d’Alba, cru such as Falleto (Bruno Giacosa), Francia (G. Conterno), Marenca (L. Pira), Vigna Rionda (Massolino), Marenca-Rivette (Gaja’s Sperss), Margheria (L. Pira), Ornato (Pio Cesare)…etc. Due to its rich limestone, the Barolo here is generally more powerful, full-body, long live and tannic.

- Monforte d’Alba, cru such as Bussia (A. Conterno), Cicala (A. Conterno), Colonnello (A. Conterno), Ginestra (Clerico), Romirasco (A. Conterno) etc…Barolo from here is firmer, most concentrated and greater aging potential.

Barbaresco – unlike Barolo, which is located at southwestern part of Alba, Barbaresco is on the northeast of Barolo, which directly south of Tanaro river. The slightly warmer and drier climate of this area making the grapes ripen earlier than Barolo. That could explain why Barbaresco is generally less robust, structured and tannic than Barolo.

Barbaresco did not enjoy the similar historical glamour as Barolo, where the French winemaker, Louis Oudart was first brought in by Marquise of Barolo, Giulietta Falletti to raise the quality of Nebbiolo in 1850, which previously, Piedmontese struggled to vinify Nebbiolo dry. Despite this in 1894, the owner of cooperative winery, Barbaresco castle, Professor Domizio Cavazza eventually succeeded in fermented all the sugars and produced a completely dry wine. However, it was not until the 1960s with commercial effort from Giovanni Gaja and Bruno Giacosa, the full potential of Barbaresco was finally recognized.

The fundamental soil in Barbaresco is Calcareous Marls of Tortonian epoch, which is similarly with those of Barolo and La Morra communes that yield softer, more aromatic wines. This is particularly true with wines from the commune Barbaresco. Neive on the other hand, made more tannic and powerful wine that sometimes resemble Barolo. For that reason, it is said that baroleggiano and the master of traditional Barbaresco, Bruno Giacosa (whose vineyards are primarily from Neive) has frequently excelled beyond the area limit with his Barbaresco, whose Barolo-like structures earned him the accolades of “barolista”.

The complexity of the individual plots, sites and the vineyard ownership in Piedmont could compare well with Burgundy. As the hills roll and twist, it changes the sun exposition, the soils and the drainage. Like burgundy, each cru, each bricco (hilltop), each sorì (slope) is taken seriously and in turn, on the hands of a skill winemaker, individual vineyards with their own characters are reflected in the wines. Despite Barbaresco being a smaller appellation than Barolo (60% smaller), it has more single-vineyard cru (sorì, bricco) assigned on that brand than Barolo. It reflects the attention to detail and dedication of Barbaresco’s winegrowers. The most significant cru in Barbaresco are Asili, Montefico, Montestefano and Rabajà at Barbaresco; Albesani and Gallina at Neive; Pajorè at Treiso. The most famous vineyards are San Lorenzo, Tildin and Martinenga in Barbaresco, Santo Stefano in Neive.

Traditionalist versus Modernist
Not sure who pioneered the new wood aging for Nebbiolo in Piedmont. It could possibly be the Angelo Gaja of Barbaresco, or Rocche dei Manzoni di Valentino of Barolo, or even the highly influenced Italian wine merchant, Marc de Grazia. Regardless who, it revolutionized the image of Piedmont’s wine in the world arena and begin the rise of modern Piedmontese.

Traditionally, Barolo or Barbaresco underwent long fermentation, maceration and aging. Resulting formidable, compact personality in their early youth. The gum coating tannin and forceful acidity often stops those who are new to Piedmontese, which explains why previously their popularity almost didn’t exist and limited to a few who acquired the taste despite some traditionalist such as, Bruno Giacosa, Castello di Neive, Giacomo Conterno who have long been making age worthy, complex, highly individualistic wines. However, it was not until Angelo Gaja, son of Giovanni Gaja, with his charismatic, aggressiveness and tireless effort in promoting wines of Piedmont that the world finally took seriously on this hidden treasure.

Beside Gaja, who was credits for modernized the wine of Piedmont, making it more refined, elegant and opulent, the group of Piedmontese that under the direction of Marc de Grazia are also among the leading force of modernist. Producers such as Elio Altare, Azelia, Domenico Clerico, Silvio Grasso, Moccagatta, Luigi Pira, Fratelli Revello, Luciano Sandrone, Paolo Scavino, Sottimano, La Spinetta…etc. are all shortening the lengthy maceration and aging their nebbiolo in new French barrique (225 litre barrel). All aimed to temper down the natural high tannin and acid of Nebbiolo. In addition, other sophisticated cellar techniques such as rotofermenter, microbullage, malolactic in barrel were subsequently introduced. Resulting is a smoother, more polished, opulent “new breed” piedmontese. My early experience with those modernist were less acceptable. Many of these Barolo & Barbaresco tasted fell into an “internationalization” style of wines where differences were marginal and often the “real” personality of the wines were suppressed under wood influence. I frequently confused these to those alta expresión Spaniards in blind.

Recently, I hosted a tasting of currently released Piedmont at a wine dinner in Jakarta. I was highly impressed with those new arrays. Clearly, the piedmonteses have better handling with the new wood these days and is less evident on the wines. Despite being packed with riper, profoundly fruit, more personality is shown on each wine. Some of the highlight includes Grasso Barolo Bricco Luciani 2000, which was very sexy and attractive in a gentle, lush, ripe, candied raspberries palate that was almost reminiscent of Burgundy. Sottimano Barbaresco Vigna del Salto 2001 came across as more seamless, layers and in a similar telltale burgundy luminescent palate. Pira Barolo Rionda 2001 was impressive with Bordeaux-like structure and very Pauillac fruit profile – smoke ash, leather, earth and dark berries in a masculine frame.

