Tasting selected wines from Alto Adige's Elena Walch estate

Elena Walch is a 5th-generation, family owned vineyard whose roots go back to 1869 (oldest family estate) in a region -- Alto Adige -- dominated by wine Cooperatives (70% of all wine production). But the winery has not always been named Elena Walch. Rather, Elena, who is an architect by training, married into the wine family and, after "bringing new, modern concepts to the traditional establishment," asked her husband to place her name on the bottle to reward her efforts. And he agreed. Today Elena is joined in the business by her daughters Julia and Karoline.

The 60-ha estate is located in the foothills of the Dolomites, sheltered by the Alps to the north and open to the south. Its winemaking philosophy calls for wines that are individual expressions of their terroir and cultivation and whose source vines are maintained sustainably. The quality of the wine, they believe, is a function of the quality of the vineyard and the amount of effort expended in caring for the vines and land.

While the estate is located in the far north -- from a winemaking perspective -- it is rather warm in the spring and summer, with a Mediterranean climate bleeding in from the south. There is a huge day-night temperature differential which makes it easy to ripen grapes but also allows acid retention and for the grapes to develop the full spectrum of fruit aromas

The estate's vineyard holdings are shown in the chart below and include two plots with the Vigna (or cru) designation: Castel Ringberg and Kastelaz. The characteristics of the vineyards follow.

According to Karoline, all of the vineyards are terraced and farming/harvesting is done by hand. The vineyards are farmed sustainably with practices to include (elenawalch.com):

• Production of their own compost at Castel Ringberg
• No synthetic herbicide use
• Milling the grassy areas and seeding various types of legumes to stimulate soil fertility and enhance root residence
• Mulching the vineyards to increase soil-nutrient content
• Monitoring water-use requirement of vines and using drip-irrigation
• Alternating mowing of rows to preserve the natural habitat of beneficial insects
• Leaf-pulling to allow better aeration and a reduction in disease risk.

Fifty-five percent of the estate's wine production is white wines made from varieties such as Pinot Grigio, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Bianco, and Chardonnay. Red varieties include Lagrein, Schiava, and Pinot Nero. According to Karoline, they grow a large number of varieties because of the number of different terroirs afforded by the diversity of soils, altitudes, and elevations.

The Wines

I bought the estate's Sauvignon, Rosé, and Pinot Nero from an online distributor and was encouraged to deep digger into the offerings. Swirlery, a local wineshop, took on the task of securing additional wines for me. My thoughts on the wines follow.

2018 Beyond the Clouds -- This wine came highly recommended. The various grape varieties are picked as soon as the Chardonnay reaches optimum maturity. The grapes are then crushed and co-fermented in new French oak barriques. Some portion of the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged in barrique for 10 months, with regular stirring of the lees, and then in bottle for 6 months before release on the market.

Green herbs, savory, pungent, sweet fruit, spice, sweet resin, and honeycomb on the nose. Green lime on the palate. Persistence, with spice and a herby savoriness. Weighty, with good acid levels. Hint of green tamarind. Finish could have been longer.

2018 Vigna Castel Ringberg Sauvignon -- Static clarification through must-refrigeration. Part stainless steel, part barrique fermentation with assemblage just prior to bottling. Some time in bottle prior to release.

This was the first of the estate's wines that I tasted. I enjoyed this wine. Intense minerality, ripe honeydew melon, herbs, citurs, beer, green grass, green papaya, and an oily texture on the nose. Intense minerality on the palate. Bright acidity with some stemminess. Green apple. Coating on the palate. Juicy salinity and paprika.

2018 Vigna Kastellaz Gewurtztraminer -- Carefully selected grapes harvested in two passes. Grapes are cold macerated for 6 hours prior to pressing. Juice clarified by refrigeration and natural sedimentation. Fermented with selected yeasts.

Beautiful aromatics. Lychee, minerality, sweet barley, and green herbs. Rich, sweet, and full-bodied on the palate. Intense red pepper finish. I prefer a less-sweet style of Gewurtztraminer.

2018 Chardonnay -- Grapes pressed and must clarified at low temperatures prior to fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Matured on lees for several months.

Sweet white flower, sweet white fruit on the nose. Perfumed, with apple, intense lime and savory herbs apparent. Full, round mouthfeel and a long finish. Robust. I love this Chardonnay.

The 20/26 Rosé was floral on the nose along with scents of sweet raspberries. Weighty on the palate with intense bright red fruit, sour cherry, and licorice. Drying sensation on the palate.

2018 Schiava -- Temperature-controlled fermentation in stainless steel tanks with 6 days skin contact. Maturation in large oak casks.

Floral (violets), sweet red fruit, spice, licorice, and baking spices. Smooth and even from attack to finish. Expansive red fruit. Layers of salinity. Slate and ripe tamarind with a not-unpleasant bitter note. Burnt toffee and bitter cupric finish. Easy drinking. Unstructured.

2018 Elena Walch Merlot -- Fermentation for 10 days in stainless steel tanks. Malolactic fermentation in 80-hl French and Slavonian oak barrels followed by maturation in large oak barrels.

Dark fruit, chocolate, baking spices, richness, green herbs and red pepper on the nose. Lean, precise, bright with smooth, palate-coating tannins. Cocoa, spice, and red pepper. Pleasant drinking. Medium finish. Could have been more structured. Soft ending.

Ludwig 2017 Pinot Nero -- Maceration at low temperature for 48 hours followed by fermentation in large Slovenian oak vats and stainless steel tanks. Malolactic fermentation followed by 16 months aging in French oak barrels.

Charcoal, toasted barrel, ripe strawberry, tobacco, earth, baking spices, and burnt rubber on the nose. Tar, full-flavored, black pepper, faded cranberry, and a slatey character. Bright acidity. Flattened out. Bitter finish.

