Rocche di Castiglione: "One of the most prestigious crus in the Barolo DOCG"

Antonio Galloni has just capped a run of three mammoth Italian wine tastings (Soldera and Mascarello preceding) in three weeks with a truly epic retrospective of the Vietti Rocche di Castiglione dating back to the labels' inaugural vintage in 1961. This tasting was especially important because this wine, in this vintage, was one of the foundations on which Barolo single-vineyard wines were built and the Vietti estate viewed it as an integral part of its 50th anniversary celebration. So much so that Luca Currado, the winemaker, and his wife Elena Penna, were both present at the tasting.

I will be detailing the tasting but, first, some background on Rocche di Castiglione.

Up until the 1960s, the received wisdom in Barolo production was the blending of fruit from various vineyards in order to meld these individual characteristics into a multi-faceted, sum-of-the-parts wine. Following such a practice meant that someone(s) in the region understood the characteristics imparted to the wine by the various plots (And this point is borne out by Masnaghetti (Barolo MGA) who stipulates that "Everyone -- from the peasant cultivator to the largest houses and passing through such important figures as the grape brokers -- knew quite well which were the most renowned zones for the production of excellent Nebbiolo.").

It was not until 1961 that the Currados of Vietti and Beppe Cola of Prunotto made the decision to bottle unblended wines; wines that would showcase the character of the area within which the grapes were grown. Borrowing from the French terminology, a "cru" Barolo. In the Vietti case they chose to bottle a wine from the highly regarded Rocche di Castiglione cru while Beppe Cola drew on his Bussia cru.

These wines were well received in the marketplace. According to Galloni, "The success of the early single vineyard Barolos ... brought considerable attention to Piedmont. Single vineyard wines would soon dominate over blends as the world discovered the Langhe and its multiple shades of dimension."

Rocche di Castiglione, described by Masnaghetti as one of the most prestigious crus in all of the Barolo appellation, is located 88% in the Castiglione Falletto township and 12% in Monforte d'Alba. Its 14.36 ha (stated elsewhere in the book as 16.33 ha) has 52% devoted to vineyards (92% of vines in Castiglione Falletto and the remainder in Monforte d'Alba), and 95% of those vines growing Barolo-targeted Nebbiolo fruit. The remaining vines are targeted at Dolcetto (5%), Barbera (0.5%), and Langhe Rosso (0.5%).

Approximate location of Rocche di Castiglione cru indicated
by red arrow. Underlying map sourced from discuss.com.hk

Rocche di Castiglione is one of 170 MGAs in Barolo DOCG and one of 20 in the commune of Castiglione Falletto. An MGA (Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive) is a "more specific officially delimited area of production located within the Barolo DOCG appellation." The Rocche di Castiglione soil is pure white in color from the border with Monforte d'Alba up to the dividing line between the northwest neighboring MGAs of Villero and Mariondino. The remaining areas have a greater presence of marls. Altitude in the MGA ranges between 300 and 350 m and exposure is primarily southeast (some undulations in the hill leads to slight variations in exposure for affected areas).

The estates producing Rocche di Castiglione wines are :

• Brovia
• Cà Barun
• Fratelli Monchiero
• Oddero
• Roccheviberti
• Giovanni Sordo
• Terre del Barolo
• Vietti

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Secrets to Making Great Barbera

Last Sunday I attended the subject seminar which highlighted the philosophy underlying the Vietti Family Winery Barberas.  The seminar, a part of B-21s Annual Italian Grand Tasting and Sale, was led by Aldo Zaninotto of Vietti Family Winery.

According to Aldo, Piedmont is in the northwest corner of Italy and, being only 20 minutes travel from the Alps, the food and language of the region is heavily influenced by France.  In pointing out the heavy regionality of Italian wines, Aldo laughingly said that the country had only been united since 1871 and was "one country with 30 different states."

After Phylloxera had ravaged the Italian wine industry in the mid-1850s, the grape that was replanted was Barbera. This grape varietal was used to make an everyday drinking wine.  There are three Barbera zones: Alba, Asti, and Monferrato.  Alba has very complex soils, resulting from erosion of old mountains, and tends to produce powerful wines.  Asti wines tend to be more "feminine" and elegant.  Monferrato has soil that is comprised of clay, sand and rock and the wines are not as complex as the wines from Asti and Alba.

The Vietti family name goes back to the 600s but the family produced its first wine in 1876.  In 1890, the eldest son was given control of the estate and the youngest son came to America.  The oldest brother was killed in World War I and the younger brother was recalled to run the estate.  He was successful and re-invested by buying land in the region and, today, the company is a patchwork of sites totaling 87 hectares.

Unlike wineries who engage "fly-in" consultants, the Vietti's touch the wine.  The owner works in the vineyard and then goes to the cellar to make the wine.  The wine-making philosophy is to use the least amount of grapes possible to get the best quality wine.  This philosophy begins in the vineyard where high-density planting is employed. The Vietti's feel that the high density, plus no irrigation, forces competition for resources and causes the vines to penetrate deep into the subsoil.  As the vines go deeper, they tap into more complex minerals and this complexity is funneled up to the grapes.  They begin with 8 clusters per vine but green harvest in August to get rid of the three to four of the largest clusters.  The discarded clusters are left on the ground as fertilizer.  A second green harvest clips the elongated part of the cluster leaving only the "heart" of the cluster for harvesting.

We tasted four Vietta wines as a part of the seminar:  2007 Vietti Barbera d'Asti TreVigne ($15.99); 2007 Vietti Barbera d' Alba TreVigne ($19.99); 2007 Vietti Barbera d'Asti la Crema ($39.99); and 2006 Vietti Barbera d'Alba Scarrone ($39.99).  According to Aldo, the company puts a lot of effort into its entry-level wines because if the consumer likes these wines, they will try the higher-end wines (The winery also makes Barolos).  The TreVigne is made from grapes grown on three estate-owned vineyards.  In the case of the Asti, we get red cherries with good structure and mouthfeel.  The wine has been aged for 6 months in neutral oak and an additional 2 months in Barriques.  The Alba also shows red fruit but is more concentrated than the Asti.  Both of these wines should be drunk within 4 years.  The Scarrone and la Crema are single-vineyard offerings with greater ageability.   Scarrone is one of the oldest Barbera vineyards in that it dates back to 1918.  Both of these wines exhibit great complexity (soil characteristics) and concentration (vineyard practices, harvest time, skin contact).   I purchased both of the single-vineyard wines.