Beside the traditional-school Piedmont winemakers and those modernists that eschew aging in small oak barrel. There is this middle ground group of producers who attempt to tamp the tannic and acid of Nebbiolo without altering or diminishing the inherent characteristics. New oak may be applied for aging but more often this is less “full blown” than the modernists and instead supplemented with other methods such as pre-maceration, rotofermenter to smoothen the hardness of Nebbiolo. Giacomo Conterno, son of Aldo Conterno once said “to intensify the personality of nebbiolo and its site identity without making Coca-Cola-like wine!” One of the leaders in this “enlightenist” field happens to come from the firm of Aldo Conterno.

My love affair with Barolo started during my early sommeliership days in Ristorante Bologna at Marina Mandarin Hotel in 1991. After tasting the 1972 and 1978 vintages of Riserva Monfortino by Giacomo Conterno, I was immediately taken by such complex, extraordinarily flavors of balsamic, earth, mushroom, truffle and stewed fruits. Later, I made my trip to Piedmont and with the help of Giacomo Conterno of Aldo Conterno, I met up with the late Giovanni Conterno and his son, Roberto.

I have been representing Aldo Conterno for the last 5-6 years. The estate is currently managed by Aldo’s three sons, Giacomo who is in-charge of administration, Franco who handles the marketing and Stefano who is responsible for the winemaking. Aldo started working with his father, Giacomo Conterno, creator of “Monfortino” (the only Barolo the aged for five years) alongside with his brother, Giovanni. In 1969 he headed off to begin his own venture while his brother, Giovanni remained in the family estate. He later founded Poderi Aldo Conterno, which today, encompassed 25 hectares of vineyard located at Monforte d’Alba. All its Barolos are coming exclusively from the estate, Bussia Soprana and Romirasco cru. Aldo Conterno’s Barolos are rich and compelling at the same time well delineated and structured. This stylish Barolo can be approached in the near term but will reward those with patience.

Angelo Gaja and D.O.C.G
Like A.O.C. for France, D.O.C.G, or denominazione di origine controllata e garantita is the higher hierarchy designation given to Italian wines. For those of you who rely on such Italian wine law to choose your wine, you would likely be disappointed. The fact that, such law do not warrant quality but rather apply itself to wines from prescribed grape type grown in approved vineyards within the defined geographical zone. For instance, some of the finest wines made in Tuscan due to the use of foreign grapes or the practice of élevage that does not comply with the official regulation were demoted to Vini da Tavola, or table wine, which in many cases, do not justify the wines real quality. Despite the recent implementation of I.G.T. (Indicazione Geographica Tipica) to replace the Vini da Tavola for super Tuscan that looks to be more appropriate and less confusing with the true table wines from the southern Italy, the law remains confusing and unreliable.

I met Angelo Gaja on several occasions. Like the late Gerard Jaboulet of Rhone, May Eliane de Lencquesaing of Bordeaux, Miguel Torres of Spain and Robert Mondavi of California, Gaja has always came across to me as the great wine ambassador of Italian wine (not only restricted to Piedmont). His confidence, aggressiveness and charismatic personality often strike a lasting impression for those who have met him. In 2000, Gaja made a shocking announcement of forgoing the higher DOCG hierarchy and self demoting all his most priced, luxurious single cuvée Barolo & Barbaresco to the lower Langhe designation starting with his 1996 vintage. He explained such moved was to enable him the necessary flexibility to blend his world-renowned nebbiolo wines without being bound by the wine law. Interestingly, despite all his luxurious cuvees no long bearing the DOCG, his wines continue to sell well and among the most expensive Barolo & Barbaresco in the field. Such embarrassment has once again proven the inefficient and insignificance of the current Italian wine law.

A Word of The Recent Piedmont Vintages
Readers these days have more fun of comparing one critic to another for their advice on particularly topics. Previously, the trade was dominated by voice of one man – Robert Parker (we did not include Wine Spectator, as it influenced limit as a magazine rather an individual). His influential statement can make or rule the sale of the wine, the vintage and ultimately, the popularity of the producer. In recent years, the urge for an alternate voice from the market has resulted in a few new entrants. For overall alternate views from The Wine Advocate, Stephen Tanzer of International Wine Cellar clearly is the most significant figure. For Burgundy, Allen Meadow of Burghound, for Italy, Daniel Thomases, and do watch out this new on-line columnist, Antonio Galloni of Piedmont Report www.piedmontreport.com, who has written some very informative articles and reviews on Piedmont wine.

Among all the American critics (interestingly, they all are native American), I have the privilege to meet Daniel Thomases. His article first appeared in Stephen Tanzer’s IWC, but have recently joined Robert Parker at The Wine Advocate. I have always trusted Thomases on his Italian wine review more so than others, simply because, he seems to be well versed in the area and well connected with the people behind the wines. He often talks about the land, the people, before making any conclusion or judgment on the wines. More importantly, he appreciated “terroirs”, the liveliness and the overall balance in wines. Recently, I was surprised to see that he has teamed up with Parker, who in truth, tends to score high on wines based on ripeness, texture, weight and alcohol, in contrast to Thomases. I have earlier anticipated that Thomases will defend the early statement made by Wine Spectator in proclaiming 2000 as being the great vintage for Piedmont. He has always enjoyed the cool, acid-buffed, pure, classical long-live vintages such as 1996, 1999 & 2001 instead of sun-kissed vintages such as 2000 with records soaring high temperature during harvest.