Mapping Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo, the variety used in the Langhe's famed Barolo and Barbaresco wines, is considered Italy's most noble grape. Its name is thought to have been derived from the Italian word for fog (nebbia), a condition which is common in Barolo during the September-October maturation period of the variety. I have previously written on The Langhe as a wine region but, after reviewing TONG No. 16's focus on the region's key variety, I have attempted to map Nebbiolo to its regions, its requirements, its wines, and its styles.

Sources: Map -- http://www.cellartours.com/italy/italian-wine-maps/;
Data -- Various authors, TONG No. 16; Wine -- Mise en abyme

A fuller description of the areas where Nebbiolo is planted in Italy has been described in a series of posts on this blog. During the course of a journey through the geographical locations and naming conventions associated with the Nebbiolo grape, we have encounterd it as Chiavennasca (Valtellina, Lombardia), Picotendro (Donnaz, Valle d'Aosta), Spanna (Vercelli-Novara region of Alto Piemonte), Prunent (Val d'Ossola) and Nebbiolo (Langhe-Roero). 

Detailed maps of Barolo DOCG are shown below.

Source:
http://travellanghe.zenfolio.com/p242832817#hab84716

Source:
http://westudywine.blogspot.com/2009/07/map-of-barolo-docg.html

The below chart was compiled from a BBR blog post (bbrblog.com) by David Berry Green in which he tasted Le Rocche offerings from a number of producers in order to determine whether the subject vineyard was Grand Cru material. His conclusion? "It should be ranked alongside other prized Barolo vineyards such as Brunate, Cerequio, Vigna Rionda, Monprivato, Falletto, Cannubi, Monvigliero, and Bussia."

Source:
http://travellanghe.zenfolio.com/p242832817#h14e5b603

Sources: Data from TONG No. 16, Green and Daniels;
author's construct

Sources: Data from Tong No. 16, Mascarello;
author's construct

Sources: Data TONG No. 16, Mascarello;
author's construct

*Last revised 1/6/14 to add chart on 1989 and 1990 vintages.
©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Massolino: "Family-Style" Barolos

Sunday October 14th was the last day of the Decanter Piedmont Reader Weekend; and we were not happy about that. We had had a great time to date visiting wineries, speaking to proprietors, eating great food, and drinking great wine; and we did not want it to end.  Well, pouting would not help.  We had a full day of activities still ahead of us, beginning with a morning winery tour and tasting with Massolino estate in Serralunga d'Alba.

Serralunga d'Alba is a small, medieval village in the Langhe region of Piedmont that is 7100 meters long, 1800 meters wide at its widest point, sits on a hill 414 meters above sea level, and serves as the eastern flank of the Barolo wine production zone.  According to massolini.it, Serralunga d'Alba is one of only three of the 11 Barolo communes that are contained in their entirety within the production zone (the remaining two are Barolo and Castiglione Falletto).

According to Gambero Rosso (Serralunga Barolo: The unrushable wine; gamberorosso.it), Serralunga d'Alba has "compact, sandstone-based soils dating from the Helvetian period."  These soils are high in sand, limestone, iron, phosphorous, and potassium and, as a result, produce wines that are intense and structured and that need time to mature.

When we arrived at the Massolino Cantina after our trip from the hotel, we were greeted in the courtyard by a smiling Franco Massolino who proceeded, during the course of an introductory "seminar" in the courtyard, and continuing dialogue during the course of our walking tour, to detail the estate's philosophy and practices.

The Massolino winery was created by Giovanni Massolino in 1896 and all through the years it has been operated as a family enterprise with brothers Franco and Roberto, enologists both, managing the current incarnation.  The style of wine espoused by the family is a pure expression of Nebbiolo which demonstrates a balance between power and excellence.  Franco refers to this style as "classic" and sees aging in large barrels as a key enabler of that style because the barrels respect and protect the classic bouquet of Nebbiolo.  There was an idea in the market, according to Franco, that consumers would like a wine that was dark in color and some winemakers began to use barriques for aging in order to acquire this darkening effect.  That is not classic Nebbiolo and the decision was made by the estate in 2006 to return to its roots and only age Barolo in large bottes.

Massolino is focused on the production of the highest quality wines possible and, towards that end, grows all of its own grapes. The principal estate vineyards are detailed in the table below.

The grape varieties planted at Massolino vineyards include Barbera, Dolcetto, Nebbiolo, Moscato, and Chardonnay.  The estate began making Chardonnay wines in 1991 based largely on a sense that the variety would thrive in the region's chalky soil.