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The eight wines tasted herein represent a subset of the Elena Walch wines but I much prefer the whites to the reds. And the whites that I liked best were the varietal Sauvignon and Chardonnay. I am a Chardonnay lover (yeah, like an emergency worker, I run to the grape while others are running away) and love my Chardonnays unimpeded by the presence of other varietals. 

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

My experiences with Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino

"The Barolos of Giacomo Conterno are among the most beautiful wines in the world: gorgeously pure and packed with flavors that feel almost three dimensional" -- Eric Asimov, New York Times.
"The estate is most renowned for the great Barolos Cascina Francia and Monfortino Reserve. The latter ... is regarded as one of the finest Barolos produced today and by many as the finest wine made from Nebbiolo in the world" -- Berry Bros & Rudd.

Ron, Bev, Parlo, and I visited with Roberto at the estate in 2017. In this post I revisit the learnings from that trip and remark on selected vintages of Monfortino that I have tasted through the years.

Prior to World War I, Barolo was made to be drunk early and was sold in casks and demijohns. Giovanni Conterno purchased high-quality fruit from Serralunga d'Alba growers and made wine to be sold in his restaurant and to the general public. After son Giacomo returned from the war, he worked with his father to make an untraditional Barolo, one with significant aging potential. The formula that they hit upon -- extending the maceration time and aging in large wooden botti -- met early success and continues as the foundation of "the finest wine made from Nebbiolo in the world." The history of the estate from those early days on is captured in the chart below.

The fruit for the estate's flagship Monfortino is sourced from the 14-ha Serralunga d'Alba cru Francia; as is the case for the Barolo Francia (previously Cascina Francia). Five of the crus hectares are planted to Barbera with the remainder Nebbiolo. Both a Barolo (2 ha) and a Barbera (1 ha) are produced from Cerretta fruit. The recently purchased Arione vineyard (6 ha) has just been replanted with Nebbiolo. According to Roberto, all three crus have limestone soils and similar climates. The details of the fruit sources are shown below.

Monfortino is made from the best grapes in the greatest year and that search begins in the vineyard with selection and vinification of "proto-Monfortino" and Francia wines. The proto-Monfortino wines are subjected to higher fermentation temperatures and longer maceration time (4 to 5 weeks versus 3 to 4 weeks for the Francia) in search of greater structure (They are also aged for three additional years). A decision is made after tasting as to whether there will be a Monfortino that year. According to Roberto, "Francia you drink, Monfortino you chew." He tastes each wine 15 times a year and would have tasted the wines 40 to 50 times before making a decision. If the decision is made to not produce a Monfortino, the proto-Monfortino is plowed back into that year's Francia.

In terms of an overall winemaking process, everything is destemmed and the grapes vinified by plots. Fermentation is conducted in wooden conical oak vats (They had started out with wood, then switched to stainless steel. Twenty years ago they began using wood again.). He loves wood for fermentation because the thick staves keep the temperature well and, in his view, allow better polymerization.

Today they work with selected yeasts from their vineyard, determined after a lengthy research process. They are currently using two strains for Nebbiolo and three for Barbera.

All wines are aged in botti: 55-year-old Slavonian oak or newer Austrian oak barrels from Franz Stockinger. The Barbera is aged for 2 years, the Barolo for 4 years, and the Monfortino for 7 years. The wines are racked three times in the first year, first to get rid of the gross lees prior to malolactic, and the second and third for clarity. Beyond that, racking is based on taste (combating reduction and tannin).

Steel tanks are used when racking the wines or bottling. In no case is the wine held for more than 1 day in steel tanks.

Tasting Selected Vintages of Monfortino

Below I revisit some of the Monfortino vintages which I have had the pleasure of tasting, beginning with the youngest and working backwards. Most of these wines were tasted alongside my buddy Ron Siegel and, in a number of cases, his tasting notes are used (and noted as such).

2008 Monfortino -- Killing a baby. Showing power and finesse. Structured and elegant style that will need a lot more time (Ron's notes).

2002 and 2006 Monfortino -- Popped and poured the 2002. Should have given it more of a decant. Huge structure. Showing great power and length with lots of cherry, licorice, dried herbs, leather, tar, and rose petals. Second tasting, also popped and poured (thats what we do). Still structured, with a perfumed nose of dark fruits, menthol, tar, licorice, and tobacco (Ron's notes).

The 2006 was a beautiful vintage that was all about power and finesse. Showing great balance and structure. Notes of dark fruits, balsamic, licorice, tar, and rose petal (Ron's notes).

2000 and 2001 Monfortino -- The 2000 is aromatic with notes of violets and red cherries. Traditional Barolo notes of tar, licorice, spice, and balsamic are also evident. Concentrated. Balanced. Lengthy finish.

The 2001 shows classic Barolo notes of rose petals, tar, mint, and licorice accompanying cherry, cedar, spice and balsamic aromas. Concentrated, full-bodied, and balanced with silky tannins. Long finish.

1995 and 1999 Monfortino -- Roses, dark cherries, tar, herbs, and spices on the nose of the 1995. Dark fruit, minerality, and spice, along with a brisk acidity, on the palate. Lengthy finish.

The 1999 was licorice-forward with accompanying notes of black cherry, roses, tar, mint, earth, and blackpepper. Dark red and black fruit and balsamic flavors on the palate. Balanced, with integrated tannins.

1998 Monfortino -- Intense licorice along with tar, roses, dark berries, tobacco, mint, and spice. Sour cherry flavor on the palate. Concentrated and full-bodied. Integrated tannins and a full, long finish.

