Sometimes success comes because of oneself and sometimes in spite of oneself. The reason those wines took 30 years to become drinkable is because of the way papa used to make them.
Except for the obvious that continues to elude you, your idol and Cervola: there is no “papa”. There are hundreds, if not a thousand or two thousand, papas. Some of the papas are still making wines, or stopped in the current decade. Some of the papas have not changed at all. Some of the sons and daughters of papas do things just as their papas before them. Some of the sons and daughters do things a little differently. Some do things radically differently. Soil, exposure, water and other climatic factors trump anything that any papa, any son or any daughter can do. And therein lies your ignorance, and Galloni’s: we are dealing with a continuum, a spectrum. All 2008 Baroli are not alike, and only an idiot would pontificate as though they are, much less do anything more than speculate conservatively about what they may become. I did not see that Madrigale (somebody please tell Alfonso how to spell the man’s name!) jumped right in there and said, “Yes, Antonio, right on, it is a new paradigm if ever there was one!” (It was great that your idol was enjoying Bar Boulud and dropping its name and Madrigale’s at your expense, though, Michele.) Of course, Madrigale has not been alive long enough to get a firm grasp on Nebbiolo, which is a recurring theme among those who would have us take their advice about fine wine, eh?
While looking for something else on the Rare Wine Company website, I came across this article entitled “The Langhe’s Old School”. It was written by Mannie Berk, whom, I suspect, has forgotten more about Nebbiolo than all of today’s wine reviewers (Tanzer now excluded, sadly) combined will ever know. It is instructively and rather pointedly anti-new paradigmatic, doffing his cap only to the small truth that “macerations are now a little shorter and the wines a bit softer and silkier” among the traditionalists. He clearly does not buy the “winemaking is so much better today because blah, blah, blah” canard. (Monie: the only available argument against what Mannie has written is “hey, the guy sells old Nebbiolo for a living…what do you expect him to say?” It is a worthless argument if one knows Mannie’s history, but at least it is a substantive comment instead of more trolling. It is my gift to you!)
"The full flowering of Piedmont’s Old School spanned just two generations, lasting from the first vintage of Monfortino in the 1920s until 1990, by which time many younger winemakers had embraced a more international style of winemaking. This 65-year epoch left us many of the greatest Barolos and Barbarescos we will ever know.
The Old School produced dynasties-the Conternos, Cappellanos and Mascarellos-and iconic individuals like Bruno Giacosa, who may have crafted more profound wines in his lifetime than any other contemporary winemaker in the world.
And for every Conterno, Mascarello or Giacosa who became famous, there were a half dozen or more fine winemakers who are now largely forgotten, such as Filippo Sobrero, Cesare Borgogno, Armando Cordero, Luigi Pira, Andrea Franco, Paolo Cordero di Montezemolo and Giovannini Moresco.
High Noon in the Langhe
In the latter half of the twentieth century, all of these men created wines, based on a traditional model, that are among the most profound and revered ever made.
Yet, despite their lofty achievements, younger winemakers came to question the validity of their methods, setting in motion a struggle for the very soul of the Langhe.
On one side of this struggle was the younger generation who, beginning in the late 1980’s, looked past the acknowledged genius of Conterno, Giacosa and Mascarello to conclude that this “old school”-with their cappello sommerso fermentations and long-aging in ancient oak and chestnut botti-produced flawed wines.
This “new school” looked abroad for ideas-ways of ridding Barolo and Barbaresco of volatile acidity and “dirty” aromas, while improving their color, softening their tannins and showing more fruit. Finding their answers in France, California and Australia, they reduced yields in the vineyards; used “roto-fermenters” to shorten their fermentations, and replaced their fathers’ old botti with new French barriques.
A struggle of epic proportions took hold as two very distinctive styles of Barolo and Barbaresco emerged. Then a string of epic vintages at the end of the twentieth century coupled with soaring demand for the top-scoring wines, and disagreement over the region’s direction reached a fevered pitch, with many critics and consumers choosing sides.
The Future
Ultimately, it is the wines themselves that have given the world its answers. As the modernist juggernaut has slowed, relative quiet has again settled over the hills of the Langhe. Winemakers once strongly critical of the traditionalists have softened their views, and many have quietly adopted some of the classic ideas. And in the traditionalists’cellars, barriques may still be scarce, but macerations are now a little shorter and the wines a bit softer and silkier.
But perhaps the best indication of a return to shared values is that the icons of traditionalism-bearing names like Conterno and Mascarello-are again revered by the young winemakers who represent the Langhe’s future.
Our Role
For nearly thirty years, we have drunk and collected the best of the Langhe’s Old School, and for the more than two decades we’ve been in business, their wines have occupied a hallowed place in our work.
Today, we are the Giuseppe Mascarello importer for most of the United States, and we are the official representatives for Giacomo Conterno, Cappellano and G.B. Burlotto for the state of California. But we’ve also probably sold more old Barolo and Barbaresco than any other merchant in America. As of December, 2011, The Rare Wine Co. owned more than 840 different Barolos and Barbarescos, of which 628 were from before 2000, and 399 were before 1990.
This rich library has made possible the steady stream of “Langhe Old School” offerings that have populated our newsletters and emails in recent years. It has also made possible the extraordinary tastings we’ve held on both coasts. By focusing on individual producers-some well-known, others all but forgotten-as well as epic vintages, we have allowed Langhe traditionalism to speak for itself."
So Bill, do you think that more controlled fermentations, cleaner botti, and better temperature control during aging are negative things?
