Monday. For many people the start of the work week. For others, such as the now-exhausted purveyors at the VinItaly wine show, it’s the happy end to their weekend of madness. Even though the fair is technically open, many wineries are already packing up their wares, preparing for the long trek home, be it Sicily, Puglia, Piedmont, what have you. Thus, when you show up looking to get some business done, many of them just kind of stare at you vacantly, with a not-so-come hither glance.
Good for us we’ve got a couple of appointments booked. We wanted to get a feel for the 2006 Barbaresco wines so we decided to visit two of its top dogs. First, a quick chat with Angelo Rocca, whose Brich Ronchi bottling is a bit of a staple around here. His 2006’s were impressive for sure, but we were really delighted to taste a new Vecchie Vigne (old vines) bottling of his Brich Ronchi vineyard that we’ll be seeing hopefully this year. Price may be an issue, but oh what a ride that bruiser was! Also a huge hit was the dark, jam-packed 2007 vintage of his Gepin Barbera, always a favorite and this sensational vintage being no exception. Be on the lookout for it this year as well.
After saying ciao to Angelo we took a 20ft walk over to Andrea Sottimano’s table. This wunderkind is pushing all the right buttons right now, lapping his competition in this very competitive arena. The man is passionate, driven, always with an eye towards the future but his heart in the past. The wines reflect this philosophy, crafted using modern techniques but showing off their respective terroirs effortlessly. The 2006 Barbaresco line-up here is just outrageous. Andrea works with a number of Crus in Barbaresco, his style really emphasizing the differences between these unique sites. It was tough, as usual, to pick out a favorite. But what we will say is that, as in 2004 and 2005, we’ll be working with most, if not all, of these great bottlings in 2006. Bravo Andrea!
After rifling some great Barolo leftovers from the previous day with Sylvia Altare we headed over to hang with Iano de Grazia and talk Nerello Mascalese. Iano and his brother, Marco, own the Terre Nere estate, located on the slopes of Sicily’s Mt. Etna. The principal grape on the estate, Nerello Mascalese, is an indigenous variety that has been growing on Etna’s slopes for a mighty long time. The area is blessed with steep hillsides, volcanic soil and tons of older vineyards that produce profoundly concentrated, yet light on their feet, wines that taste like nothing else. Pinot Noir meets Zin? Plush, spicy Burgundy? Can’t call it. What we do know is that the latest releases from this start-up are supernal, a series of single vineyard, old vine bottlings that, while priced in the 30’s, make for some compelling drinking at twice the price. Their 100+ year old vine Prephilloxera bottling was mind-bending. A truly unique wine in that its vines are planted on their own rootstocks…Simply put, you need to try these, they are what being a wine geek is all about.
That was about it. On the way out we did have a quick stop off at Giampaolo Venica’s booth for some gratuitous drinking. His 2008’s are great and the 2007’s delicious. You will not find more compelling Sauvignon Blanc on the planet for the price than Venica’s Ronco delle Mele and Ronco del Cero bottlings , I can assure you of that. And his Friulanos (especially his Ronco delle Cime bottling) are to die for as well..A few glasses of kick-ass white wine, a little salumi and some fiery conversations about politics. What a way to end the fair!