1982 Monfortino -- Dried red fruits, sour cherry, balsamic, rose petal, camphor, and saddle leather. Very sweet on the palate and coats the tongue with polished tannins. Nice acidity. Very nice vintage for Monfortino (Ron's notes).

1937 Conterno Barolo Riserva -- Tasted January, 2017. One of the most interesting aromatics that I have experienced this year. Notes of balsamic, pine tar, leather, orange peel, sweet brown fruits, and baking spices. Amazing complexity on the palate along with good acidity (Ron's notes).

Arguably the best wine coming out of Piedmont, Monfortino rewards patience.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

On the trail of Pappy Van Winkle (after Wright Thompson's Pappyland)

The Pappy Van Winkle bourbon that is taking the world by storm today can be traced all the way back to Julian's grandfather, the Pappy in Pappy Van Winkle. Some key aspects of Pappy's bio are provided in the graphic below.

As Wright Thompson said in his book Pappyland, "On that Derby Day in 1935, Pappy Van Winkle stepped away from his competition and released a different kind of Bourbon into the market, one of this place -- of his place." As Wright further states, using wheat in bourbon was not Pappy's idea -- but he was the first to mass produce it.

Source: Compiled from Pappyland

A number of factors led to a crash of the bourbon market in the 1960s (Thompson):

• The vodka lobby finally changed the laws to give itself a designation
• From neutral grain spirit to vodka
• The James Bond effect
• The industry panicking and raising the barrel entry price to make more product
• Reduced the quality of the whiskey
• Making light bourbon that went better in cocktail mixes
• Bourbon was what your father drank.

The Stitzel-Weller Distillery suffered as a result of the market downturn and it was during this period that Pappy turned it over to Julian Sr. A week after taking over the business in 1964, Julian Sr. put an Old Fitzgerald on the market at a "watered-down 86.8 proof.' According to Wright, this was most likely done with Pappy's approval and saved him the fate of having to take that step while he still controlled the business. 

Julian Sr., and his sister split Pappy's 51% ownership stake in the company but some intra-family issues caused her to side with the 49% owners in a decision to sell the company. The distillery was eventually sold to Norton Simon in 1972. "Diageo, after buying the business, shipped the old Stitzel-Weller barrels to Canada where they became a tiny percentage of the Crown Royal blend."

Julian had gotten into the bourbon business working with his father. After the sale of the business he eventually launched his own fledgling effort out of a broken-down facility in Lawrenceburg. He was buying barrels from the Old Boone Distillery and bottling them as Old Rip Van Winkle. "Every now and then he would get some barrels of Stitzel-Weller and put them out under a special label."

One day Julian received a call from Diageo: They were shutting down the Stitzel-Weller plant and was trying to find buyers for the barrels in its cellar. In reviewing the list, Julian saw barrels priced as low as $200. "Diageo didn't know what they had but Julian did." He went looking for funds and eventually got someone to extend him a line of credit and began buying up as many barrels as he could afford.

He bottled the bourbon under the label Van Winkle Family Reserve and put Pappy's picture on the label. According to Julian, "The first year we bottled the 20-year, it was awesome." Pappy got a 99 score from the Beverage Testing Institute in 1996 and was named the greatest bourbon in the world.

Six years after he introduced Pappy's on the market, Buffalo Trace Distillery called and offered to buy into his brand, an offer which he readily accepted.

According to Thompson, four different whiskeys have been bottled under the label of Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve:

1. The first Pappy -- Old Boone distilled in the 1970s. Julian was sitting on aged barrels of it that he didn't want to go to waste. This was good whiskey.
2. Long run of Stitzel-Weller -- when people think of the Pappy taste, this is what they are imagining. This was great whiskey. "Once the big brands realized what Julian had done, and how the public had responded, these barrels became difficult to get ahold of." In addition to the Stitzel-Weller that he had secured on the market, the partnership with Buffalo Trace gave Julian access to aged Stitzel-Weller bourbon that Trace had acquired when it bought the W. L. Weller brand and stocks from Diageo two years prior.
3. Bernheim barrels -- used to fill the gap between the end of the Stitzel-Weller stock and the maturation of the Buffalo Trace distilled product. This bourbon had the Van Winkle wheated mash bill but was inconsistent in quality
4. Buffalo Trace distillation whiskey.

When the Buffalo Trace 15-year-old whiskey was tasted by Julian, it got his seal of approval. His grandfather's juice had been brought back to life

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Book Review: Pappyland -- A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things that Last

A couple of weeks ago I paid $40 to attend a Zoom webinar featuring Julian Van Winkel (of Pappy Van Winkel fame) and Wright Thompson, author of the book Pappyland, purportedly discussing the book which has Julian's story at its core. In addition to participation in the webinar, paid attendees received a signed copy of Pappyland. Over 1000 people attended the webinar.

Julian Van Winkle and Wright Thompson

I found the webinar to be disorganized and uninformative. There was no plan, no direction, no sense of what they wanted to convey to attendees. The author did not step up and guide the dialogue with either focused or open questions; rather, it devolved into meaningless (for me) banter on a wide range of issues that would not satiate a Pappy-information-hungry individual.

Maybe, to some extent, I approached the book with the wrong expectations. I was seeking a tale of the genesis of this legendary bourbon, the trials and travails of its birth and life, the people and institutions that nurtured its rise, and the pursuit of the juice by "Pappyists." But that is not what has been delivered.

The book has a wonderful cover and end papers but the heavy weight of the pages, and the deckled edges, make it difficult to turn from one page to the next. It is 244 pages in length but the type size and spacing are generous, presenting a more formidable perception than is delivered.

