Before I begin I'd like to raise a point. A sort of prologue tasting note. I recently had the Fobiano 2004 (Merlot-cabernet) from Umbria (a Parker favorite under superstar consulting oenologist Cotarella's umbrella) and the Cabreo -Il Borgo 2003 (sangiovese-cabernet) from Tuscany (apparently 91 pts. from Parker). They both seemed reasonable values at around 18 euros considering one is a "supertuscan" and the other was a Parker-Cotarella child. I thought I'd try them out to see if I wanted to buy more and add them to my cellar.
What struck me was how THICK they were. The Fobiano super-thick, the Cabreo, which I remembered as an elegant wine from an older vintage I tasted (its supposed to be mostly sangiovese, which is easily a see-thru grape) just thick. They were alright wines but now that I've outgrown Parker they struck me as highly untypical, not food-friendly, and not that appealing. They're thickness did not add to the pleasure but detracted.
I started thinking: how did they do this? Is there some powder? Is it alot of gum arabic (a stabilizer which also adds texture which an Italian winemaker told me is as common as using sulfites)? Did they use a concentrator ( an expensive machine, quite common these days, which removes water from the must)? Or is it just low yields? Can low yields do this? The aromas seemed crammed in, not natural and expansive. The color for the Cabreo was uncommonly dark for a mostly sangiovese wine. Result: I did not like these wines and I'm not buying more even though they would impress my friends.
Onwards:
On cellartracker I mistakenly ran into some highly favorable tasting notes on a Pinot Noir from the Asti area, home of great Barberas. Impressed by the variety, though limited number, and positive nature of these tasting notes I decided to pay this producer a visit. Especially since it is very hard to find Burgundy in Italy and I wanted some more Pinot Noir in my cellar (albeit from an odd area). The wine is called San Germano and it is produced by Marchesi Alfieri in the province of Asti. It is 100% Pinot Noir. The vines were brought over from Gevrey-Chambertin 150 years ago or something like that. Only around 4,000 bottles are made, which of course means not even 1,000 cases.
It was a beautiful day as I headed out to the town of San Martino Alfieri. The hills of Asti are breathtaking with their neat rows of vines, scattered old towns, castles, winding roads- all under a blue sky. In fact, it looked too good. Too perfect. Everything looked so well kept. I thought, could this be the land of anal people?
I arrived at the winery, apparently run by three "Marquis" sisters whom I never saw. The property was beautiful, a castle-like manor with different adjuncts within a perfectly kept town with a beautiful church. To make a long story short I went to the storage to pick out my wines, helped out by an older sardinian lady then I was taken to the offices by a young polish girl where there was a secretary in front of a computer. Every time I asked the polish girl a question she would go into these doors to ask the oenologist, a certain Mr. Olivero, for the answer. After a while I got tired and barged into the office to meet this guy. He was a skinny, fairly young fellow whom I'd already spoken to on the phone. I asked him if I could taste the wine (before I bought it.) Immediately, by the size of the office and his demeanor I could tell he was kinda anal. He took me to the tasting room and we tasted the 2006 pinot noir and a nebbiolo they had started making recently. He was definitely not a warm fellow and was quite high-strung. Italy is full of these self-important types who pretend they're busy when they're not. Not the kind of producer I like to visit. The wines were solid but I certainly thought "Do I want a wine made by an anal guy?" The tasting ended fairly quickly as he said he had a phone appointment to attend to. Nevertheless, I left the place with half a case of this rare Italian Pinot noir (2006) and two magnums (1998, 1999). Also one bottle of their top Barbera, Alfiero, which apparently won the Gambero Rosso 3 glasses award.
Onwards to my next adventure and central point of the story:
On sunday I had some free time so I thought, why not go visit this small producer I have been following for a few years who's not so far away? The town of Brusnengo is only about an hour and 15 minutes from Milan (driving Italian style, 95 mph). That is where Gianfilippo Barni lives, a small producer in an area of Piemonte that makes nebbiolo (an area that because of the fractured DOC system has remained obscure.) The general area is host to a number of DOC's which make nebbiolo based wines including: Gattinara, Sizzano, Boca, Lessona, Fara, Ghemme, Bramaterra and maybe more. To be fair the quality has been quite low in the last years so the obscurity is somewhat deserved. BUT, there are always gems in the hay my friends (one being the Ghemme of Antichi Vigneti di Cantalupo). There is always the lone winemaker travelling the road less travelled, somehow shunning mediocrity. One such oddity was Antonio Vallana from the 50's and 60's which, I was to find out later, was not considered as such by the locals but was probably made famous by a few reviews by our heralded Mr. Robert Parker.