Fermentation is carried out in resin-lined cement tanks or stainless-steel tanks.  Cement tanks are desirable for their ability to maintain purity of fruit and freshness, according to Franco.  He also mentioned that 10 to 15 years ago, consultants had been recommending deserting cement tanks for stainless steel.  Massolino had not gone down that path and now cement is back in vogue.  Their choice is to use cement vats and when those are not available then use stainless.

Large Slovenian oak casks are used for aging all the wines with the exception of the Chardonnay and Barbera which are aged in barriques.

After our walk-through of the winery, we repaired to the tasting room to sample some of the estate's offerings:

• 2011 Chardonnay -- The grapes were picked a little early in the cycle.  Some of the fruit was aged in cement and some in oak and then blended. Golden yellow color. Sweet white flower and vanilla nose.  A rich creaminess resulting from 9 months of battonage.  Chalky minerality and spiciness.  Persistent finish.
• 2011 Dolcetto -- Stainless steel and cement in search of a pure expression of fruit.  Cherries.  Good body. Spicy. Fresh. Soft tannins. Long finish.  Franco felt that this wine would be great with appetizers but felt that the freshness and tannins would allow it to be drunk with the entire meal.
• 2011 Barbera -- Fermented in stainless steel and cement. Turpentine and petrol on the noseRed pepper and rust on the palate.  Tight and short on the finish.
• 2010 Barbera -- 5000-bottle production.  Aged for 18 months in barrique.  Extracted color and more appealing nose.  Strawberry and spice.  RIch with good acidity.
• 2010 Langhe Nebbiolo -- Violet, green flower, dill, marine, spiciness.  Freshness and purity of fruit.  Non-corrosive tannins.
• 2010 Barolo Classico -- Translucent. Sweet tar, tobacco, and hint of violets.  Molasses on the palate along with weightiness, texture, and balance.
• 2007 Margheria -- Perfumed nose.  Fresh, pure fruit. Elegant with a long finish.
• 2007 Parafada -- Closed.
• 2007 Parussi -- Tar. Green bean. Non-complex.Chalky minerality. Long finish.
• 2005 Riserva Vigna Rosada -- Complex. Bean. Stale beer. Elegance.Late-arriving tannin. Great acidity with a long mineral finish.

This winery's focus on quality was evident in Franco's conversation as well as the look and feel of the surroundings.  This is an estate that knows the type of wines that it wants to produce and is doing so to the tune of 120,000 bottles annually.  The winery has explored what modernity has to offer and have adopted the things that have improved the quality of the operations but have discarded those which have led away from what they perceive to be the traditional style (the family style) of Barolo.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Winery tour and Tasting with Angelo and Gaia Gaja: Decanter's Great Piemonte Reader Weekend

On Saturday we boarded the bus in front of our hotel and headed north.  Our destination? The Barbaresco winery of Angelo Gaja, the Piemontese winemaker credited by Wine Spectator with "driving Italian wine to higher ground."  This was the second stop on our Decanter Great Piemonte Reader Weekend which had kicked-off with a Truffle hunt and a winery tour at G.D. Vajra.

We were scheduled for a tour and tasting at the Gaja winery, followed by lunch at a nearby restaurant. We were told that Mr. Gaja would be our host on this tour but we were also warned that, this being harvest time, there was a possibility that he would be unable to meet that commitment.  In the event that he could not make it, his daughter, Gaia Gaja, would stand in his stead.  We had steeled ourselves for this possibility and let out a collective sigh of relief when we rolled up to this imposing, walled enclosure and the electronic gate was being operated by a slight-of-stature, distinguished-looking gentleman: Angelo Gaja.  He was here and we would be spending the next 5 hours in his company.  Heavenly.

We disembarked and he welcomed each of us with a broad smile and an effusive handshake.  We initially toured the courtyard of the winery while Mr. Gaja described the improvements that had been made to the winery and the surrounding vineyards since 1982.  Sometime during this courtyard discussion we were joined by Gaia Gaja.  While in the courtyard, Mr. Gaja pointed up to the tower on the hill and said that that was our final destination.  The tower had been purchased by Gaja several years ago and had been connected by an underground tunnel which had been dug meter by meter over many winters.  We stepped into the winery to begin our journey to the tower.

The first room that we entered was devoted to a collection of "unique" pieces of art and larger pieces were sprinkled throughout the winery.  As we wended our way through rooms with casks and barrels, Angelo kept up a steady stream of conversation on the winery and winemaking operations.

