Focused tasting ideas for Piemonte

WINE TALK
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Hi Brian,

Sorry. I have been off the grid.

Lots of good ideas above.

I like Ken’s Vajra vs Baudana. you would get Novello, High altitude Barolo and Serralunga.

I like Ian’s ideas of maturity and also alto piemonte.

I’ll try to avoid super costly recs:

I think tasting Brovia across the lineup in a year is incredibly educational. I also think that Oddero nowadays is right up there for doing a similar horizontal. Both of them also make exceptional base Baroli, that in many years equal or surpass some of the warmer or cooler extreme crus depending on vintage character and can be a good argument for blending.

I’ve done several PdB horizontal as well. Maybe pick a more forward year like '11 that would not break the bank. Would be ready to drink and still even in the warmer year show terroir differences. '14 might be better and still not too pricey maybe show terroir better.

You can also go to Ken’s house and see if he can do a red label vertical comparing Rocche and Rionda.

F Alessandria San Lorenzo for Verduno, could compare to their Gramolere ( a wine I do not love, but is very Monforte)

Poderi Colla Bussia is a pretty classic choice IMO

Baudana Ceretta or just the base Serralunga wine

Elvio Cogno Ravera di Verduno pre stem inclusion and post smaller wood vintages (While I really dig the newer vintages of it with stems, the stem inclusion adds another variable that might confuse people about terroir)

I think Villero is a right down the middle classic Barolo vineyard. It has been getting less dynamic with warming. Greg Dal Piaz calls it training wheels Barolo.

I think the Baudana wines are terrific value and a good Serralunga option, also Principiano Serralunga.

Also might be really interesting to try alto piemonte vs a floral and a more structured barbaresco and then a more red fruited and floral vs meatier Barolo. I think the textural and aromatic differences would make an impression.

Maybe Antoniolo or Boca

Podero Colla Roncaglie or PdB Asili or Rio Sordo or Cascina delle Rose

maybe Pdb Montestefano

Trediberri Berri or F Alessandria Verduno or San Lorenzo di Verduno

Oddero or Brovia Villero

Could do a savory vineyard like Bussia to contrast to florals.

I love Rocche di Castiglione but find it is harder to understand and appreciate compared to Villero. I really like your idea of comparing those two very close vineyards.

Sandri Perno, Roddolo Ravera di Monforte, F Alessandria Gramolere for more structured meaty ones

Baudana Ceretta or Baudana for Sereralunga perfume, balsam type stuff.

I think a textural spectrum might be fun, or a more fruit-floral vs savory meaty one. Lots of fun ideas.

Could do PdB comparing vintages. 01, 08, 11, 14, 15 should all drink reasonably well now.

Sorry for the stream of consciousness ideas.

Sounds like a great time!

Good luck!

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22

I was going to suggest this too. Though any of the Alessandria wines (I did their Normale 2016) vs their (2016) Gramolere, because across vintages, it retains its incredibly distinct character. I’ve tried the 17 or 18 Gramolere too, and it held that character. I really liked it, but it’s quite different - it has a taste of granite and earth, which wouldn’t be for everyone. Interesting that their first cousin Burlotto bought in the field next door to Gramolere, when he wanted to extend his range.

I wanted to do horizontals of every MGA, or even every field - every cannubi, every monvigliero - but it’s very difficult to arrange. And when I finally got to try multiple horizontal wines from the same MGA, I came to the conclusion that for a large portion of it, IMO, the wine maker’s personality is more important than the field. Thanks to Elk over on the WineEP Discord server, we got to try Alessandria Monvig next to Burlotto next to Vietti (who bought their Monvig vines from Burlotto, so literally the fruit created by the Burlotto household, I’m not sure how much closer you could hope for in a comparison) next to Einaudi and a couple more. And he’ll do the same for multiple MGAs (though it’s different each tasting) for mostly the same vintage. It’s a real eye opener and an education.

So in a sense, tasting across the wines of the same maker, as someone above said, may give you a sharper sense of difference in land than across different wine makers.

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They have different exposures (southeast for Rocche, southwest for Villero), and different geology (limestone and sand versus more clay) – proximity could be misleading – which could make them a particularly interesting comparison. Also, the slope of Rocche is steeper.

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Thanks John, I stay a short walk from both of these vineyards every year, and agree. Very steep and variably southeast-ish facing Rocche and then the warmer mostly southwest exposure of Villero across the street. You do get more sand in southern Rocche, still a fair amount of marl up north, but for sure less fertile- giving soil in general than Villero. That is why it’s particularly interesting to compare these WRT to proximity and difference of character. I probably didn’ t convey my statement about “easy to understand” well. What I meant was that if the group is earlier in their Barolo journey, that Rocche is a more subtle and less easy to understand wine compared to Villero, especially in its youth, and might not turn as many heads. Beautiful wines made in both vineyards.

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Do all of you Barolo geeks have the Enogea Barolo app? I find it very useful…

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Been meaning to try out Masnaghetti’s Barolo 360 website.

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Hi!

I think this quote resonates very well to a certain degree. I think once you and the group have a comprehensive grip on variables such as underlying soil types, exposures and producer styles I do think it becomes possible to look past a producer style and see the expression of the terroir underneath, but even then I believe there is a learning curve every time one tries a producer’s wines for the first time. That’s been my experience at least, and to be honest, I think it makes the journey all the better for it. I love trying new wines from an MGA I’ve never had and trying to tease out what variable has caused what expression in Nebbiolo.

I think something like Cascina Penna-Currado’s Nebbiolo d’Alba San Sebastiano 2023 can be quite indicative of how a producer’s farming and winemaking style can so vastly express themselves. A relatively unknown section of vines near Perno, that can’t be made as Barolo, in the hands of Luca Currado Vietti for a few years and bang, you have a very distinct wine. Super interesting, at least to me.

On the other hand, I think this is what makes tasting Barolo normale/classico so worthy of discernment, for when there is a clear understanding of what MGAs are included, it’s a fantastic opportunity to try and clarify the expression of a commune in and of itself. Due to natural preference and expression, I think I’m getting to the point that I could call La Morra Nebbiolo blind fairly well, but that’s probably not true, lol.

Anyway, I’ll post some thoughts on tasting group ideas in just a second, but I want to finish this post for the moment.

And yes, please grab Masnaghetti’s Barolo MGA Vol. 1 3rd edition. It’s a crazy resource. Wait on Barbaresco MGA, it’s a bit out of date for the price, nothing wrong with it, but I feel like I’ve gotten far more out of the Barolo book.

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Masnaghetti’s book(s) are on my shopping list. I’m also waiting for Ian d’Agata’s Barbaresco terroir book to come out (I have the Barolo one).

One challenge with tasting Barolo normale/classico from different producers will be that some producers source grapes from different communes. However, perhaps a “village” level tasting of the newer Barolo “Comune di…” bottles could be educational.

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That’s a great interview. I think I’ve listened to it three times.

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Great post.