Piemonte 2014/08
Something
we usually never do is taking a vacation in July or August, because it is to
hot and to much tourism, but because of familiar circumstances (babysit) and
because the children went on holiday we ware free to do what we wanted.
As
wine-writer and wine-lovers we can’t resist making some appointments with at
least some wine-growers we met here or there on some wine-tasting, so we did
so.
Remarkable,
because of the weather conditions these last months, many winemakers seen
difficulties in the harvest this year to make their top wine, several are
thinking not to make their top-wines.
Our first
visit was in Barolo at the Azienda
Agricola Virna di Virna Borgogno:
A family
estate located in the hart of Barolo with historic Crus as Cannubi Boschis,
Preda Sarmassa and so on, now run by two
sisters, Virna, enologist and winemaker and her sister Ivana who takes care of
the commercial side of the business. They also producing Dolcetto d’Alba,
Barbera d’Alba, Nebbiolo d’Alba and a blended wine named as Langhe.
The
tasting:
- Arneis 2013: A wine made for the first time in 2013 and we ware lucky to taste
this one. Very nice fresh fruit, mouth filling and a nice acidity, the
true taste of Arneis and with enough length to not forget when drunk.
- Dolcetto 2012: Very nice ruby red colour, delicate good ripe fruit with
cherries, elegant freshness and length. The bottle was already open for a
few day’s and was still not oxidised, very good Dolcetto and a nice
balance.
- Barbera d’Alba 2011: Nice intense ruby red colour, good content of ripe fruit, delicate
vanilla and chocolate, balance and length, a little bit of “warm” feeling
due to the alcohol level.
- Nebbiolo d’Alba 2011: Nice bright colour, good fruit and content, good length and
balance, good structure, some could call it a nice “Barolo-starter”. Very
good as companion at lunch.
- Barolo 2010: ripened in Slavonian oak for 24 month’s it present itself as a
nice deep red collared wine with some orange touches. Intense bouquet of
red ripe fruit, vanilla, chocolate
and cinnamon. Good fruit, content, nice tannins, balance and length.
- Barolo del Commune di Barolo 2010: good wine, a little less fruity, not as
concentrated, in all a little less approachable.
- Barolo Cannubi Boschis 2010: Very nice ruby red colour with orange
reflections, nice ripe fruit, good content with nice ripe tannins and
great balance, harmonious, very round, warm touch and great length. The
mix of the two different soils of vineyards makes this wine very
interesting.
- Barolo Sarmassa: very great wine, full bodied great tannins and length, masculine
wine, can take anything on.
- Barolo Preda Sarmassa 2010: deep ruby red colour, ripe fresh fruit
with berries and vanilla and caramel, very good content, elegant, ripe
tannins and balance, great wine.
Nothing
comes easy as we ware presented with 3 glasses of Barolo wine from 2011, put already
in steel tanks ready to be bottled.
We had to
find out the tree Crus which we luckily could because these tree wines are so
distinguished one from another. They supported the style of the year 2011, a bit warm on alcohol
(15°) but very promising.
A very nice
wine house with friendly people (sisters) who are deserving high scores from
the big international press. They receiving them certainly from me (us).
Looking for an importer in Belgium
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The second
wine house we visited was Damilano.
Because I received as location La Morra, we went up on the hill to La Morra but
could not find the location. OK there is the wine shop and also in Barolo but
they ware closed. So I talked to a wine shop owner in Barolo who explained that
the wine house was down the hill near the road Barolo – Alba. We nearly passed
it going up hill.
Later they
told us the cellar lies on the border of Barolo and La Morra but is still La Morra,
near to the first wine house we visited.
Started by
Giuseppe Borgogno in 1890 now its time for the fourth generation by Paolo,
Mario and Guido Damilano, they try to bring innovation into their wines.
We ware
welcomed by two lovely lady’s, one commercial employee and the sommelier. Later
we met also the Commercial Director Maurizio Arduino.
We went
straight to the tasting room and after a little information about the wine
house we started
The tasting.