After a fairly extensive walk underground, we debouched onto the ground floor of the castle and then made our way outdoors into a trellised garden.  The trellises were bare, the result of a plant-stripping storm which had recently passed through the area.

Used with permission of Decanter

Used with permission of Decanter

This was definitely not a wine geeky tour.  Mr. Gaja spent a lot of time on the tradition and history of the winery, his philosophy, and the challenges of getting his vision implemented in a culture which values inertia.  After completing a tour of the castle and grounds, we made our way to a room which was set up for our tasting.

Used with permission of Decanter

The table below shows the totality of the wines produced by Gaja.  The actual tasting was drawn from the subset pictured below.

We were led in the tasting by Gaia Gaja.  The first wine tasted was the 1998 Alteni di Brassica in magnum.  This 100% Sauvignon Blanc wine is classified Langhe DOC and is sourced from a vineyard attached to the famed Sori San Lorenzo as well as the Sauvignon Blanc grapes planted in Sperss after its purchase in 1988.  According to Mr. Gaja, the Alteni di Brassica gets its high acidity from Sori San Lorenzo and its sweetness from Sperss.  The wine was fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and aged in barriques for 6 months.  The wines from the two vineyards are blended after aging.  This wine exhibited petrol, rust, and green phenols on the nose.  On the palate a hint of tannin accompanying medium+ acidity, minerality, and a long, spicy finish.

Next up was the 2009 Barbaresco DOCG in magnum.  According to Angelo, rain during this vintage caused a collapse of the surrounding hills.  Unfortunately this rain happened to coincide with flowering resulting in "more stems than berries."  It was hot during the summertime and ripening proceeded "beautifully" but "there was more skin than juice." This wine had ripe rhubarb and pomegranate on the nose along with tar.  A lean structure accompanying drying tannins on the palate.

The Sori Tildin 2001 magnum is classified Nebbiolo DOC and is 95% Nebbiolo and 5% Barbera.  According to Angelo, Sori means top of the hill facing the sun and this vineyard was purchased in 1964 by his grandfather.  It has historically been considered one of the best locations in Barbaresco.  The Barberesco soil, according to Angelo, is older and softer and softer soil yields a softer wine.  The soil is comprised of compact clay and limestone below a sandy top layer.  The vineyard is at 300 meters altitude and is always windy.  Dark fruit and licorice on the nose.  Elegance, acidity, balance, and length on the palate.

The Costa Russi 1998 was sourced from 70- to 80-year-old vines in the Costa Russi vineyard.  The vines are planted horizontally with densities of 4200 vines/ha with higher spacing between vines to compensate for higher humidity.  This wine is 95% Nebbiolo and 5% Barbera and is classified Langhe Nebbiolo DOC.  Blackberry and red fruits on the nose along with tar and a florality.  Ripe fruit and spiciness on the palate.  Drying tannins on a long finish.

The Sperss 1989 magnum is classified Barolo DOCG.  This vineyard was bought in 1988 according to Angelo, and has a lot more iron in the soil than any of the other vineyards. Wet wood and blood character along with a blueing on the nose.  Slight bitterness and heavy iron content on the palate.  Metallic tannin.

The 1978 Barbaresco DOCG showed its age in the color and exhibited a piney characteristic along with white spice on the nose.  Great weight on the palate, rust, dried fruits and a spiciness to go along with a long finish.

At the conslusion of the tasting we repaired to a nearby restaurant for lunch.

Used with permission of Decanter

Used with permission of Decanter

Angelo Gaja is an inveterate and accomplished storyteller.  From the moment we stepped off the bus until we re-embarked 5 hours later, our ears were his.  He told stories about the expansion of the winery over the years, the procurement and incorporation of the Barbaresco castle into the Gaja winery holdings, how he got his daughter to come home and join the family business, the family history, how he had moved Gaja from a local player to a worldwide power, what it means to be an artisan winemaker, and about the greatest wine he had ever drunk.  And we listened captivated and open-mouthed.  Where did the time go?

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

The Langhe (Piemonte, Italy) wine region

The third annual Decanter Reader trip (Great Piemonte Reader Weekend) placed a small band of intrepid wine enthusiasts deep into the wilds of the Langhe region to test their resolve and ability to survive an avalanche of information, food, and wines of the region.  This post is intended to provide the lens through which all future posts on the topic should be viewed.

