Finally A New Book About Barolo And Barbaresco

WINE TALK
81

Maybe an addendum on Alto Piemonte for the next edition?

Most Langhe Nebbiolo is declassified Barolo and Barbaresco, but some is not. I think the best Langhe Nebbiolo is excellent mid-range drinking, and better than Barolo for many meals.

82

I got mine yesterday and started paging through it - too early to give any informed views, but I will observe that for all the early concern about her bias and how it might impact the “usability” or comprehensiveness of the book, she had very positive commentary on Paolo Scavino, who I consider a long-time modernist in the same category/“grouping” as Altare and Clerico, so if she is able to review someone as modernist as Scavino positively, I can’t imagine her bias or preferences are so severe and/or limiting as to impair this book.

83

JeezLuweez, Bob…when did that stop any of us around here from expressing an opinion!!! [snort.gif]

As I’ve waded into Part II, I’m tempering my early criticism of the book. Finding it a pretty good read. I guess I just had very
high expectations of the book to be more comprehensive coverage of the Piemonte, but clearly it’s focus is strictly B/B.
She has an interesting discussion on the (non)Battle of Traditionalists vs. Modernists. How accurate it is to truth, I have no idea.
But it’s an interesting take on the subject, mostly thru the eyes of various winemakers.
Tom

84

Maybe you should have started reading the book with the title?


[snort.gif]

86

[rofl.gif]

87

Paul, I’ve never read anything by her before - my comment was really aimed at the supposed bias she exhibits towards traditional producers.

Interesting that she apparently would differentiate between Scavino and Clerico, though. I certainly consign them to the modernist camp, as both are associated with roto-fermenters and the use of barrique. I didn’t check to see if she included a write-up on Clerico’s wines (or Altare, for that matter).

88

Clerico is listed as other producer of interest.

90

I can see why someone who already knows a lot about B/B would be a bit disappointed by the O’Keefe book, but for someone just starting to wade into the region (e.g., me), I think it’s a strong overview. The only other book I’ve read on Italian wines is “Vino Italiano” by Bastianich and Lynch, which is great for the macro view, but doesn’t drill down enough into specific regions (which isn’t the point of that book). I’m about 2/3 of the way through the O’Keefe book, and I feel like I’ll have a lot more knowledge about producer/vineyard/style next time I consider a bottle.

91

Good point, Marc - and I think it would be helpful for folks when they post about a book to actually indicate who they think the “intended audience” is in the context of folks who post on this kind of a Board.

For example, I have been critical of Nicholas Belfrage’s book “The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy” because I thought it was too basic, but if someone is new to Tuscany, it’s probably a pretty useful intro.

Likewise, I have been very laudatory of Ian D’Agata’s recent tome “Native Wine Grapes of Italy”, but will immediately concede that you really need to be into Italian wine to get the full value from this book - if your interest in Italian wines is confined to Tuscany or Piemonte, this is not the book for you.

92

So she has kind of written Piedmont wines for dummies. Great.

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93

Gary, have you read the book?

94

Some parts of it. Hope to get on it soon.

95

No.

96

Sure seems that way from the above comments.

97

Let me clarify my response. Matt Kramer’s “Making Sense of Italian Wine” is like WfD. This book is far more advanced and in-depth. It’s no “The Wines of Burgundy” by Coates, which is probably as comprehensive as it gets, I think, and is not for the beginner. This book falls somewhere in the middle.

98

Shocked would be too strong of a descriptor, but I have to admit that I was very surprised to see Vietti listed under “Other producers of interest”.

I realize everyone taste’s and preferences vary, but she’s got a multiple page write-up on the Marchese di Barolo, a producer that (IMO) on his “best day at the office” might charitably be considered mid-tier. Yet Vietti, with multiple bottlings at different price points and at least one wine (the Rocche) that might be considered one of the finest wines produced in certain vintages, doesn’t even rate a paragraph?

I’m starting to view this book like one of those books on sports, where you read someone like Bill James say Derek Jeter wasn’t one of the 10 best shortstops of all-time and you say “What the hell?!” [stirthepothal.gif]

Of course, in fairness, that may be the point - rather than an “academic” view of the Piemonte landscape, perhaps her intent was to incite spirited debate.

99

Shocking would be a good place to start. Move on to absurd and you are heading in the right direction. How about not writing up the winery that many/most credit with the first single vineyard bottles in the region. Helping revive the once forgotten grape, Arneis. Being one of the first to export their wines to the USA. Use of colorful art labels to change how many viewed the wines of the region. That winery is Vietti. The man was Alfredo Currado.

100

Thanks for clarifying.

Just in case you haven’t read Italian Wine for Dummies either, it’s by Mary Ewing-Mulligan MW and it’s excellent.

101

Yes, we probably still have a soft-spot for Marchesi, as it was the 1st Barolo the brains of the operation tasted. However I fully support your assessment, and a visit to the winery did nothing to change this - they seemed all too happy to milk the passing tourist trade, and with Barolo being quite a common stop-off for coach trips now, and them being named as they are, makes it all too easy for them to be ‘Fat, dumb and happy’.

102

Bob,

I don’t know if you’ve read the bit about Marchese di Barolo, but it refers mostly to its undisputed importance in the history of the appellation in the 19th and early 20th centuries. She hammers previous (recent) vintages of their ‘cru’ wines as having ‘overwhelming oak sensations…that muffled any obvious vineyard variation’. In other words she includes the winery because of its history, not its recent production. I don’t know why she didn’t include Vietti.