Just back from Etna and the buzz & excitement of the ‘Contrade dell’Etna’ 2019 tasting, which took place in the Castello di Romeo in Randazzo, showcasing current and future releases from across Etna. The Contrade are small areas (within the larger Frazione) on Etna where vines are grown, and each is determined by a number of elements including altitude, soil, exposition, and microclimate.
There’s something truly magical about Etna. The views are dramatic, with vines perched on slopes from 450m up to 1200m asl, the snow-capped volcano above, the sooty black soils beneath, and the shimmering blue of the Mediterranean in the distance. Then you have the delicious food, the musical language, and the warm and spirited souls of the people. Unsurprising perhaps that the wines are also enchanting! The culture of wine making here is ancient, and many of the vineyards today date back to the early 1900s, pre-Phylloxera (apparently the mineral-rich soils helped to ward of the Phylloxera bugs!) It never ceases to amaze me how these old and gnarly plants can give birth to vivacious wines of such beautiful purity, finesse, and power. There must be something in the lava…….and its catching! The Etna DOC was only created in 1968, and 20yrs ago there were very few producers of quality wines on Etna (hardly more than 10 I was told). Today there are apparently about 150, and a high percentage of the growers are from the Etna region itself.
At the ‘Contrade dell’Etna’ it was fascinating to compare the Etna reds and whites from the North, South, East and West (thought interestingly, the Etna DOC does not cover wines made on the Western slopes). In truth, it was tricky to identify key traits belonging to each Contrada, this still being a relatively young and undeveloped concept, but easier instead to identify those belonging to the wider geographical areas, with many factors to consider. Firstly, the altitude, which is normally limited to maximum 850m asl for Etna Rosso DOC and Etna Bianco DOC (though it depends on slope), with many excellent wines being made at significantly higher altitude. Next, the Lava! Alberto Graci suggested that the main difference in the soil depends on the age of the lava, rather than its composition. Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe, and has destroyed working vineyards before, most recently during its latest eruption in 1981, when some San Lorenzo vineyards in Randazzo were engulfed by lava. Rori Pasaliti of SRC Vini said that more recent eruptions have left a sandier and more fertile top soil, however the differences can only really be noticed after a substantial amount of time (a thousand years or more….!) Stephanie Biondi from Ciro Biondi winery commented that the North side of Etna is on old lava flows, whereas the South side is on volcanic cones. Another grower at the event, Federico Curtaz, suggested that there is a philosophical element to the volcano’s power too; the possibility of an eruption at any moment making growers strive to do their best every day, with the towering peak of the mountain reminding them to aim ever higher!
Other key influences include the vineyard exposition, the air, and the microclimate. There is the influence of the sea in the South, and the cool mountain air in the North. Harvest tends to be earlier in the South, with more plentiful heat from the sun, though at the same time there is more rain to maintain freshness – especially key in hotter vintages. The Northern slopes are generally recognised as top sites for reds. Having tasted from various growers at the event, it could be said that the reds on the Northern side are more serious, benefiting from a cooler climate, and larger diurnal temperature range, which allows the vines respite in the evenings, preventing them from overheating, and preserving that archetypal freshness and acidity that is so loved about Etna wines. The South/South Eastern slopes are generally recognised as top sites for whites (the Contrada of Milo is home to the only Etna Bianco Superiore DOCG). Whites from these areas appeared to be a little saltier and more herbal than their notably floral Northern counterparts. Stephanie from Ciro Biondi suggested that the whites from the south are crunchier, flintier and more laser-like in acidity. The Southern slopes are still relatively undiscovered though, with 85/90% of Etna wines being made in the North.
It seems to me that Etna is a climate that nurtures a sort of super-vine! Not only do the vines give birth to extremely age worthy wines, but they are often disease resistant too! Rori Pasailiti explained how his vineyards in the Randazzo Contrada of Calderarra and the Castiglione di Sicilia Contrada of Crasà do not have any chemical treatments whatsoever. There is no smog, no pollution, just the pure mountain air, and the mineral rich soils, lending themselves perfectly to organic agriculture, and creating an environment so rich in biodiversity that the plants appear to be naturally disease resistant.
