Tag Archives: Nebbiolo

Wine Review: Idlewild Nebbiolo Fox Hill Vineyard Mendocino 2013

09 Tuesday Jan 2018

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idlewildNebbiolo, the pride of Barolo and Barbaresco, is not often found outside the fog-shrouded hills of Piemonte. This is in part because Nebbiolo is relatively difficult to grow requiring a long growing season and a cool climate. But I think it’s also a bit out of step with the contemporary preference for opulence. Although it produces beautiful wines, it is a beauty more austere and forbidding than voluptuous and lush, at least until age converts tannic severity to a more palatable gentility.

But there are a few dedicated Nebbiolo producers outside Italy. Sonoma’s Idlewild Winery is particularly interesting. They specialize in the varietals indigenous to Piemonte grown under California’s hot sun, but strive to preserve some old-world character in their wines by choosing cooler sites and avoiding excessive ripeness.

Theirs is a classic Nebbiolo right down to the visual display of orange highlights glinting off the pale garnet surface. Aromas of bright cherry infused with warm baking spices stand out, flecked with hints of dried roses, and a bit of smoke, all morphing into the earthiness of autumn leaves when given some air. This is a very expressive nose that oscillates between a spice-based and earth-based profile.

The palate opens on a very savory note, renouncing juiciness in favor of focused, angular, dusty earth. Tannins and tart acidity gather momentum early supporting sour cherry top notes and giving the wine a pleasing, abrasive undercurrent. By the time the long finish crests and begins to fade this tingling sensation has spread throughout the palate like an invasive tide. Medium weight, quite light on its feet, but firm and sinewy, it spends two years in neutral oak and one in the bottle before it’s released.

The fruit is bright enough and the spices warm enough to give this a California cast, but it liberally quotes old Italy.

Acerbic, a bit cynical but with an expressive, lyrical side, not without joy. Leonard Cohen’s In My Secret Life captures the feeling while bringing out some juiciness in the mid palate.

Score: 90

Alc: 14.1%

Price: $50 (Purchase here)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6G7ya3zjdo
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Wine Review: Rosa dell Olmo Barolo 2013

11 Tuesday Apr 2017

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rosa dell olmoEven inexpensive Barolo is, well, Barolo—one of the great noble wines of Italy. This one is no King or Queen but it’s great fun at a great price.

It smells of country roads, the scent of coarse weeds and fruit smothered in dust. Dark cherry with candied fruit notes, light coffee and dried flowers round out the flavor notes

The palate is fresh and transparent albeit thin up front with dense, sandy tannins coming in early contributing to a very earthy, chewy, rustic finish. The medium frame and lean, coarse texture is not for everyone but it has great character and originality.

Not great juice but it performs a passable, peasant version of noble Nebbiolo and absolutely needs the company of wild boar.

Score: 86

Price: $16 at Trader Joe’s

Alc: 13.5%

Cheery in a loutish sort of way, the gypsy punk of Gogol Bordello will make you receptive to this wine’s charms. This guy kills it on the electric fiddle.

Damilano Barolo 2009 Lecinquevigne

17 Monday Feb 2014

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damilanoBarolo is like the brilliant, teenage lout who, as he ages and gains wisdom, lives on the edge between exquisite, refined eccentricity and cynical misanthropy.  When young, traditional Barolos  are always austere and sometimes brutal lacking even a hint of warmth. Some when aged for 15-20 years are poetry in a glass, with a nose so ornately original and a palate so lustrous and silky I am immediately transported to the landscape of the heart with its soaring ecstasies and fecund desires and longing that cannot be quenched by…well, you know the feeling.

But too often even very expensive, aged Barolos  from good producers can be closed, ungenerous, still clinging with joyless persistence to their austerity as if giving in to beauty would compromise their hard won integrity. Recently, some producers from Piemonte, the home of Barolo, are striving for a more modern style, more generous early in life, trading the gamble of a glorious senescence for the charm of a sociable youth.

The Damilano is in this modern style. It is pale ruby in appearance with a clear rim and just a hint of the orange tint that identifies the Nebbiolo grape.  Dried roses set off cherry aromas supported with gentle loam lurking in the background—a very clear, focused nose that leaves a delicate impression despite its medium-plus intensity. The fruit darkens with aeration and there is a whiff of alcohol but it is not too distracting.

