Barrique is the most obvious signature, but barrique doesn’t lead to a gentle wine. There were a lot of (then) forward thinking farming practices that would be used that are now just SOP. Someone like Voerzio is most obviously associated with barrique, but he is an amazing viticulturist (that then blunts it with barrique, but that is what it is and why I’d imagine few of us buy his wines) and from what I understand runs a very clean cellar.
I don’t have any first hand experience in Negri’s cellar and haven’t been able to attend any dinners with her when the Lynch team has had her do her tour, so unfortunately, I can’t speak to what she’s exactly doing other than what’s available on her website or IG page.
The catch now though is what’s currently modern is downright old school in terms of farming.
Outside of a few producers that are staunch in either camp, basically every producer blends the techniques of both camps to create their vision.
in the way I’m conceptualizing it, it’s more harkening back to the much older school that did 45-60+ day macerations where dialing down to 21-30 is still pulling back. That said, it’s likely producers were already doing that in the early to mid-00s. But I can’t recall that many VA issues in producers like Cappellano or Bartolo Mascarello from 07-now. I get the heebie jeebies just thinking about the wines I’ve had to pour out from those producers from the vintages earlier (not every single bottle obviously, but more than enough to think twice about purchasing bottles from before that). Something was cleaned up in the cellar but there have had to be clear tweaks in winemaking to cut down on that.
Thanks Keith, but slight miscommunication perhaps, as when you speak of Voerzio that is clearly the original modernist Barolo movement but I was speaking specifically to the new wave. Maybe we’re talking about different groups. Or are you saying that the more recent new wave of producers are using barrique? I don’t know of m/any that are. I was just curious if anyone had insight to actual differences in winemaking that were being employed by newer producers to create a more approachable style. I hate to use the very overused phrase Burgundian, but I have heard the reference to some of the newer winemakers openly referencing Burgundy as their style objective.
Just guessing that part of the current wave is more about change in the vineyard, trying to manage those tannins to ripeness while still maintaining a good degree of freshness in the fruit. In general, not just Piedmont, the era that coincided with the Barolo Boys was all about pulling leaves (sun, rapid ripening) and dropping fruit to get lower yields. Maybe that’s come back into a little better balance now. Could also be clonal selection but I really don’t know about that. Possibly also lower fermentation temps to allow for more gentle extraction.
The newer style is much closer to Burgundy in that it allows for the very pretty Nebbiolo florals to shine while the tannins are pretty tame so the wines can be appreciated and enjoyed at an earlier stage which showcases that fruit. There can still be real depth to the wines and it does look like they will age OK but, for better and for worse, they’re not the same as the old school masters.
I agree with all of this. I’ve found these wines to be pleasant for early drinking without knowing how they will age longer term. Though in fairness, some of these producers have only a couple of vintages under their belts and also some are using mostly purchased fruit or very newly planted vines. Some are very promising though. I really liked what I’ve had from Serafino Rivella and Giulia Negri.
Oh, they definitely aren’t using barrique. Sorry for the misunderstanding!
something I noticed is that there is more usage of pump overs in the winemaking process. Punch downs are an inherently violent process while pump overs are very gentle. I think with the younger generations having spent time in other regions for work, study, and play that they have gained perspectives that the older generations may not have had to this extent. It’s something I didn’t fully realize until I did a harvest, and I could taste the difference between the wines that went through punch downs and those that had a pump over. There is just a softer mouth feel from the pump over. That isn’t to say that producers are avoiding punch downs, but something I certainly picked up on across the board was that they are looking for a gentler process.
There are more producers that are starting to use whole cluster. Burlotto most famously did so, but Cantina d’Arcy certainly uses it as does Vaira Aurelj. I haven’t had any d’Arcy, but I was floored by the 20 Vaira Aurelj Fossati I had in December. I think some of the younger generation is experimenting with it more as well.