So I called up the Barni winery beforehand to make sure Gianfilippo would be there since every time I go he usually never is (and his wife attends to me.) And this time also he tried to escape my grasp because he was going to spray the vineyards with an organic fungul treatment but alas it started raining and he could not. Almost every time I've gone to purchase wine in the past, usually in the evening, the man is out working in the vineyards. That tells me something about this guy (he's not in an office acting self-important). I arrive at 7 pm and his wife greets me.... she tells me he'll be right out. Finally the skinny but robust 47 year old winemaker Gian Filippo presents himself. He is the epitome of the kinds of wine producers I like to visit, follow, and buy wines from: a one man show, making not more than 30,000 bottles a year, in an under-the-radar appellation. Barni makes 5 wines:
Torrearsa - 60% vespolina, 40% cabernet franc
Mesolone - mostly croatina with a little nebbiolo and uva rara from 100 yr. old vines
Bramaterra, Vigneto Doss Pilun - 70% nebbiolo with croatina, uva rara and vespolina (the only one with DOC status)
Albaciara - 50% Erbaluce, 50% chardonnay
Cantagal - a special passito wine, 3,000 bottles. Each grape cluster is hung individually in his attic to dry. 50% Erbaluce, 50% chardonnay
To make a long story short I was there for 4 hours, until 11 at night. He made me taste the wines that hadn't been bottled yet from the 2005, 2006 and 2007 vintage - from barrique and from stainless steel. It was a very educational experience. The guy doesn't use a concentrator so each vintage has its individual character. He doesn't use any harmful pesticides, fertilizers or treatments (and I believe him.) He also makes wines from weird, unpopular grapes. His Mesolone which is made from the Croatina grape, which is a hopelessly tannic variety, is exactly that: black pepper in the nose and a mouth full of tannins...wonderful. His Torrearsa is probably the only wine in the world which is a mixture of Vespolina and Cabernet Franc. Most other examples of Vespolina I have found locally were disasters.
Barni thinks his 2001's are still too hard so he sold his 2002's instead and he is currently selling his 2003's while waiting for the 2001's to soften. That's commitment and that's the difficult choice a tiny, obscure producer like him has to make. His favorite vintages are 2004 and 2006 (might be useful information for other wines of the area). As we wrapped up he told me about a new, special wine he is releasing with the 2004's. It's made from a parcel of the vineyard of Doss Pilun at the highest (450m), most sunbaked point which is 100% nebbiolo. He insisted we pop open a bottle with some local cheese. I think it will be called vigna Belvedere and it was a wonderful wine- refreshingly different in character from Barolo area nebbiolo. Soaring red fruit and flowers in the nose, elegant full body and many fine tannins that melded with the cheese.
Despite my protests he gave me a discount on what I purchased. Each bottle was 9 Euros.
These past few nights I've been enjoying the 2003's that I bought.
Mesolone 2003 - 14% alc. Mostly Croatina (the Bonarda grape) with nebbiolo and vespolina.
Really impressive. Crazy wonderful, complex aromatics, you can definitely smell the nebbiolo influence. The color of the wine is dark tending toward ruby, no opaque rubbish here. The mouth is massive red fruits and black pepper finishing with great tannic-acidic structure. The wine glides down the throat without feeling like your drinking some chemically textured Parker wine. The next day the whole package was rounder, better behaved and delicious. The downside is that 2003 was hot as hell and though it probably contributed to this wine being so wonderful and drinkeable now, it also imparted a huge amount of alcohol. With a couple of glasses I started singing Nick Cave songs. I think this is an odd year for Barni's wines and they don't ususally show this massive. I'm enjoying the freakiness though.
Torrearsa 2003 - 14% alc. Vespolina and Cab Franc as mentioned above.
Slightly darker in color. This has more of a dark fruit with a touch of wild fur nose which is not as explosive as the Mesolone. Voluminous in the mouth with that same touch of wild aftertaste. Overall very pleasant and quite unique in a more subdued way. Good tannic end. The alcohol seems less intrusive on the mind.
I'm curious and anxious to taste the Bramaterra 2003.
Conclusion:
The advantage of living in Italy is that you have access to many very small producers who are not swayed by this Parker nonsense (or can't afford a concentrator). A consumer also has the choice to visit a producer directly and not be channeled into these fashionable Parkerized wines by commerce hungry distributors/importers. There is a joy in accepting vintage variations for what they are. With tools such as concentrators you remove these vintage differences resulting in wine tasting-appreciation becoming a farce. My other point is: why be anal, enjoy life and good things will follow.
