While Barolo-surfing, a 2005 rebuttal by Ziliani to a Bettane article popped up

WINE TALK
1

mondosapore.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Though this may be old news among those long into Barolo, for others like myself who are currently attempting to plumb Nebbiolo’s elusive charms, Ziliani offers an instructive counterpoint. If nothing else, it probably explains why winegrowers like Giacoma Conterno were omitted from Bettane’s monograph on the world’s greatest wines. [shrug.gif]

Updated edit: FWIW, the following link seems to be Betttane’s original assessment…

http://www.finewinepress.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&topic_id=53&page_id=182" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

2

You start a thread with the words Barolo and surfing, and you can GUARANTEE I will read it!!!

Now I have to go back to read the article!

3

It’s funny how much the writing style of Ziliani comes across as just an offended kid to me. I think the article would have been better if he’d taken a couple days to calm down before writing his response.

Now that said, it does seem like Bettane has firmly lodged his head somewhere that will negatively impact his ability to love and appreciate barolo…

4

Sounds like he’d fit right in with WineBerserkers, huh?
[truce.gif]

5

Todd,

It’s hard to recognize your avatar in the absence of his head towel…

[tease.gif]

6

To me he sounds like an Italian pissed off by the condescension of a Frenchman. The French attitude towards Italians is an open wound among Italians, I’ve found.

I think you also have to understand the Italian flair for the sardonic, which this illustrates in spades. It’s a style of discourse which they have honed to perfection.

7

Bettane’s comments are ridiculous and Franco’s outrage is appropriate.

The Wine Spectator did the same thing when they first started tasting Barolo. They were convinced that all the traditional wines were defective. rolleyes


Oh yeah, we wouldn’t want to do too much reading all in one sitting! pepsi

8

I just added to the first post what appears to be Bettane’s original assessment:

http://www.finewinepress.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&topic_id=53&page_id=182" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

9

While I can admit to agreeing with some of what Bettane wrote, much is so far off the mark as to be laughable. But what do you expect from a Frenchman who is clearly so jealous of Italy having the worlds greatest grape, nebbiolo. neener

10

Oh:
We have nebbiolo as well. It is the greatest grape in the world and Italy so far has found the best places to grow it, but we’re working on it!
E

11

It is also ironic that a Frenchman was responsible for creating the current general style:

Camillo Benso Count of Cavour brought in > the wine maker Oudart from Bordeaux > to create a dryer version of the Nebbiolo di Barolo. The resulting wine quickly became the beverage of choice among the courts of Europe.

Italian's Insight to Travel Italy: Barolo - The wine of Kings" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

12

Funny to read all these posts after a quiet period where this “discussion” between Bettane and Ziliani (and myself as the very bad guy) was hot on various blogs.

First of all, nobody, just because he belongs to a country (i.e. Ziliani as italian) has a monopoly of what the “right” taste must be. I would never denied the outstanding capacities of Kevin and Kelly or Wilfred to express right opinions about Bordeaux or Burgundy just because they are american ! That would be the most stupid thing to write… and this is what Ziliani has written on Michel Bettane.

We have discussed at lenght this position of Michel about Giacosa since Michel applies to every wine on this planet his own criteria of what a good wine must be, whatever the origin, the color, the terroir, the style.

Of course, nobody is obliged to follow this position, but at least, it is very clear.

Giacosa : I had some verticals at otto Geisel restaurant in Germany (probably one of the most complete collection of the 60 and 70 of Giacose, and I must say that I was more than impressed.

But, as I said to Ziliani, with our GJE experience in Piedmont, we have there an experience that many italian amateurs do not have. Period. And so, we are entitled to say some sound comments about these wines.

13

Posted by Francois Mauss:

And so, we are entitled to say some sound comments about these wines.

From Michel Bettane’s article mentioned above:

BARTOLO MASCARELLO
Barolo
Crus: San Lorenzo, Cannubi
The mischievous old philosopher-winemaker died last year, leaving his daughter Maria Teresa to follow in his footsteps. It was her father who coined the immortal slogan “No ‘barriques’ (French term for small oak barrels), just barricades” which appears on the Mascarello label, humorously attributed to Robespierre. > The truth is that though his wines showed great finesse and purity when newly made, they were often spoiled by storage in old casks. What gullible wine lovers mistakenly took for flavours of the terroir were in fact animal and > raspberry notes > imparted by the cask. > I sincerely hope, in memory of the brief time we spent together in 1988, that his daughter will put things to rights.