Pappyland end papers

Within the book, Pappyland is more about the ecosystem within which Julian and his family exists rather than the history of the juice. That is not to say that the latter is not treated, but that the treatment is so jumbled, inconsistent, and foreshortened, that one has to take notes in order to develop any measure of cohesion. The first entry into that realm begins on page 60 and is sprinkled throughout the rest of the book.

I initially had said that there was no throughline to this book but I was wrong. The throughline has been so stretched out that it has broken into myriad pieces, each of which has burrowed deeply into a forest of "feelgoodism."

The author's story is woven into the narrative. I neither understood, or bought into, the rationale or its implementation.

Julian is a nice guy but he is not extraordinary, nor is he doing extraordinary things on a daily basis. Building a book around his life and lifestyle, punctuated by incursions of the author's life, seems a miss to me. There is some good material on bourbon, its history, the family history, etc., which I have been able to stitch together and will report in a subsequent post, but that could have been handled in an article rather than a book.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Le Macchiole Paleo: The quintessential Tuscan Cabernet Franc

In a Forbes article written by Susan Gordon, Vinous wine critic Ian D'Agata is quoted thusly:

What Bolgheri is really remarkably good for is Cabernet Franc. It is probably the single best place for Cabernet Franc in the world after Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. Even when you go to taste out of barrel, in nine out of 10 wineries the best one is filled with Cabernet Franc ... Le Macchiole's "Paleo" used to not be 100% Cabernet Franc but it became 100% Cabernet Franc and has never looked back.

And it is that Le Macchiole Paleo Cabernet Franc, one of my favorite Bolgheri wines, that I will be examining today.

Le Macchiole is a 22-ha estate located in Bolgheri DOC just across Bolgheri Road from the famed Tenuta dell'Ornellaia estate and 5 km away from the sea.  According to enotecaitalia.biz, the current incarnation has its roots in an estate of the same name founded in 1975 by the father and grandfather of the late Eugenio Campolmi (co-founder, along with his wife Cenzia Merli, of the current estate) when they decided to produce and sell wines from grapes grown in their small vineyards.  These founders utilized contemporary farming and winemaking practices and this, combined with poor vineyard positioning and soil quality, yielded low quantities of poor quality wine. 

When Eugenio took control of the business in 1981, he moved decisively to change the direction of the estate.  He made the decision that the location was not conducive to success so he purchased 9 ha of land in the current location in 1983. Not being sure of what varieties would grow best in this new location, Eugenio embarked on a path that would become the hallmark of the company -- experimentation to determine the best fit for the environment. For example, Le Macchiole was the first estate in Bolgheri to plant Syrah, the first to adopt high-density planting, and the first to produce a monovarietal Cabernet Franc.

The climate that Le Macchiole contends with is temperate, thanks to its proximity to the sea, but the temperature at its location is higher than anywhere else in Bolgheri. The soil is deep and clayey with significant stone and rock deposits. Vineyards are planted to 10,000 vines/ha, are short-cordon-spur pruned, and have been organic since 2002.

Le Macchiole only works with its own grapes, drawn from the stable of vineyards shown below. The map shows that Cabernet Franc is grown in every vineyard, except for the northernmost and southernmost, with a variety of soil types and planting densities. The vineyards are farmed organically, a process that begun with the 2002 vintage, with biodynamic practices launched in 2010.

Le Macchiole Paleo

Paleo began life as a classic Bordeaux blend in 1989 before being repositioned as a Cabernet Franc monovarietal beginning with the 2001 vintage. Grapes for this wine are sourced from the Puntone, Casanuova, and Vignone vineyards. The grapes are harvested manually and double sorted prior to a 30-day fermentation/maceration in concrete vats. The wines are aged for 19 months in new oak barriques.

Tasting of Selected Vintages of Paleo

I have grown to love the liveliness of this Cabernet Franc and am not reticent about spreading the message to converts and doubting Thomases alike. Below are notes on selected vintages that I have tasted.

2013 Le Macchiole Paleo -- On the nose blueberry, mocha, licorice, mint, tobacco, and baking spices. Full-bodied. Balanced. Mouth-coating tannins. Lengthy finish. Would benefit from a little more cellar time.

2012 Le Macchiole Paleo -- Plum, dark fruits, bell pepper, red pepper, tobacco, and herbs on the nose. Focused on the palate. Balanced. Medium-long finish.

2011 Le Macchiole Paleo -- Elegant. Ripe black and red fruits, garrigue, roasted peppers and wild herbs on the nose. Full-bodied. Well integrated. Textured. Lengthy finish.

2008 La Macchiole Paleo -- Floral, with dark fruits, mint, cinnamon, cedar and smoke on the nose. Palate confirms. Bold. More cellar time needed.

2007 Le Macchiole Paleo -- Dark berries, green bell pepper, chocolate, cassis, baking spices on the nose. Elegant and complex on the palate. Dark fruit, milk chocolate, integrated tannins and a lengthy finish.

2006 Le Macchiole Paleo -- Ripe blackberries, baking spices, dark chocolate, cassis, herbs, and pepper on the nose. A black fruit core surrounded by a savoriness, spice, and minerality. Full bodied and fresh. Lengthy finish.

2005 Le Macchiole Paleo -- Aromatic. Dark fruits on the nose along with green peppers, earth, leather, cassis, espresso, herbs, and earth. Full round mouthfeel. Cherries, dark chocolate, and integrated tannins. Powerful. Lengthy finish.

2002 Le Macchiole Paleo -- Florality. Black/red fruits, coffee, hint of tar, herbs, and leather on the nose. Medium-bodied. Well integrated. Balanced. Red fruit and herbs. Lengthy, drying finish.

