WTN:Barolo rival - GHEMME 1997

Antichi Vigneti di Cantalupo - GHEMME (DOCG) Collis Breclemae (single vineyard - special cru) 1997

This is 100% nebbiolo from northern Piedmont. From around the town of Ghemme. This area was supposedly more highly regarded than Barolo in the 1800's or so. As many of you know there are many DOC's around this area that make nebbiolo that could rival Barolo's hegemony. The trouble is when the textile industry moved into this area in the 30's or so, peasants moved to better paying factory jobs and so the wine industry here crumbled. The Chinese have recently caused the textile mills here to close creating somewhat of a resurgence of viticulture. However, sometimes you can't really recoup what you have abandoned. Experience and knowledge is passed on, and if the link is broken it is not always easy to re-establish things. Enough of my ramblings.

This is Cantalupo's most expensive offering. I admire how they never really caved in to barrique (except for their Bayard offering which is limited). I do not admire how their prices were raised severely over the last few years since this is an agricultural product and all winemakers are essentially in the same boat. (The ramblings do not stop). The difference between a 15 dollar wine and a 50 dollar wine is pure folly. It is hype, marketing strategy, etc.

Tasting note: The wine is a bit darker than most nebbiolo's. The nose very recognizeable as nebbiolo. In the mouth it is quite balanced. Still good acidity, but there is plenty of fruit. A decidedly good wine. Very pleasant. Aromatic and, behold, quite easy drinking. It does seem to lack the tension of a good Barolo. But, of course, the problem with Barolo is that often the tension never goes away and after 20 years you still have excessive tannins. That is why I like this wine. Overall, it is a more pleasant experience than Barolo, hype aside. What gripes me is the price. This is a very good wine. But the price makes it go down a notch. Why do I have to pay so much for good quality? There are many good wines in Italy. It's like Brunello: yes it's a good wine, but it's not so good that it's worth 20 Euro more than other wines.

Agostino
Thanks for the note - especially as we're planning to stay in the area (potentially Ghemme itself) on an upcoming holiday. Yes the region's growers need to be careful that they don't price themselves as Barolo, yet without a ready market (and in some cases the quality to justify it).

Clearly there were some brilliant wine being made in the region in the past - and I like trying odd older bottles when available. It will be interesting to taste what some of the current producers are up to.

regards

Ian

I didn't go into my Barolo rant simply because I ran out of steam. For me the price issue is absolutely connected with Barolo. Prices were fine until Robert Parker started giving certain Barolo's very high "points". It's nonsense. I remember going to visit Bartolo Mascarello because at the time I believed the hype myself. I remember sitting there across from Bartolo as he drew his little "No Barrique, No Berlusconi" labels. Bartolo was an avid self-avowed communist. I remember thinking later, hey Bartolo, if you're so communist why are you're wines 45,000 Lira a bottle at the producer? (this would later become 45 Euro, basically twice the price, but 45,000 lira a bottle at a producer's was a huge amount at the time) If you were under communism as you profess, you're precious Barolo would be poured into a large vat along with hundreds of other producers' Barolo and it would be sold cheaply to all the people. The guy WAS Berlusconi! (well not quite) It's like Obama, he promises "change" then he continues the Bush policies - that almost makes him worse than Bush, if that's possible.

Agostino:

I enjoy hearing you political rant on Barolo. Some wines have seriously escaped sanity when it comes to a price/quality ratio. I managed to pick up some Barolos from a producer no one (here in the US, at least) seems to know, Aurelio Settimo, and every time I pull a cork from his wines I wonder why they are only charging $20-$30 for these wines when they appear to be every bit as good as some wines priced 3x.