In terms of the distinct differences in terroir from one Contrada to another then, although they may strive to one day be compared to Langhe/Roero MGAs, there is still some way to go, but it’ll be an exciting journey to follow!
Below are some of my standout wines from the tasting (2018 vintage was balanced, easy, and relatively cool, with no great hot spells or wet spells, and 2017 was warm, with almost no rain at all and a very hot Summer):
SRC, 2018 Alberello Rosso: tasted April 2019 from tank – due to be released in 2020. Single vineyard Nerello Mascalese, from 100yo vines up at 650m asl in the Contrada of Crasà in Castigllione di Sicilia (North Etna). The perfume a little closed at first, but then slowly opening in the glass. So pure, bright, and high toned. Affinamento in cement only. Essential oil, roses, raspberry, wild herbs, alpine fresh, elegant and so fine. Stunning.
Buscemi, 2017 Tartaraci Rosso: tasted April 2019 from bottle, not to be released until Spring 2020, after more time in bottle. From 90 yo, free-standing alberello trained vines at 950m asl in the Contrada of Tartaraci (North West Etna). 70% Nerello Cappuccio & Mascalese, 30% Granaccia. Affinamento partly in tonneau, partly cement, then blended. Perfumed, with violets and floral notes, little red fruits, peppery. Alive, exciting, with great depth. Hint of liquorice, eucalyptus, tannins still very prominent. Great ageing potential.
Federico Curtaz, 2018 Etna Bianco DOC ‘Gamma’: tasted April 2019 tank sample. From the Contrada of Milo and Biancavilla (South East Etna). 100% carricante, stainless steel only. Crystalline, such freshness, austere but lovely. Citrus, lime blossom, exotic fruit, mountain herbs and flowers. Mineral, vibrant, racy. Volcanic!
Ciro Biondi, 2018 Etna Bianco DOC ‘Outis’: tasted April 2019 tank sample. Blend of grapes from older parts of the vineyards in Tre Castagne, from the Contrade of San Niccolò and Ronzini (South East Etna, on the volcanic coast). Stainless steel only. Mainly Carricante, some Minella and Cataratto. Very salty fresh with herbal and citrus notes, lemon verbena, wild thyme, so pure. On the palate saline, taught and cleansing, with a racy spine of mouth-watering acidity, and lovely texture.
Two images stick in my mind from 2014: my car caught in a flood of water pouring off Serralunga’s vineyards at the end of July, & then in late September, smiling in disbelief at the blue skies & warm 22 degree days – as per my photo of Trediberri’s Rocche dell’Annunziata taken on 13th Sept shows! – that characterized an extra-ordinary Indian summer & dry harvest. Only Nebbiolo could weather a year like 2014 & could still come out shining!
A glance at a weather graph of the vintage in La Morra showed Feb – April to be above average in temperature, followed by a damp, relatively cool May to August, bar a warm week in June; then a miracle September & October that practically flipped the vintage on its head. It’s worth noting that Barbaresco, being sheltered from the west, enjoyed a drier 2014 with 50% less rain & no hail.
Incredibly, 2014 was one of the hottest years since records began in 1753, according to Luca Mercalli, Presidente of S.M.I (Societa Meteorologica Italiana), notable for the least number of frost days, only six! The vintage was shaped by low yields, due to a combination of nottue fimbriata (vine moth larvae) eating new buds, a difficult flowering (cool temps. & rain), hail & downy mildew, which meant the vine was well disposed to ripen the remaining bunches come the Sept. & October late ‘summer’; at this point, crucially in my view, the vine restarted to photosynthesize, sending out fresh green new shoots, so ripening the fruit & phenolics. The vine had slumbered all summer, so burst to life when the sun came out!
Nebbiolo’s predisposition to ripen its fruit & phenolics late in the season enabled it to see out the worst of the 2014 weather & to bask in the sunny, mid-Aug, September/October. Free draining sites rich in active calcium should have perfomed well due to looser bunches, smaller berries & where the Bordeaux mixture of copper & sulphate was used, then thicker skins would have offered further protection from the elements.