GIUSEPPE RINALDI
Barolo
Crus: Cannubi, Brunate, Ravera, San Lorenzo
A charming man to be sure, with a fine tradition of winemaking, but his wines are highly variable. Some are marvellously complex but too > many are spoiled by analytical defects no longer acceptable by today’s standards – excess volatile acidity and > raspberry aromas> , for instance. > The last wines I tasted from this estate were catastrophic.

FRATELLI CAVALLOTTO
Castiglione Falletto
Cru: Bricco Boschis
Powerfully built with plenty of aging potential but > not a trace of heaviness or those cooked, > raspberry notes > that suggest bad habits have crept in. > Very classy and reasonably priced too.

THE MASTERS
These are the producers who in my opinion have taken Barolo viticulture and winemaking to the very highest levels.

ANGELO GAJA
Barbaresco
Langhe Sperss (Marenca Cru) and Contessa (Cerequio Cru)
The greatest Barolos no longer say Barolo on the label. Angelo Gaja has opted instead for the Langhe appellation so that he may add a touch of the Barbera where necessary. The fact that this is strictly forbidden by the Barolo appellation doesn’t stop other producers from surreptitiously doing the same. The most recent vintages are a very far cry indeed from the American-style wines of the 1980s: refined and fabulously full-bodied, > with > stunningly precise terroir expression> . You’d have to be very ungracious (and irresponsible) to deny that this is the very acme of Piedmontese winemaking. Very expensive though.

Hello Francois,
As someone who has just begun to really appreciate the charms of Nebbiolo, I’m – like many others – attempting to understand Piedmont wines without breaking the bank. [wink.gif] I had never before encountered suggestions that “raspberry aromas/notes” are defects imparted by the cask, e.g., problem fermentations. A quick search of the web lends support to Monsieur Bettane’s inference.
Google" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

On the other hand, since several esters reminiscent of raspberry could also be incurred from other sources, Monsieur Bettane must be one very astute taster.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TG8-44CNNVJ-2&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1052102504&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=adce0ae42dc06b91cdba8c79e14d6a60" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From Alder Yarrow’s weblog:

2001 Gaja “Sperss” Langhe Nebbiolo, Piemonte, Italy
Medium ruby in color, this wine has a bright nose of cherry and in the mouth it has a briary nature and a medium body with primary and pure flavors of cherry, leather, > raspberry> , and light earth notes that work beautifully together and finish strong. Sperss means “nostalgia” in Piemontese, and refers to the fact that this vineyard was an historic source for Gaja Barolo earlier in the century. This wine is 94% Nebbiolo and 6% Barbera. Score: 9/9.5. Cost: $189. Where to buy?

http://www.vinography.com/archives/2005/06/gaja_winery_italy_current_rele.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A high school chemistry demonstration decades ago firmly lodged in my memory that certain esters are reminiscent of raspberry aromas/notes: e.g., ethyl heptanoate, isobutyl acetate, isobutyl formate (cf.


Ester - Wikipedia" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

RASPBERRY
Framboise (F) Himbeere (G) Lampone (I) Frambuesa (S)
Herbaceous yet fruity, raspberry is classic youthful cool-climate Syrah. Also found in Pinot Noir (slightly warmer climate than cherry). In other varieties it may indicate an over-vigorous canopy.
Combination of ethyl acetate, ethyl formate and various acids and esters

http://www.wine-pages.com/guests/tom/taste2.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

14

FWIW, the following academic manuscript from 2008 provides some historical background about the changes in wine-making in the Piedmont:

http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:ROu7jhtp1kQJ:www.stanford.edu/~hannan/defection_091608+“traditional+barolo”+defective&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The authors conclude:

We suggest that the identity of one category (the “modernist”) adopts a logic of consequence, whereas the other (the “traditionalist”) employs a logic of rules. One embodies authenticity by intervention that leads to originality in the interest of gaining good outcomes in the market. The other seeks authenticity through rule-based abstention that leads to genuineness.

And here is a nice WFW article by Ziliani about Serralunga d’Alba:

Google" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And here is a nice WFW article by Nicolas Belfrage about MONFORTINO DI
GIACOMO CONTERNO:

PDF MONFORTINO DI GIACOMO CONTERNO - Google Search" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

15

The following article lends an another perspective about winegrowing in the Piedmont:

Perfect maturation of the tannins can be achieved by field management.’ If that is so – and evidence is mounting that, weather permitting, it is – then the winemakers of Alba will be able to achieve, without barriques, the soft tannins and elegant, youthfully accessible wines that they had turned to barriques to produce for them.

http://www.decanter.com/archive/article.php?id=275274" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;