Last month I had the pleasure of touring Piedmont with a small group of close friends. While not a wine tour explicitly (more of a food, bicycling, and wine tour) I did manage to sneak in a formal wine tasting with E. Pira - Chiara Boschis. The delights of Piedmont for a lover of Italian dining and culture, as well as amazing natural beauty, are well documented. Needless to say, it’s a wonderful wonderful place. But, on to the tasting notes!
I met Chiara Boschis at the Vinous 2012 Barolo events earlier this year. When I mentioned the fact that I would be visiting Piedmont, she very graciously insisted that I visit her winery. I could not turn down such a kind request! The winery itself is located in the town of Barolo, literally across the street from one of the convenient parking lots in this very small town. The tour was led by Nicoletta, Chiara’s marketing assistant. Both of the owners — Chiara and her brother Giorgio — met with us and spent most of the tour chatting amiably about the history of the winery, the facilities, the vintages. After wandering through the production and barrel rooms, we tasted in a nicely laid out space that was office/dining area/tasting room/reception. Nothing remotely like a formal retail space like we’re used to seeing in California or Oregon. We were the only visitors, and spent about 90 minutes at the winery.
It was amazing to see that the entire production happens in this small (but very much modern) facility. We saw the large steel crush/fermenters, as well as the lower and colder barrel storage and bottle storage rooms. The building has rooms of different ages, including a fairly recent (late 2000s) underground expansion to increase storage capacity. The entire production is roughly 3000 cases of wine per year — a reminder that this is a small family operation.
Nicoletta offered to let us taste either a few ’12 or ’13 Barolos and other wines they produce; we went with the ‘13s.
- 2016 Dolcetto d’Alba. Dark intense black fruit with a short finish. Typical Dolcetto edgy combination of bitterness and sweetness. Fresh and vibrant, but not my favorite flavor profile.
- 2015 Barbera D’Alba Superiore. Very young, recently bottled, a very high quality Barbera. Loads of cherry fruit, peppery finish with spritely acid. A medium weight Barbera, tasty, definitely a good food wine.
- 2015 Langhe Nebbiolo. Also recently bottled, this was a gorgeous young nebbiolo. Yum! Wonderful classic light nose of rose petals and red fruit, more red fruit on the palate, with a hint of tannins nicely balanced by an acidic edge. We consumed a lot of Langhe Nebbiolos on this trip — fairly typical offerings in most restaurants of young local wine — and in general they were a revelation for me in terms of QPR (not something I usually associate with Piedmont nebbiolo). Chiara’s was no exception. This is a wonderful wine, though so little of it is made almost none gets to the US. Worth hunting down if you’re looking for an ‘entry level’ but excellent and representative experience.
- 2013 Cannubi Barolo. Wow a huge step up. Massive red fruit and floral nose, followed by intensely red fruited deep palate. Somehow managed to be silky, sweet and well-balanced while also sporting significant tannins. An excellent wine — glad I own some but will not touch for a decade or more. Fascinating to compare this to the 2012 which I tasted earlier in the year (more on that later).
- 2013 Mosconi Barolo. Another big, intense expression of nebbiolo. A bit more rustic than the Cannubi, with a hint of cherry on a lighter floral nose, with a palate with a lot of verve, more red fruit, hints of rose but heavier tannins that blocked me out from getting more. Tremendous intensity and depth though, I expect this to be a wonderful wine in time.
After the wine, we finished with an amazing but palate destroying cheese that the family makes — a Castelmagno d’alpeggio - in the nearby mountains to the north. Imagine a very intense blue cheese nose and taste, married to a hard (nearly at the parmigiana reggiano level) salt-crystal infused crunch. Wonderful.
I have to extend my thanks to Chiara, Giorgio and Nicoletta for the incredibly warm welcome and time. Overall the line up was superb, had me rushing online to buy whatever I could find in the US (which turned out to be some 2000s, 2004s in addition to the vintages I already owned). We were not charged anything for the tasting, but did purchase a bottle of the 2007 Cannubi and 2012 Cannubi which we consumed over the next day or so.
2007 Cannubi Barolo. Very good wine, ready to drink now. Excellent rich nose of rose petal, earth and mineral combined with the softest, silkiest red fruit palate with a hint of mint. Delicious now and shows the potential of these wines even in vintages not considered the best. Consumed with a picnic of cheese and cured hams after the tasting, while looking down from La Morra to Barolo and beyond.
2012 Cannubi Barolo. Late afternoon wine the next day, while sitting in the rose-surrounded patio of the Cascina Barac. Second time I’d had this, very fun to compare to the other Cannubis. Excellent nose of rose rose and more rose, with hints of red fruit, followed by a youthfully edged mouthful of plummy red fruit, a bit of pepper, and nebbiolo flowers. A fine silkiness and balance of acid and tannin. Like many of the ‘12s I’ve had these are ok to drink now, but I think will improve significantly with at least a few years of cellaring to take a bit of the edge off. Still very enjoyable. Certainly much readier compared to the ’13.