Daniele Ponzo, head winemaker at the Cantina Sociale Terre del Barolo, & now overseeing the exciting new ‘ArnaldoRivera’ range, refers to it a “grande annata” for several reasons: thick skins, late harvest, low yields, good extract, lower alcohols, delicate wines with freshness & balance.
A complicated vintage therefore, that asked a lot of the vignaiolo (vigneron), but that ultimately produced fresh, complex wines – compared to the richer 2015s! – & that can show a cleansing purity.
A positive note also endorsed by Maria Teresa Mascarello of Bartolo Mascarello & Nicola Oberto of Trediberri as they harvested together in (Bartolo Mascarello’s!) Rocche dell’Annunziata on 11th October 2014!
‘DBGi chats with Maria Teresa Mascarello & Nicola Oberto as they harvest 2014!’
As the Langhe struggles in this humid 2018 year to keep a lid on rampant peronospera (downy mildew), with even organic farmers forced to treat their vines with sulphur & copper up to 15 times already this year, exceeding the organic limit of 6kg per hectare, isn’t it time we went HYBRID?!
PIWI stands for Pilzwiderstandsfähig! Hybrid (not GMO!) grapes that have been developed in Germany at the University of Freiburg since the 18th century. Cross pollinated between a vitis Vinifera & wilder Rupestris varieties to give the grape innate resistance to diseases such as downy & powdery mildew. Hybrid PIWI varieties have enabled the Niedermayr family of Ste Michael Eppan/Santa Michele Appiano in Alto Adige to cut copper & sulphur treatments by approx. 85%, thereby reducing substantially the amount of pesticide residuals in the soils, reducing ground compaction & (tractor) CO2 emissions. Cleaner fruit also means less sulphur is required in the cantine. Cleaner wines, fewer heavy metals means less head banging, right?!
Thomas & his family are producing deliciously pure, expressive white & red wines of the Alto Adige region, both from several hybrid PIWI & one conventional grape varieties, at their small 5ha ‘Hof’ (farm) close to Ste. Michael Eppan/Santa Michele Appiano, & to Bolzano, in the high valley that leads to Kaltern/Caldaro. Here the Dolomitic bedrock is pink porphyry, overlain with calcareous sedimentary stones.
Thomas’s parents, Rudolf & Maria were both born in Appiano. Their farm, Hof Gandberg, which also grows apples, was built in the 1960s at 500-530 metres asl, below the towering peak of the Gand Berg (mountain). The first vine was planted in 1976 & it was the (non PIWI) Weissburgunder/Pinot Bianco, supplying the local cantina sociale; their first wine was made in 1993. It was Rudolf in 1994 who ventured to Germany, to Freiburg, in search of more robust, resistant grape varieties to grow to combat the high fungal pressure of the region. It was there that he came across the hyrbid PIWI (Pilzwiderstandsfähig) varieties.
Rudolf returned from his travels in Germany following the 1990s & proceeded to plant the Niedermayr’s farm Hof Gandberg with resistant PIWI varieties: ‘Sonnrain’ was planted in 1999, ‘Bronner’ (first documented in 1828) in 2004, ‘Souvignier Gris’ in 2006, ‘Cabernet Cantor’ & ‘Cortis’ in 2011, ‘Solaris’ in 2014. And since 2005 they have been creating their own PIWI varieties.
Thomas, one of five children, is a carpenter & trombone playing graduate of the Laimburg wine school in Alto Adige who took over the running of the cantina in 2012. Along with his wife Marlene (& daughter Heidi), they converted to certified organic immediately, adopted PIWI grapes to heart, started propagating their own PIWIs, stopped vine trimming, started using wild yeasts, & neither clarify nor filter their wines!
In 2017 he built a new (wood lined!) cantina under the farm. Vinification is classical, taking place in both stainless-steel & 500 Litre & 12HL oak barrels, notably from the excellent local tonnellerie, Mittelberger. All the whites go through natural, malolactic fermentation & so complete the wines. They have been using the stelvin closure since 1994, but from 2016 Thomas chose to mobile bottle. Total SO2 levels are at between 25 – 45 mg/litro. The crisp, bright wines are fermented close to bone dry.