- Langhe Arneis 2013: pale straw yellow colour, good fresh fruity starter wine, a bit
short but nice. Could do with a bit more acidity.
- Dolcetto d’Alba 2013: ruby red colour with violet touches, fruity and pleasant wine to
start with. Good with first courses,
- Barbera d’Asti 2012: Nice clear red colour, fruity and fresh with hints of spice, nice
fruity taste with cherries and nice length.
- Barbera d’Alba “Lablù” 2012: wine made from Barbera grapes growing in
Barolo and Serralunga. Nice deep ruby red and purple colour, very fruity
with blackberries and other black fruit with vanilla and spices, very good
attack, content and length.
- Barolo Lecinquevigne 2010: for this wine Nebbiolo grapes are used
from 5 different vineyards in Barolo, Verduno, Grinzane Cavour, La Morra
and Novello, the vineyards are 30 to 50 years old. Very nice ruby red
colour with orange touches, nice nose of ripeness with tobacco an spices.
Nice attack with fruit but mostly not to soft tannins and length. Needs
time for some harmony. Good example for what Barolo means.
- Barolo Cerequio 2010: Important Cru from La Morra, nice deep red with orange reflections,
fruity nose from cherries together with vanilla and liquorice, very good
and nice attack with lots of body and content with fruity touches, tobacco
and leather, very good balance and length.
- Barolo Cannubi 2010: from the important vineyard Cannubi in Barolo; very nice ruby red
colour with orange reflections, great nose full of red ripe fruit like
cherries together with prunes vanilla and cacao; great full fruity taste
with cherries, ripe tannins, very intense and length. A wine for the great
events.
In all nice
wines but the Barolo Crus not the cheapest.
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Our third
visit for the day was in Dogliani at the winery “La Fusina” whom we met around 18-20 months ago in Brussels
La Fusina situated in the Frazione of Santa Lucia,
Dogliani, lies in the SW Langhe region and is surrounded by hills full of
vineyards.
The estate
La Fusina goes back to 1792 found on maps. The family settled down in 1914 and the
estate of 20 Ha
with 15 Ha
vineyards is run today by Luigi Abbona and his family and the territory is one
of the nicest country sites.
The land,
very suitable for making wine and the production of wine with the most care
makes the wines of this estate with high quality and personality.
The
tasting:
- Pinot Nero, Roero, Methodo Classico Rosé: pale pink with red reflections, very nice starter, fruity, dry, apple
and roasted bread, nice content, balance and length, very surprisingly
very good, also good to serve with veal or other white meat.
- Langhe Chardonnay 2013: Nice aperitif wine, refreshing with this
time a little bit to much acidity, good terrace wine.
- Dolcetto “Gombe” 2013: the starter of Dolcetto, very fruity in
nose and taste with good content, a little bit “green” on the end but
nice, a wine to enjoy with starters or even aperitif.
- Dogliani Superiore Cavagnè 2012, Dolcetto superiore: Great wine made from the vineyard with
vines up to 60 à 80 years old, very intense dark ruby red wine full of
ripe dark fruit, body and balance, great wine with superb taste and
length, goes very well with red meat or game.
- Barbera d’Alba 2012: Nice dark red colour, full bodied wine rich on fruit with hint of
spices; good content and length and balance, very good.
- Barbera d’Alba Superiore “La Castella” 2010: made of the top vines of
Barbera the wine goes in barriques 1/3 new for about 18 months; the wine
is intense dark to purple, very mature dark fruit with cherries and
vanilla, great full taste with mature fruit, soft tannins and great
content and length, great wine.
- Pinot Nero 2009, Langhe Rosso: nice ruby red colour, nice fruity nose
and soft, ripe fruit with cherries and blackberries, well balanced and
good length.
- Barolo 2010: Dark intense ruby red colour, nuances of stone red; intense fruit
with lots of cherries, blackberries and spices (pepper), full bodied
fruity and complex in the mouth with good balance, later tobacco and
leather; very good wine.
Great wine house with very good to great wines
at reasonable prices, one to look for.