The palate is mellow despite its youth with soft fruit up front giving way to baking spices on the mid-palate that carry through the robust finish propelled by close-knit tannins that build to a dry crescendo. Graceful and charming but lacking the power of the best Barolos. Well structured but the acidity is less apparent than in typical Barolos.

This won’t have you quoting William Blake; it is far too accessible to be profound. But it is a thoroughly enjoyable Barolo at a relatively affordable price. “Lecinquevigne” refers to the 5 vineyards from which these grapes are sourced.

Score: 90

Average Price: $32

Alcohol: 14.5%

Family Winemakers are Taking Risks and Making Some Great Wine

11 Sunday Mar 2012

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Family Winemakers, the trade association for small wine producers in California, held their annual tasting in San Diego on Sunday—200 wineries, over 1000 wines, and about 2 hours to taste before the crowds get overwhelming.

So many wines, so little time.

No. I didn’t taste them all. At big wine events like this I tend to ignore most of the common varietals and seek out wineries that are doing something innovative, making wines that are unusual or not typical for California.

This event highlights the innovation and risk-taking going on in California among small producers. Some of these wineries are little more than a garage, proving that you don’t need a multi-million dollar estate to make great wine—just skill, good taste, guts, and enough coin to get your operation off the ground.

Here are my standouts from Sunday’s event.

Whites:

Tablas Creek 2010 Cote de Tablas Blanc   A blend dominated by aromatic Viognier with Grenache Blanc, Rousanne and Marsenne to provide structure. White Rhone blends are no longer so unusual in California, and Tablas Creek is an established producer, but this one was so good I couldn’t resist including it.

Field Recordings 2010 Chenin Blanc  Intense aroma and creamy, fleshy mouthfeel. The best I have had outside of Vouvray. Most chenin blanc grown in California is sold as bulk wine. This one is extraordinary.

Clavo Cellers 2009 Vermentino  An Italian grape especially well known in Sardinia but seldom grown in the U.S. This wine shows tropical fruit and an exceptionally rich, creamy mouthfeel.

Reds:

Urban Legend Cellars 2009 Amador Barbera   One of the most underappreciated trends in the wine world is the extraordinary Barberas coming out of the Sierra Foothills. This one is rich and spicy,a nose full of cloves and a wonderfully elegant mouthfeel.

Urban Legend Cellars 2009 Teroldego  They did it again for me. This is a small winery located in downtown Oakland with a great eye for small lots of local grapes with which to create their magic. Teroldego is a Northern Italian grape probably genetically related to Syrah. It is dark, dark, dark, figs and lots of spice. A bit like Zinfandel but with a blacker heart and more acidity.

Harrington Cellars 2008 Nebbiolo  This may have been my favorite wine of the event. Beautiful violets and some earth on the nose and a spicy but elegant mouthfeel, almost soft until the tannins remind you this is a Nebbiolo. This grape is seldom successfully grown outside Piemonte, Italy. Harrington’s is an excellent expression of this grape and proof that it can be grown here.

Wine Review: Karmere Empress La Petite Morgon Nebbiolo 2008

04 Wednesday Jan 2012

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On my recent trip to the Sierra Foothills I was impressed with the unique expression of Italian varietals found there, especially in the Shenandoah Valley of Amador County where Karmere is located.

The Karmere Nebbiolo has the orange/copper tint and aromatic nose characteristic of Nebbiolo but lacks the tar and harsh tannins that make this grape unapproachable when young. The nose is gorgeously floral with berry supported by subtle earth tones and clove. Dark berry persists on the palate although it could use more complexity. The finish is long, the tannins persistent but not overbearing. The medium body is most surprising given the 14.6% alcohol. This wine strives for elegance, not power, with a mouthfeel reminiscent of pinot noir, though more tannic than is typical of pinot.

A teenage prom queen that needs a bit more age to bring out earthy notes, it lacks the profundity and power of a Barolo but it compensates with considerable charm.

Good: The combination of lovely, aromatic nose, elegant body and persistent but manageable tannins.

Bad: Mid-palate lacks depth

Distinctive: A unique expression of the grape. A promising indicator of what this interesting wine region can accomplish.

Price: About $24.00