PIEMONTE

Piemonte

As planned we started our visit the last week of May to Piemonte to visit some new producers we met at the tasting of Barolo & Friends in November last year.

This is not the place to mention the different DOC - DOCG - or IGT's, I suppose you as a wine lover knows them already.

As usual we had the intention to taste only wines but this time we changed that and started with a visit to a rice and risotto producer which is not so strange because a good wine lover combines  and loves often enough wine and food.

So we started at:

Tenuta Castello, Desana, Vercelli:

Before the tour we settled ourselves in the agriturismo of Castello di Desana and went to the pretty and historical city of Vercelli that is alive and beautiful.

We took diner in the Trattoria Paolino in the city center, one we can advise to anyone who likes good food at a good price. Even when you let Paolino give you advice, please let him, we discovered a very good wine at a very good price. Not a restaurant with a lot of “chique” but typical and with a new vision on food. He doesn't want to create dishes that every restaurant produces but makes them with a new twitch.

The next morning we took the tour with the very friendly expert Signora Carlotta of the risotto plantation and got a lot of information what happens before planting, during summer, and after the harvest, to come to the end result, risotto.

One does not realize the work that is going in making a good risotto. Further more, this house is chosen to be the best risotteria in the Gambero Rosso.

At lunch we tasted of course some risotto.

Grazie Carlotta per la Sua accoglienza e generosità.

We moved to an other place we never visited before, even not the region with an exclusive DOC, Gabiano

Castello di Gabiano:

We settled ourselves in an apartment at the Castello, a very big and nice apartment but with restrained possibilities. Also the windows are very small, normally to keep the heat out, but there is not to much sun coming in this year, although the view is stunning.

Also it is a pity there is no breakfast room, you have to provide your own food. At this prices however I chose something else with service. The restaurant nearby could not give us any pleasure, even as said “typical Piemontese” it is food made in the (very) old fashion way, not any more in this time, thank you.

Then we took a little tour of the estate with a nice lady, sadly, even announced we did not see very much and didn't see the owner or the oenologist and couldn't talk about their view on wine, the way they are making wine or the level of sugar, acidity etc., so we ended at the shop where we could taste the wines we are interested in and asked for.

Fortunately the wines are made in an traditional way, not to concentrated but with good material and a good after taste.

The wines:

• Piemonte Bianco 2012: Chardonnay, good light colour, pure in the nose, exotic fruit, good balance ripe fruit and acidity, very nice aperitif wine or with light antipasto.
• Corte, Monferrato Bianco 2011: intense dark yellow colour, 9 months barrique Tronçais and Allier, a Chardonnay with to much wood, has already signs of evolution. An example of  how Chardonnay shouldn't be made.
• La Braja, Barbera d’Asti DOCG 2010: 100% Barbera, nice light ruby red colour, purest of Barbera, good fruit and acidity, nice red starter.
• Gavius, Monferrato Rosso DOC 2010: 85% Barbera, 15% Pinot Noir, 2 years partly in barriques, tonneau and botte, nice ruby red colour with violet reflections, good ripe fruit and flowers, intense and good fruit with ripe tannin's, great balance, very good and lasting wine.
• Adornes, Barbera Superiore DOCG 2008: 100% Barbera, 2 years of refinement, 60% in barriques and 40% in botte, nice intense ruby red colour with orange reflections, intense in the nose with spices, sous bois and leather, great intense attaque with ripe tannin's, good balance and length, good wine.
• A Mathilde Giustiniani, Gabiano Riserva DOC 2007: 95% Barbera 5% Freisa, refinement for 24 months, 70% in barriques and 30% in botte, then 6 months in bottle before commercialization, intense ruby red colour with great orange reflections, spices and ripe fruit with some toasted wood, great taste and length, great wine for special occasions.

I hope to come to an agreement to organize a tasting in Belgium preferably in presence of the owner or oenologist, as they are looking for an importer in Belgium. In any case they are in Gent, Belgium on 15 September with I vini del Piemonte.

The next morning we left to continue our tour of wine houses in Piemonte and took the direction of Asti

Poderi dei Bricchi Astigiani.

After having lost the way (with GPS!) and arriving at the agriturismo in stead of the wine house, with the same name and with beautiful accommodation with swimming pool but still to cold to swim and with a marvelous overlook of the region Isola d’Asti, the lady took contact with the wine house and the oenologist Sg Flavio came to get us to the right place.

We must remember the location of the agriturismo for the next time.

Because of this incident we ware a bit late and had to do the tour a bit fast.

Sg Flavio took us everywhere important while explaining the estate, grapes, location and manor of working.

Arrived in the cellar we had the opportunity to taste the wine  (2012 and 2011)  in the purest way. What an opportunity. We tasted the barbera’s from the steel tank, normal barbera wine, and also the riserva’s from steel, grande botte, barrel 500 L and from some different French barriques makers of 225 L, and then of course we had to make our assembly.

We even could taste the purest of the grape Merlot from barrique, are we in France? Because there are possibilities to make this in a pure wine.

One can be sure there are some great wines to come from this wine house soon.