They are labelled as ‘Mitterberg IGT’ as PIWI grape varieties cannot qualify as DOC Alto Adige!
Isn’t it time we went HYBRID?
Leaving their family & friends behind in Nigeria, in mid 2016 twenty-six year olds Babatunde (“Tunde”) & Mojeed (“MJ”) made the trek to Libya, meeting there & becoming friends in one of the many holding camps. The boat they then subsequently took to cross the Mediterranean capsized, unsurprisingly, with Mojeed saving his friend, Tunde’s life. On finally arriving at Lampedusa, they split up: Babatunde journeying to Forli, Emilia-Romagna, while Mojeed ended up in L’Aquila, Perugia. Reunited via facebook, Babatunde was fortunate to have then met one of Nicola Oberto’s family, who suggested there might be a possibility of work in Trediberri’s vineyards. Tunde travelled over to the Langhe & was employed by Nicola’s family in January 2018, with Mojeed joining his friend last month. They now tend the Nebbiolo vines of Trediberri’s Rocche dell’Annunziata!
Babatunde now plays for a local Alba football team, in attack, while Mojeed – happy in defence, midfield or attack – is on the look out for a new squadra!
Meet Super Eagles Babatunde & Mojeed!
Piedmont has recently been given a welcome boost, not just by the arrival of Sig. Ronaldo but by the news that Giacomo Conterno has bought the Gattinara cantina of Nervi. The latter a stamp of approval that confirms the sense of revival that now pervades the Alto Piedmont region; the former gambling that Juventus could finally win The Champions League! Indeed, on Monday 10th September, Mattia Antoniotti, the latest & fifth generation of his family to produce Bramaterra, will be presenting his wines at a small dinner at The Quality Chop House…& revealing just why Conterno didn’t buy Antoniotti instead!
The vineyards of the Alto Piedmont lie to the north-east of the Langhe or ‘Basso Piemonte’, between the towns of Novara & Biella, & under the gaze of Monte Rosa & the Alps. Compared to the sedimentary, calcareous soils of the Langhe, caused by the evaporation of the once extensive Mediterranean sea c. 7 million of years ago, Alto Piedmont is based on acidic, igneous rocks & morainic soils caused by the tectonic & glacial movement some 13 million years before. Older geologically than the Langhe, the denominations of Alto Piedmont can also claim to be just as long in the tooth as their upstart ‘cugini’ of the Langhe, with the likes of Bramaterra, Gattinara, & Boca tracing their roots back to the Middles Ages, prior to being awarded the DOC in the 1960s & ‘70s.
Mattia’s family have been farming the pink porphyry, limestone & wooded slopes of Bramterra since the 18th century. His father Odilio recalls accompanying his father on the back of the cart as they made their way to sell their wine in the Biella market soon after the end of WW2; a labour that took all day. In 1960, Odilio took the revolutionary step of bottling their wine from their tiny property. Mattia has recently joined his father as they farm the Nebbiolo, Croatina, Vespolina & Uva Rara vines, while planting new single vineyards with which to take their story forward.
At this exceptional dinner Mattia will pulls the cork on Bramaterra vintages 2015 (anteprima!), 2009, 2001 & the rare 1985!
“News spread like a wind ruffling hair and rattled the Piedmontese stands at Vinitaly. It upset glasses, bottles and old certainties,” wrote the Italian journalist, Roberto Fiori in La Stampa in April. Someone had just paid more than €2 million (£1.75m) for half a hectare of a top cru in Barolo DOCG. This eye-popping sum, more than three times anyone had ever paid for a vineyard here, has certainly provoked strong feelings among local producers. It also proves just how hot this pure-bred Nebbiolo has become. The twin DOCGs of Barolo and Barbaresco in the Langhe hills of southern Piedmont are on a roll. From 1990 to 2013, production of both wines has more than doubled, to 13.9 million bottles for Barolo and 4.68m for Barbaresco. But for a painful, post-crash blip in 2009/10, selling prices have risen steadily following a string of good vintages. Grape prices have jumped from about €3/kilo a year ago to €5.50/kilo after the short harvest in 2017, according to David Berry Green, Barolo resident and head of DBG Italia. He predicts this will lead to a wholesale price of around €11 a bottle, which doesn’t bode well for the bargain basement Barolo you can still find in Aldi and Lidl for £9.99.