They also
are looking for an importer in Belgium
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An other
day and another visit
Because we
had "nothing else to do" we said, lets visit an old friend we didn't see for a long
time, so we went up the hill again to Fraz. Annunziata, La Morra, to Gianpiero Marrone.
The wine
house is changed very much, more modern and with his time.
To our
surprise, Gianpiero and Denise, one of his 3 daughters ware in Belgium
Lucky for
us the business cannot run without people, and another daughter, Serena 8
months pregnant was there with a shop assistant. So we talked a while with old
(our side) memories, before Serena’s time, of the nice and great wines Gianpiero
made, and then we ware asked to taste some of their wines.
The
tasting:
- Langhe Arneis “Tre Fie” 2013: Pale yellow wine with green reflections,
fruity exotic nose, also in the mouth, exotic sweet, good length but loses
the freshness of the typical Arneis wine, it could not satisfy us.
- Langhe DOC “Suris” 2011: straw yellow colour with green
reflections, nice nose but due to the viognier it becomes a southern
almost sweet wine, we are looking for dry wines. The taste is good and the
wine has a good length but…..
- Dolcetto d’Alba “Carlot” 2010: very nice ruby red colour, nice fruity
nose, fruity attack with freshness but with some herby aftertaste, lacks
balance.
- Langhe Rosso “Passione” 2010: from barbera and nebbiolo; nice ruby red
colour with some orange reflections, very good fruity nose, great fruity
taste with lots of cherries going to prunes, soft tannins and very good
aftertaste. Top of the tasting.
- Barbaresco 2010: nice lightly colored red, a bit to transparent, good fruity and
floral nose, also in the mouth nice fruity wine, lacks a bit of content
and length, perhaps one to look out for later.
- Barolo “Pichemey” 2010: one could compare this wine with the one
before but has a bit more of everything, I would call it a very good wine,
not great.
As great
admirer of female winemakers, and not only winemakers, Gianpiero, I hope you
give Valentina enough freedom to do her thing, I believe in her capacity and I
hope to see you soon.
Serena did
advise us to take lunch in Ristorante Gemma in Roddino, a nice drive away,
unfortunately the restaurant was closed so we drove back to Monforte d’Alba
where we took lunch in Trattoria della Posta, a nice and stylish place I can
recommend to all, with a bible on wines and not only Italian wines, but who wants to drink French wines in Italy.
Auguri colla Sua seconda nipotina.
Timé, (l’uomo con I specchi)
---------------------------
After lunch
we had some time left over so we went to say hello to our good friends Anna and
Ernesto Abbona from the wine house “Marchesi
di Barolo”. As I said earlier we didn't have appointment so they ware not
there. Lucky for us the son was there, it was a nice acquaintance because we
never met him before.
After a
refreshing glass of Spumante, we asked to taste only the Crus Cannubi and
Sarmassa, 2 of my favorite wines.
We received
a glass of 2010 Cannubi and a 2009 Sarmassa, so I asked to taste also the Sarmassa
2010 which seem to be a little problem because the wine is yet not on sale in
the shop, but the son had already phoned the parents and without asking again
the 2010 arrived.
Both this
wines are great wines, to my liking, and for the 2009 it was perhaps a
difficult time to taste but you can give me the Sarmassa 2010 anytime,
njamnjam.
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It so
happens, pure luck, the owner of our hotel has family making wine. We didn't
have any time left over to visit the wine house but they ware so kind to give
us some samples of their wines.
The wine
house is : “Azienda Agricola Marsaglia
Emilio” in Castellinaldo (CN)
We still
have to taste their wines but after drinking some wine in the hotel it looks promising.
Tasting notes follow later.
Otherwise we had an excellent vacation, it was very nice weather, not to hot (28° C), only 2 day's with light clouds, no rain, ideal weather to walk (and shop). We did some very nice restaurants but also did eat some great pizza which we don't find here just as the coffee. We will have to wait some time to go back to Italy to eat and drink very well and not to expensive. Ciao bella Italia.
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