TorreBarolo Blog

Our wine guru Gary Chevsky visited the annual Gambero Rosso “Tre Bicchieri” event in San Francisco, back in February:

“On Feb 24, one of my favorite trade tasting events of the year arrived to San Francisco. For background on Gambero Rosso and their Tre Bicchieri event, see my coverage of the last year’s event. The world of Italian wine is diverse and complicated. And wonderful. Tre Bicchieri really gives you a chance to sample across the whole of Italy, and to celebrate the variety and the quality all in one place. So without further ado, I will jump straight into my impressions:

1. The biggest thing that strikes you at an event like this is just how there is always a great new unfamiliar type of wine showing up. This year, I have to give it to Sparkling. The taste and quality of the Italian sparklers is astounding. And I am not talking about Prosecco (which usually leaves me cold). I am talking about Franciacorta DOCG (in the north of Italy, in Lombardy region) and Trento DOC (in the north of Italy, in Trentino – Alto Adige region). These are serious wines made in the traditional method of Champagne. Price is a big problem for these relatively obscure (in the US) appellations, and one more reason why you don’t see a lot of them in this country. Are you willing to shell out $40-100 on an Italian sparker? (After having tasted them, I am!) Here are two of my faves:

- “Trento Altemasi Graal Brut Riserva 2002” by Cavit – great nose, rich and lush apple syrup;

-  “Trento Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore Brut 2000” by Ferrari – yeasty, bready, drier and more refined than Altemasi.

I noted them last year as well, but at that time Ca’del Bosco Franciacorta (absent this year) stole my heart.

2.  A strong showing for young Amarones this year. Complexity & freshness, rather than an often-seen raisiny fruit. Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Campolongo di Torbe 2004 by Masi (still a year till official release) was ripe, juicy, meaty, spicy and fresh. An honorable mention goes to Guerrieri Rizzardi’s Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Villa Rizzardi 2005 – sweet, slightly herbaceous nose, bitter sweet on the palate.

3. I must say the event seemed “poorer” this year, as most of the cult names were not there. I did see Sassicaia. That’s about it. The food was just cheese, crackers, and fruit. Nor did I see the Tre Bicchieri guides or even cork-screws given away like I’d spotted a year ago.

4. Relatively thin showing by Barolo and Brunello reminded me that there are fewer celebrated wines in the most recent release (2005) than a year ago (2004). Only one Brunello stood out for me – Canalicchio di Sopra 2004 – young, fresh and tasty!  There were some excellent examples of 2005 Barolo. The charming and talented Giuseppe Vaira delivered on his Barolo Bricco delle Viole 2005 – sweet, soft-textured, intensely flavored, plum, tea, with loads of dark berries. Vietti’s Barolo Lazzarito 2005 was a classic – a powerhouse Nebbiolo, full-flavored, jerky, tannin, serious, young, deep, concentrated black cherry. Several other wines were solid though not amazing – Oddero Barolo Mondoca di Bussia Soprana 2004 (blueberry/cherry tea), Elvio Cogno Barolo V. Elena 2004 (soft and charming), Bezza & Figli Barolo Sarmassa 2005 (toothpasty fresh tea), Travaglini Gattinara Riserva 2004 (meaty and gritty), Prunotto Barolo Bussia 2005 (light & tart), and finally Pio Cesare Barolo Ornato 2005 (herb, spice and blackberry with a unique personality). So long as we are on the subject of Nebbiolo, a notable mention should also go to Ca’del Baio’s Barbaresco Asili 2006 – sweet and tart, slightly spicy, intense and substantive, tannic, with a touch of coffee, poured by the friendly winemaker sisters – Paola and Valentina Grasso.

5.  Bordeaux varietals and super-tuscans (or Toscana) were all the rage. A lot of good quality Cabs, Merlots, and Bordeaux blends some enhanced with Sangiovese, reminiscent of Bordeaux but with zingier acidity that I so love in Italian wine. The 2006 Bolgheri Sassicaia by Tenuta San Guido was expectedly outstanding (97pts Antonio Galloni, $150 retail) – dusty plum, nice tannins, a slight green component that added to the complexity, very good! The first vintage (2006) of Coevo by Cecchi was excellent too – flavor taking me to the right-bank of Bordeaux, great balance and complexity, 50% Sangio / 10% Cab / 20% Merlot / 20% Petit Verdot, dry blackberries, jerky. Galatrona 2007 (98pts Wine Spectator) from Petrolo, made from 100% Merlot, was a powerhouse gorgeous beast of a wine – veggie and spice, fresh, super-concentrated thick dark berry fruit. If Sassicaia were Pierce Brosnan, the Galatrona was Arnold Schwarzenegger.