Mt. Etna, with its Nerello grape – the ‘Nebbiolo of Sicily!’ – is attracting great interest & investment in its ancient vineyards, or Contrade as they are known locally. The region was apparently first recognised by the poet Teocrito in the 3rd century BC, but more recently, post WWII, the volcanic slopes were home to circa 50,000 hectares, producing mostly vino di taglio (blending wine) that was then shipped all round Europe to bring a ray of sunshine to more famous French & Italian AoCs & DoCs! Now the Etna DOC region has shrunk to closer to 1,000 ha, as many of the former terraces lie abandoned – quality over quantity! Skip forward to the 2000s, when the likes of Passopisciaro, Terre Nere, Frank Cornelissen & Alberto Aiello Graci recolonized the old ‘palmenti’/wineries & revived their (Roman) alberello vineyards. Apart from the lure of juicy EU subsidies, these ‘pioneers’ identified the rich patrimony of ancient vines, many nearly a century old, whose health has been sustained by zeolite-rich lava soils that act as a naturally disinfectant & reduce the number of treatments required!
The tiny 3 ha Contrada of Tartaraci in the comune of Bronte is one such vineyard, whose promise & potential was identified by Graci & handed to his bride to be, Mirella Buscemi, in 2016 in return for her hand. Lying at close to 1000 metres above sea level (asl), this ancient single plot was famously once the proud possession of Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson, to whom it was bequeathed in 1799 as part of the Duke of Bronte estate in recognition of his fleet’s action in fighting off the pesky French! The vineyard is unusual in that the Nerello Mascalese & Cappuccio vines are joined by those of (Bourbon?) Granaccia (Grenache) to bring a soft tannin & fragrance to the sinewy structure of Nerello! Similarly, for whites, the Calabrian Grecanico (or Greco-Calabro) grape was planted alongside steely Carricante to bring fruitiness to the final wine. Mirella’s two wines are made in tiny quantities alongside those of Graci’s in his Castiglione di Sicilia ‘palmento’.
Also located in the Castiglione di Sicilia is, ironically, one of Graci’s friends Rori (Parasiliti), his wife Cinzia & their daughter Sandra – otherwise known as SRC Vini – who fell in love with the wines of this extraordinarily beautiful part of Sicily having tasted the fruit of Alberto’s vines (& wine)! Originally from Catania nearby, Rori also presented his wife Cinzia with a gift of 0.5ha of the Crasà vineyard in 2013, before then proceeding to buy another 7.5ha! They also own vineyards in the neighbouring Contrada of Randazzo (home to Cornelissen), & thrive on the naturally low yields of their ancient vines. They too have followed tradition by making their Rosato from both red & white grapes; the latter from Minnella, Carricante & Catarratto, so imbuing the wine with more verve. Meanwhile their top wine ‘Alberello’ is 100% Nerelo Mascalese, pure & sinewy, & their single ‘Rivaggi’ cru, it too lying at close to 1000m asl, has some Granaccia in the blend to bring perfume & charm!
It’s every Italian’s dream to buy their own vineyard! It is I suppose the Italian equivalent of purchasing a fishing ‘beat’ on a trout river in chalky Hampshire. But for Torinese Davide Fregonese, being Piedmontese, he opted to go for the salmon one instead: a Barolo vineyard! And not just one, & nor in any old place, but Davide went for two vineyards in the noble Nebbiolo-for-Barolo village of Serralunga d’Alba, so upping the ‘beat’ to the Scottish river Tweed, downstream & in spate!
