A colleague sent me this as an explanation for the difference in styles of Barbaresco and Barolo - “The soil in Barbaresco is richer in nutrients and, because of this, the vines don’t produce as much tannin as found in the wines of Barolo.” This info may come from Wine Folly. Is there any truth to this statement? The only thing I could think of was that a grapevine with more vigor would produce larger berries.
I think it is Ian D’Agata’s interview on the I’ll Drink to That podcast discusses some of the reasons. Other’s here will know more than me, but in general terms, I think it is a combination of soil, cooling influence from the Tanaro, and elevation differences, among other things that may make them more elegant.
Kerin O’Keefe quotes Aldo Vacco at the Produttori di Barbaresco saying that the soils tend to be more fertile in Barbaresco, but the geology of both areas is extremely varied, often within the same vineyard.
The topography, with multiple ridges facing different directions, adds another layer of complexity to the terroirs.
And, while Barbaresco overall is closer to the Tanaro than most of Barolo, the villages of Verduno and Roddi in Barolo are quite close to the river and are cooled by it.
So … it’s hard to generalize about either area. Moreover, I think very few people could consistently tell the different between the two DOCGs tasting blindly. I find them much less distinct than, say, St. Estephe and Margaux and Graves in Bordeaux, or Pommard and Chambolle-Musigny in Burgundy.
So a combination of Tortonian soil, influence of the Tanaro and vineyard exposure all seem to play into the equation. I’m not qualified to know which is most important, but my guess would be soil
“Vigor” as a term refers to the vegetative growth of a vine, not to its yield and such. This means that grapewine with more vigor produces more shoots and leaves, not bigger or smaller grapes. Vigor normally plays very little with the fruit size; usually things like varietal characteristics or the clone of the variety affect this much more. Of course the fruit size can turn out to be very small if the temperature, climate or soil makes the vine struggle to survive. However, the differences between Barolo and Barbaresco are not that extreme.
Exactly.
The statement in the OP is an oversimplification. Tannins are large molecules that are synthesized in the berry skins and seeds, and also in the bark and the woody parts of the plant. They are a class of molecules but they tend to bind proteins, which makes them seem astringent when they bind to saliva in the mouth and it’s thought that binding effect makes them a defensive mechanism against predators. For example, bark has more tannin where it’s been attacked by insects.
But that’s speculation - nobody really knows for sure. What they do know is that development of tannins is highly regulated both pre and post-veraison. And there is some evidence that vines with high vigor tend to have slightly lower tannin levels in the berries, so to that degree, the OP statement isn’t wrong.
The problem however, is that there are way too many other variables to make such a statement about Barolo and Barbaresco. Some have been noted. In addition, the presence of tannins is only part of the picture - how extractable they are is another. And that in turn depends on the presence or absence of a number of other molecules. In addition, sunlight appears to have influence on the development of tannins, so canopy management can do a lot to mitigate or amplify the tannins you end up with.
It seems like the person took one bit of information and tried to make an all-encompassing statement that doesn’t hold up. Kind of like many other things - you can lead a sedentary life, do all kinds of drugs and horrid things to your body, but if you drink pomegranate juice or eat kale, you’ll live forever in perfect health.
Right.
Andrew Jefford wrote an informative piece on Barolo vs Barbaresco and his views on the differences:
I was going to give a small quote on Andrew’s reasons for the differences, but decanter add something to prevent text copying. But hey, if you’ve read this far into this thread, it’s worth reading Jefford’s piece (likewise the following video).
Another is a video made by the Guild of Sommeliers & Geoff Kruth on the two regions:
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Note: I tried using the vimeo version of this video, to give them a little love, but the following didn’t work
[vimeo]87250296[/vimeo]
I tried the above with the full vimeo url (both with http and https) and those didn’t work either, tho the https version came the closest cuz it allocated screen space for the video, but it was blank. Am I doing something wrong here, or is WB and vimeo not on speaking terms?
Near the end, Silvia Altare (daughter of Elio Altare) talks about Modernist Winemaking there. At the end of that, she says ‘these days, if the wine is good no one cares’ (about the modernist-traditionalist conflict). The video cuts from her comment to Mauro Masarello, who’s expression seems to disagree.
Anyways, an excellent video about Barolo/Barbaresco.