6. Tre Bicchieri wines (at least all the ones I was drawn to taste) are expensive. Definitely if you want the good stuff, brace yourself — you will pay just as much as for high-end French. I don’t see any obvious “value” categories at the Tre Bicchieri level.

7.  Recioto di Soave was a revelation. La Perlara 2007 by Ca’Rugate – a sweet wine of considerable complexity was perhaps the 2nd best Italian sweet white I’d ever had, bested only by the Vin Santo di Montepulciano Avignonesi 1996 from last year’s event. Being more familiar with Recioto di Valpolicella (a sweet red wine), I learned that “recioto” style of winemaking (where grapes are dried on mats for months, vinified somewhere along the way to raisinhood) is also applied to white wine made in Soave from the Garganega grape (in Veneto, in the northeast of Italy, neighboring with Valpolicella).

8. Some outstanding wines are not imported to California (or the US altogether). The Recioto di Soave above was one of them. Several more that stood out for me were:

a) Franciacorta Saten 2006 sparkler by Il Mosnel - 100% chardonnay, fresh rich lemon custard;

b) Barbera d’Asti Superiore Nizza 2006 by Tenuta Olim Bauda – rich, fresh, balanced, a fairly substantial Barbera;

c) Chianti Classico Riserva 2006 by Tenuta di Capraia – good balance, fruit, great acid, nice soft texture/tannin.

After 5 tooth-staining hours of pacing myself through the aisles, I was exhausted. The wines I commented on here, I re-tasted 2-3 times throughout the evening, doing my part in delivering diligent assessment to you, my readers. I know, I know – it’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it!”

Every two years in Turin, Slow Food hosts the Salone del Gusto. This is the mother of all food events and draws over 150,000 visitors. The program for the 2010 event (October 21-25) was recently released (only in Italian) so I wanted to use my blog to highlight this excellent food event.

This event is special as the stars of this food expo are the small-scale food producers from all over the world that showcase their products.  Moreover, it is about the people just as much as it is about the excellent food as the event enables like-minded producers and buyers to connect in the search for quality food.

Visitors can discover and taste Slow Food Presidia products and cuisines from all over the world, attend some of the hundreds of Taste Workshops, participate in conferences and learn from chefs in the Theatre of Taste program.

The program for the event is 50 pages so if there was a specific food/wine etc that you were interested in seeing if there is a workshop on, I suggest you click here to review the program. Also, it is important to highlight that some of the events are not in Turin but in the surrounding Langhe valley.

Definitely worth highlighting is the Sala Slow Wine which is held every day of the event, from 11am to 10pm, with the last entrance at 8.30pm. This consists of an enoteca dedicated to wine lovers who will have the opportunity to choose from 300 well known labels for tastings. Every day international wine makers will host presentations and famous chef Davide Scabin, from Combal.Zero restaurant in Rivoli, will introduce his creations. The €50 ticket gains you access and allows you 15 tastings.

Also, I have highlighted a few workshops that sound yummy but also focus on products around TorreBarolo but as I said, this is only my view and the selection is vast.

L’eredità del Barolo – October 21 at 7pm €45

The next generation of 4 of the main Barolo producers present this tasting event, comparing previous vintages, and introducing some new ones: Augusto Cappellano – Barolo Rupestris 2004 and 1998; Roberto Conterno – Barolo Cascina Francia 2006 and 1996; Maria Teresa Mascarello – Barolo 2005 and 1995 (magnum bottle), Pietro Ratti – Barolo Rocche 2007 (preview, though not commercially available until 2011) and 1997.

Barbaresco d’ autore – October 21 at 4pm €30

A retrospective view on the work of Alberto di Gresy, in charge of La Martinega winery in Barbaresco since 1973. The workshop will focus on how he transformed a relatively small family run winery into one of the main Barbaresco labels. Tastings of: Langhe Rosso Virtus 1998, Barbaresco Gajun 1999 e Barbaresco Camp Gros 1990, all in magnum bottle.

Salami d’Italia – October 22 at 4pm €20

Every region in Italy has its own salame. This workshop provides an introduction and overview of the best regional products: salame delle valli tortonesi, salame di Fabriano (Presìdi Slow Food), ventricina del Vastese, fiorettino reggiano, sopressa di Fagagna, finocchiona di San Miniato, soppressata calabra.

I magnifici Novanta di Sandrone – October 22 at 7pm €45

A tasting and tribute to Luciano Sandrone, one of the most celebrated and well-known Barolo wine producers. This event will be extra special as Luciano will personally guide you through some of his best Barolo Le Vigne vintages from the 90s’: 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999.

 Parmigiano Reggiano e Porto – October 23 at 7pm €25

Two symbols of the best European gastronomy will meet and you will be shown how time changes and affects these products. Four releases of Parmersan (15 months, 22 months, 28 months and the well aged 36 months) will be put together with the best Port, different vintages and types, presented by the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto.

