I’ve only had a few domestic nebbiolos from virginia, california and washington, maybe five tops. But I’ve been intrigued by the idea, and some of these wines have been really interesting. does anyone know of any good U.S. nebbiolos? I’ve heard of some places in Red Mountain and some other Washington AVAs have been working with it. If anyone has any good recommendations, let me know. I know they’re not barolos, but I enjoy trying different wines. Cheers.
and just to pre-empt anyone, i know… nebbiolo is best expressed in piedmont. i’m just curious about another expression of the grape.
Isaac, I work with Harrington Wines in San Francisco, and we make a Nebbiolo from Westside Paso Robles fruit. Giornata in Templeton also makes a good one. Search through some of Tom Hill’s notes - he has reported on a few other California Nebbiolos.
Up until a few years ago, I hadn’t tasted a CA Nebbiolo that I thought was much good, but I think both growers and winemakers are starting to get a better handle on it. It has a long way to go but it’s starting to show some promise.
awesome. thanks.
It’s been a few vintages since I last had one, but Uvaggio de Giacomo has been very good. Mel Knox, who shows up too rarely here, and Jim Moore are responsible.
I’ve enjoyed what I’ve tasted from Palmina, nebbiolo and their other italian varietals. Unfortunately they shipped to me in 95 degree weather (here in CA) which is hard for me to overlook.
In Oregon, John Paul at Cameron makes a good one, IMO. It seems to do well in warmer years, if planted on warmer sites. He just released his 2006 at Thanksgiving - about a barrel’s worth. Needless to say, it’s long gone. I think there’s a 2008 and a 2009 coming, but 2010 was made into a rose. A mutual friend is growing some for John on the land adjacent to Brick House, so hopefully he’ll have more in the future.
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2005 Adelaida Nebbiolo Invecchiato Glenrose Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (7/31/2010)
OC Poker VII; 7/31/2010-8/1/2010 (WCC - Irvine CA): Not much nebbiolo coming from Paso so we jumped on this at the tasting room a couple of years ago. Nice color with brick edges. A very elegant nose and only a bit of fruit peaking through. There is lots of structure and the tannis are very present. Pair with the pasta and sausage, perfect.
My last bottle and if I get more I’ll let them rest for 5 more years. Good wine. (90 pts.)
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Palmina
Hmmmmmm…do we know that for a fact??? I think the best Nebbs come from the Valtelline. Despite what Monktown attourneys assert to be fact.
I think the Calif/WashState Nebbs fall more into the Valtelline paradigm…which is good.
Ken is right about the Harrington…quite a nice Nebb. They currently are blowing out the Novy '06 at a great price and will release the '07 (Stolpman fruit)
in a month or two.
Below are my notes from NAP of 8/19/09. There’s another NAP scheduled for this July I believe.
Tom
Inaugural NAP (Nebbiolo Advocates & Producers) GetToGether (8/19/09)
Nebbiolo is a grape that absolutely perplexes me. DarrellCorti steered me to some that I really liked
back in the early '70’s, when I first fell in love w/ the grape. Sometimes I wonder if I didn’t like those
Piedmonte Nebbs because I knew I was supposed to like them…that it was recognized as one of the world’s
great wines and , therefore, if’n I was to have any wine cred, I, too, must like them.
Since then, it’s sorta developed into a love/hate relationship…heavily weighted towards the “hate”
part of the spectrum. I describe drinking Piedmonte Nebbiolo as stuffing lilac petals up one nostril, violet
petals up the other nostril, sealing both nostrils with a plug of hot tar; then sticking your tongue out
betwixt the jaws of a vise and torquing that sucker down…there’s some pleasurable things going on, but
it also involves a lot of pain. I just don’t get (most of the time) those wines. But my whining is always
dismissed by those who love those wines as I just don’t try the right producer, or that I just drink them
too young. But I’ve had plenty of old Baroli that have this beautiful/complex slight tarry/floral/dried
rose petal fragrance and I still find them hurtey on the palate from the acids and the dried-out tannins.
I try some of the young Piedmonte Nebbs, made in a modern style for earlier drinking. Same reaction…
I love the lovely fragrance of the grape…but they still hurt on the palate. But, then…every once in
awhile, I’ll get that rare Piedmonte Nebb that has it all together and I’m blown away by the variety
and I understand, once again, why I love Nebbiolo and I want to try more. Sorta like a moth being drawn
to a fire.