Davide had dreamt the dream for many years, not least because being Piedmontese (first) he had often visited the Langhe & in particular his friend Signor Rosso of Giovanni Rosso, whose family on both sides are rooted in the spectacular viticultural comune of Serralunga d’Alba. Determined to make the dream a reality, Davide Fregonese, held firm when two small plots came up for sale in 2014. One, a 0.6ha plot in the sought after Cerretta vineyard (alongside Giovanni Rosso & Giacomo Conterno among others) is famed for produced a fuller style of Barolo Serralunga from richer soils, while the second piece, an even smaller 0.5ha ‘allotment’ (so to speak), is in ‘primetime’ Prapò – a vineyard that’s ‘upstream’ from Cerretta, where the soil becomes whiter & ‘clearer’; ripe then for making among Serralunga’s more perfumed Barolos.
His resolve to realise the dream is echoed in the name of his Azienda Agricola: ‘Bugianen’ from the Piedmontese dialect ‘Bugia Nen’, meaning ‘Don’t Move/Budge!’, & recalls the key battle of Aisetta in Italian/Piedmontese/Savoia history when on 19th July 1747, 4,800 Austro-Piedmontese soldiers held back 400,000 French, thanks in part to the Piedmontese commander, Giovanni Battista Cacherano di Bricherasio’s order “Bugia Nen!”
Both Barolo wines are made at the new Giovanni Rosso cantina in the heart of Serralunga d’Alba, who also manages the vineyards on Davide’s behalf. Guardians of Serralunga’s noble Nebbioli wines, Giovanni Rosso has revived the ailing old vines & brought Davide’s Barolo wines to life! They also released a third wine, il terzo vino: a Langhe Rosso, 100% Nebbiolo made from declassified Cerretta fruit!
Davide Fregonese will be unveiling his three debut wines: 2016 Langhe Rosso, 2014 Barolo Cerretta, & 2014 Barolo Prapò at the DBGitalia tasting in London on 21st May 2018.
Just back from a March 2018 tour of DBGitalia’s (battered) northern Italian producers…
Lombardia’s Joska Biondelli was still feeling bruised having lost 70% of his (Franciacorta) Chardonnay crop in April 2017’s frost, only to be then battered by the subsequent breakage of 6,000 bottles of his brand new, 100% Pinot Nero 2016 Franciacorta Rosé ‘Donna Clemy’, named after his nonna/grandmother. Fortunately, Joska’s fidanzata Francesca galloped to the rescue in November, saving the day & vintage by agreeing to marry him! This will mean that later this year, unsurprisingly, the remaining 1,000 bts of his 2013 ‘Donna Clemy’ will be hit hard, not by inclement weather, but by the wedding party…so best place your order soon! In the meantime, his (2015) Brut is looking Bello & biscuity, sboccato/disgorged in Nov’17 after 18 months on the lees/sur lattes, while the (2014) Satèn is cool verbena & satiny, the product of only the first light pressing.
Further east, Venetian Zeno Zignoli at Monte dei Ragni has also been hit: this time by two difficult vintages in succession, 2013 & 2014, compelling him to make the difficult decision of not producing his prized Amarone Classico in either vintage! This had a knock-on effect on his Valpolicella Classico Superiore, that therefore lacked the ‘Ripasso’ dimension in both vintages. That said, the Valpolicella Classico Superiore effectively became ‘super-Valpolicelle’ or ‘baby-Amarone’, enhanced by the fruit that would have gone into the Amarone. Indeed in the case of 2013 vintage, Zeno actually picked & dried the fruit for Amarone but then at the last minute, chose to declassify it all to Valpolicella. Whereas in the 2104 vintage, he didn’t even bother to pick for Amarone & dry the fruit; he just harvested it all as a fresh & surprisingly good Valpolicella Classico Superiore. The exciting news is that he invested in two new 15HL Garbellotto botti grandi to house his 2015 Amarone Classico!
Among the Asolo hills, Prosecco producers Bele Casel were also ‘burnt’ by April 2017’s frost, reducing their yield by up to 20%. That’s not as bad as the 30% lost to the frost by the 600 million bottle Prosecco market, mostly to plantings on the plains! Unbowed, Bele Casel’s Ferraro family continues to focus on high quality, organic Glera, Manzoni, Bianchetta, Perera, Boschera & Rabbiosa grapes from the hilly Asolo villages of Cornuda, Maser & Monfumo (hit hard in 2017 alas). Their new Extra Brut (4 grams RS) continues the trend for drier Prosecco, even among the US market. While later this year/early next, they will be releasing two new wines: Asolo Prosecco Colfondo ‘Quindici’, a special, vintage bottling & label that celebrates the pretty cassis fruit of the successful 2015 vintage. And then there’s ‘Uve Vecchie’, a (2017) Asolo Prosecco that blends the above 6 ancient Prosecco varieties from across their 10 hectares, which has been aged for 12 mths in tank….a dry wine that sings of prati del montagne/mountain meadows!