Tasting session at Capital Grille

2000 Le Macchiole Paleo -- Raw meat, lacquer, spice, black pepper, red pepper, and garrigue on the nose. Red fruit on the palate. Balanced. Lengthy, slightly astringent finish.

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Messorio, a Merlot momovarietal, is Le Macchiole's flagship wine. At a 2009 tasting of Masseto and Messorio led by the respective enologists Axel Heinz and Luca D'Attoma, Heinz opined that the wines were set apart by different visions and stylistic interpretations of similar terroir  with the result being that Masseto was "more powerful and more concentrated, with extremely 'aristocratic' tannins" while Messorio was "leaner" and "almost austere."

And this is the sense that comes through to me with Paleo: a restraint, an unwillingness to flood the zone. I love this wine.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Revisiting selected wines of Pomerol's Chateau L'Evangile

Continuing my series of revisiting favorite wines (of which I have tasted multiple vintages), I turn my attention to Pomerol's Chateau L'Evangile.

Chateau L'Evangile, long considered one of the great Pomerol estates, lies on the eastern outskirts of Pomerol and, in that position, is bordered by Vieux Chateau Certan, Chateau Petrus, La Conseillante, and Chateau Cheval Blanc. Known as Fazilleau prior to the mid-18th century, the property was purchased by Paul Chaperon in 1862 and was held by his descendants, the Ducasse family, until its purchase by Domaine Baron de Rothschilds in 1990.  The quality of the property has been long recognized as evidenced by an entry in the second edition (1868) of Cocks and Ferry (colloquial name for a classic Bordeaux wine directory initially published in 1846 by Englishman Charles Cox and Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Feret) which identified its product as an "... upper Pomerol 1st growth wine."

Pomerol

Pomerol, at 800 ha, is one of the smallest communes in Bordeaux. This home to some of the most lauded Bordeaux offerings is generally grouped with St. Emilion and other neighboring communes into an unofficial sub-region called Libournais. The commune is located 3 km from the city of Libourne and approximately 30 km northeast of Bordeaux on a rolling plateau that slopes to the Isle River at its confluence with the Dordogne.

Pomerol is bounded by the Barbanne stream to the north, St. Emilion to the east, and Libourne to the south and east. The area was originally a part of the St. Emilion AOC but was awarded its own designation by INAO (the AOC governing body) in 1936. A total of 150 producers currently operate in the defined area.

Pomerol is blessed with a mild maritime climate with drier summers and higher daytime temperatures than experienced in other Bordeaux communes. The risk of frost is very low due to the moderating influence of the Dordogne and Isle rivers.

A rough approximation of the Pomerol soil is shown in the graphic below. The composition is a gravelly topsoil with layers of clay and sand with the clay more prevalent in the west and sand more apparent close to Libourne. The subsoil has a high proportion of a ferruginous sandstone which the locals call "crasse de fer." Several types of clay can be found in the soil but the blue clay is the most highly regarded. The Petrus vines are planted almost 100% on blue clay.

Pomerol soil composition with the Pomerol plateau shown in 
gray. (Source: Handout at 12/4/17 Zachys Lafleur Tasting) 
Originally from Neil Martin's book Pomerol.

The Pomerol plateau (the area shaded in gray in the map above) is home to the best producers. Its soil is a complex blend of gravel, clay, sand, crasse de fer, and iron oxide.

The vineyards are planted to Merlot (80%), Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a dollop of Malbec. The current vines are very old and low-yielding. This, coupled with the small surface area available for planting, results in sky-high prices for the wines.

The wines of Pomerol are elegant and distinctive, characterized, as they are, by intense aromas, ripe fruit, and supple tannins. The wines are velvety and fruity in their youth and exhibit flavors of grilled almonds and black truffles in later years. The average yield is 38,000 Hl annually.

Chateau L'Evangile
As shown in the figure above, L'Evangile sits on the famed and desired Pomerol plateau. The 22 ha that comprise L'Evangile sit on a deep gravely soil that is mixed with clay and sand and supports vines that are, on average, 35 years old.  The vineyard is planted with a mix of Merlot (contributes fruit, body, and softness to the wine) and Cab Franc (for structure and finesse).

The finished L'Evangile product is approximately 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc (or Bouchet, as it is called locally).  The Chateau practices late harvesting which lowers yields and results in rich, concentrated wines.  The grapes are picked by hand, fermented in cement tanks for 8 - 12 days, and aged in oak barrels for 18 months.  The average production of the estate (inclusive of the second wine Blaison L'Evangile) is about 5000 cases.

Tasting of Selected Vintages

2008 L'Evangile -- Developing but -- wait for it. Blackberries, plum, dark chocolate, toffee. Medium-bodied with dark fruits and chocolate. Tannins evident. Lengthy finish.

2004 L'Evangile -- Blackberries, violets, cocoa and earth on the nose. Broad on the palate, but smooth, and with a full, round mouthfeel. Lengthy finish. 

2005 Chateau L'Evangile -- Still not ready. Black currant, ripe plums, violets, coffee, dark chocolate on the nose. Dark fruit and earth on the palate. Still not fully integrated and character not fully exposed. Promise is evident.

1982 Bordeaux Tasting at the Bull and the Bear -- The now-legendary 1982 vintage is considered a marker in the history of Bordeaux wines due to (i) exceptional wines across the region and (ii) the emergence of Robert Parker as a force to be reckoned with in the wine-prognostication arena.  Propelled by the siren song of the vintage, a group of us got together at the Bull and Bear Restaurant at the Waldorf Astoria to taste a representative sample of wines from this noted vintage.

The touchstones of the vintage were (i) a successful and populous flowering in June and (ii) heat throughout the summer capped by a September heatwave.  The large crop of super-ripe grapes that were harvested produced wines which were, according to the NY Times, "rich, supple, tremendously fruity, full-bodied, and already drinkable." 