If you are interested in participating in any of the workshops etc, I strongly recommend you book way in advance as these events gets sold out well ahead of the opening.

Salone del Gusto is held simultaneously with the Terra Madre world meeting of food communities.

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about Alba as a classic regional Piemonte town. One reason I am a big Alba fan is due to the numerous foodie and wine events the city host throughout the year. Given TorreBarolo is just a 15mins car ride to Alba, it is easy to get there and enjoy these events for a few hours. Moreover, given the size of Alba, these events are low-key affairs where you don’t have to worry about queuing to sample a selection of wines or walking endlessly around a huge convention center.

The International White Truffle Fair that commences in October for 2 months is well known and attracts serious foodies given the passion that exists for this mysterious musty smelling fungus. One event that is less well known is Vinum, Langhe and Roreo’s annual wine festival. Vinum’s function is to showcase the mom and pop wineries as well as the regional stars. As many of the smaller wineries don’t export outside the region, I see Vinum as an excellent opportunity to familiarize myself with the vast offerings from the local producers. Also exciting is that the producers use Vinum as the event to release new vintages of Barolo and Barbaresco.

Recently Alba hosted the 34^th edition of Vinum and although I was able to attend, being 7 months pregnant did put a damper on being able to enjoy any of the tastings. The set up this year was different than other years I have attended as this year the organizers decided to contain all the events within three separate marquees/exhibition centers. (I must say I preferred this to walking through the streets of Alba looking for the various kiosks).

This year’s three areas were divided into the following:

Palavinum 1: hosted the “Grand Langhe and Roero wines”. For €12 you would get a ticket book to taste 10 wines, a wine glass, a pouch to carry your wine glass in, a bottle of water and discount vouchers. For an incremental €4, a 2^nd person could join you. Given the quality of wines in this exhibition hall, it looked like a deal to me, especially since I never saw many tickets exchanged and think that as long as you had a pouch and a glass you could go on tasting.

Palavinum 2: hosted both wine and food and was titled “Appetizing Encounters”.  The price for this event was the same as Palavinum 1. The difference with this marquee was that the wines weren’t exclusively from the Langhe/Roero region and were from Piemonte in general, however, most of the placards I saw were of local vintners.  Given I didn’t recognize many of the wineries in this marquee I am going to make the broad statement that this is where the smaller mom and pop wineries exhibit. Also in this marquee there were numerous food producers offering samples of everything from my favourite Castelmagno cheese, to the special Bra salsicca to the delicious local “Torte alla Nocciola” (hazelnut cakes). 

Palavinum 3: hosted the big dogs and instead of kiosks to walk around and sample various wines, there were set times for events and the prices reflected the prestigious wines on offer. For example, there was a retrospective of great Barolo vintages where participates sampled 16 wines for €40. Palavinum 3 events were spread over two days and there were many special events during these days to enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the region’s world famous wines.

Vinum extends over the last weekend in April and first two weekend of May. Mark your calendar for 2011 so you don’t miss out on this excellent wine lover event!

The schedule for Vinum 2010 was released last month. This wine event is sponsored by various entities such as the Regione Piemonte, the City of Alba and the Province of Cuneo and focuses mainly on regional wines, such as Barbera d’Alba, Dolcetto, Barolo, Barbaresco but also Moscato. This year the event will takes places over the following three weekends: April 16^th-18^th, April 23^th-25^th and April 30^th- May 2^nd and all events take place in Alba, therefore just a short car ride from TorreBarolo.

New this year is the decision not to have tastings in the streets and piazza’s of Alba, rather the event will take place in three venues located in the historic center of Alba. The organizers believe the venues will enhance the visitors experience while still having the accessibility to the stores and restaurants of Alba’s historic center.

Palavinum 1: Inside the Palazzo Mostre e Congressi  G Morra located in piazza Medford will host “Grande Enoteca di Langhe e Roero”.  In this venue you will be able to taste and purchase a wide offering of regional wines.

Palavinum 2: Located in the Cortile della Maddalena, this venue will host “Appuntamenti Golosi”. This venue is dedicated to the coupling of wine and gastronomy and there will be regional producers with various salumis, cheese and sweets.

Palavinum 3: This venue will be reserved for “Grande Vini del Piemonte” and will be overseen by the Italian Sommelier Association. One can expect the best wines in this venue and they will host a retrospective for Barolo and Barbaresco wines from 1999 and 1997 as well as a focus on Barbaresco di Neive , Il “Piemonte Perlage” and some grand crus of Roero.  This venue will also highlight young and promising piemontese winemakers.

There are 3 other events that are running concurrent with Vinum.