As I followed Calif wines over the yrs, I came to the opinion that, because of its superior climate,
they can, eventually, make better wines (for my palate) from the same grape variety then any of their
old-world counterparts. Happened w/ Cabernet…Zinfandel…maybe Chardonnay…PinotNoir…Syrah…
Grenache…not Riesling, yet…not GWT, yet. So…surely…they can do it with Nebbiolo.
I’ve followed Calif Nebb from the very start. When NickMartin made that first one from CentralVlly
grapes at MartinBros (now Martin & Wyerich) in PasoRobles. 'Twarn’t much of a Nebbiolo. But he had this
vision for Calif Nebbiolo. Till then, they only had planted in Calif the NebbioloFino, not much of a clone.
Nick planted the first Nebbiolo Michet and made his first wine from it, EastSide Paso, in 1986. Nothing
great…but actually pretty good and gave a glimpse of what Nebb could do out there. Next was probably
DaveCaparone, there in Paso. The grapes may have been good…but flawed by inept winemaking.
The next real milestone for Nebb in Calif was when TomStolpman planted Nebb in his vnyd in SantaYnezVlly,
for gawd-knows whatever reason. From those grapes have come some of the first really good Calif Nebbs;
first from SteveClifton under his Palmina label, and then SashiMoorman at Stolpman. I think there are
some other plantings that Steve draws Nebb from as well. But these folks are probably the real pioneers
of great Nebbiolo in Calif.
Over the last few yrs, there’s been sort of a quiet/below-the-radar growth of interest in Nebbiolo.
Some 6-7 yrs ago, I found out KenMusso was growing Nebb up on his ElDorado property just North of
Placerville. A few yrs ago, I also found out EmilioCastelli was growing Nebb in the GreenVlly area of
SonomaCnty. We did a visit to his property last year at this time.
This last year, I’d tried several of AdamLee’s Nebbs and liked them. When I found out PaxMahle was
making Nebbiolo as well, I suggested to Emilio that it might be a good idea to get some of these producers
together and taste each other’s Nebbs. He was all in favor of that, and so the idea of an Inagural NAP
mtg was hatched.
Invited was Adam&Diana Lee, their winemaker Ryan Zepaltas, Pax Mahle and his assistant, Ryan, KenMusso/
grower and winemaker at DueVigna, and Emilio. NateWeis/Antica winemaker at AtlasPeakVnyds of the Antinori’s
operation, and a future Nebb producer, was also invited, but had to bow out at the last minute due to
two of his kid’s illness. When I invited DarrellCorti to join us, he responded…“When are you people going
to give up”. He was interested, but prior travel committments prevented his joining us. Since he had already
declared Nebbiolo a failure in Calif, RobertParker was NOT invited. As with Syrah, he’ll probably come to
the party ten yrs after it started.
Pax agreed to host us at his WindGap wnry in downtown Forestville. With this core group, the Inagural
NAP get-together was launched. I have little doubt that NAP will grow in leaps&bounds and someday dwarf
ZAP is size. Tastings at FtMason, even, that will put VinExpo to shame. It will happen.
So we got together and did some serious tasting:
- DueVigne ElDorado Dolcetto 2005: Dark color; strong grapey/plummyripe slight licorice/pungent attractive
nose; lush/ripe plummy/licorice/spicy attractive flavor; med.long lush/plummy/grapey/spicy finish w/
light tannins; loads of ripe/plummy character much like Mourvedre w/o the tannins; maybe Calif should
be focusing more on Dolcetto? Better than most Piedmonte versions I’ve had of late.
- Naked Lady Castelli Estate Nebbiolo 2005: Med.lighht color; attractive floral/violets/Nebb slight tarry/
pungent light toasty/smokey/oak very attractive nose; rather tannic/acid/hard strong floral/violets light
toasty/oak very slight brett light pungent/tarry flavor; med.long bit hard/tannic/acid strong floral/
violets/Nebb light tarry/pungent finish; needs more time; lots of classic Nebb aromatics.
- Novy StolpmanVnyd Nebbbiolo 2005: Med.color; light floral/lilacs somewhat pencilly/toasty/oak nose; tart
fairly smooth/textured some floral/violets some pencilly/oak light tannic flavor; med.long light floral/
violets some toasty/pencilly/oak slight tannic finish; speaks gently of Nebb but more like a Siduri
Pinot in style because of the oak.
- JeffPisoni StolpmanVnyd Nebbiolo 2006: Light color; very fragrant/perfumed floral/violets/spicy light
toasty/oak nose; tart/lean bit tannic/hard slight tarry/smokey/pungent rather floral/violets/lilacs
some toasty/oak flavor; med.long spicy/floral/lilacs/violets light toasty/oak bit hard/tannic finish;
needs some age; lots of floral almost-Pinotish character.