We left with a happy feeling and he was so kind to give us some sample wines to taste at home with some friends wine lovers.

The wines, still to taste from the bottles:

• Barbera d’Asti DOCG: 100 % barbera
• Bricco San Giovanni, Monferrato Rosso DOC: 60% barbera 30% Merlot
• Bricco del Perg, Barbera d’Asti DOC: 100% barbera
• Bricco Preje, Barbera d’Asti DOC Sottozona Nizza: 100% barbera
• Spumante Brut Metodo Classico: Pinot noir Blanc de Noirs: great wine.

Marchesi di Barolo.

We arrived in Barolo to take lunch at Marchesi di Barolo with the ever so friendly owners Anna and Ernesto Abbona with some of their wines.

Already I hear you say it is a big wine house, but for many years, the top of their line of wines are good to very good, and sometimes exceptional.

It has been a while since we met so during lunch we had many things to talk about, first of all, and this was the talk of the year everywhere, the weather. There certainly will be les quantity, the quality we will have to wait what the weather will do this summer. Some lovely wines completed the lunch.

The other wines we tasted them later in the afternoon and as most of the times we like them although we had some remarks on the Sarmassa and Cannubi Baroli. Maybe it was not the right time to taste them. They ware not so clean in the mouth, we have to taste them again.

So the day ended, and after settling down at our room we went to take some dinner in town and had a good nights sleep.

Vajra

After a visit and lunch in the town of Cuneo in the morning, we went to another friend for many years Aldo Vajra in Vergne. At first the daughter was welcoming us and later came Aldo himself to greet us.

They acquired an other wine house in the Barolo region in (near) Castiglione Faletto, Luigi Baudana and we could taste also the wines they are now producing.

The wines:

• Dragon, Langhe Bianco DOC, Luigi Baudana 2011: a mix of white grapes as Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon and Nascetta which was very nice at first, very round and mineral, but we had trouble to place this wine, a bit to exotic for aperitif and difficult to put on a plate. The best way wood probably be with antipasta.
• Langhe Riesling DOC 2011: Then came this wine with some difficulty because of bottles that ware opened (day’s) earlier, and a new one not so correct but no tap and also to cold. A wine that needs time to open and give the right senses. Minerals, good material and a good length.
• Dolcetto d’Alba 2011: This base dolcetto could certainly please us, good young and ripe fruit, simple but good.
• Dolcetto Coste Fossati 2011: Very intense, complex, a bit to much of everything and not pure in the mouth, maybe not the right moment to taste???
• Barbera d’Alba DOC 2010: Very young fruit, simple and nice.
• Barbera d’Alba Superiore DOC 2009: Deep dark red fruit, intense, good attaque, nice material      and good length.
• Langhe Nebbiolo 2011: Nice light red colour with orange reflections, pure nebbiolo nose and nice length, good wine.
• Barolo Bricco delle Viole 2008: Nice full body wine with balance and length. As usual a very good wine.
• Barolo Luigi Baudana, Baudana Serralunga d’Alba 2008: A bit more intense in taste and more fruit, great wine.
• Barolo Luigi Baudana Cerretta 2007: Nothing better than to end with this great wine.

Because it was Saturday evening we took an early? night after diner.

Because as said we tasted and drunk a very good wine in Vercelli in Trattoria Paolino, I took contact with the wine house and to my surprise we could go on Sunday morning.

Cascina Castlet, Costigliole d’Asti.

We ware very welcome by Maria Borio and her mother Elena, 94 years young, and the lady even asked the oenologist Roberto Austa to be present, which he did.

The man is still young but he had certainly a descent education and mentor which we could tell while taking the tour around the estate.

The estate is a family estate and the link to Costigliole dates back to 1198. Now the wine house of around 20 Ha is led by Maria Borio.

The labels on the bottles are all very particular and makes them easy to recognize and give them something special, new features.

The wines:

• ATAJ, Piemonte DOC Chardonnay: very good starter with exotic fruit, full nice taste and good after taste and length. A wine we liked very much.
• Barbera d’Asti DOCG: very pretty label, reflects the whole family in earlier times on a classical Vespa. Very good and fruity barbera with enough material to put on a light lunch or diner.
• Litina, Barbera d’Asti DOCG Superiore: The wine we drunk in Vercelli, very intense in colour, a basket full of fruit, great taste and body and very good length, can manage a good diner.
• Passum, Barbera d’Asti DOCG Superiore: wine from the same vineyard but made as passito wine, very good wine if you like passito, this one we did like because it had enough freshness to compensate the rich taste.
• Uceline, Monferrato Rosso DOC: Made from the ancient and reinstated ucelino grape, only to be found by a few producers. As it was original a special wine made only for the family for special occasions, it still is a great wine for special occasions, full body and great taste but needs a great harvest year like we discovered with the 2008 and after this the marvelous 2007 which will be released after the 2008.

Sadly enough there was no more time to visit the cantina of La Fusina in Dogliani. We now they are making great Dolcetto wines and also Barbera and Barolo as we saw at the tasting in November last year,  we will have to return to discover the estate and the wines. Follows later.