And finally I caught up with Friulani Marco & Sandra Sara, along with their boys Pietro & Tobias, who are making scintillating wines from their 7ha of vineyards, nestled in the comune of Povoletto among the hills of Colli Orientali del Friuli close to Udine. They were spared the frosty horrors, or heat, of 2017, but alas rain spoiled play as they harvested the Ribolla Gialla; (Tocai) Friulano came in earlier so was saved. Clearly the ‘ponca/flysch’ soils (ancient sedimentary seabed shale) that underpins the Colli Orientali del Friuli helps define their Friulano, Schioppettino & Picolit grapes, giving a real energy & racy tension to the wines. This attribute manifests itself as the wines age, providing a spine of minerality & clarity. Indeed the 2013 Friulano possessed the sapidity of a Caol’Ila Islay Malt Whisky, along with riper white currant notes; while the 2013 Schioppettino showed a coiled, gleaming core of Pinot esque rosehip fruit & nervous energy! In the pipeline is a possible ‘ponca’/terroir driven blend of indigenous varieties: Verduzzo, Ribolla Gialla & of course Friulano!
Just when we thought Spring was arriving, the cold and frost set in again. It’s never too cold for rosato, though! Italian rosato’s seem to be becoming more popular. The best examples tend to offer a depth of flavour, colour, and texture that is characteristic of their indigenous grape varieties. Usually darker pink than the well-loved Provence styles, they are a true reflection of place and grape. They also have a great food-matching ability. They pair well with fish and antipasti as well as with richer dishes, due to vibrant acidity & sapid minerality that comes from ancient sedimentary soils, such as the Langhe.
We’re thrilled to unveil Trediberri’s new Langhe Rosato 2017! In previous vintages he opted for a simple Nebbiolo/Barbera blend, leaving some 3 g RS too, but in 2017 he’s cracked it, building in drinkability & complexity through a unique mix of indigenous grapes, and a drier style (closer to 1 g RS). Trediberri are best known for their extremely fine range of reds, from Barbera d’Alba, Dolcetto, and Langhe Nebbiolo, to classic Barolo La Morra, and Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata, their La Morra Cru. They started making rosato in the 2015 vintage, as they wanted to find a way of vinifying the Nebbiolo grapes that were not destined for their Barolo or Langhe Nebbiolo. With each new release the wine gets better, and the 2017 is delicious.
When we visited earlier this month, Nicola had not yet decided the exact blend for the 2017, so he conducted a ‘panel tasting’ involving a blind tasting of two possible blends. Both blends were based on 30% Barbera, 30% Dolcetto, 20% Freisa, and 20% Nebbiolo. The first had the addition of 5% Nebbiolo from the Langhe Nebbiolo 2017 added to the mix. It was dark pink and very fragrant, with aromas of bright cherry drops and raspberry. The extra Nebbiolo added texture and structure, but we unanimously agreed that the second sample, without the 5% Nebbiolo added, was the winner. This one was slightly lighter pink, with a softer perfume, notes of wild strawberry, raspberry and a hint of rose, leading to juicy little red berries on the palate, with lively acidity, and a smoother mouthfeel. It was harmonious, with just the right amount of Nebbiolo tannin adding texture and poise, and a lingering salinity on the finish.
The vinification involved 32 hours skin contact prior to fermentation in cement and stainless steel for about 12 days. There was no malolactic, and the wine was bottled on the 9th February. The Nebbiolo comes from Rocche dell’Annunziata, the Barbera is from the Trediberri vineyards in Torriglione and from Roero, the Freisa and the Dolcetto are both from Roero.