Hey that guy Mannie Berk sells Nebbiolo for a living, what do you expect him to say? Happy? But truly I think he doesn’t believe in it because he sell it, he sells it because he believes in it. Big difference. As much as those names have turned out the greatest wines in the history of the region, they have also made some real headscratchers. But that is going to happen when you swing for the fences. It is really hard to be brilliant everyday.
It depends. When overdone, absolutely. All wines end up tasting the same with all that cleanliness, purity and perfection. If and where those things are required and implemented, fine. To generalize that those factors and others have completely changed global winemaking for the better is bullshitting for the sake of having something to say rather than studying and understanding important individual wines and how they are really made. Nowhere is generalization more dangerous than with Nebbiolo, and yet it abounds among those who review Piemontese wines…
By the way, I found a gem for you. Here was Mr. Galloni’s assessment of the “new paradigm” all the way back in…2012! By the way, he declared 2001 to be a medium-weight, medium-term vintage, rather than a classic vintage like 1996 or 1999. The first quote is from his 2012 WA retrospective on the 2001 vintage:
“The 2001 Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto is unbelievably reticent, which is hardly surprising considering how massive the wine was when it was released. Readers will have to be especially patient here. The 2001 is best forgotten about for a number of years. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2026.
This is a fabulous set of wines from one of the great Giacosa vintages. Admittedly, opening ten year-old Giacosa Barbareschi and Baroli must be viewed as a purely academic excercise, as the wines are nowhere near ready. Readers will have to be especially patient, as most of these wines have entered a closed phase after having been surprisingly accessible early on. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2026.”
(I am not sure how patient I would want to be, if he is telling me in 2012 to start drinking the wines 4 years later, and to drink up 14 years later!)
Do note his use of “Barbareschi and Baroli” in The Wine Advocate, an English-language (well, MOST of the time) periodical. Ken V has got to be rolling over in his grave…and he is not even dead yet! 
Sorry for the massive quote, but this is worth the read as it does IMO give a decent background to where we are now. I’m reminded of a proverb mentioned on a Ray Mears ‘bushcraft’ programme ‘People who dwell in the past may be blind in one eye, but people who refuse to see the past are blind in both eyes"
Philosophy aside, VA is a feature I tolerate, accept and perhaps also seek at modest levels. I also like Musar so that shouldn’t come as a surprise. It can be very easy for winemakers to obsess about eliminating ‘faults’ such as Brett and VA, yet many like me appreciate them in moderation. Australia has certainly had the ‘Brett Police’ operating vociferously for years, slamming any wines they feel are ‘infected’. To my palate there is a risk that we move towards technically correct, yet uncharismatic wines.
Softer tannins? I remain very concerned about this, and fear that making wines more accessible in youth may knock a decade or more off the lifespan of the wine, and lessen what the wine could have been.
So before winemakers congratulate themselves on being smarter than their parents or grandparents, a little caution and humility would be appropriate. Once your wines hit their peak, let’s pull up a chair and have a chat about improvements in viniculture (and I’ll lend you an understanding ear to gripe about what your damn kids are now doing in the name of ‘improvement’).
regards
Ian
dupe
Yes…and so,for all those Italian wannabees who seek to oversee and govern the proper use of Italian grammar and idiom,FWIW,Antonio is a native speaker… ![[whistle.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/87d24eb81ec6dc01d84f3d6c19fa9a357e90218e.gif "whistle"){kind=small}
Well, actually not, but married to a native speaker, anyway. “Spoken in the home” might work…
FWIW,Father born in Italy,and…as you say,spanish,italian and french spoken in the home…as in mine…
THAT explains your copious e-ellipses…it is halting e-English, your fourth language! You speak very well, though. I understand much of what you say. Complimenti! Avec hommage! Mis respetos!
But Parker also uses ellipses, sometimes far more of them than words that make any sense…does this mean that English is his second language (“tour de force”, “cassis” and “pain grille” suggesting that French could be his first)?
You forgot en magnum.
Halting…?perhaps…but also it could be perceived as a dance,a flow…with emphasis applied whimsically and organically… 
The comparison to Parker is…frightening,und meine vierte Sprache ist Deutsch…
No comparison to Parker was intended. You are no Parker!
Is this an incomplete Bentsen-Quayle moment?
No, no, of course not! I am no Lloyd Bentsen, and you are no Dan Quayle, PTL in both cases…
FYI- another ‘professional’ viewpoint came into the fold today at Jancis’ site by Walter Speller. Retrospective on 2004. Does he read the back and forth’s on the BB? Let’s get him into the mix! Excerpt below…more on their site.
“Tasting 2004 Barolo and Barbaresco at 10 years of age last May during the annual presentation of the latest vintage of both wines made me realise the folly of trying to assess embryonic Barolo. There is probably not a wine in the world except, perhaps, for port that changes so dramatically in the first 10 years of its life, potentially making a fool of anyone trying to predict its future development at such a ridiculously early stage.”
IMO…and I have much more limited experience with Barolo with this (mostly with Burgundy, which is not all that different in many ways), there is a good window to do such assessment: in barrel before bottling (taking into consideration racking, etc.). But, once that window closes…figuring out anything about Piemonte wines or Burgundies in that decade is often folly. That’s why I think it is a waste to even try, particularly with wines of great potential (ie, more expensive and revered wines). A waste of a bottle.
But…there are certain things in barrel with such wines: balance, concentration and quality and quantity of their finishes that…I think…can provide much information about their ultimate quality.