Skeptics took the position that the wines from the 1982 vintage lacked balance and were destined for short shelf lives.  Robert Parker stood alone in describing this as one of the all-time great vintages; and history has borne him out.  In a 2000 retrospective tasting of 61 of the wines from 1982, Parker assigned 100-point scores to Lafite, Latour, Mouton Rothschild, Pichon Lalande, Leoville Las Cases, and Lafleur.

Flight I: Chateau Certan de May, Chateau L'Evangile, and Chateau Latour à Pomerol. 
The L'Evangile was rated 96 points by Parker.  Aromas of dried rose petals, potpourri, acorn-fed meat, prosciutto, sugar cane, and cedar box.  On the palate reinforcement of aromas along with a chocolate creaminess and a long finish.  This wine was judged to be the wine of the flight by participants.

1982, 1990, and 1995 L'Evangile I had tasted the 1982 vintage on previous occasions and felt that it was one of the best wines that I had ever had.  This bottle did not disappoint.  It attacked the senses with tones of graphite, iron, gunpowder, licorice, chocolate, vanilla, sandalwood, and raw meat.  There was a slight vegetal streak on the nose. 

The 1990 was new to all of us and, shockingly for me, stood shoulder to shoulder with the 1982.  It exhibited lightly roasted coffee and was reminiscent of the 1991 Dominus in the concentration of pencil lead and graphite.  It was redolent of sweet black fruit.

The 1995 was the disappointment of the three in that it was very un-Bordeaux-like. It seemed to be confused as to its heritage in manifesting as a disordered Napa meritage. It had gooey black fruit, vanilla, licorice, clove and a marked vegetality (I know.  Not a word. But I want to convey the vibrancy of the vegetal-ness).  Dried earth on the palate (I have had occassion to taste this wine on multiple subsequent occasions and have not been able to duplicate this note.).

On another encounter with the 1995 I found dark fruit, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, tobacco, and black pepper on the nose. Red fruit, cayenne, cocoa on the palate. Medium weight with good acid levels. Balanced. Long, rich, creamy finish initially but gets leaner with residence in the glass and develops a not-unbecoming bitter note on the finish.

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I have not tasted all of the the great Pomerols but, until I do, L'Evangile has a special place in my heart and on my table.  I buy the 1982 whenever I encounter it and this tasting drilled this wine even deeper into my wine psyche.  The 1990 was a stunning and pleasant surprise, not because of anything that I had seen or heard, but that I had, unwittingly, foregone the pleasure of this great wine for as long as I had. The 1995 lived up to the hype after my initial disappointment.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Gattinara DOCG and the wines of Conterno-Nervi and Travaglini Estate Winery

Nebbiolo, the variety undergirding the Langhe's famed Barolo and Barbaresco wines, is considered Italy's most noble grape, primarily based on its performance in that region. The cultivar is, however, grown -- and referred to by other names -- in areas beyond the home of the "King of Wines." The table below shows the names by which the variety is known outside the Langhe-Roero regions and the associated planting sizes.

Region	Sub-Region	Variety Nomenclature	Planting Size (ha)
Langhe	Barolo	Nebbiolo	2098
	Barbaresco	Nebbiolo	716
Alba		Nebbiolo	1262.5*
Roero		Nebbiolo	139.5**
Alta Piemonte	Gattinara, Ghemme +	Spanna	884
	Val d’Ossola	Prunent	N/A
Lombardy	Valtellina	Chiavennasca	900
Valle d’Aosta	Donnaz, Arnand-Montjovet	Picotendro	25***
Sardinia	Gallura	Nebbiolo	52***

Compiled from Tong #16. *Author's estimate; ** author's estimate based 

on relative production; ***2004 data.

In the Alto Piemonte region,  the Nebbiolo grape-- called Spanna therein -- is also viewed fondly by "native" winemakers who embrace the fact that their wines differ markedly from that of their better-known brethren to the south. 

Alto Piemonte Wine Region (Source:skurnik.com)

I have been on a journey of exploration through the subzones of Alto Piemonte and continue in this post with a discussion of Gattinara DOCG.

Gattinara DOCG

The Gattinara wine region is a 105-ha wine zone encompassing the entirety of the municipality of Gattinara. The zone, which is older than Barolo, covered 600 ha at the end of the 1800s but was completely destroyed by phylloxera and the devastating 1905 hailstorm. The key characteristics of the region are detailed in the chart below.

Gattinara soils, as shown in the chart, are both acidic and rich in a variety of minerals and elements. The vines grown in this soil produce grapes "with a unique flavor profile" and high acidity and tannin levels.

Selected Estates: Nervi-Conterno and Travaglini Estate Winery

Conterno-Nervi

Roberto Conterno, one of the most influential Barolo producers, bought Nervi, the oldest officially recognized Gattinara winery, in 2018. Nervi was founded in 1906 by Luigi Nervi and its 28 ha includes the notable cru vineyards Molsino and Valferana as well as the top sites Garavoglie and Cassace. According to rarewineco.com:

The south-facing amphitheater of Molsino is one of Piedmont's great vineyards, revered since the 15th century as a source of Gattinara of both power and finesse. Valferana's open west-facing slopes can trace an even longer history, as documents dating back to 1231 attest. This cool terroir produces a very elegant and mineral Gattinara to complement the more potent Molsino.

Nervi was purchased from the family by the steel magnate Germano Bacciolone in 1991 and then sold to Erling and Katherine Alstrop in 2009 before finally making its way into the hands of Roberto in 2018. Operations are very traditional with pruning and harvesting done by hand and fermentation and aging in large oak casks.

