So I was hoping to open some 2010 Nebbiolo and confirm the greatest of the vintage. Well someone forgot to tell the wines. Not entirely true but it wasn’t exactly as I was hoping/expecting. All of the wines were 2010 Nebbiolo from good producers. Vietti, Paitin and Brovia. Nothing to look down upon in that group. All very good to great producers. I have had about six bottles of the Vietti and loved every one of them, except this one. Just didn’t have the range of flavors and nose of the other bottles. Not going to say it was off but just not showing well. The Brovia was the weakest of the three. Showing little nose and dry acidic flavors. Seemed very disjointed. First time tasting this wine and I think the bottle was flawed. Brovia’s wines are almost always pure expressions and true to type. Will retaste it at a later date. The Paitin started tight and slowly opened over the next hour. Turning into a great bottle. Beautiful nose and fruit all delivered through a tannic and herb wrapped package. First time tasting it in this vintage and it won’t be the last. I will probably wait a few weeks and repeat the tasting. Still convinced that the 2010s will be the vintage of the century. Or the vintage of the decade. Or the vintage of something. Just not sure what yet.
What Vietti’s and Brovia’s have you been testing Gary?
Tried Vietti’s 2010 Nebbiolo Perbacco recently and liked it plenty, though not sure it’s able to carry the weight of 2010’s reputation.
I have tasted a ton of the Vietti wines. And quite a few of the Brovia wines. Are you asking about their wines in general? For this tasting, it was focused on the 2010 Nebbiolo.
Gary if you will how are both Vietti and Brovia wines in general as of late?
Bought some but don’t open them (I trust the producers enough that I know that these are years away from drinking) but curious as to your impressions.
I think that both producers are really killing it. With Vietti making a strong run to get into the top eight maybe five producers in the region.
That’s because in 2010 more lots were ‘upgraded’ to the Barolo Castiglione than normal. When you taste that wine, it will give you a better indication of the overall quality of the vintage.
I was underwhelmed by the 09 Vietti Perbacco when I had it in May, though that may have been due to the vintage character. In the past, that was such a reliable value.
Since the Ravera was bottled as a single vineyard, I suppose they had to backfill with something. Perbacco has been an overachiever for along time at its price point.
2010 is clearly the vintage of the year.
That is my concern. The Perbacco may be weaker because Luca shifted the blend. But I have had about a half dozen bottles and this one was the only one that I felt was a bit “hollow”. Not sure but I am going to assume that there will be a Villero bottling in 2010. If that is the case both Villero and Ravera are not in the 2010 Perbacco. A lot of nice juice is missing from the usual blend.
This is so disappointing to hear about the exclusion of some good juice in the Perbacco. The 09 was too warm. And now the 10 is lacking. After tasting 2010 a couple of times I thought it was flat, unfocused, weak. I chalked it up to this being a more structure vintage and the wine being shut down at the time. Now I find out the truth. And at a Luca tasting a few months ago he of course didn’t mention this. And now I have 1.5 cases of the 2010, which is a lot for me but I thought 2010 Perbacco was going to be a stellar wine.
Might be just a bit early to be very down on the wine. I have tasted some very good bottles of it for sure. And I am just speculating on the Villero not being in the blend. I will certainly visit with Vietti at Vinitaly and in Castiglione Falletto this year. I will clarify these points and discuss the blend. Luca always has a vision and plan. And it seems to work out pretty well most of the time.
Would the Perbacco ever compete with fruit for the Villero riserva? I would think that if the Villero juice wasn’t bottled on its own, it would more likely go into the Castiglione.
Vietti’s web site suggests the sources are elsewhere:
The Perbacco is made from parcels all planted in the Barolo region, and more precisely in: Bricco Boschis, Liste, Brunella, Rocchettevino, Pernanno, Ravera di Monforte and Scarrone. The average age of the vines is 35 years and the plants per hectare are 4.500. All vineyards are vinifyed and aged separately until the moment we select the casks/Crus/Vineyards used then for our Barolo Castiglione.
Sorry. John you are exactly right. Trying to type and talk on the phone is always dangerous.
You wonder on the blend for the 2010 because of the shifting of the sources for the fruit. But as I said, Luca usually has a good idea of what he wants and how to achieve it.
Sure he does, but it doesn’t mean he’s going to nail it right away. Maybe his plans and the changes will take time. All I know is the 2010 Perbacco isn’t hitting it out of the park like I thought it would, and if it’s because of some changes to the fruit and blending, then I’m disappointed (especially with the blockbuster vintage). Not sure if I’ll hold mine or try to return them. I need to decide soon.
It is, or course, your choice. But I would think that Vietti has earned the benefit of the doubt. The other bottles that I have consumed were at/near Barolo quality. And it’s not like Luca just strolled into Castiglione Falletto and starting making wine.
And I also don’t want the efforts and wine from Paitin to get lost in this discussion. A pretty great bottle of wine, should be around $24. That bottle indicated some good things in the future.
I agree, and let’s remember that the point of this kind of declassification is to improve the main wines, and as a side benefit to give a more drinkable wine (like Perbacco). There is nothing odd or underhand in changing the blend every year, if necessary.
I vote for vintage of something, but possibly a contender for vintage of warp-drive hype, too. Vintage of the century not even remotely possible, if for no other reason than there are no Giacosa wines. That is not a knock on the 2010 vintage, and the Giacosa saga has been well documented elsewhere. However, with no Giacosas, 1978 eliminates 2010 from the vintage of the century discussion. And, verily, 2010 will have a long, uphill struggle to prove that it belongs in the conversation with the likes of 1971, 1978, 1982, 1989, 1996 and 2004, and probably a few others. This begins to smell a bit like Burgundy hype (not aiming that particularly at you, Gary), with the key difference that it seems to be coming from elsewhere rather than the producers. (Maybe the new arrivals priced out of Burgundy brought the hype with them? 
) No question that there was a lot of ripe, clean, dare I say perfect fruit picked in 2010, and no doubt that there is collective quality at many addresses. I merely urge caution, given that even a competition for wine of the decade would be a tough nut for 2010 to crack, and we will not know the outcome of that contest for a very long time, if ever. 2010 might win, but might also end with no medal in the fullness of time, given the quality of 2001, 2004 and 2006, Galloni calling the last one of the best in the last 20 years in his 2010 interview on Wine-Searcher.
That said, looked at another way, it is hard to go wrong in the Piemonte since 1996. People seem generally happy with the earlier-drinking vintages like 1998, and there were some good-to-great wines made in the too-hot-baby 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2009 vintages. Even the 2002 washout produced a strong Monfortino. If I were in my prime buying window, I would be buying some 2010s, but not backing up the truck. As it is, I am backfilling 2001s and 2004s at good prices instead, and it could be something that the active younger buyers might want to consider as well. Unlike the last two strong vintages, 2006 and 2010, you can still find great Giacosa wines, albeit at a cost, but a cost that figures to go much, much higher…
We know that there is a Monfortino in 2010. Does anybody know if there will be a Gran Bussia, an E. Grasso Runcot or a G. Mascarello Ca d’ Morissio?