Most of all, the vineyard practices are about promoting a healthy vineyard. I’m not saying that producers didn’t do that in the past or weren’t moving that way, but also that a lot of these practices take time to bear fruit. While I’m not into the woo woo portions of Biodynamics, I do believe in them as much as they promote a vineyard that is alive. I’m not saying that all of these new guard producers are doing that, but I certainly saw how healthy Burzi and Tredibberi’s vineyards were compared to some vineyards in the same general area that maybe aren’t as focused on such things.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t as diligent with my notes in May as I probably should’ve been. It was a birthday trip after all, and I was more living in the moment.
I hope I was able to answer your question better than before or at least explain myself better
Vineyard management is interesting. I remember the first time I saw Roagna’s vineyards around 2005. They stood out from all the tidy vineyards surrounding them and almost looked abandoned they were growing so high and wild. Same thing last time I went back around 2015.
And then to contrast with some of the bigger, older houses that were still using heavy synthetic treatments where they were so nuked it almost looked like struggling, ailing vines poking out of a lunar surface with nothing else around
I have wondered if the use of whole clusters doesn’t lead to some carbonic maceration, and whether that explains the wonderful fruitiness of Burlotto’s Monvigliero. (Do they include whole clusters in their other bottlings? My vague impression was that that was unique to the Monvigliero, which I think it the only cuvee pressed by foot.)
So……this is just from what I know and if a winemaker chimes in with something different, I’ll absolutely lean to what they say.
But, yes, Whole cluster will generally be in the form of semi-carbonic maceration. You generally aren’t sealing the container though like you would with full carbonic. There’ll still be a cap that has to be pressed down (if that is your decision) and my experience with pressing down while cluster was with an open top fermentation and me trying to balance my 210lb self on a wooden plank while using the plunger to punch down. But, that was also the decision of that winery. So, ymmv. The whole clusters will generate heat and the weight of the clusters will cause them to break and ferment.
The other thing could be that they are using whole cluster and then pump over. That is kind of the “best of both worlds” if that is your aim. That is just a stylistic decision and I can’t say whether any of the producers I mentioned use pump overs.
As with all things, there will be a lot of interpretations. Cantina d’Arcy and Vaira Aurelj were the ones that were directly named when I was in Piedmont
The visit to Scavino was by far the most interesting of my trip to Barolo.
They are very “post-modern” and extremely precise in their approach. Temperature controlled fermentations are focused on short, gentle extraction–no pumpovers are required in their fermenters–but then aging is in large, ‘mature’ botte, followed by transfer to even large botte after the initial phase of wood aging. Lots are fermented separately to enable down-selection from different elevations and exposures within an MGA.
Barriques are used for their Langhe Nebbiolo and Barbera d’Alba Superiore, but they actually condition the barrels first using wine that is sold off in bulk such that these wines also do not see new (first pass) oak. Other producers I visited tended to use their Barbera d’Alba Superiore as the ‘first line of defense’ against new oak . . . . and the results were generally not to my taste.
What really caught my attention was the focus on reductive winemaking practices. Even in the largest botte, Scavino placed a desiccant in & plastic bag over the ‘fill cup’ at the top of the botte to prevent oxygen from reaching even the bit of wine exposed at the top. In hindsight, I think this contributed to the Baroli being fairly tight and reductive (on top of the classical structure of 2021). The structure and style was tending towards refined, but the reductive approach in my mind had long-term aging prioritized, over early drinkability.
Based on what was explained during my visit, only Monvigliero is fermented whole cluster. Tasted in a lineup of young, structured 2021s, let’s just say it stood out in the very best way, though was unlike any Barolo I have tasted. (Le Pianelle’s Robino Bramaterra is the only similar Nebbiolo I have tasted, and that also is 100% whole cluster )
I’ve been told the same things that Keith is saying: whole cluster is going to give some amount of semicarbonic, and that amount depends on other decisions. It makes sense to me that this would be a factor in why Burlotto’s Monvigliero is so distinctive. I’ve spotted it in a single blind lineup of Barolo with more confidence than I usually have for calling a specific wine. It’s such an elegant, perfumed Barolo with such pronounced floral notes.
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