Watch and listen as Luca Bosio and I dive into all things Piedmont and taste 6 of his wines.
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Barolo
When you take all the different grapes and styles into account, the diversity coming out of Italy can make your head spin with delight. Despite the variety, Barolo and Barbera remain among the most recognizable. Attilio Ghisolfi features both of those, and more, in their portfolio. The original nine acres of land that Attilio Ghisolfi farms for their wines have been in the family since 1895. However, it wasn’t until 1988 when they added another 21 acres that they began to make wine under their own label. I sat down recently over lunch at Arno in Manhattan and tasted through both their current offerings and a handful of older Library releases. Here’s a look at a few of my favorites. Head over to The Daily Meal to read the rest.
Gianpaolo Manzone represents the sixth generation of his family involved in the wine business in one aspect or another. His family has two plots of land that add up to 24 acres under vine. In addition to being the winemaker, Gianpaolo is also the vineyard manager for this property which sits is in two different town’s right in the midst of the Piedmont Region. I recently had dinner with Gianpaolo at Ristorante Morini in New York. The evening was fascinating for a multitude of reasons, but two in particular stood out for me. He was remarkably passionate about what he does; that love and intensity for his vocation comes rushing out of him in loud and descriptive bursts. Here’s a man who not only loves tending his vines and crafting wine, he loves sharing it with people and explaining what he does. The other captivating item was how differently he treats each wine he makes. An example would be the grape Nebbiolo. He uses it to make both a varietal wine and several Barolos. However, he has different production and barrel regimens for each. By treating each one differently he’s allowing the grapes in question to shine more prominently than they might otherwise. Over the course of the night we tasted nine wines including a couple of slightly older Barolos which helped form a mini-vertical. Read the rest of the story over at The Daily Meal
There is hardly a more enlightening way to taste wine than at the side of the winemaker who shepherded it into the world. So whenever the opportunity arises to taste in that manner I do everything I can to take part. A few weeks back I was fortunate enough to taste alongside a couple of Italian winemakers. One of them Gianmarco Ghisolfi was there presenting his family wines made in Piedmont. By and large he poured some lovely selections, but my favorite was his 2006 vintage of Barolo, which I’ll look at today.
The Atttilio Ghisolfi 2006 Barolo Bussia “Bricco Visette” was produced from fruit sourced at estate vineyards with between 20 and 50 years of age on them. This offering is 100% Nebbiolo. Fermentation took place using native yeasts. 70% of the wine was aged in large French oak barriques with the remaining 30% being aged in smaller French oak barrels; in both cases they spent 30 months in oak. 10 months of bottle aging in a temperature controlled environment followed. 470 cases of this wine were produced in the 2006 vintage and it has a suggested retail price of $79.99.
Rose petal aromas leap from the glass of this 2006 Barolo along with hints of smoke. From the first sip your palate is enveloped by concentrated red fruit flavors accompanied by oodles of spice. This wine is impeccably structured and balanced with a long, dry finish which shows off bits of earth and beckons you back to the glass again and again for sip after sip. This is a harmonious wine made to enjoy with substantial foods. It’s the kind of wine you’ll want to share with a friend over a leisurely meal so you can experience it’s evolution in your glass. In short this wine has the complexity, depth, length and age worthy characteristics that are expected of excellent Barolo.
In listening to Gianmarco he made it clear that one of the goals with his wines, the Barolos in particular is to make traditional offerings. Barolo has a long and storied history; as well a claim to being one of the very best and most age-worthy expressions of wine emanating from Italy. Having tasted several vintages and expressions of Barolo he makes, they’re achieving their goal of making classic, age-worthy Barolo. Their wines are delicious now but most will improve with age. In the case of the 2006 Bricco Visette I expect it to be even more beautiful in 15-20 years than it is today. If you’re looking to lay down some Barolo for a special occasion, here’s one you should strongly consider.
Every country has a grape or style of wine that’s King. Napa has Cabernet Sauvignon, Australia has Shiraz. In Italy a couple of things come to mind immediately for wine lovers. But while Sangiovese based wines such as Chianti and Brunello get a lot of deserved attention, Barolo is the rock star. Today I’ll look at a new release Barolo from producer Paolo Manzone.
The Paolo Manzone 2007 Barolo DOCG was produced entirely from Nebbiolo. The vines this fruit was sourced from have 15 years of age on them; they sit on a hillside approximately 400 meters above sea level. The fruit was hand harvested and then fermented in a temperature controlled environment. Barrel aging occurred in French oak over a period of 24 months; 16 months of bottle aging followed prior to release. 500 cases of this wine were produced and it has a suggested retail price of $59.99.
Violets, rose petals, and dry red fruit aromas fill the intensely fragrant nose of this 2007 Barolo. Flavors of red cherry and dried cranberry are joined by gentle spices throughout the palate which is deeply embedded with layer after layer of flavor. Earth and hints of black tea emerge on the finish which continues to show off red fruit flavors. Terrific, racy acidity and firm tightly wound tannins provide excellent structure. This is a powerful Barolo that has prodigious depth of palate and tremendous length. This wine is nice now particularly paired with food; however it will benefit from another 6-8 years of bottle aging after which it will be even more accessible and perform more brilliantly.