Conterno-Nervi makes two single-vineyard wines from Molsino and Valferana, a cuvée using grapes from all four vineyards, and a Rosato from the same sources.

Travaglini Estate Winery

The Travaglini family has owned land in Gattinara since the 19th century wherein they farmed a few hectares of vines and produced wine for local consumption. A small winery was established Clemente Travaglini who was succeeded by his son Arturo who was in turn, succeeded by his son Giancarlo. Gtiancarlo established the Travaglini Estate Winery in 1958. He was also instrumental in viticultural and winemaking developments in the area through pioneering research into:

• High-density planting (up to 5000 vines/ha)
• 100% hand-harvesting
• Guyot training
• The use of barriques.

The estate today is 55 ha in size with 52 of those dedicated to vines. The majority of the plantings are Nebbiolo with some of the older vines being Vespolina and Bonarda. Vines are between 6 and 45 years of age.

All vines are trained Guyot and are planted facing south and southwest. Older vines are planted at 3500/ha while younger ones are deployed at 5000/ha. Vineyard elevation ranges between 320 and 420 m.

In addition to the Gattinara DOCG normale, the estate produces a Riserva and a cuvée (Tre Vigne) made from grapes sourced from three historical vineyards. Other Nebbiolo-based wines produced by the estate include a Coste delle Sesia Nebbiolo and a Metodo Classico Nebolé.

Two Wines from the Estates

I tasted a 2016 vintage from each of the estates.

2016 Nervi-Conterno Gattinara -- Hand-harvested. Gentle de-stemming and crushing followed by fermentation in stainless steel vats. Macerated for a minimum of 15 days post alcoholic fermentation. Malo in oak barrels. Aged for 30 months in large oak barrels.

Popped and poured. Darker in color than the Travaglini. Dark cherries, licorice, anise, herbs, and spice on the nose initially. Herbs, hint of shoe polish, juniper berry, black pepper with time. Spice on the palate, rose water, green herbs, round tannins on the palate initially. More textured with the passage of time. Weightier and increasing character. With additional time, earthier, dark red fruits, salinity, shoe polish, and dried herbs.

2016 Travaglini Gattinara -- Grapes crushed and macerated for 15 days in stainless steel tanks. Aged for three years (two of which were in Slovenian oak casks of different origins and sizes) before bottling. Spent three months in bottle before release on market.

Lighter in color than the Conterno-Nervi. Cherries, raspberries, rosemary and earth on the nose. Medium body with elevated acidity and chalky tannins. Lighter and brighter than the Conterno-Nervi.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Bianco Trinoro: A Semillon wine from Vini Franchetti's Tenuta di Trinoro (Val d'Orcia, Tuscany)

Andrea Franchetti has single-handedly built two wine estates -- Tenuta di Trinoro (Tuscany) and Passopisciaro (Mt. Etna) -- from the ground up, the former focused on wines made from Bordeaux varieties and the latter wines from traditional Mt Etna varieties. Passopisciaro, in addition makes a two Chardonnays and a red from Petit Verdot and Cesanese d'Affile.

In the same year that he launched his inaugural Mt Etna vintage -- 2001 -- Andrea planted some Semillon vines at his Tuscan property. According to Wine Searcher, the property had a sandy patch at its highest reaches (0.6 ha at 620 m). This plot reminded him of the Medoc, prompting thoughts that it might be suitable for a white variety. Given the Bordeaux profile of the estate, he opted for Semillon as that white variety. As I pointed out in my recent post on Semillon in Italy, the variety is not planted widely in the country but there is one DOC and five IGP plantings in Tuscany.

I explore Tenuta di Trinoro's Bianco Trinoro in this post.

Tenuta di Trinoro

Jancis Robinson in 2002 described Andrea Franchetti's Tenuta di Trinoro as an "idiosyncratic wine estate ... which has achieved quite remarkable renown considering it was first planted in 1992." Antonio Galloni, writing on vinous.com, describes the estate as giving "new meaning to the expression "in the middle of nowhere.'" 

According to Carlo Franchetti, Andrea's partner in Vini Franchetti, the area of Val d'Orcia in which Tenuta di Trinoro is located had been almost abandoned between 1960 and 1980 with the primary activity being sharecropping. Sheep-breeding came with the Sardinians when they emigrated here between 1960 and 1970. The houses in the area were primarily second homes for the wealthy.

Andrea had been a wine broker and imported French and Italian wines to the US between 1982 and 1986. He wanted to come back to Italy but, before doing so, went to Bordeaux and spent some time learning winemaking from his friends Jean Luc Thunevin of Chateau Valandraud and Peter Sisseck of Dominio de Pingus.  Armed with Bordeaux philosophy, practices, and cuttings, Andrea went to the Tuscan hinterlands, to land that was to him reminiscent of the left- and right-bank Bordeaux soils, and bought the 200-ha property that is Tenuta di Trinoro.

There are a total of 22 ha of the estate devoted to vineyards, distributed between 36 separate vineyard plots. As shown on the map below, the vineyard is planted solely with Bordeaux cultivars to include 17 Cabernet Franc and 13 Merlot plots. There are three cru vineyards which lend their names to 100% Cab Franc wines made with the grapes sourced therefrom.

Source: vinifranchetti.com

There is a 200-meter difference in elevation between the lowest and highest points in the vineyard with the lower portion being alluvial while the higher portions are clay mixed with limestone and quartz fragments that have split from the underlying bedrock.

The vineyards are planted at 10,000 vines/ha and are a mix of double Guyot and double Guyot Poussard. The initial plantings were double Guyot but these are being transitioned to Poussard which promotes maintaining the same sap route from year to year and keeping pruning wounds to the top of the cordon. Carlo mentioned that Esca is a problem at Tenuta di Trinoro; a 2002 study by Geoffrion and Renaudin found the Poussard system to be less conducive to Esca infection than other modern training systems.

