Italy Archives - Page 8 of 12 - Wojciech BońkowskiWojciech Bońkowski

Brunello depression

Montalcino – formerly one of Italy’s most prestigious wine locations – has become an evil place with plenty of bad energy and hidden agendas. No wonder many wines taste completely charmless, including from the newly released 2006 vintages. Expectations were high but many wines are disappointing. Click to find out which aren’t.

Losing breath

Is Chianti becoming Italy’s Roussillon? Sounds absurd but a string of recent hot vintages such as 2007 is driving alcohol levels higher than ever. I don’t enjoy Chianti at 15%. Luckily there’s an amount of very good – and refreshing – 2008s too. Click to find out the best ones out of 80 tasted.

Vigneti Massa Costa del Vento 2005

Some time ago I wrote about lesser-known grape varieties from Italy’s Piedmont such as Grignolino, Quagliano and Nascetta. Today, a grape that’s perhaps more obscure than all: Timorasso. There’s 50 ha left of this grape, which until recently was on the verge of extinction, replaced as it was by the more productive and hassle-free Cortese di Gavi.

It’s a vintner named Walter Massa who struggled to keep Timorasso going, and there is now a minor renaissance underway, in the Colli Tortonesi DOC in Piedmont’s south-eastern corner, bordering with Liguria and Lombardy.

Gavi wines acquired international fame several centuries ago for their richness of flavour and standing power (two characteristics that escape modern Gavis, based on Cortese). The key to success was Timorasso, a powerful, late-ripening grape capable of astounding concentration and depth. We’re talking about a white wine that was often harnessed to red wine use at the table: fowl, rabbit, even game are staples in this area.

I bought this bottle of Walter Massa Derthona Timorasso Costa del Vento 2005 in 2007, but Timorasso is intended for ageing and at five years this is just beginning to show its breed. Initially a little subdued and unaromatic, honeyed, slightly evolved, it later develops plenty of tropical fruit flavours and a strong scent of dark honey. It carries its whopping 14.5% alc. rather well. The texture is rich suggesting oak ageing (Julia Harding also noticed this, though this wine sees no oak at all!), but this is really not just another oaky Chardonnay: the flavours are more complex and distinctive, the whole is truly engaging, and engagingly vivacious (the combination of tropical fruit and high acidity is a hallmark of Timorasso). Development over two days of drinking has been very good, and this wine will improve further.

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Franz Haas Pinot Nero Schweizer 2002

I’ve roast a large 4-kg goose and needed a wine to go with those fatty flavours with plenty of umami. One match that I’ve enjoyed many times is an aged dry Riesling, but a 2002 one from Franken I picked from the cellar didn’t thrill, so eating the second half of the bird today with some added sauerkraut, I opted for a Pinot Noir.

This 8-year-old wine comes from the Alpine region of Alto Adige/Südtirol, formally within Italy but German-speaking and historically a part of Austria. Franz Haas is one of the leading producers there – in a region where the best wines are made by co-ops, he is one of the few private estates that can compete – and a long record of excellence with his Pinot Bianco and Pinot Nero. There are two bottlings of the latter and this, with a label drawn by local artist Riccardo Schweizer, is the more expensive cru (the basic PN has a b&w label).The colour is medium light and slowly maturing. The bouquet starts off a little meaty but with airing this quickly becomes cherries and red currents, with a bit of Pinot Noir flowery bonbon sweetness balanced by savoury notes. Really rather structured with plenty of acidity, this shows no evolved notes and has plenty of life ahead. Deliciously fruity but also with stature and seriousness.

Mason vineyards, the Adige valley, and the Alps west of the Adige hit by morning sun.

Alto Adige is home to some very exciting Pinot Noirs. It strikes me that it doesn’t get much recognition as such in the international press – there appears to be more focus on Germany and Austria whose Pinots, in my opinion, cannot match those of Alto Adige. With its variety of soils and exposures this region is well suited to growing many different grapes, but one area reputed for Pinot Noir is on the east bank of the Adige river (hence exposed west), at an altitude of around 300m, called Mason (or Mazzon). Haas’ Schweizer is partly sourced from here. Alto Adige Pinot Noirs can often err on the meaty, savoury side, but they have more vivid fruit, more balanced alcohol, and can apparently digest new oak better than their German or Austrian counterparts. Another really interesting characteristic is their good ageing potential: I think many can age better than good Burgundies. Many at age 8–10 are still showing young and punchy (like my Haas today), and I once had a superlative 15-year-old 1991 from J. Hofstätter, the region’s other champion of Pinot Noir.

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Lake Garda: exciting whites

I’ve spent a week on the Garda Lake last September, exploring the region’s wines and foods. Blessed with hundreds of thousands of affluent tourists each year, the Garda produces predominantly a serious rosé called chiaretto, followed by some interesting lightish reds from the local Groppello grape.

Garda vineyards at Padenghe.

White wine, contrarily to what you might expect from a holiday destination with delicious lake fish, takes a back stage. The area’s historical white, Tocai, has now shrunk to the 60 hectares or so of the obscure San Martino della Battaglia DOC: pithy and mineral with Tocai’s low acidity, the wine has some interest but remains a curiosity. (One good producer is Spia d’Italia whose Bianco dell’Erta 2008 I enjoyed).

Some of the Luganas I recommend.

Far more popular is Lugana, a tourist’s favourite from the Trebbiano di Lugana (aka Turbiana) grape grown on a patch of clay soils at Garda’s extreme south. Lugana is very widely available and at 8–10€ a somewhat pricey but reliable light- to medium-bodied white with good minerality. From a tasting session of roughly twenty wines, my favourites were Olivini, Tenuta Roveglia, Provenza and, last not least, the very serious duo of Luganas from San Giovanni, including the assertive, mouthfilling Busocaldo made according to a bizarre recipe where the wine is aged on twenty times the amount of its own lees (!).

However, it’s the whites wines from Garda’s western shore that have caught my eye during this stay. Curiously, the Riesling Renano (German Riesling) has a long tradition here, and appears as a varietal or blended with Chardonnay, Riesling Italico and/or Manzoni. Given the area’s mild, Mediterranean, well-ventilated climate the wines acquire a rich, broad character unlike Riesling in Germany, but the grape’s inherent acidic drive provides really good balance.

The white Gardas worth seeking come from Comincioli (Perlí blends Trebbiano with local Erbamat – exceptionally there’s not Riesling – short skin contact results in plenty of saline minerality and a really interesting profile); Monte Cicogna (Il Torrione), and San Giovanni (Reis: one of the most mineral wines I’ve had).

Today I am retasting a memorable bottle I had at Cantrina. This peculiar estate a bit further west from the Garda belongs to artist Cristina Inganni, and was originally conceived as a Pinot Noir winery. Over the years the emphasis has switched towards local grapes such as Groppello and Riesling, though the entire range is highly individual and reflects Cristina’s very free, unorthodox approach.

The dry white Riné has also evolved: originally stronger on Chardonnay, the 2002 vintage we tasted was showing broad-shouldered and a little oaky although surely not yet another oaked Chardonnay: the heavy, stoney clay soils here gives wines with plenty of backbone and that distinctive saline taste of minerality. (They’re not too high in acids, on the other hand). The 2007 Riné has over 50% Riesling and so is a crisper, juicier white. It’s already a little advanced (consistently with Cristina’s saying: Mi piacciono vini bianchi evoluti) but has plenty of substance and an interesting interplay between creamy ripeness and mineral terroir. A very personal wine.

Cristina Inganni and Diego Lavo of Cantrina.

Disclosure

Source of wine: received as gift upon a visit to the winery.

In the middle of nowhere

Bosco Eliceo – a confidential wine-making zone on Italy’s Po Delta – is underperforming. But there’s no better wine than its fizzy dry red to match with the famous Comacchio eel.

Patience required

Barolo and Barbaresco age well. I checked. Click for details.

Goodbye barrique

My first day at the Nebbiolo vintage presentation here in Alba was dedicated to Roero (the Nebbiolo grape’s northern outpost, with simpler, most rustic wines, and a few standouts such Monchiero Carbone’s brilliant 2006 Printi Riserva, and the lesser-known Ghiomo wines) and Barbaresco. For Barbaresco, it’s the 2007 vintage that’s on the tasting table. I’m really happy with 2007. Most wines are showing some terrific fruit and very good freshness. They’re also tannic, but less dense or structured than in big vintages such as 2004 or 2006. They might not be for the very long haul but the fruit in many is irresistible.

Giuseppino Anfossi of Ghiomo: great guy, lovely wines.

My top wines of the day came from some lesser-known estates (well, that’s the charm of blind tasting) such as Cascina Morassino and Punset (Campo Quadro and Basarin). Tasting 60 to 70 very similar wines blind often distorts your perspective more than non-blind tasting would, but Morassino was top of my list two years ago too, so it’s no coincidence. Marchesi di Grésy and their winemaker Marco Dotta also made some terrific wines: not only the Martinenga 2007 but also the Camp Gros 2004 and 2000 were extremely impressive.

It’s generally been my best Barbaresco tasting ever here in Alba. Not just because the wines were so good (many were) but also because the winemaking approach is very clearly changing for the better. In the past, many Barbarescos were marred by overambitious vinification, overextraction, dry tannins and an enthusiastic embrace of new oak (which is a notorious disaster with most Nebbiolo-based wines). Five years ago the majority of the new bottlings were dark and inky as Chilean Cabernet. This year, the colours are luminous crimsons and rubies with the typical Nebbiolo wide rims often falling into orange. I’ve taken the below photo from a random sample this morning, and it really shows how the return to tradition is gathering momentum. Gone are the years of creamy vanilla new oak Nebbiolo. These wines are becoming the ridiculous anomaly rather than the norm, as the grape’s natural freshness and bright fruitiness is allowed to speak freely. That’s good!