- Novy StolpmanVnyd Nebbiolo 2006: Fairly light color; somewhat tarry/pungent very light floral/lilacs
rather tight/closed nose; tart/lean/tannic slight floral/lilacs/tarry tight/shut-down flavor; med.long
tart/tannic/lean/hard lighht floral/lilacs very light tarry/licorice finish; mare angular & hard than
the '05 and seems somewhat tight & closed.
- DueVigna ElDorado Nebbiolo 2006: Med.light color; light toasty/oak/pencilly slight herbal/earthy fairly
floral/lilacs interesting nose; tart bit tannic light floral/lilacs light toasty/oak slight herbal/
earthy flavor; med.long light floral/lilacs/herbal/earthy/dusty bit hard/tannic finish; good Nebb
character and some of that earthy ElDorado terroir.
- WindGap GlenroseVnyd/PasoRobles Nebbiolo 2006: Med.color; very strong/fragrant/perfumed violets/floral/
Nebb very spicy almost Pinotish nose; tart bit lean/hard/tannic very floral/violets/spicy quite perfumey
flavor; very long very perfumed/floral/violets/lilacs some tannic/haard/tart finish; speaks loud & clear
of Nebbiolo w/ very perfumed/fragrant character; bright pretty Nebb.
- WindGap LunaMattaVnyd/PasoRobles (100% whole cluster) Nebbiolo 2007: Med.light color; bit more toasty/oak
strong floral/lilacs/perfumed/Nebb lovely nose; tart bit tannic/hard strong floral/lilacs/Nebb some low-
key toasty/oak flavor; very long lovely/floral/lilacs/Nebb light toasty/charred/oak some tannic/hard
finish; lovely expression of Nebbiolo; more base notes and less high-toned character than the '06.
- Novy StolpmanVnyd Nebbiolo 2007: Very light color; light floral/violets vey slight tarry/pungent some
tight/closed nose; softer light/floral/violets light tannic very slight pungent/tarry flavor; med.long
light floral/violets/aromatic somewhat softer light tannic finish; seems a bit tight & closed; lighter
more elegant expression of Nebb; quite a pretty wine but needs age.
- Novy StolpmanVnyd Nebbiolo 2008: Light color; strong blackberry/floral/lilacs/spicy almost Zin-like
fragrant/spicy nose; tart lush/grapey/floral/berry/lilacs bit hard/tannic flavor; long ripe/lush
floral/lilacs spicy/berry finish w/ some tannins; lots of lush fruit and almost Zin-like in character.
- WindGap Glenrose&LunaMatta/PasoRobles Nebbiolo 2007: Med.dark color; lovely floral/lilacs/berry/Nebb
very light toasty/oak almost Pinotish nose; tart bit tannic/hard bright/floral/violets somewhat cherry/
Pinotish very perfumed flavor; long bit hard/tannic tart pretty/bright/floral/violets/cherry finish;
needs more age; a very pretty/perfumed/fragrant almost Pinotish rendition of Nebb.
- WindGap Nebbiolo 2008: Med.color; much more floral/lilacs/violets/Nebb-like quite perfumed/aromatic
slight road tar/pungent nose; tart/hard/tannic very floral/perfumed/lilacs/violets/spicy light tarry/
pungent flavor; very long perfumed/floral/lilacs/violets/classic Nebb some hard/tannic finish; needs
more age; probably the most classic Nabb of Pax’s Nebbs.
And a wee BloodyPulpit:
- AdamLee made some interesting comments as we sat around and chatted about Nebbiolo. I opined (as I am
wont to do) that Calif Nebb is going to be a tough sell…because those who buy it because it’s a Calif
wine are going to be disappointed because of high acidity and tannins. And those who buy iit because it’s
Nebbiolo are going to be disappointed because it’s not a dead-ringer for Barolo. Adam suggested that it
might find it’s niche in sales at Italian restaurants…that most lovers of Calif wines often eat at
Italian restaurants and they might want to drink something Californian…but with an Italian twist.
He also felt that with Nebbiolo there might be too much of an emphasis on the Nebb clones, much
as with PinotNoir, and not enough emphasis on things like rootstocks, growing, and the winemaking.
As we chatted, Adam looked around the room at this 2’nd wave of Calif winemakers who are working w/
Nebbiolo and opined that we may not be the Calif pioneers of Nebb, they may someday be viewed as the
winemakers who blazed the trail to making great Nebb in Calif. It always gives me the heeby-jeebies
when someone as young as Adam is already thinking about the legacy they will leave when they’re gone
(I’ve already reconciled that my legacy is going to be a never-ending trail of //////////'s in
CyberSpace!!)