Piemonte is one of the most highly regarded Italian wine regions, a reputation due, in large part, to the stellar wines produced in its Langhe sub-region. The Langhe (tongues of land) is separated from the Roero sub-region by the Tanaro River and is characterized by long, steep-sided hill slopes that are separated one from the other by a series of narrow valleys.

The climate in the Langhe is continental with warm Mediterranean air from the Ligurian Sea moderating somewhat the effects of cold air coming off the Alps to the north.  Weather varies from year to year resulting in appreciable vintage variation.  Hailstorms are an appreciable risk with the potential for associated crop loss.

When the Padano Sea retreated from what is today's Langhe, it left behind layers of clay, calcareous marl, blue marl, tufa, sand, and sulfur-bearing chalk.  This soil is credited with bestowing structure and finesse on the areas full-bodied reds.

The primary grape varieties grown in Langhe are shown in the table below. 

Nebbiolo, the variety used in the region's famed Barolo and Barbaresco wines, is considered Italy's most noble grape.  Its name is thought to derive from the Italian word for fog, a condition which is common in Barolo during the September-October maturation period of the variety. The grape requires the warmest sites in order to ensure full ripening. There is significantly more Barbera planted in Langhe than Nebbiolo. This variety is vigorous, high in acid, and resistant to fungal disease and its retiring aroma (plus acidity) renders it an excellent blending wine. When cropped for quality this grape can show aromas of red fruits, currants, and blackberries.  Dolcetto -- the little sweet one -- is an early ripening variety which is low in acid but high in tannins.  It is however, considered much more approachable than its rich cousins and serves as the everyday drinking wine of the Piedmontese.  This variety is characterized by aromas of ripe blackberries and plums.  Moscato Bianco is a white grape that is the fourth most planted variety in Italy.  Known by a number of names, the resulting wines tend to be fizzy or sparkling and produce aromas of lychee and rose petals.

Barolo DOCG Soils
Barolo wines are produced from Nebbiolo grapes grown on the hillsides to the southwest of Alba in five key communes and parts of five sub-zones.  The substrates of the hills are marine sedimentary deposits that formed in the Miocene epoch (23 - 5 million years ago). These deposits are composed primarily of white- to blue-colored compacted marl and calcareous clay and are more- or less-resistant to water penetration depending on the sand-to-clay ratio.

The Barolo zone is divided into two soil subzones based on the age of the deposits. To the west, the soils around the towns of Barolo and La Morra are composed of a calcareous (limestone-rich) marl with high levels of sand -- referred to as Tortonian (11 - 7 million years ago) -- that yields aromatic, elegant, medium-bodied wines which evolve in the bottle earlier than their counterparts.  The wines from the Barolo commune are thought to be more complex, and broader in texture, than the more perfumed and graceful La Morra wines. 

The Langhian (until the 1960s, Helvetian) soil around the communes of Serralunga d'Alba, Monforte d'Alba, and Castiglione Falletto was deposited between 16 and 13 million years ago. The soils of this zone are mostly calcareous clay marls with little sand content and produces a wine that is more structured and requires longer aging.

Serralunga d'Alba

Serralunga d'Alba is a small, medieval village in the Langhe region of Piedmont that is 7100 meters long, 1800 meters wide at its widest point, sits on a hill 414 meters above sea level, and serves as the eastern flank of the Barolo wine production zone.  According to massolini.it, Serralunga d'Alba is one of only three of the 11 Barolo communes that are contained in their entirety within the production zone (the remaining two are Barolo and Castiglione Falletto).

According to Gambero Rosso (Serralunga Barolo: The unrushable wine; gamberorosso.it), Serralunga d'Alba has "compact, sandstone-based soils dating from the Helvetian period."  These soils are high in sand, limestone, iron, phosphorous, and potassium and, as a result, produce wines that are intense and structured and that need time to mature.

Click here for a detailed map of the Barolo wine-growing region.

Barbaresco DOCG

Barbaresco wines are produced from grapes grown on the steep, pre-alpine hillsides of four small villages located to the northeast of Alba.  The grapes are grown on limestone rich marl soils on south-facing exposures with elevation in excess of 200 meters.  The climate in the Barbaresco growing area is warmer and drier than in Barolo, allowing the grapes to ripen earlier and the resulting wines to be less tannic and more approachable.  Barbaresco wines are known for their rich, spicy flavors and perfumed sweetness.

A summary of the DOCG and DOC wines produced in Langhe is provided in the table below.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme