Oddero: please wait

Posted on 18 May 2012

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My next winery visit during Nebbiolo Prima was at Oddero. This 35-hectare estate has been making wine since the 19th century, with current owner and winemaker Mariacristina Oddero being the 6th generation in charge. With so much heritage, it is not surprising that the style here is very traditional and these are Barolo destined for long ageing in bottle.

When I say long ageing, I mean really long. The several times I tasted a 15-year-old wine here it never was ready to drink. So the small vertical we were treated to, of the Barolo Brunate, was really repetitive infanticide, as even the oldest vintage, 2004 is at least a decade away from full maturity. Brunate was purchased in 1968 by Mariacristina’s father Giacomo but the fruit was blended into the generic Barolo because it is a very small plot – 0.45 ha – and the total production is just 1500 bottles.

It eventually was introduced as Oddero’s fifth cru bottling in 2004. Brunate is a very well-exposed vineyard in one of Barolo’s warmest spots, and richest soils, so it usually produces an elegant, rich, fruit-driven wine – but not here at Oddero. With 30 days’ maceration it is a very structured, tannic wine and if anything, is really tight and ungiving rather than elegant and effusive in its youth. We tasted the 2009 from barrel, a taut, skinny, very classic wine, really rigid at this state but does have attractive flesh in the middle. (It is the first year of totally organic farming in Brunate).

Then tasting from bottle, I thought the 2008 was a big overperformer: full-blown, intense, mouthfilling but also austere and fresh, it is a great success for the vintage. Then the 2007, with a warmer, more aged bouquet with notes of balsamic vinegar, the tannins a little more drying than the 2008s but opening up to a rich, flattering, chocolatey whole; again a solidly good wine in a challenging year.

‘Challenge’ is surely the keyword to the 2006, an extremely conservative, unaromatic, tannic, stemmy monster of a Barolo. The 2006s are going through a dumb phase and the message is: don’t open them for another 4–5 years minimum. (Although Oddero’s Brunate made me think the tannins would never fully resolve). While you wait for your 2006s it’s worth opening a 2005, a black-olive infused, concentrated wine that finishes a bit rough and green-tannic but that can be balanced with food. Or perhaps a 2004, just approaching drinkability, showing a softness at mid-palate though the tannins are still very firm and will need a lot more time to harmonise.

I’ve tasted the Oddero wines on a number of occasions recently, and they roughly split into two categories: those when I didn’t have the time to let the wine sit in the glass and open and therefore was underwhelmed, and those when I did have the time, and the wines improved dramatically. (My most recent try was with the 2005 Mondoca di Bussia Soprana, and you can Google translate my extended tasting note posted in Polish here). With their overly tight, tannic style, even an entire day in the decanter doesn’t seem to move them. Yet with enough patience, the Oddero wines unveil the combination of mighty architecture and aromatic elegance that Barolo so uniquely expresses.

Disclosure

My trip to Piedmont including flights, accommodation and wine tasting programme is sponsored by the Albeisa association of wine producers.