- I’d suggested to Emilio that maybe I should have had some T-shirts made up for this event, with all
their names listed on the back, like we get at fencing tournaments. And on the front would be this
drawing of a lil’ ole winemaker beating his head against the side of a cask…in frustration.
- AdamLee expressed an interest in getting another NAP scheduled in a year, but not so close to crush
so we’d have a more relaxed event. I’m all for that.
- Pisoni: This unlabeled btl was a mystery wine brought by AdamLee. It was made by JeffPisoni at Adam’s
wnry from some of the Stolpman fruit he got. Never before tasted in public, according to Adam.
- CalifNebb: So…what’s the state of Calif Nebb. I think they’re definitely on the right track. Most of
these show the classic aromatics that make Nebbiolo such a wonderful variety. I could go out and
spend $70-$200/btl for an equivalent-age Piedmonte Nebbiolo and get much less pleasure from it.
Whether the Nebbs are going to be, 10-20 yrs down the road, as attractive as these are will be a
good question. I’ll be there taking data.
nebbiolo is best expressed in piedmont. Hmmmmmm…do we know that for a fact???<<<<<<<
Not even debateable, IMO.
agreed. thought that was a known truism. still, those are a bunch of US nebs! some sound damn good
People will need to learn where the best sites are and what the best clones, etc., are, but I’m certain that in the entire world, there has to be one place somewhere that can do Nebbiolo as well as Piedmont and maybe better. Who knows, maybe somewhere in China. Otherwise, just like Alan said, people won’t want it because it’s not exactly like it is in Piedmont. Except maybe people who care about terroir.
Tom - I had no idea there was so much going on in CA. I’ve had a few but that’s a great list.
I also like Palmina, though they were driving distance until we moved 1000 miles away. I am also concerned about shipping since 9 months of the year where I now live are questionable.
I enjoyed the '05 Caparones I’ve had, but they are indeed rustic. Brett can be hit or miss. The prices are low, so I don’t mind too much.
Au Bon Climat, sort of, produced the best CA Nebbiolo I’ve tasted. All the textbook flavors and aromas, at the low end of Barolo prices, from Bien Nacido. With the warmer summers and long growing season, perhaps there are micro-climates in SBC that are well suited to Nebbiolo.
- 2001 Clendenen Family Vineyards Nebbiolo Bricco Buon Natale Bien Nacido - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley (4/8/2011)
Right up my alley. Firm, but not heavy. Ripe, mature cherry and raspberry. Leather, violet, tar, cedar and spice. Complex, well-balanced. Med-high acid with chalky tannin. Long finish, I could sip this all night. If medium aged CA Nebbiolo can be this good, I should be stocking up on Langhe Nebbs.
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Has anyone else tried the Maddalena from Cavatappi Winery in the Yakima Valley? Someone served the 1998 blindly to me six years ago and I managed to track down some.
I served it blindly to some familiar names (Greg dal Piaz, (the good) Jay Miller and Keith Levenberg) three years ago at Keith’s annual barbeque, and everyone guessed it was a nebbiolo and possibly from the Langhe. Not bad! There’s an ever-so-slight sweetness to it that belies the origin, but it’s very impressive, particularly given that the vines presumably weren’t that old.
Cavatappi seems to be the label of a restauranteur, who makes it in cooperation with Red Willow Vineyards.
I think PeterDow has been making Cavatappi Nebb for probably 20 yrs now. So the vines aren’t exactly young vines. When I visited him maybe 15 yrs ago,
he was making the wine down in the basement of the restaurant. Probably under less primitive conditions by now I’d guess. And his restaurant,
Cafe Juanita, is very/very good…least iit was when I went there some 15 yrs ago.
Tom
No mention of Va La Vineyards (in PA)? They make a single varietal nebbiolo, in addition to blending it with other grapes. They tend to being ripe and oaky.
Interesting. Thanks for the info.
The best I’ve had was the 95 Cavatappi Nebbiolo from Kirkland, WA. Drank it 4 weeks ago at a Piedmont varietals BYO dinner. It topped everything from the US (and Italy too, but there were no high powered Italian wines to compete).
Some of my US favorites ( a couple repeated from above):
Adelaida (Paso Robles)
Enotria (Mendocino)
Cana’s Feast (aka Cuneo) (Red Mountain, WA)
Bonny Doon (Monterey)