One is the “Festival della Cucina” which consists of Michelin starred chefs from outside the Langhe being matched with Michelin starred regional chefs to create a special dinner at a small selection of some of the Langhe’s most prestigious restaurants. (Expect to pay €80-100 per person for one of these special tasting menus).

The “Paesaggi e Architetture del Vino” is being held in the Teatro Sociale and is an event focused on the scenery and architecture of wine.  There will also be a photography show dedicated to this same topic that will take place at the San Domenico church.

Lastly, there is a “Jazz di Vino” which will host concerts by the following artists:  Stefano Bollani, Elena Ledda e Rita Marcotulli, Furio Nicastri, Dado Moroni e Marco Tamburini.

Although the Vinum site is only in Italian, there is a detailed schedule of all the events that are hosted at the 3 venues.

Having participated last year, I think the decision to centralize the events in 3 venues with very specific purposes will enhance the ease and pleasure of the event. We have already booked our next trip so we’ll be there 24^th and 25^th April, would be great to meet some of you guys for a glass of Vinum … Cin cin!

A shortlist of some the most important Italian wines events for the coming months, recommended by TorreBarolo:

As already mentioned in a previous post back in October last year,  tomorrow SlowFood will introduce its own eagerly awaited Italian Wine Guide 2010, that will have less focus on awarding stars and a greater focus on informing consumers of the land, the people, the history and the climate that contribute to the vintage.

On January 30^th and 31^st in Verona the Consorzio Tutela Vini Valpolicella will present the Amarone della Valpolicella Millesimo 2006.

From February 14 to 18 Nobile di Montepulciano Millesimo 2007 gets its turn at an event in Montepulciano dedicated to the public and sector professionals organized by the Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

The tradition will continue in Florence, which will host the annual “Chianti Classico Collection” on February 16 and 17. Tastings will be offered of Gallo Nero vintages 2009, 2008 and 2007 reserve organized by Chianti Classico Collection.

On February 19 and 20 Montalcino will host “Benvenuto Brunello”, which will present the 2005 reserve organized by Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino.

From March 4 to 7, Sciacca will be hosting “Sicilia en Primeur”, during which the rating for Sicily’s 2009 vintage will be announced.

From 20 July 2010 to 15 May 2011 the international exhibition Vinum Nostrum, in Florence at the Museo degli Argenti – Palazzo Pitti. Original artefacts, sculptures, frescoes, and mosaics as well as videos and other multimedia devices will tell the story of wine and the vineyards it comes from. There will even be a reconstruction of a wine cellar from ancient Pompeii, created following literary descriptions. From Mesopotamia to modern-day Italy, from the rituals of communion to the celebration of plain drunkenness, wine and the vineyards. Info at Firenze 2010 – Un Anno d’Arte.

One of the best regarded wine Italian guides, Gambero Rosso’s Vini d’Italia, was realised yesterday. It is a survey of 2,520 winemakers, divided by region. The best winemakers are awarded stars, between 1 and 3, depending on the quality of their production and its continuity year after year.

In this year’s guide there were 366 producers awarded stars, of which 14 of them have been awarded 3 stars. Of the 14, three of them are from Piemonte: Bruno Giacosa, Gaja and Giacomo Conterno.

As for particular denominations and vintages below is the list of reds from Piemonte:

1. Barolo Monprivato Cà d’Morissio Riserva 2001, Giuseppe Mascarello e Figlio
2. Barbaresco Asili di Barbaresco 2005, Bruno Giacosa
3. Barolo 2005, Bartolo Mascarello
4. Barolo Acclivi 2005, Burlotto G.B.
5. Barolo Brunate – Le Coste 2005, Giuseppe Rinaldi
6. Barolo Rocche Rivera 2004, Oddero Luigi & Figli
7. Barolo Vigna Elena 2004, Elvio Cogno

Below are also Gambero Rosso’s special awards by category:

Winery of the year: Bruno Giacosa of Piemonte

Red wine of the year: Antoniolo, Osso San Grato 2005 Gattinara

White wine of the year: Clelia Romano, Colli di Lapio 2008 Fiano di Avellino

Sparkling wine of the year: Cavit, Altemasi Graal Brut Riserva 2002 Trento

Producer of the year: Gianfranco Fino of Puglia

Sweet wine of the year: Barattieri, Albarola Val di Nure Vin Santo1999 Colli Piacentini

The Vini d’Italia 2010 guide is for the first time solely produced by Gambero Rosso, after its recent split from SlowFood. In the spring of next year, SlowFood will introduce its own eagerly awaited wine guide, that will have less focus on awarding stars and a greater focus on informing consumers of the land, the people, the history and the climate that contribute to the vintage.

Other distinguished Italian wine guides include: L’Espresso’s I Vini d’Italia, Duemilavini of AIS (the Italian Sommelier Association) and I Vini di Veronelli.