Disclaimer
My stay in Italy including flights, accomodation and wine tasting programme is paid for by Albeisa, the Piedmontese producers’ association. All the wines mentioned in this post were provided by the producers.

Simple pleasures

I’m in Alba in Piedmont for an event called Nebbiolo Prima (formerly Alba Wines Exhibition), a preview of the new vintages of Piedmont’s most important wines: Barolo, Barbaresco, and Roero. It’s a great opportunity to taste more or less all the important wines from my favourite wine region. And it’s consistently one of Europe’s best organised and most exciting tasting.

Apart from its wines Piedmont also has spectacular scenery and some world-class food which I’ll be enjoying over the next few days, from cheese through meat to chocolate and grappa. Before you think it’s a nice vacation imagine tasting around 120 of the world’s most tannic wines every day. It’s really taxing. So today I’m taking it slowly and enjoying this warm sunny Sunday on Alba’s main drag, watching that Italian wonder of social choreography called the passeggiata, and having an al fresco lunch of the local raw beef and tajarin pasta. With this, I’m drinking Vietti’s Roero Arneis 2009, a deliciously unpretentious sugary-lemony light white from the local Arneis grape, as well as the Langhe Freisa Le Naturé 2008 from Pelissero. The latter is crazy stuff like they only make them in Italy: a lightly sparkling dry red with pungent cherry fruit and masses of brett, too. It’s a challenging wine that I’d never let into my dining room with other humans but here, with the pasta under the sun, it somehow works.

Disclaimer
My stay in Italy including flights, accomodation and wine tasting programme is paid for by Albeisa, the Piedmontese producers’ association. I paid for the above lunch and both wines.

Four delicious Barolos

I’m off to Barolo on Sunday for an exciting tasting of the newly released 2006s. As I mentally prepare for the high acids and assertive tannins of this classic Italian wine, I opened a few bottles from the wine rack. Proudly traditional Barolos exactly as I like them.

The estate of Aurelio Settimo, now run by Aurelio’s daughter Tiziana, has vineyards in the village of La Morra, and more precisely in the lower-lying neighbourhood of Annunziata. This is the warmest part of the Barolo district and usually delivers wines of high ripeness and power. But the grand cru of Rocche, due to its special soil, yields a more structured tannic Barolo that usually needs of considerable bottle age to soften. I tasted the 2004 and 2005 Rocche. The former is considered a better vintage. Made in an orthodox traditional style with very long ageing in large oak barrels (botti), the nose here is a little reticent (raspberry, cranberry, minor cherry) but the palate, with its powerful architecture and unadulterated Nebbiolo tannins, is very satisfying; 2004 is a tight vintage for the long haul and it really shows here. While the tannins are fierce here, all the elements necessary for a positive evolution are present: balanced acidity, elegant fruit, minerality and very good length, although it seems a bit low on fruit at the moment.

The Barolo Rocche 2005 is just a little fuller in colour but also with a hint of orange, a real Nebbiolo. The nose is a cooler climate thing than the 2004: plumpier, fruitier, more cherry than cranberry, less rigid and austere at this stage. It’s really quite attractive, and the palate is also more approachable with more presence of fruit at mid-palate, and less aggressive tannins. I have a soft spot for the mouth-puckering no-prisoners-taken style of the 2004 but for overall balance and harmony the 2005 is more attractive today, no doubt. It’s really quite a difference between the two, in fact.

The Settimo style is a bit of an endangered species in Barolo these days, as more and more estates move to a fruitier, less austere expression of Barolo. To me, there’s something beguilingly noble and alluring in the bittersweet, tannic juiciness of these wines. Long may they continue.

The other trio of samples came from Luigi Baudana, a rather obscure traditional estate that as of 2008 has been taken over by Aldo and Milena Vaira of the superstar G. D. Vajra estate; it’s their eldest son Giuseppe that will be overseeing the production here (the labels and ranges will be kept separate). I tasted the rather neutral and forgettable Langhe Chardonnay 2008 that was rather neutral, and two very good Barolos. The simple blended Barolo 2005 is what I would like to drink more often: a simple (but authentic), medium-bodied, everyday drinking Barolo. Low-key on the nose with moderately intense fruit, herby and spicy, it shows a palate that’s very classic in style, clean with good length, balanced tannins, ripe acidity, if again a little unfruity and unintense. Where it lacks in intensity and boldness it scores very high is purity and authenticity: for a duck breast risotto last Sunday I really needed nothing flashier.

The Barolo Baudana 2005 (grapes from the Baudana and Cerretta, on the structured white soils of Serralunga d’Alba) is a more serious affair. Less vegetal, more floral than the 05 Barolo above, it shows an outstanding evolution in the glass. Concentrated and textured, this shows ripe tannins and unaggressive acids, but also more minerality and tannic structure with time in glass. The 2005 Barolos are typically soft approachable wines that will not age endlessly but this one, with its tight minerality, should two or three years. It really bodes extremely well for the Baudana estate under its new management.