Plants are kept low -- Bonsai vineyard concept -- with each allocated 1 sq meter of canopy. Sheep manure is the only type of fertilization used on the property and spray material consists of copper and sulfur. A mix of clay, propolis, and grapefruit seed extract is sprayed in the pre-harvest period to ward off botrytis and other molds that may occur on the grapes as they approach full ripeness. There is no irrigation except for newly planted vines.

Bianco Trinoro

Andrea first planted Bordeaux-vine-stock Semillon at Trinoro in 2001. The vines are planted at 10,000/ha with yields of 25 hl/ha. According to Andrea, he made 1000 bottles of wine from the harvested fruit each year and drank them after each vintage had matured for 10 years. After drinking the wines over the years, he got to a point where he felt that the vines had matured enough to support a high-quality commercial offering. This led to the release of the 2017 vintage on the market. A second vintage (2018) has since been released. In Andrea's view, the wine is approachable after 5 years but does not reach its peak until 10 years have elapsed.

The grapes are harvested manually and then transported to the cellar for processing. The grapes are whole-cluster-pressed and then fermented. The 2018 vintage was fermented in stainless steel tanks for a total of 10 days (the 2017 vintage appears to have been fermented in barrels) and then aged (on lees) in cement tanks for 7 months (the 2017 vintage was aged in glass demijohns as they awaited delivery of the cement tanks).

Even though Andrea thinks this wine should be hidden for its first 5 years, it more than showed its mettle when I tasted the 2018 version recently. Tenuta di Trinoro has a winner on its hands.

In the early stages of the tasting it showed Rosemary, apple, dried hay, and intense herb/florality, spice, menthol. As it evolved, a sweet white flower, creamy vanilla, with a richness and complexity with the creaminess reaching from the nostrils into the nether parts of the palate. With additional time, green herbs and talcum powder.

On the palate, lemon-lime, salinity, a marine character, a stemminess from the whole-cluster-pressing, and a drying, limey finish. With time, a blade-like precision, lime, and spiciness. The sweetness which is pervasive on the nose does not carry through to the palate. Gains weight with time. 

I am counting down the days to 5 years hence. This wine is replete with promise.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

The Semillon grape variety in Italy

According to Berry  Bros. & Rudd, Semillon is:

The main grape for Sauternes and particularly successfully grown in Australia's Hunter Valley. Hunter Valley Sémillon is one of Australia's iconic and unique wines, totally unlike any wine produced elsewhere in the world from the same grape variety. In youth the wines are quite citrusy and fresh, but are generally perceived to gain hugely in complexity as they age and are deemed to be best drunk when at least 5 years old, frequently lasting for 10 or more years. Unusually for Australia, the alcohol levels rarely exceed 11.5%.

In Bordeaux it is the most widely planted white grape and is blended with Sauvignon Blanc to produce the great long-lived dry whites of Graves  as well as the great sweet wines of Sauternes. It is high in alcohol and extract and relatively low in aroma and acidity. Its thin skin makes it very susceptible to botrytis which is the prerequisite for the making of Sauternes. It responds well to oak aging and, while having a light lemony aroma when young, develops lanolin flavours which some describe as "waxy," as well as rich, creamy, intense, texture and a deep golden colour."

Semillon is not widely planted in Italy, with only 31 ha of vines sprinkled across mainly central and southern regions (see map below) and with only two of the wines rated DOC.

In the regions where the variety is allowed, the wines are either part of a Bianco blend, made as a varietal (min 85%), or as a part of a dual-variety blend (either 85% or 15% of the blend).

The only notable Italian Semillon that I have encountered was one made by Fiorano, an estate located on the ancient Via Appia on the outskirts of the city of Rome in what is today the Latium (Lazio) wine region of Italy.  

The estate had been owned and farmed organically by a somewhat reclusive prince named Alberico Boncompagni Ludovisi who produced wheat, milk, cheese, and wine on the property. The estate's wine production was initially limited to regional varietals but, in 1946, the prince ripped out the local varieties and replaced them with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Semillon, and Malvasia Candia, varieties which were non-native and unfashionable in Italian wine-production circles.

Prince Ludovisi managed the vines of the estate to low yields which, in turn, allowed him to produce small quantities of concentrated, intense wines. These wines were vinified and aged in large, numbered barrels and bottled unfiltered when a customer made a purchase. The cellar and its contents were covered in a fine white mold which, the proprietor was convinced, contributed to the quality and uniqueness of the wine. The Prince's consultant in his efforts was the noted traditionalist -- and famed winemaker in his own right -- Tancredi Biondi-Santi. 

Upon the Prince's death, the estate fell into disrepair. The wines, however, were eventually acquired by Sergio Esposito of Italian Wine Merchants (The same Sergio Esposito who purchased the old Biondi-Santi Riservas). The estate has been inherited by Alessia Antinori and her sister and they are in the process of reconstituting it. 

I first tasted some of the old Fiorano wines at an Italian Wine Merchants tasting hosted by Alessia.

Alessia Antinori at Italian Wine Merchants

The white wines -- Fiorano 1995 #45 Bianco and Fiorano #48 Semillon -- were paired with a selection of cheeses.  These wines had been vinified and aged in large, old casks and bottled upon demand.  They all have oxidative characteristics, both in terms of color and taste, which, according to Alessia, makes them well suited to accompany cheeses.  The wines had a certain earthiness and are well-suited to the enthusiast who is partial to character-driven wines.

I have also drunk a 1985 vintage of the Semillon which I described in my notes as dark gold in color and lively, earthy, and waxy.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme