I agree with this. I’d also add that, since Eric is early in his Nebbiolo adventure, he should be prepared for his preferences to change as he tastes more wines from different communes, sub-regions, vineyards, wineries, styles, and vintages. It can be a long, pleasurable journey, with unexpected twists and turns along the way.
Some of us who have been at it for a while have strong opinions along the modern/traditional divide. While I am firmly in the traditional camp, I recognize that liking modernist Nebbiolo isn’t a character flaw. Often.
My experience with Langhe Nebbiolo and Nebbiolo d Alba is generally that I’d rather drink wine from from other regions or domestic (Aus) Nebbiolo. I find the is comparatively more interest in these wines. I’d also note that
I already have a lot of Nebbiolo so I’m not really in the market for cheap / early to market proxies.
I don’t need to drink these young.
Aus pricing is super not US pricing.
The market seems to agree with me and the price parity between these options seems to be evaporating.
Peak barriques was in the late '80s and the '90s, in my experience. A number of producers never flirted with the idea at all, so if you want to avoid it you can, though.
The 22 is just sublime. Such a pretty wine and showing really nice as well. I ended up ordering the 19 as well but haven’t had them shipped. Silly good for the price.
Coincidentally on Thursday in a tasting group I am in a 2004 Pio Cesare Ornato and a 2010 of the same wine were included in the lineup. Everything is blind and no theme, so the wines could’ve been anything. The 04 was very good, but not great. It was apparent to me it was Nebbiolo with some age, I also believed it was more of a “modern” style. That being said, it was not overly oaky, more a bit polished and muted.
The 2010 was hard and tannic. It had very obvious drying, wood tannins. Not a lot of fruit showing. My guess was a traditionally made Rioja Gran Reserva that spent too much time in barrel. Not a good showing by any stretch.
I do believe under the direction of Federica Boffa the oak has been dialed back and probably will continue to be in the future. The current releases of both the Barolo and Barbaresco DOCG are quite good. They are not compelling enough to make we want to buy them, but I have a feeling these wines will only get better.
I talked about this in another thread. You are not going to get much if any drying tannins from oak - otherwise beverages that see only new oak (including many oak-aged Chardonnays or Bourbon) would be aggressively tannic and grippy, yet they aren’t. Those obvious drying tannins are Nebbiolo tannins, not wood tannins.
The belief that you couldn’t see yourself mistaking mistaking a Barolo for Rioja means what exactly? Would you like a pat on the back? Congratulations John, we are all so impressed
I think your point is fair, but I think most of these producers are also scared they will lose their current customer base if they change too radically.
I think it really depends on the particular winemaker/ proprietor though. If it is a sign of their willingness to question themselves and accept where they may have been wrong in the past, than that is a fantastic trait and I support it. But, if they are simply trying to move with current trends, that is a very different story.
I wasn’t boasting. I taste blindly all the time and am often way off base. I’ve had to laugh at my mistakes many times. Many times. And I’ve often noted my mistakes in notes posted here.
My point was just that the tannins of tempranillo seem to me to be very different – and softer – than those of nebbiolo, so I was surprised that you’d guess Rioja for a wine that you found to be excessively hard and have drying wood tannins.
And, given the high tannins that 2010s tend to exhibit, I wouldn’t necessarily attribute that to barriques, which you seemed to assert very confidently.
I’m pretty sure I can tell a Piemonte Nebbiolo from a Rioja, at least from my cellar. I own literally a handful of bottles of Nebbiolo that have spent any time in barrique out of the 234 bottles of Nebbiolo currently in my cellar, and I’m confident that I can tell them apart from American oaked Rioja.
There was a time maybe 10 years ago when someone was selling American oak in Italy. It was pretty odd tasting that dill note in Italian wine. Never tasted it in Barolo.
Original poster here. As a follow up, I tried the G.D. Vajra Albe 2019 and the Produttori Barbaresco 2019. I thought both were excellent, especially for their price. More specifically, the Vajra was my fave of the two. I also tried a 2019 Mauro Molino which I thought was lesser than the Vajra and Produttori.
Thanks for all your feedback and insights. Learning about Nebbiolo is quite enjoyable!
Ha. Ideal aging window is a tough one with traditionally made Barolo and Barbaresco because they can last so long. As Otto says, if stored properly they can last a really long time. I think that at the least expect that after a relatively open period the wine will shut down and become rather unfriendly, then eventually, perhaps very gradually blossom again.
